I am the proud owner of a Microvax II (in addition to the 2 at work),
thanks Carlos. I have it safely home, unfortunately it will be idle for
a while as the garage needs to be cleaned, a bunch of construction needs
to be completed before I have time to play (probably January!). Anyway
I now need to find out as much info as I can about the beast. Does anyone
have the link to the part number translation? Where can I get the pin outs
for the card ports? Are there any docs for writing device drivers?
The reason for these questions is that Carlos gave me a rather interesting
board. It contains 1 68 pin DIP with TRW on it (I'm betting it's a Moto
68K chip). It also contains a bunch of TTL, DAC's and what look like op
amps (I have to check the numbers). It also has an unusual RF connector
but has no ROM or RAM. Any idea's? Am I going to need a scratch monkey?
BTW is it easy to design boards for the Microvax. This Analog board seems
really simple. Designing an intelligent SCSI board wouldn't be a lot more
difficult (I didn't say anything about the Vax driver).
--
Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry(a)home.net
http://members.home.net/ncherry (Text only)
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/lightsey/52 (Graphics)
http://linuxha.sourceforge.net/ (SourceForge)
On Oct 17, 2000; Neil Cherry <ncherry(a)home.net> wrote:
> I just got my VS3100 and it has no drive (I expected that). It has a part
> number of PM20A-AB. It has ~16M of RAM, a Video ram sim and nothing else.
> What do I have? What RAM can this beast take? How large a drive can it take?
> The only other marking are BA42A and CPU KN01.
And then after some list discussion, he wrote:
> So now I'm really confused as to what I have.
You mention the number PM20A-AB. That is the model number for a
DECstation 3100. Given the assumption that is what you actually
have, here is some info.
The DS3100 will take up to 24mb of RAM using 2mb SIMMS,
model no MS01-AA, part number 50-19464-02. AKAIK, that is the only
memory module you can put in it.
Just behind the memory is the video frame buffer. It is either
a VFB02 mono, or a VFB02 color (p/n 54-19469-01).
There is a mounting plate over top of the motherboard where you
can mount RZ2x drives and an RX23 floppy depending on which mounting
plate you have.
For some other info on the DS3100 see:
http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/pmax/models.html
An excerpt from that site:
Maximum of 24 MB RAM in 2 MB pairs (memory part number MS01-AA)
1024x864 framebuffer option module, either mono (with memory part number
VFB01)
or 8-bit color (with memory part number VFB02). Both provides 16x16
hardware
sprite cursor
SII SCSI-I controller with obscure external connector (HONDA68 male; wide
SCSI-3-like, but other gender)
AMD LANCE 10 Mbit Ethernet interface with switchable AUI and BNC connectors
DC7085 four-port serial chip (DZ-11 clone)
Two MMJ-6 serial ports, with maximum speed of 9600 baud. One port has partial
modem control, the other has none.
DIN-7 connector for mouse and MMJ-5 connector for keyboard.
(An adaption-connector can make these ports usable as RS-232 serial ports
with no modem control.)
> The only other marking are BA42A...
This is a SCSI expansion box for mounting RZ5x drives and various
tape drives (TZ30, etc.). This box is generic enough that is usable
on other DEC machines, as well as other brands.
Are there any drives in the BA42, which by the way is aka SZ12
I have never heard of any other OS other than Ultrix, and according
to the above URL NetBSD has been ported to it.
Mike
On Tue, 17 Oct 2000, Charles P. Hobbs <transit(a)lerctr.org> wrote:
On Tue, 17 Oct 2000, Mike Ford wrote:
>
> > Hah! the local GoodWill computer store got nailed last year and now must
> > buy a copy of windows for EVERY PC they sell.
>
> Gee, even a Mac?
Only if Bill Gates gets his way.
One on EBAY at the moment.
Item #468816857
Know nothing about it, just happened to see it.
Kelly
In a message dated Wed, 18 Oct 2000 10:52:58 AM Eastern Daylight Time, "Ram
Meenakshisundaram" <rmeenaks(a)olf.com> writes:
<< Hi,
Is there any SCSI-based *floppy* drives either in 3.5 or 5.25 (3.5
preferred) format? I might need one for a project I am working on...
Ram
>>
>X-POP3-Rcpt: jfoust@threedee
>From: "Bob and Jennifer Usher" <jlazyb(a)fone.net>
>To: <jfoust(a)threedee.com>
>Subject: IBM PC Needs New Home
>Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 14:54:48 -0600
>X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3110.1
>
>Dear John,
> I was pleased to find you on the Web under "computer rescue." We have an IBM original PC that needs a new home. Below is a letter that my husband (retired IBM) sent to a local museum which declined to accept the donation. Would you be interested or know of anyone else who might be?
>
>Dear Mr. Westley:
>
>Thank you very much for taking the time to speak with me by phone recently regarding the IBM personal computer that I would like to donate to your museum. Before you meet with your Acquisitions Committee, I thought it might be helpful for you to have a thorough list of the items I propose to include in the donation.
>
>As I told you over the phone, the system unit (processor), the monitor, the keyboard, and the dot matrix printer are all in their original packing cartons and will be delivered to you this way. In addition, we have all of the original documentation that was provided with the machine still in original packaging as well and floppy disks containing software. In going through our paperwork, we discovered that we also have, and would be happy to provide to you for historical purposes, the original invoice for the purchase, IBM product announcement brochures, a complete list of IBM personal computer products and retail outlets (as of 1981), details of the purchase plan, and some print-outs of BASIC programs that ran on the computer.
>
>To recap the history of the computer: When IBM first announced the release of personal computers early in 1981, it was clear that IBM employees would want to be among the first to purchase them. The company had a long history of employee purchase plans for its office equipment, so a program was developed for employee purchase of the new personal computers, too. Because it was anticipated that a large number of employees would want to buy PCs immediately, a lottery system was developed. All IBM employees throughout the country who wanted to be in the first group of purchasers turned in their orders in October of 1981. All orders received were then scheduled for delivery based on the outcome of the lottery. My shipment was scheduled for October of 1982, about in the middle of all of the employee deliveries for that first round of purchases. I was living in Chicago at the time I placed the order, but was transferred to Tampa effective in October of 1982, so we stopped at Compute!
r La
nd to pick up the computer on moving day as we were driving out of town. The next year I was transferred to Boulder and eventually retired to my present home in Mancos where the computer is now.
>
>I hope this information is helpful to your committee. If you or they have any further questions, please feel free to call me at 970-533-9060.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Bob Usher
>
> By the way, John, who are you? Do you "collect" computers for yourself or an employer? How would you put this one to "use"?
>
> Hope to hear from you soon.
>
>Sincerely, Jennifer Usher
Hi
Sometimes I think I may be the only vintage computer collector in
Quebec, Canada.
I would like to hear if anybody else does any collecting around here
(Montreal area)
I have yet to find anybody to trade or talk collecting face-to-face
anywhere around here even if I have posted on several montreal
newsgroups that I am looking to buy/trade this kinda stuff...
When I mention I collect vintage computers, people look at me like I am
due for a trip in the "wacko wagon"...
Computers are tough to find here (not like california...) I have managed
to accumulate/fix/restore approx 50 micros (all working) from the
197x-198x early 1990's...lotta books, software and peripherals...
Those who feel sad for me can send me their Lisa's, TRS model IIIs and
Next boxes ;->
...things I will probably never find around here and I refuse to
purchase them on ebay for a zillion bucks...
Thanks for reading
Claude
First off, I'd like to thank you for all the help you have given me. I
had to take a break from the PDP-11/34 for a while, but I'm back now. I
think the computer is working OK now, but I still can't get the printout
on the console. I double checked the settings on the DL11-W. When I turn
on the computer, the RUN light flashes for a split second, and the
readout reads 000002. How do I examine and deposit? I'm using a LINK
terminal emulating a VT-100. I set all the communication settings to
match the DL11-W, but what do I do with these settings:
Main Rcv Hndsk
Main Xmt Hndsk
Main Rcv Level
Ignore 8th Bit
Communications Mode
Disconnect
I've tried this with a Null Modem Adapter, and without. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Owen
--- ajp166 <ajp166(a)bellatlantic.net> wrote:
> > Crystal CS8900 Ethernet
>
> DELQA
What are DELQAs going for these days? All I have is a DEQNA. :-(
Also, are there any VAXBI experts out there? I have a DEBNT that did
not come in my machine and I need some help with installing it (where
the cab kit plugs into the I/O section of the VAXBI bus, especially)
-ethan
=====
Even though my old e-mail address is no longer going to
vanish, please note my new public address: erd(a)iname.com
The original webpage address is still going away. The
permanent home is: http://penguincentral.com/
See http://ohio.voyager.net/ for details.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Messenger - Talk while you surf! It's FREE.
http://im.yahoo.com/
--- Jim Strickland <jim(a)calico.litterbox.com> wrote:
> > Remember the discussion of a few days ago. Well the rule for VMS
> > is DEQNA is not obsolete, just unsupported.
>
> Seriously? I have this vague memory of VMS 5.5 turning off the deqna
> interface and not paying attention to it because it was unsupported.
> This may have been when we were trying to boot the uvax II from the
> cluster server though. And it's been almost 10 years now, so I may be
> misremembering the whole thing.
Well my recent (last night) experience suggests that what you remember is
true. I was refitting my BA123 with a CPU, 8Mb of PMI memory, my one-and-
only DEQNA and an RQDX3 and stuffed into it a bootable RD54 from a VS2000
that happens to have VMS 5.5 and some stuff to fire up a LAT server and
clustering. The startup bitched mightily about the presence of the DEQNA
and casual reading of the error messages seemed to tell me that VMS 5.5
cluster manager did *not* like it one bit.
Because the machine is standalone at the moment, I didn't pay much attention
to it all. Eventually, I do need to get something working with Qbus and
Ethernet (so I can begin to make physical backups of some 9 track tapes I
have sitting here). I'll have to either stuff a KDA50 in this beast and
use my MDA SDI<->ESDI box (dual 1.2Mb disks) or hang a couple of RD53s
off the RQDX3 and limit myself to one or two tapes at a time before shooting
them down the pipe.
Ah the good old days...
-ethan
=====
Even though my old e-mail address is no longer going to
vanish, please note my new public address: erd(a)iname.com
The original webpage address is still going away. The
permanent home is: http://penguincentral.com/
See http://ohio.voyager.net/ for details.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Messenger - Talk while you surf! It's FREE.
http://im.yahoo.com/
From: John Lawson <jpl15(a)panix.com>
> Off Topic: Shortwave radios. I have gotten hold of an ICOM PCR-1000,
>which is the actual 'radio' parts of a modern full-coverage receiver,
>
> www.icomamerica.com and look in 'recievers' for more info.
>
I checked on it and by my standards, mostly useless. It would
have to be very quiet to make a ~2uV senstivity useful and it has
no SSB/ISB capability.
Allison