>> One of the machines is still in service so, I'll look at the console
>> conections on that system. The owner also stated that he has a "cable" that
>> supports up to 4 terminals. That should make it simple.
woah - our email system's actually running at something faster than a
crawl!! :)
My memory's hazy on this but I seem to recall the following:
There's two connectors on the back of the machine labelled 'A' and 'B'
- one a 9-pin connector and one a 15-pin. 'A' is for the console
terminal and 'B' is for a remote diagnostic modem (ie. a remote
terminal).
Regular serial lines are of two forms: a bunch of 15-pin connectors at
the back, or a smaller number of larger connectors (I seem to remember
my 700 having the latter but the serial card I have that I pulled from
that old 400 has the former). I think what the current owner of 'your'
machine has is a breakout box which converts one big connector to
several smaller, individual serial lines.
I *think* via software you could say where the console was - on the
dedicated console port (which plugged into the system backplane if I
remember right), or on one of the serial board's tty lines. I'm not sure
if there were restrictions in doing this; I suppose there's nothing
special about port 'A' - it's just that a machine might not have any
serial boards installed.
Corrections to that are welcome from other list members, as it's been
several years since I seriously played with one of these systems!
bye!
Jules
>
>
> the console connection was a bit strange I seem to remember and needed
> a custom cable - I do have pinouts someplace if needed...
> the BNC connector at the base of the machine (I think all Towers had
> these?) is for some sort of remote power control (certainly my '700 will
> keep memory contents refreshed in a power cut for several hours) - don't
> plug an ethernet network in here as you'll likely fry something quite
> nicely!!
>
One of the machines is still in service so, I'll look at the console
conections on that system. The owner also stated that he has a "cable" that
supports up to 4 terminals. That should make it simple.
See Ya,
Steve Robertson - <steverob(a)hotoffice.com>
On Wednesday, December 08, 1999 10:31 AM, Jeffrey l Kaneko
[SMTP:jeff.kaneko@juno.com] wrote:
> >
> > Since these aren't just PC clones, I'm gonna go ahead a grab em.
> > Don't really need more *junk* laying around, but what the heck. They
> > aren't too far away and I do have a pickup truck.
>
> If they're anything like the one I have, a small forklift would be
> *very* helpful. These suckers weigh a *ton*. I think I have a
> Model 1632 (it's been awhile since I've looked). 4mb, 68010
> @ 10MHz, MFM drives. Runs SVR3. Won't even support *BSD. Bummer.
>
Got a message back from the owner stating that the 400 can be managed by
one man. I might pick that one up this weekend. Apparently, the 450 is
considerably bigger and heavier. Since it won't be available for a couple
of months, I'll have time to do some planning.
See Ya,
Steve Robertson - <steverob(a)hotoffice.com>
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeffrey l Kaneko <jeff.kaneko(a)juno.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Wednesday, December 08, 1999 9:11 AM
Subject: Re: Free NCR tower in Miami FL.
>MFM disk controller was made by NCR, but it looks like a 'cookbook'
>design using the WD-100x chipset.
>
SMILE when you say that, pahdnuh! That cookbook design is what made the
microwinchester drive so simple to include that anyone with two grey cells
and a little PLL knowledge could put together a winchester interface.
That's why they became so cheap. It was the only way to do your own
controller at a competitive price for several years, until SMC brought out
their 9224 chip. Unfortunately, by that time the patent on RLL recording
had expired, so everybody wanted RLL.
Dick
>> If they're anything like the one I have, a small forklift would be
>> *very* helpful. These suckers weigh a *ton*.
yep, that sounds familiar :)
>> I think I have a
>> Model 1632 (it's been awhile since I've looked). 4mb, 68010
>> @ 10MHz, MFM drives. Runs SVR3. Won't even support *BSD. Bummer.
Unisys also made the same machines at one point but with different
badges on the front apparently, plus NCR had 'internal' model numbers (I
guess that's what 1632 is!).
>
>> These use Multibus cards, I think NCR used an Emulex ethernet
>> controller, supporting NCR's own arcane networking protocol. The
>> install tape I have for it implies that this beast supported an MMU,
>> though (although mine is not so equipped). ANyone know how they did
>> this?
I've hooked one of these things up to a 10Mbps LAN before along with a
Linux box and run remote X programs and stuff, so they do talk TCP/IP
quite happily. Not sure about the MMU - I think by the time things had
progressed to the 68030 the MMU was built in?? (I easily could be wrong
there; aside from the Amiga 500 I haven't had much dealing with 68xxx
chips).
The system boards on these things are huge though - something like 1x4
feet if I remember correctly. My system had sat idle for a while and
didn't boot the last time I tried it about a year ago; I'm hoping that's
something simple rather than a crack in one of the boards somewhere.
>> According to my manuals, the TOWER supported SCSI and ESDI drives.
>> I speculate that they used off-the-shelf multibus boards for these;
>> the tape controller is a stock unit made by CIPRICO (IIRC). The
>> MFM disk controller was made by NCR, but it looks like a 'cookbook'
>> design using the WD-100x chipset.
not sure about the SCSI controller - I remember it having a fair amount
of cache memory on it and quite a few processor chips of assorted kinds.
I actually have the MFM controller with me at home (along with a serial
IO board) but the rest of the Tower stuff is back at my folks place.
to the original poster:
the console connection was a bit strange I seem to remember and needed
a custom cable - I do have pinouts someplace if needed...
the BNC connector at the base of the machine (I think all Towers had
these?) is for some sort of remote power control (certainly my '700 will
keep memory contents refreshed in a power cut for several hours) - don't
plug an ethernet network in here as you'll likely fry something quite
nicely!!
cheers
Jules
>
On Wed, 8 Dec 1999 09:31:48 -0500 Steve Robertson
<steverob(a)hotoffice.com> writes:
>
> Thanks for the info Jules :-)
>
> Since these aren't just PC clones, I'm gonna go ahead a grab em.
> Don't really need more *junk* laying around, but what the heck. They
> aren't too far away and I do have a pickup truck.
If they're anything like the one I have, a small forklift would be
*very* helpful. These suckers weigh a *ton*. I think I have a
Model 1632 (it's been awhile since I've looked). 4mb, 68010
@ 10MHz, MFM drives. Runs SVR3. Won't even support *BSD. Bummer.
These use Multibus cards, I think NCR used an Emulex ethernet
controller, supporting NCR's own arcane networking protocol. The
install tape I have for it implies that this beast supported an MMU,
though (although mine is not so equipped). ANyone know how they did
this?
According to my manuals, the TOWER supported SCSI and ESDI drives.
I speculate that they used off-the-shelf multibus boards for these;
the tape controller is a stock unit made by CIPRICO (IIRC). The
MFM disk controller was made by NCR, but it looks like a 'cookbook'
design using the WD-100x chipset.
Years ago, I passed on an upgrade kit to make it into a 68020.
Another one of those overpriced 'Wierdstuff' deals (sigh).
Jeff
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>
> I'd say they're worth having if you have space and can transport them
> (pretty heavy beasts). You may be lucky enough to get an ethernet
> controller or two as well - I gather that these aren't too common - then
> they'll hook up to just about anything.
>
> Oh, if you get a chance can you see if there's any OS tapes lying
> around?? I haven't got installation media for my 700 so when one of the
> disks goes I'm in trouble... I'm not sure how NCR shipped OS tapes and
> whether one tape would cover a series of Tower systems or not...
>
> cheers
>
> Jules
>
Thanks for the info Jules :-)
Since these aren't just PC clones, I'm gonna go ahead a grab em. Don't
really need more *junk* laying around, but what the heck. They aren't too
far away and I do have a pickup truck.
I'll ask about the OS installation tapes if they're available, I'll let you
know.
See ya,
Steve Robertson - <steverob(a)hotoffice.com>
>> available soon. He says one is a "NCR 400" and the other is a "NCR 450".
>> Both have non-functional tape drives (don't know the problem) and are
>> running SCO Unix.
>> Does anyone know anything about these machines?
Hmm, I don't think any of the Tower series are PC-based clones; they're
all fully-functional Unix boxes. I didn't know they'd run SCO though, my
Tower runs NCR's SVR3.
I scrapped what I seem to remember was a Tower 400 about 6 years ago; it
had a tape drive in it (custom controller I think), MFM disks (about
200MB worth), think it was a 68010 CPU.
I've got a Tower 700 which was a later model - 32MB main memory
(actually 39MB ECC), 68030, 8 serial lines, 780MB SCSI (2 disks), 10Mbps
ethernet, 150MB tape (also SCSI). There may have been a SCSI option for
the 400 series. I have a few docs somewhere which I might be able to
hunt down if you need more info.
Certainly the 700 I have is quite a nice machine - there's enough 68xxx
series processors in it for all the subsystems that it runs pretty
nicely. I was lucky enough to have X Windows installed too. I can't
speak for the 400 that I broke up as one of the disks in it was toasted
so I never saw it running.
I'd say they're worth having if you have space and can transport them
(pretty heavy beasts). You may be lucky enough to get an ethernet
controller or two as well - I gather that these aren't too common - then
they'll hook up to just about anything.
Oh, if you get a chance can you see if there's any OS tapes lying
around?? I haven't got installation media for my 700 so when one of the
disks goes I'm in trouble... I'm not sure how NCR shipped OS tapes and
whether one tape would cover a series of Tower systems or not...
cheers
Jules
>
--- John B <dylanb(a)sympatico.ca> wrote:
I wrote:
> > I still have a Quantum PD1800S that has stiction.
> Ethan, my curious: that HD, did it run hot or bit too much warm?
> That is the primary problem. PD1800S is old design and runs hot.
> Did that HD sit all cooped up behind bezel or internally?
It was the only drive in a SPARC 1 (then moved to a SPARC 2, now it's on top
of a Sparc LX in its own case) It works fine, it just glues the heads down
to the platters on power-down. I don't power it off on purpose, but we lost
power for six hours last month, and *grab*.
-ethan
=====
Infinet has been sold. The domain is going away in February.
Please send all replies to
erd(a)iname.com
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