ADDS Regent 25 video terminal connection problem, help please :o(

Applications Hardware
1

Hi all, you may remember that I picked up an ADDS Regent 25 from where I worked a while ago.

Well, I've been trying to connect it up to the laptop so that the laptop can act as a server for it.

I've just finished making a cable for it, I connected the DB25 EIA loop of the ADDS to a serial DB9 connector using a null modem connection then into a usb convertor. At this point, the laptop should recognise that something is attached, but nothing at all. I've tested the cable for continuity, that seems to work.

Current dipswitch settings: Line mode off, parity = even, line feed =0, baud is 111 (9600) )

Any ideas would be appreciated )

Steve

2

What O/S is the laptop running?

Depending on the version you may have to make some changes to files to activate some type of tty process against the usb port for it to generate a connection.

Does the O/S have a file like /etc/inittab - or even better in this case does the laptop have any kind of serial port? In which case there may well be a running tty process, that you will be able to connect to.

3

I agree with gull04. You are going to need a serial port which your O/S can see and which is running a matching "getty" process. Then comes the unix terminfo database entry ...

4

The terminal definition is in the GNU Curses 5.4, but you can cut and paste the entry below and "tic" it.

Alternatively you can cd into /usr/share/terminfo/a (or possibly r) and run "infocmp regent25"

 #### Applied Digital Data Systems (adds)
#
# ADDS itself is long gone. ADDS was bought by NCR, and the same group made
# ADDS and NCR terminals. When AT&T and NCR merged, the engineering for
# terminals was merged again. Then AT&T sold the terminal business to
# SunRiver, which later changed its name to Boundless Technologies. The
# engineers from Teletype, AT&T terminals, ADDS, and NCR (who are still there
# as of early 1995) are at:
#
#   Boundless Technologies
#   100 Marcus Boulevard
#   Hauppauge, NY 11788-3762
#   Vox: (800)-231-5445
#   Fax: (516)-342-7378
#   Web: http://boundless.com
#
# Their voice mail used to describe the place as "SunRiver (formerly ADDS)".
# In 1995 Boundless acquired DEC's terminals business.
#

# Regent: lowest common denominator, works on all regents.
# (regent: renamed ":bc:" to ":le:" -- esr)
regent|Adds Regent Series,
   OTbs, am,
   cols#80, lines#24,
   bel=^G, clear=^L, cr=^M, cub1=^U, cud1=^J, cuf1=^F, cuu1=^Z,
   home=\EY\s\s, ind=^J, ll=^A,
regent20|Adds Regent 20,
   bel=^G, cup=\EY%p1%{32}%+%c%p2%{32}%+%c, ed=\Ek, el=\EK,
   use=regent,
regent25|Adds Regent 25,
   bel=^G, kcub1=^U, kcud1=^J, kcuf1=^F, kcuu1=^Z, khome=^A,
   use=regent20,

However you will almost certainly need a serial port to connect it to with a respawning tty or getty running on it.

Regards

Dave

1 Like
5

@RetroGamerVX

WARNING. If you have posted YouTube Videos and technical information on the Internet (including detail of you software build and this ancient terminal), please have the courtesy to post that information before posting cold questions about your project. The project itself is interesting.
Benefit of the doubt: There may be someone out there on the Internet with the same handle who happens to have the same obscure project.

We have much experience of real serial terminals here, but reference to a vague laptop as a server is a joke. If you have hardware-software issues, please post detail of the hardware and the software.

Ps. Have you considered purchasing a PDP-11 ? It was good enough for Kernighan and Ritchie.

6

Hi Methyl,

I can confirm that the user has posted the same post in at least two other online forums at,

OLD-COMPUTERS.COM Forum - Posted Correctly : Rescued, an A.D.D.S Regent 25?

and

Rescued, an A.D.D.S Regent 25? Unix terminal from 1980, need help please :o))

Not that it's really a problem as I'm quite happy to help if I can.

Regards

Dave

1 Like
7

And:
Update: ADDS Regent 25 Serial Terminal Restoration, IT WORKS! mostly!! :o) - YouTube

And lots more selection:
RetroGamerVX's Channel - YouTube

And the best contender for someone not posting background information on a post on unix.com is:
- RetroGamerVX = The passion for all things retro computing

This is taking the

Originally I had this down as an isolated technical student who was having trouble making old hardware connect to new hardware for some project. Further research revealed people who have made this terminal work (but not the O/P). A few years ago this sort of connection was day-to-day work.

DECISION: It is my personal recommendation to unix.com posters that we do not pursue this post.

1 Like