Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!europa.chnt.gtegsc.com!news.sprintlink.net!pcnet.com!circellar!stephen.griswold
From: stephen.griswold@circellar.com
Subject: WHAT TO SALVAGE? DISK
Message-ID: <9506180321.04PGS00@circellar.com>
Organization: Circuit Cellar, Inc.
X-Mailer: TBBS/PIMP v3.34
Distribution: world
Date: Sun, 18 Jun 95 03:21:02 -0400
Lines: 54


 Ne> stephen.griswold@circellar.com wrote:

  :  
  : ARGH! Did I read that right? Junking VAXes?!?!?!?  Where is this?!?!?!
  :  I might be interested in aquiring one of those!
  : (Would prefer OS Intact.. (I generally agree to wipe all non-OS related
  : data files.))

 > Many many government bodies (and many corporate) must destroy computer
 > equipment that they deem is not cost effective to sell.  For example,
 > when I worked for Syncrude Research (they producr 13% of Canada's oil
 > and still have some left over to export) they took a VAX 11/750 and a 
 > hard disk and a tape drive out to the parking lot and passed an axe
 > around to the employees.  They were not allowed to throw it away
 > unless  it was unsalvageable.  They had deemed that it would have been
 > to much hassle to sell.  They didn't think they could get enough money
 > out to make it worth even doing.  They completely destroyed it.  (I
 > begged that they should leave it out in the parking lot over night and
 > destroy it in the morning after I borrowed my friends pick up... etc
 > but they had to carry it out of the computer room under guard and
 > destroy it immediately)  *I* was heartbroken.  I would have even paid
 > money for it  if they had been willing to sell it.

<Insert look of total SHOCK!>  Barbarians!!!!!!!!!!!! It's acts like this,
that make me wonder why companies complain that they can't keep compeatative,
but they go and shell-out Mundo-$$$ for new equipment, and rather than donate
the old equipment, they destroy it!   (Slightly off topic.)  I purchased an
S-100 frame from a company once.. Initially, it was for donation to a CP/M
user's group..  Before it could go, they requested they be able to wipe the
hard drive, but they would include boot floppies.. I agreed. (BIG Mistake!)
  Resulting, the Floppies they did supply, were back-up boot floppies ONLY
in the event the HD boot tracks  were clobbered.. (low-level format instact)
 However....  They had low-level formatted the drive, Externally on an AT..
  NONE of the floppies they supplied, could re-init the HD.. I was left with
a 36MB door-stop until I could connect it to another machine I did have
software for initing the drive. (I'm still looking for the initialization
software, for a Compupro DISK-3..  (Prefer CP/M 2.2, but will accept CP/M-86
version.))
 
  Although...  I DO admit...  I did have to personally destroy one piece of
equipment.  I'm a member of the local Volunteer Fire Service in my town..
 I had just transfered to another station about the time they were replacing
the transmitter at the station...  Though they never thought about it,
I mentioned that the equipment SHOULD be disabled, to prevent ANYONE from
transmitting, and interfering on our fire frequency..  Result, I removed
ALL of the wiring, and the crystal Oscillators.  BUT, I left it, if there were
any parts some of the local Amature Radio Operators could salvage (power
transistors, tubes, connectors), they could just remove them at the local
landfill, but I rendered the unit inoperable..
 
  Stephen
  stephen.griswold@circellar.com
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
