test-drb June 2000

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

160 participants
580 discussions

by rdd＠smart.net

Something's been puzzling me: when I look at my CDC SMD drive, the NCR applications processor, some smaller SMD drives, LEDs in my 11/44, etc., there's something I just don't understand. Why did companies begin hiding blinking lights, status displays, etc. behind covers, in places behind the front panel that aren't obvious at first glance, hidden in boards in a card cage, etc.? -- R. D. Davis rdd(a)perqlogic.com http://www.perqlogic.com/rdd 410-744-4900

25 years, 2 months

NCR model 3401 class 5451

by rdd＠smart.net

Greetings, is anyone here familiar with an NCR model 3401, class 5451 "application processor"? On a hand-written label on the front of the machine there's a description of the memory in it: 8MB, 145ns. This box has the following switches on the front panel, in addition to the power switch: Station ID (two thumbwheels) Load options: local/aux disk/tape primary OS/alt OS BCD restart/system reset diag port: on/off mode: normal/diagnostic ps margin: +5%/normal/-5% On the back of the machine are the following connectors: LS link (low speed link?): pos 0, pos1, pos2 (9-pin) Diagostic port (25-pin - RS232 port?) System bus: channel A, channel B (9-pin) HS link (high speed linl?): pos 4, pos 5, pos6, pos7 (9-pin) One interesting thing about this system is a board labeled "writeable control store" - does anyone know it this is user microprogrammable? On this board are about 45 AMD (I think) 8648 ICs and about 27 8651 ICs, in addition to what I think may be EEPROMs (Fairchild MB7142H), as well as morotola 8644A, 8644B, 8648 and 8649 chips and a few other ICs. Attached to this board is a other board that is apparently the main part of the CPU with about 6 (from what I recall) square ICs, about 1" square, with heat-sinks that I haven't figured out how to remove yet to see the part numbers. Did anyone here purchase the machine like this that was listed on e-bay? Another apparently related NCR box that appeas to connect to the SMD drive only has the following indentification on it: "class H6830-STD1-01-46." Coming out the back are three cables: one that looks like it's got about 50 conductors in it, and two that appear to have about 20 to 25 conductors (these are just my guesses, haven't counted them). There are also two 50-pin connectors. I think this connects to the hard disk, but I can't figure out how, or if, it connects to the model 3401. Is anyone here familiar with the above equipment? -- R. D. Davis rdd(a)perqlogic.com http://www.perqlogic.com/rdd 410-744-4900 -- R. D. Davis rdd(a)perqlogic.com http://www.perqlogic.com/rdd 410-744-4900

25 years, 2 months

Mark your calendars for VCF 4.0: September 30 - October 1

by vcf＠siconic.com

VCF 4.0 is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, September 30 - Sunday, October 1. The venue this year in the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, California. More details to come! Sellam International Man of Intrigue and Danger ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Looking for a six in a pile of nines... Coming soon: VCF 4.0! VCF East: Planning in Progress See http://www.vintage.org for details!

25 years, 2 months

POST code for IBM P-70

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

Can anyone tell me what the POST codes 165 and 221 mean on an IBM PS2 P-70? The CMOS backup battery is good and I've tried to boot from the reference disk but it won't load anything from the disk even though it does read it briefly. Joe

25 years, 2 months

HP-1000E PSU

by fmc＠reanimators.org

"R. D. Davis" <rdd(a)smart.net> wrote: > One slight problem: I'm told that the PSU is bad. Upon removing the > cover from the PSU, I noticed that there are three plug-in boards in > the PSU, and one empty PCB connector, the second one back from the > front. Is this circuit board supposed to be missing? I've not teted > the PSU yet, as I didn't know if doing so with this (optional? a > regulator for a voltage this system doesn't need?) board removed will > damage it. Is it safe to power it up with this board missing? Very likely. I pulled the 1000E Installation and Service Manual (HP p/n 02109-90015, dated Nov 1979) and it would appear that the board your power supply is missing is p/n 5061-1349, the battery backup board, which is only present in 1000Es with the battery backup option. To confirm this, there should be another board, 5061-1351, in another slot in the power supply -- this is a jumper board that is used in place of 5061-1348, the battery charger board, when the battery backup option is not present. I think you'll find this latter board in the slot closer to the front. Looks like the installer is expected to adjust the power supply with it installed in the computer. Test points are on the crossover assembly (A6) that is visible when you remove the top cover, and the main adjustment is the +5V ADJ potentiometer that is visible on the power supply board that is partially exposed when you lower the front cover: it's the one that is under the LOCK/OPERATE switch. Supply voltages are: supply v max cur upper lim lower lim test point +5V I/O 50A 5.25Vdc 5.00Vdc A6 +5V +5V M 4.5A 5.25Vdc 5.00Vdc A6 +5M +12V I/O 2.5A 12.6Vdc 11.4Vdc A6 +12V +12V M 2.0A 12.6Vdc 11.4Vdc A6 +12 M -2V I/O 4.0A -2.2Vdc -1.8Vdc A6 -2V -12V I/O 2.0A -12.6Vdc -11.4Vdc n/a -12V M 250mA -16Vdc -9Vdc A6 -12M (unregulated) +30V I/O 250mA 42Vdc 22Vdc A6 J2 pin 4 (unregulated) The general thing to do at initial checkout is to adjust the +5V ADJ pot 'til the first of these is at +5.15 +/-0.05 volts, then check the other voltages to make sure they're within range. OK, so what about troubleshooting? There's a flowchart, which I'm not going to try to turn into ASCII, but here's the first question after you turn the machine on: are fans running? Beyond that...well, this flowchart looks like it's intended to help you troubleshoot to board level and in some cases transistor level. So supposing the fans are running, the next questions are whether +5V is present at the crossover board test point, and whether it is adjustable as described above. Feel free to ask questions, I'll keep the manual out for the next few days. -Frank McConnell

25 years, 2 months

How do you finance/afford your computer collection?

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> I'm interested in hearing how others on this list afford to > maintain and expand their collections. Especially people like > John R. Keys. 8-D Basically I take money out of my budgest > and buy something when it strikes me. Lately, Ive actually > turned down some of the more popular computer models because > I either have one or more, or space is at a premium. I also > pay monthly for small off-site storage to hold some machines > as I'm reaching over 150 computers+accessories now. Is it > feasible to start a non-profit org to help pay for some of > the costs one incurs while enjoying this hobby or how would > one solicit donations? I am reluctant to become too > commercial or plaster my domain with ads. Ok... what you said... (in other words, ditto...) plus: I rob Peter to buy Paul... I sell family heirlooms (not yet, but it could happen) I sell items from the collection that mean less now than when I acquired them. I look for one-off consulting jobs that involve little or no work and put a small stipend in my pocket. I know when the yearly bonus is coming, and make certain I make the grade. I eat TV dinners instead of grazing at China Buffet; I avoid the temptation to order a pizza to be delivered; I stop buying grocieries onesy-twosy at the Dreary Mart and haul my ass down to Sam's and get a reasonable price. When I'm really desparate to acquire something, I even go back to making iced tea instead buying soft drinks; I can get a fifth of V.O.B. for the price of a pint of Maker's Mark, so I do that. I skip repairs to the Audi; on this one, the law of diminishing returns will kick in soon. Probably other ways I can't think of right now... -dq

25 years, 2 months

DEC MUX cables free

by thompson＠mail.athenet.net

Recently I came across a variety of DEC QBUS MUX cables, and they are available at the cost of shipping. I have several BC19B-12 cables which go from the CXY-08 MUX to 4 DB25 RS-232 ports. I seem to recall someone from the list wanted one of these a while back. I also have large number of BC16D cables which connect a CXA-16 MUX board (the one without the full modem control lines) to the H3104 8 port banjo MMJ patch panels (also available). Let me know if any of these interests you. paul

25 years, 2 months

"IBM's 360 and Early 370 Computers"

by mrbill＠mrbill.net

I've got a in-good-shape copy of this book, which I enjoyed very much- anybody out there an IBM fan, want this book, and have something interesting to trade for it in turn? Bill -- +-------------------\ /-----------------+ | Bill Bradford | www.sunhelp.org | | mrbill(a)mrbill.net | www.decvax.org | | Austin, Texas USA | www.pdp11.org | +-------------------/ \-----------------+

25 years, 2 months

Any AS/400 experts around?

by eric＠brouhaha.com

I'm now the proud (?) owner of an old AS/400, Type 9406 Model B45. Assuming that when we managed to let the rack fall on its side that we didn't destroy it; this is yet to be determined. Anyhow, I have very little (bordering on no) clue about AS/400s, so if anyone else knows about them, tips, advice, help, or the like would be greatly appreciated. The system came with about twelve Type 9332-600 disk drives (600M each), a Type 9348-001 nine-track drive (which is an HP 88780 with a custom front panel), and two terminals (but only one keyboard). It appears that the disks and tape drive are differential SCSI devices with Sun-style 50-pin D-sub connectors. I vaugely recall reading in the past that AS/400s use a weird sector size that is not a power of two; most high-end SCSI drives can be reformatted for alternate sector sizes. The CPU box contains: part feature upper lower slot number number connector connector function ---- ------- ------- --------- --------- ---------- 1 66X4709 3060 16M memory 2 66X4709 3060 16M memory 3 66X4490 3055 8M memory 4 21F5132 2513 processor? tamper seals! 5 93X2120 2514 ??? 6 93X2701 2601 50 female tape interface 7 93X2709 6110 50 female disk interface 8 46F4141 6130 ??? 9 26F5028 6031 50 male 50 male ??? 10 59X4270 6040 25 female ??? 11 93X2737 6110 50 female second disk interface? 12 blank panel 13 blank panel I guess that one of the cards in slot 9 or 10 must be an interface to terminals or to a 3174 terminal controller or the like. The IBM AS/400 web site doesn't seem to have any info on hardware this old. I'd really like to get an ethernet interface. I got factory-sealed 9-track tape distributions of two different releases of OS/400, four tapes each. I gather that there's some sort of license key needed for the software, so I have no idea whether I'll be able to install it. Naturally when I got the machine the seller didn't make any arrangements for a license transfer. For the price I paid I suppose it would be unreasonable to ask them to jump through hoops to do such a thing.

25 years, 2 months

OT: 911 (was Re: A Great Find & A Defense of E-Bay)

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On June 16, Chris Kennedy wrote: > > Well, since you mentioned it, the '95 car I mentioned above is a > > Porsche 911...a car that has changed very little over the years since > > its introduction. > > I suppose it depends on what you define as "changed very little". '71, '73, > '74, '76, '78, '82 and '85 all introduce significant chassis changes. > The liquid-cooled current production engine has only passing resemblance > to the air-cooled precursors and the transaxle has seen radical changes. > About the only thing that is really constant about the car is the shape, > the transmission-in-front-of-differential-in-front-of-engine-layout > and the organization of the engine as a boxer-six. Oh, and the location > of the ignition on the left-hand side of the wheel :-) > > Look hard enough and almost every bit has been radically revisited, which > coupled with the amazing ability to graft in stuff from the 930/34/35 and > even a few 928 bits, makes for *all sorts* of fun for those of us who get > geeky over 911s... :-) When I say "changed very little" I meant compared to certain other models of car we see on the roads these days. Certainly there are dozens to hundreds of changes every year or couple of years...I have an '83 and a '95, and they're very different cars. But, to the non-911-geek, to see them sitting next to each other in a parking lot, they're damn near identical. -Dave McGuire

25 years, 2 months

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test-drb June 2000