I've made some progress on getting my PDP-11/73 system up and
running. I have successfully created an RX50 XXDP boot floppy and
have booted XXDP. My next step was to try to format the RD54 hard
drive. I did this by running the ZRQCH0 (where does this name come
>from anyway!) utility on the XXDP disk. I took all of the defaults
and got the following failure. Does this indicate that my RQDX3
controller is bad or is this likely to indicate a bad hard drive?
.R ZRQCH0
ZRQCH0.BIN
DRSSM-G2
ZRQC-H-0
RQDX3 Disk Formatter Utility
UNIT IS Formattable Winchester (RDnn) or Floppy (RX33) Drives
RSTRT ADR 145702
DR>START
CHANGE HW (L) ? Y
# UNITS (D) ? 1
UNIT 0
Enter controller IP Address (O) 172150 ?
What unit do you want to format [0-255] (D) 0 ?
Would you like to revector a single LBN only [Y/N] (L) N ?
Do you want to use the "AUTOFORMAT" Mode [Y/N] (L) Y ?
Enter unit serial number [1-32000] (D) 12345 ?
**** WARNING ****
ALL DATA ON SELECTED DRIVE WILL BE DESTROYED
Write protect all drives not being formatted.
Please verify that the selected drive is ON LINE
and NOT write protected.
If formatting RX33 media, insert media to be
formatted in the selected drive.
Do you wish to continue [Y/N] (L) Y ?
ZRQC SYS FTL ERR 00013 ON UNIT 00 TST 001 SUB 000 PC: 105742
Autosizer Failed.
Status: Controller Chip Never Interrupted.
ZRQC SYS FTL ERR 00006 ON UNIT 00 TST 001 SUB 002 PC: 105742
Fatal Controller Error During Initialization.
ZRQC EOP 1
2 TOTAL ERRS
DR>
>> Is this the correct way to add the TC11 to my current setup and properly
>> terminate the Unibus by moving the M9312 to the TC11?
>
>Yes, that's the correct way, although I have the M9312 in the CPU box
>(11/34) and a M9302 as the "outside" bus terminator.
I think I'll try to get my TC11, TU56, and H720 mounted in the rack
tonight, move the M9312, fire it up, and see what happens. It would
be nice to see those little DecTapes spinning based on the commands
I am typing on a terminal!
>Well, we have a 11/34 with TM11/TU10,RK11D/RK05,RL01,RL02,RA80,PC11/PC05
>and since at least two years TC11/TU56, everything is in working
>condition.
I might be checking with you again later. I also have a TU10 and a
PC05 that I want to hook up to my system. The TU10 needs to be
reassembled (it was dismantled when it was shipped), and the PC05
needs a good cleaning.
>> I also have a TU55 (single unit) DecTape drive. Are the TU55 drives
>> compatible with the TC11? Can a TU55 drive be added to the above
>> configuration and be configured as a 3rd DecTape drive? Or are the TU55
>> drives not compatible with the TC11? I have skimmed the TC11 manuals
>> and did not see mention of the older TU55 drives.
>
>I don't know, do you really mean TU55 (the old DECtape)? I ask because
>there was a single drive TU56 called TU56H (H for "half").
This is an actual TU55 that I'm referring to, not the single drive
version of the TU56.
Ashley
Hello, Kevin
I plan to travel to England by car, arriving next friday, April 21,
and to visit BP that weekend, to pick up the Teletype.
You have an Alpha-16, that you indicated I would be able to
borrow. Would you consider donating it? If not, is borrowing still OK?
Will it be possible to go through your storage areas, to see what
other CA equipment you may have? Last time we were unable to do that,
because you did not have the key.
I have not yet made definite plans for the weekend. Will both days be
convenient, or is one of the days out of the question?
Kind regards
/Lars Hamr?n
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Lars Hamr?n Tel...: +46( 46)189090
Svensk Datorutveckling Mobile: +46(705)189090
Vadm?llan 211 e-mail: hamren at sdu.se
S-225 94 Lund WWW...: www.sdu.se
Sweden
Found something rather oddish (for this place) at one of my usual junk
hunting grounds. Thought I'd post about it here and see if anyone had any
interest. More importantly, I was wondering if people might be able to fill
in background on what this system probably contained.
DEC H960 Rack with 861C power controller, both side panels present. Back
door present, but 8x10 hole cut in back. There is a DEC header panel at the
top which is shiny silver on the front with the text "VG DataSystem 2000"
screened on it. There is a chassistrak railset, looks like one would use for
an RX02 but it's inner rails only. The 861 power cable was cut on the plug
end. There was also the condor fan and cabling. This rack had a 1/2 height
dec filler panel and I snagged that myself, along with the two (and only
two) filler panel stud mounts. At the back of the rack was some custom
interconnect stuff, obviously used to connect the machine to the outside
world.
There was a rackmount box (removed from rack but available). I believe it to
be a disk controller of some sort. It had a tag on it saying "RKA1-3,
RKB1-3, SYS & DSK?" {the DSK was fuzzy, may not have that right). On the
rear is a 2 position toggle switch marked "NORMAL" and "FORMAT". The front
of the unit said System Industries, and on the back it said "Model
3040-3051". From the back of this box were about 4 or so long ribbon cables
that I was told went to the disk drives (can't verify this for sure).
Lastly there were two identical disk drives, obviously Western Dynex drives
even though they had "System Industries" on the front. I remember them from
microdata days. They were labled XDD-6222-TA45F, 2400RPM, 200TPI. Each drive
had a piece of removable media the media was visually the same as RL02 media
>from the top. One said "scratch disk, all data here will be lost". The other
had a lable that read "VG 2035 F/B Release 7.3 bootable". "UCC system before
converting to rel 8 in Jul 82". Both drives include mounting rails. One
drive appears to have had the fan on the rear removed. The drives appear to
be in fair condition, but probably are just good for parts.
If anyone is really interested in any of it, let me know and I'll put you in
touch with the shop. I may be interested in the dynex drives if they could
be used on my Microdata. If no one takes the rack I may see if he'll sell me
just the condor fan. I'm curious if anyone knows about VG datasystem 2000 or
System Industries.
Jay West
I am getting ready to hook up a TU56 and TC11 to a PDP-11/40 system. I was curious if anyone else here on this list has a working TC11. My TU56 seems to work fine in standalone mode (not connected to the TC11), connected to an H720 Power supply. The capacitors are not leaky and seem to be working fine, although I know I should re-form them or replace them at some point. All voltages are correct coming from the H720. The toggle switches and lights on the TU56 are all working properly and will run a loaded Dectape in forward or reverse.
My current 11/40 configuration has the full 11/40 CPU with all optional modules (EIS, MMU, FIS, M7237, M787), 128KW M7891 MOS memory, RL11 controller, RX01 controller, M7819 EIA DZ11, M7814 20mA DZ11, and an RK11 controller. I currently have an RL01, two RL02s, and a couple of RK05s, and an RX01, and they are all functional. In the last "Unibus Out" slot (which happens to be on the RK11 controller), I have an M9312 bootstrap terminator card. I have various working terminals (VT05, VT52, VT100, LA36, LA120, ASR33) connected via the EIA and 20mA DZ11s. This system works properly and I have used it to boot and run my custom configured RSTS/E V7 system, as well as RT11 and XXDP.
Can anyone with a working TC11 verify that the following will work:
I will remove the M9312 from the RK11 and replace it with a BC11-A Unibus cable, which will connect to the Unibus-In slot on the TC11. In the Unibus Out slot of the TC11, I will place the M9312 bootstrap terminator card. The TC11 will be connected to the TU56 with the M908 and W032 cables.
Is this the correct way to add the TC11 to my current setup and properly terminate the Unibus by moving the M9312 to the TC11?
Does anyone else out there have a working TC11/TU56 on a PDP-11? I am aware of numerous working TU56 / PDP-8 systems, but don't know of anyone who has a TU56 working on a PDP-11. I know people who have them sitting in a rack for "show and tell", but not connected and running.
I also have a TU55 (single unit) DecTape drive. Are the TU55 drives compatible with the TC11? Can a TU55 drive be added to the above configuration and be configured as a 3rd DecTape drive? Or are the TU55 drives not compatible with the TC11? I have skimmed the TC11 manuals and did not see mention of the older TU55 drives.
Thanks in advance for any advice!
Ashley Carder
http://www.woffordwitch.com
Fellow techies,
I have a SuperCartridge 3 font module, as used with the old HP LaserJet 3 printers. Before I remove and erase its EPROMs for recycling/re-use, does anyone have need of the module itself or the data in the EPROMs?
If I don't hear back by, oh... Thursday or so, I'll assume not.
Thanks much.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Owner & Head Hardware Heavy,
Blue Feather Technologies -- http://www.bluefeathertech.com
kyrrin (at) bluefeathertech do/t c=o=m
"If Salvador Dali had owned a computer, would it have been equipped with surreal ports?"
>
>Subject: Re: Buzzing 861C - anyone ever open one up?
> From: ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell)
> Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2007 19:26:53 +0100 (BST)
> To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
>
>>
>>
>> "Jay West" wrote:
>> ...
>> >DEC H960 Rack with 861C power controller
>> ...
>>
>> Which reminds me. I plugged in an 861C yesterday. The breaker seemed a
>> bit "dodgie" as they say, and didn't seem to want to stay on. I finally
>
>They normally ared a bit tricky to get to latch on.
I have three of them here and I've never had a "dodgy" breaker, they latch
quite firmly.
>
>> got it to stay on but when I plugged it in I got a loud buzzing sound
>> from inside the "box". The switch was set to "local".
>>
>> There was nothing else plugged in and the breaker didn't pop but I didn't
>> like the sound and unplugged it. I've never opened an 861C up - what's
>
>Well, you have one. Do you own a screwdriver :-)
>
>Seriously they come apart very easily (just a few screws holding the
>cover on). Obviously unplug it ffrom the mains before you start, but
>there's no serieosu stored charge inside (there are mains filter
>capacitors, but they're quite small).
>
>> inside? I would have thought it was just A/C distribution but I guess
>> there must be a relay come to think of it.
>
>I can't remember which the -C version is (there are at least 5 models,
>115V and 230V, single and 3 phase inputs, etc).
>
>The bnsic design is much the same for all of them. There's a breaker and
>mains filter, the output of that goes to the unswitched sockets, and also
>to a contactor (big relay). The output of the contactor goes to the
>swtiched sockets.
>
>There's a little control PCB inside as well. IIRC in the 861 it contains
>an unregulated supply and a reed relay with 2 coil windings, and some
>diodes.
>
>As you may know, the 3 pin mate-n-lock ocnnectors on the power
>controllers allow you to link up several such controllers so that turning
>on the CPU consople switch also turns on every other part of the system.
>The 3 pins on those conenctors are ground, ground-for-on, and
>ground-for-off, with the last taking priority. The sonsole switch is
>wirted between ground and ground-for-on, any overheating-detection themal
>swtiches are wired between ground and ground-for-off. That way, if any
>part of the system overheats, the whole lot gets turned off.
>
>IIRC, the reed relay has a differentially-wound coil. Grounding the
>ground-for-on line turns the relay on. Grounding the ground-fo-off line,
>if the ground-for-on line is also grounded, will cause both windings to
>be energinsed, the magnetic fields cancel, and the reed relay turns off.
>
>The contacts of the reed relay cotnrol the contactor. This is a problem
>in 230V models, the reed relay is really only rated for 115V, and tends
>to suffer from contact welding when used to switch the 230V contactor
>coil. I've had to thump my 861 to get it to turn off.
>
>Anyway, the contactor does buzz a bit anyway. if you're getting mains at
>the swithced outltes, it should be fine (if you don't get mains there,
>the contactor may not be pulling in properly. In that case it'll buzz
>like mad, and will also burn out fairly quickly.).
>
>A fault on the cotnrol buard is unlikely to cause buxxing. The control
>elemenets, the reed relay and the contactor, are too slow to repsond at
>60Hz. So even if there's ripple on the cotnrol board supply, it doesn't
>normally cause the thing to buzz.
The buss is nothing bad. Usually it's just the contactor mechanically
buzzing I have only one that does that and either cycling it or giving
it a sound rap (purcusive maintenace) makes it quiet down.
Allison
>
>Subject: Re: Some progress with my PDP-11/73 system
> From: David Betz <dbetz at xlisper.com>
> Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2007 15:44:04 -0400
> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
>
>>> utility on the XXDP disk. I took all of the defaults and got the
>>> following failure. Does this indicate that my RQDX3 controller is
>>> bad or is this likely to indicate a bad hard drive?
>>
>> Since the controller handles the RX50 OK, almost all of it must be
>> working. If the LED on the RQDX3 goes out a few seconds after
>> resetting, with the RD54 disconnected, the RQDX3 has passed its
>> self-test. From the error, I'd say possibly the RD54 has never
>> been formatted on an RQDX3, or more likely something is wrong with
>> the jumpers or connections.
>>
>> Double check that the drive select jumper is correct (normally it
>> should be DS3; does the drive's LED flash when you run ZRQC?), that
>> the little control board in the front of your BA23/BA123 with the
>> READY and WRT PROT buttons is properly connected and those switches
>> are set correctly, and that the cables from the distribution panel
>> are connected correctly (with both the RD54 cables connected to the
>> lower-numbered port). It's just possible you have too old a
>> version of the firmware on the RQDX3 (what are the EPROM numbers?)
>> or that its jumpers (eg W23) are set wrongly, but this is less
>> likely I think.
>
>You were right about needing to switch drive select to 3. That made
>it possible to format the RD54 drive. It formatted successfully with
>40 bad LBNs and 7 retired. I also tried formatting my five RD53s and
>one formatted successfully with 27 bad LBNs. The other four failed to
>even be detected as far as I can tell. Is there any point in playing
>with these or would I be better off just trashing them?
I'd explore swapping boards or rechecking jumpers first, the try ZRQC?
again. RD53s tend to have spindown disorder, spin up then spindown.
If they do that generally there is a fix. If they spin up and you can
hear the head mech load then something else likely on the boards is
bad or wrong.
>Also, how bad are 27-40 bad LBNs? I know that they can be mapped out
>but is this a sign that the drive is dying?
Thats common for MFM drives and the OS or controller will manage
it usually. However, if you see an increasing number of bad LBNs
or they are all on one head that can be an indicator of impending
failure.
Allison
Anyone have a 9 track SCSI (preferred) or pertect interface tape
drive in the Western NY area they want to part with?
thanks
David Barnes
davebarnes AT adelphia DOT net
OpenVMS , Tru64 , Solaris , Linux , OS X , SGI Irix
Another question....
Does a TU56 normally have rack-mount rails? I have two TU56 drives and neither of them have rails. How are these typically mounted?
