#256421 - 19/05/2005 06:26
Obscure memory card
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veteran
Registered: 01/10/2001
Posts: 1307
Loc: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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OK, this is truly off topic, but as this board has proven to be a fountain of knowledge, no matter how obscure, it's worth a try...
A friend of mine is very keen to locate a reader/writer (or any way to read/write) an old battery-backed SDRAM memory card, originally manufactured by Epson, but also second sourced by Centennial Technologies and Smart Modular Technologies. The cards have not been made since 1998, came in sizes of 32K, 64K and 128K, and were used (apart from Epson systems) in Panasonic word processors and IBM punch card consoles. I am encclosing a couple of pics of the (credit-card-sized) cards.
My friend is working on a vary interesting, computer security-related project that (if my friend is right) might have very interesting implications. All he needs is having a couple of cards read/written, as a one-off thing.
Why is the project interesting? Well, seems pretty well the only remaining major user of the cards is Diebold Systems...
Attachments
256055-Epson-1.jpg (227 downloads)
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#256422 - 19/05/2005 06:27
Re: Obscure memory card
[Re: julf]
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veteran
Registered: 01/10/2001
Posts: 1307
Loc: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Second pic
Attachments
256056-Epson-2.jpg (243 downloads)
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#256423 - 19/05/2005 07:46
Re: Obscure memory card
[Re: julf]
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old hand
Registered: 20/07/1999
Posts: 1102
Loc: UK
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I have, somewhere, one of the old epson calculator/pocket computers that uses those things. I think. I can't instantly lay hands on it, but I've seen the thing around recently, and I'm pretty sure that the cards are the same. That might allow you to write arbitrary data to the card in question.
I'm also fairly sure that the cards had a very simple static memory interface, with address, data, control, and power pins from te internal chippery simply brought out to the edge connector. Farnell sell one that looks very very similar, although it has 38 pins and your one seems to have 40. Given the pinout, it would be easy to make an adaptor to allow a PC to connect to one of the things via the parallel port.
pca
_________________________
Experience is what you get just after it would have helped...
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#256424 - 19/05/2005 08:30
Re: Obscure memory card
[Re: pca]
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veteran
Registered: 01/10/2001
Posts: 1307
Loc: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Quote:
I have, somewhere, one of the old epson calculator/pocket computers that uses those things. I think. I can't instantly lay hands on it, but I've seen the thing around recently, and I'm pretty sure that the cards are the same. That might allow you to write arbitrary data to the card in question.
If it is programmable enough, yes. If you happen to come across it, could you let me know the type of the calculator? That could be helpful information.
Quote:
I'm also fairly sure that the cards had a very simple static memory interface, with address, data, control, and power pins from te internal chippery simply brought out to the edge connector. Farnell sell one that looks very very similar, although it has 38 pins and your one seems to have 40. Given the pinout, it would be easy to make an adaptor to allow a PC to connect to one of the things via the parallel port.
Hmm, yes. Was thinking on similar lines... Problem is that my friend only has a couple of memory cards, all with valuable data on them, so we don't want to fry one by accident...
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#256425 - 19/05/2005 08:55
Re: Obscure memory card
[Re: julf]
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old hand
Registered: 20/07/1999
Posts: 1102
Loc: UK
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I'll hunt it out. It's definitely somewhere near the top layer of the debris, I saw it no more than three months ago during an unsuccessful hunt for the floor  pca
_________________________
Experience is what you get just after it would have helped...
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#256426 - 19/05/2005 09:16
Re: Obscure memory card
[Re: pca]
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veteran
Registered: 01/10/2001
Posts: 1307
Loc: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Quote:
I'll hunt it out. It's definitely somewhere near the top layer of the debris, I saw it no more than three months ago during an unsuccessful hunt for the floor
Somehow that sounds very familiar...
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#256427 - 19/05/2005 12:20
Re: Obscure memory card
[Re: julf]
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old hand
Registered: 14/04/2002
Posts: 1172
Loc: Hants, UK
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Quote:
Quote:
I'll hunt it out. It's definitely somewhere near the top layer of the debris, I saw it no more than three months ago during an unsuccessful hunt for the floor
Somehow that sounds very familiar...
<AOL>me too!</AOL>
I was threatened with eviction (by my mother) or a mandatory skipping unless I cleared some stuff out, so while they were on holiday I filled a wheely bin with old junk.
When I ran the vacuum cleaner across the now-visible floor it went from dark brown to a lighter brown!
Gareth
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#256428 - 19/05/2005 12:45
Re: Obscure memory card
[Re: g_attrill]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
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Quote:
When I ran the vacuum cleaner across the now-visible floor it went from dark brown to a lighter brown!
Eww!
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#256429 - 19/05/2005 12:47
Re: Obscure memory card
[Re: tman]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
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I've got huge boxes filled with various junk in the garage. The thing is that chances are I won't ever reuse any of it but I keep it around just because it might be handy in the future. I need to invest in some bigger shelves I think...
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#256430 - 19/05/2005 13:19
Re: Obscure memory card
[Re: tman]
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veteran
Registered: 01/10/2001
Posts: 1307
Loc: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Quote:
I need to invest in some bigger shelves I think...
I think the traditional anglo-saxon solution is called a "shed".
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#256431 - 19/05/2005 13:21
Re: Obscure memory card
[Re: julf]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
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Quote:
Quote:
I need to invest in some bigger shelves I think...
I think the traditional anglo-saxon solution is called a "shed".
I was actually looking at one yesterday because I was in a large hardware store place. The problem is that I'd fill it up and then need another one and then fill that one up and need another one...
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#256432 - 20/05/2005 05:58
Re: Obscure memory card
[Re: tman]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 13/02/2002
Posts: 3212
Loc: Portland, OR
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Quote:
The thing is that chances are I won't ever reuse any of it but I keep it around just because it might be handy in the future.
I do the same thing. I just moved, and was putting up a towel rack. Due to an unfortunate miscalculation, I got a slightly wrong size of plastic drywall anchor thingy. The old screw didn't fit. The new screw had a head on it that kept the decorative cap from fitting properly. I left the cap off. A week later, I was (finally) clearing out a bunch of "junk" that I'd been carting around for a dozen years, or so, because "I'm honestly never going to use any of this stuff." I found a screw that fit. I couldn't bring myself to throw out any more stuff, because the idea that 'it might be handy in the future' was just validated. 
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#256433 - 20/05/2005 11:59
Re: Obscure memory card
[Re: canuckInOR]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 09/08/2000
Posts: 2091
Loc: Edinburgh, Scotland
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And the only times I have ever been forced to throw stuff out I have needed it within the next couple of months. My cunning solution is to move house every two years...always to one with more rooms/garages/sheds So my wife doesn't see just how much junk I have, I send her off on holiday while I move. I just give her a new address to come home to. Got it right every time so far... 
_________________________
Rory
MkIIa, blue lit buttons, memory upgrade, 1Tb in Subaru Forester STi
MkII, 240Gb in Mark Lord dock
MkII, 80Gb SSD in dock
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#256434 - 20/05/2005 15:45
Re: Obscure memory card
[Re: frog51]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3995
Loc: Manchester UK
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Every two years? When I was a student I moved every year and it used to get on my wick. That said, I'd love to move to a house with a garage and a big study.
For organising my rubbish I found curver boxes to be a godsend.
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Cheers,
Andy M
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#256435 - 22/05/2005 23:16
Re: Obscure memory card
[Re: frog51]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/07/1999
Posts: 5541
Loc: Ajijic, Mexico
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And the only times I have ever been forced to throw stuff out I have needed it within the next couple of months.
I'm taking the opposite approach. I'm clearing out accumulated "stuff" from my basement, making room for the addition of another person and two more cats to the household. Some of the stuff I am getting rid of has been tucked away out of sight and out of mind for more than 20 years now. I have already hauled about eight station wagon loads to the landfill, and I figure the job is less thanb half done. My rule of thumb on whether to keep or get rid of something is ",,,do I have a known, specific need for this item in the next 30 days." If not, out it goes! To that end, I have a LOT of computer stuff that is going away. The impressive part is: it's about $60,000 worth of stuff. The catch is, when it cost $60.000, that was back in the early 1980s. It's probably depreciated in value a liile bit by today... might only be worth $30,000 now. (Yeah. Right. ) It's a bunch of Altos equipment: 1@ Altos 986 w/5.25" floppy drive 2@ Altos 586 w/5.25" floppy drive 2@ dumb terminals 3@ tape drive backup units + a bunch of tapes 1@ 80 MB external hard drive 1@ Texas Instruments TI-810 dot matrix printer Xenix operating system with manuals Informix database system with manuals This equipment is from a business I was part owner of, and when we sold the business for some reason the new owners didn't want our computer equipment. I mean, who wouldn't want a computer with a 16 MHz 8086 processor running a whole megabyte (I think...) of RAM. Anybody who wants this stuff can have it for the cost of the shipping. Otherwise it will go to the recycling center where some idiot will pick it up and take it home and store it in his basement for the next 15 or 20 years... tanstaafl.
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"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"
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#256436 - 23/05/2005 04:12
Re: Obscure memory card
[Re: andym]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 13/02/2002
Posts: 3212
Loc: Portland, OR
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Quote:
Every two years? When I was a student I moved every year and it used to get on my wick.
Bah. Novice.  When I was a student I moved every 4 months. I was in the co-op program, which meant a term at school, followed by a term at work, repeated ad-nauseum until you flunk, quit, or graduate.
As it is, I've never (in my entire life) lived in the same house for longer than 5 years. I don't know how people can stand to live in the same place for their entire lives.
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#256437 - 23/05/2005 04:16
Re: Obscure memory card
[Re: frog51]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 13/02/2002
Posts: 3212
Loc: Portland, OR
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Quote:
My cunning solution is to move house every two years...always to one with more rooms/garages/sheds
I'd like to try that. Only problem is that the going rate for anything more than a 1 bedroom apartment in my locale is a minimum of about $250,000. Close to double that, if you want to stay in a reasonably nice neighbourhood. 
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#256438 - 07/06/2005 08:38
Re: Obscure memory card
[Re: tanstaafl.]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 19/05/1999
Posts: 3457
Loc: Palo Alto, CA
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Ah Altos.... fond memories of the Altos Munich chatserver (altger) on X25 back in, ooo, must have been '85 or '86. If I tried really hard I could probably remember the address
edit: ...but google found it for me. 26245890040004
Still, as a unix box nowadays it's a tad underpowered (but still beats out the PDP11/23+ running Ultrix that I used to have!)
Hugo
Edited by altman (07/06/2005 08:40)
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#256439 - 07/06/2005 10:13
Re: Obscure memory card
[Re: altman]
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veteran
Registered: 01/10/2001
Posts: 1307
Loc: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Well, I was running an even rarer Altos, the 68000. Back in the 80's I was running all of the IT of a sizable architectural firm off one, with 2 x 40 M hard disks, and 8 users (on ASCII terminals, of course). Beats the russian-built PDP-11 clone I used at university
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#256440 - 28/11/2005 12:43
Re: Obscure memory card
[Re: julf]
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veteran
Registered: 01/10/2001
Posts: 1307
Loc: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Thought you might appreciate an update: Hacking voting machines
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#256441 - 22/12/2005 06:38
Re: Obscure memory card
[Re: julf]
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enthusiast
Registered: 29/03/2005
Posts: 364
Loc: Probably lost somewhere in Wal...
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