Serial Port

Since we didn’t know the password, we flipped up dip switch 5 on the Netserver card and were then able to login to console as !root user and no password. Our firmware is: I’m now setting the password with: and then save all I powered off the unit, flipped dip switch 5 back down, and […]

Writing notes here for future reference. Connecting to serial console of the NMC, there is no password, and current firmware is: old LAN IP was 192.77.203.193, I’ve changed it to 10.254.255.46. SNMP strings are default (public RO, private RW). RADIUS secret key: serialport I saved config, then applied it by going to Command menu and […]

We have a Cisco IAD2432-24FXS in use, we are currently using the FXS analog ports to provide analog modem lines for our ISP dial-in lines and for general use. Now that we have our 3com/USR Total Control running, we need to feed it with a PRI or channelized T1 (these are similar but slightly different). […]

One of our viewers assembled an “ISP in a box” setup with some more features than our original post. This setup has 4x FXS ports to provide analog dialtone, channelized T1 cards, and Cisco Digital Modem modules (like those in the AS5x00 series). Dialing 5551212 from an analog line will connect you to the modem […]

We’ve started looking at 1980s Ethernet products recently, and Cabletron was one of the most prominent Ethernet vendors at the time. I stumbled upon this Ethernet Technology Guide published by Cabletron, and found it to be a very comprehensive of Ethernet history and how the physical LANs were built (10base5, 10base2, 10baseT) particularly the multi-port […]

Our PC’s Limited (Dell) 286 computer came with a B.G. Micro vocal synthesizer card, which lets the computer “talk” in 1980s robot style. Two tantalum capacitors had failed on the board, so all were replaced. Photos Resources Resources we found related to this card components How it Works Here’s a very rough overview of how […]

I’ve used several HP Procurve switches over the years and have found them to be great for general office use. We have been using a 1810G-24 (J9450A) switch in our lab, to keep machines online including the infamous Cobalt RaQ 3. This is a “web managed” switch, with basic VLAN support. On the plus side, […]

found some interesting materials from Dave Walden’s site Source: https://www.walden-family.com/bbn/ A great write-up of BBN history is also here, including details on their contract to provide modem dial-in service for AOL (over 400,000 modems!)

How to install FreeBSD 2.0.5 in a virtual machine

While working on the Xyplex Maxserver 1620 for our upcoming terminal server video, I wanted to try re-creating a menu I thought I had seen before from a 1990s ISP. The idea is that the user can dial in with a modem, and then get a menu to choose between several options such as telneting […]