test-drb

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

101090 discussions

by trash3＠splab.cas.neu.edu

I have the following equpment free for pick up. All or nothing deal. Wrentham, MA. It's going to the scrapper next Wednesday. two VAX 4000-100 two AlphaServer 400 4/233 complete and working when I shut them down a few years ago two VT520 one VR160 MicroVAX 3100 BA42A storage expansion BA360 with 4 drives MicroVAX I, I believe complete, I never powered it up MicroVAX II box/power supply/backplane only, no drives or boards Joe Heck

16 years, 6 months

Free VAX/Alpha hardware

by hoelscher-kirchbrak＠freenet.de

Zane H. Healy & Ethan Dicks wrote: Snip ... >> This reminds me that I still need to take some time to image my >> MicroVMS distro floppies. I'm sure they aren't unique, but I'm not >> sure where I'd get uVMS from the 'net (and ISTR, there are no versions >> of full VMS that fit on an RD51 or RD52). > This is something I for one would like to see preserved. I have a > VAXstation II/RC that ran MicroVMS. To clarify about VMS / MicroVMS versions I've looked into some VMS V4.x tapes and found out the following: Version Type Date written MicroVAX support V4.0 Full 23-SEP-1984 NO V4.1 Update <missing> ?? V4.2 Full 12-JUL-1985 NO V4.3 Update 9-JAN-1986 VMS043.A-COMMON FILES / VMS043.B-VMS ONLY / Saveset VMS043.C-UVMS ONLY V4.4 Full 30-MAR-1986 YES (integral part of all Savesets) V4.5 Update 26-SEP-1986 same as with V4.3 (individual Savesets) V4.6 Full 15-JUN-1987 same as with V4.4 (integral part of all Savesets) V4.7 Update 29-OCT-1987 same as with V4.3 (individual Savesets) That seems to me a rather good proof that MicroVMS versions are (at least from V4.3 onwards) functionally equal (to the extend possible on MicroVAXen) to the corresponding VMS versions. Distribution tapes were identical, whereas the RX50 floppy sets most probably were not (as to save space/floppies). I'm still looking for the following versions: - MicroVMS V1.0 ( = MicroVMS V4.0 ???) - MicroVMS V4.0 - MicroVMS V4.1 - MicroVMS V4.2 - VMS V4.1 - VMS V4.2 MUP (Mandatory Update) - VMS 4.3A - VMS 4.5A - VMS 4.5B - VMS 4.5C - VMS 4.6A - VMS 4.6B - VMS 4.6C - VMS 4.7A Can anybody help ??? All other versions are available to anyone who wants them. Regards Ulli P.S. My MicroVAX I runs MicroVMS V4.4, my two MicroVAX IIs run a VMS V4.6 LAVC together with two VAXstations 2000 Who else has got MicroVAX Is or at least parts to build one??? I'm currently scanning EK-KD32A-OM-002 MicroVAX I Owner's Manual for me & bitsavers.org.

16 years, 6 months

Reviving old environments (was Re: Free VAX/Alpha hardware)

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

On Fri, Oct 9, 2009 at 2:01 PM, Zane H. Healy <healyzh at aracnet.com> wrote: > On Fri, 9 Oct 2009, Ethan Dicks wrote: > >> On that box in particular, I should really get around to imaging the >> drive - it has hardware diagnostics already set-up to test Qbus >> COMBOARDs (the diagnostics themselves are backed up 3 ways, but not in >> a working environment). > > Well... ?Get to work! ?:-) What? Do you have a Qbus COMBOARD? ;-) I think one list member ever has piped up that they found a COMBOARD in a rescued system - we sold a few thousand Unibus "COMBOARD I" (HASP/3780) boards over 12 years or so, a much smaller number of Unibus "COMBOARD II" (SNA), and an even smaller number of Qbus COMBOARDs (HASP/3780/SNA), and by comparison, a microscopic number of VAXBI COMBOARDs (HASP/3780). If anyone still cared about setting up sync links between VAXen and IBMs, I'd have more motivation to work on these sorts of projects, but since I never have gotten the DWBUA working on my 8200 after it moved to my house, I don't really have a ready-to-use environment for testing our old Unibus products (of which I still have a couple tubs). Qbus is easy, as is VAXBI. It was a great product for the 1980s, but I don't really hear any buzz about sync serial comms anymore. -ethan

16 years, 6 months

Old VMS distros (was Re: Free VAX/Alpha hardware)

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

On Fri, Oct 9, 2009 at 11:40 AM, H?lscher <hoelscher-kirchbrak at freenet.de> wrote: > To clarify about VMS / MicroVMS versions... > > That seems to me a rather good proof that MicroVMS versions are (at least from V4.3 onwards) functionally equal > (to the extend possible on MicroVAXen) to the corresponding VMS versions. That sounds right from what I remember. After that point, it became a memory/disk space issue, not an architectural issue. I don't recall when uVAX-I support was dropped, but I don't think VMS 6.0 is supported on an RD54 (though it _can_ be mostly wedged in there). > I'm still looking for the following versions: > > - MicroVMS V1.0 ( = MicroVMS V4.0 ???) I _think_ that might be the case. > - MicroVMS V4.0 > - MicroVMS V4.1 > - MicroVMS V4.2 > > - VMS V4.1 > - VMS V4.2 MUP (Mandatory Update) > - VMS 4.3A > - VMS 4.5A > - VMS 4.5B > - VMS 4.5C > - VMS 4.6A > - VMS 4.6B > - VMS 4.6C > - VMS 4.7A > > Can anybody help ??? I have many of the earlier ones of those, on original media, though I can't guarantee what will read and verify from 20-year-old media. I will certainly give it an attempt. We had an 11/750 on software support from their initial release in 1983 through 1993, MicroVAXen from their release in 1984 through 1993, and an 11/730 that probably used the same media as the 11/750, IIRC. Some of our MicroVAX stuff was on RX50; some on TK50. We ran (u)VMS and Ultrix. I was able to save about 80%-90% of the distro media when the company closed (some of the earlier stuff may have been recycled since TU58s and RX50s were considered "expensive" and "why would we ever want that old stuff anyway). I do have a pile of DEC distro floppies for the Pro series that turned into backup and transfer floppies, so are decorative, but not functional now. :-/ Since I recently went through the exercise of creating a Compaq utilities disk for my Portable II, I'm in better shape to archive RX50s. I'll have to dig out my TSZ07 to image install tapes. I will not get to any of this before Thanksgiving, so please don't ask, but feel free to rattle my cage (offlist, please) if it's January and I haven't made a peep. If you need it sooner, I can't imagine that I'm the only person in the world who still has 15-25-year-old backup media - someone must have much of this stuff spun up somewhere (though I can undertstand not wanting to make it available all the time to random passers-by). -ethan

16 years, 6 months

Free VAX/Alpha hardware

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

On Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 5:15 PM, Rob Jarratt <robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com> wrote: > No rush, I don't have an RX50 at the moment in any case. On your MicroVAX? TK50 only? -ethan

16 years, 6 months

FD1771 Floppy Disk Controller

by swtpc6800＠comcast.net

Does anyone recognize the vendor logo on this FD1771 chip. http://www.swtpc.com/mholley/DC_2/DC2_Photo.JPG I have some National Semiconductor and SMC 1771s. I am looking for an early Western Digital logo. Michael Holley

16 years, 6 months

Free VAX/Alpha hardware

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

On Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 4:03 PM, Rob Jarratt <robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com> wrote: > If you ever image the floppies I would love to get a copy, even though I am > not sure how I would get them to install on my MVII. Could you let us know > if and when you do this? These are original distro floppies from the late 1980s. I'm honestly not expecting 100% success on reading them, but fortunately, the content is far from unique. As to how you might use them - I'd expect that you'd need a stack of RX50-formatted 5.25" floppies and the disk image files and an Intel-based PC running Linux (or perhaps Windows) to apply the image files to the physical media. Armed with a stack of floppies, you'd install VMS the way we did it in the old days - spending an afternoon feeding floppies to SABACKUP. I have many other things on my plate, so I wouldn't expect to get to this before the Holidays. -ethan

16 years, 6 months

Free VAX/Alpha hardware

by keith.boston＠gmail.com

Alright. I, luckily, this time, happen to live about 5 miles away from this generous offer. I'm picking up the entire lot. If anyone needs something specific - hardware/manuals/software, email me and when I go through everything I'll do what I can. --keith www.decroded.com

16 years, 6 months

Rescue help needed in/near Richmond, Texas

by wh.sudbrink＠verizon.net

I would like to acquire a "local pickup only" item in Richmond, Texas. If someone could help pack and ship an item (a little bigger than a 13 inch TV) please let me know. Thanks, Bill Sudbrink

16 years, 6 months

Free VAX/Alpha hardware

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

On Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 10:08 AM, Zane H. Healy <healyzh at aracnet.com> wrote: > Is there anyone close by that can rescue this and the doc's? Not me. Too far. >?This stuff is for the most part worth rescuing. ? ?The MicroVAX I and II can be converted > into a PDP-11 if so desired. I was going to do that myself, but I recently came into a fully working original-model (KDF11) MicroPDP-11, so I'm going to focus on that now (it has 2x MSV11PK for 512K of memory, an RQDX1, and an RD51 (10MB) - at least until I pull some newer cards/disks off the shelf). > ?I think MicroVAX I's are moderately rare. > ?Though since this is in MA, they might not be back there. They were uncommon but not unknown here in Ohio... I got one from a former employer, and another that was DEC-upgraded to a MicroVAX-II (for something like $17,000) when those were new. Since then, though, I've only ever run across one other. Lots of MicroVAX-IIs. This reminds me that I still need to take some time to image my MicroVMS distro floppies. I'm sure they aren't unique, but I'm not sure where I'd get uVMS from the 'net (and ISTR, there are no versions of full VMS that fit on an RD51 or RD52). -ethan

16 years, 6 months

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test-drb