test-drb

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101090 discussions

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Bill Degnan > Very useful, thanks. Eh, de nada - glad to help contibute to the knowledge base. > I will try this. With MM11-U gear, or MM11-L? I ask because, like I said, I still don't have 100% clarity on the MM11-L situation. I am pretty sure there are old MF11-L backplanes that can't be upgraded to parity this way (i.e. removing the jumper), and may not be upgradable to parity at all (i.e. it might take etch cuts that are 'impossible', if they are on the bottom side of the PCB). There's that jumper that should be there on non-parity units, but does not seem to be there on some older backplanes (so you can't remove it to make the backplane parity-capable); arguing that it's probably hard-wired in the etch on those older backplanes? And there seem to be a couple of pins that need to be bussed acros, for the MM11-L units to 'talk' to the parity controller. And if the parity jumper isn't there, logically those bussing etches might not be there either. So I have a little work ahead of me with an ohm-meter... Speaking of the jumper, and bussed signals: the parity board input pin that that jumper is connected to (when the parity board is not there) must be bussed to all three group locations in the MF11-L backplane, as a wired-OR of their proto-SSYN outputs. If it were daisy-chained among the three groups, you've have to put the board sets in in a specific order, no? (Otherwise a gap would lose the signal from the group(s) on the far side of the gap.) And there's nothing like that in the manual. Something else to check out on the prints and/or with a meter.. Anyway, please report back on your experiences, so if there's any useful info you pick up, we can learn from it. Noel

9 years, 11 months

Looking for a small fast VAX development machine

by stark＠mit.edu

I work on Postgres and we have always claimed to support VAX machines but have the caveat "Code support exists for M32R and VAX, but these architectures are not known to have been tested recently." in our documentation. Recently I started a project to get a member in our build farm building Postgres for VAX to fill this gap. So far I've been using simh but I would be really interested in getting a decently fast VAX that doesn't take too much space (or power) to run builds on. I am currently in Europe (Dublin) but will be visiting NYC, Florida, and Montreal in the upcoming months so this is a good chance for me to pick one up without paying exorbitant shipping if there's any around. -- greg

9 years, 11 months

Another MEM11 Status update

by ggs＠shiresoft.com

I've been simulating parts of the MEM11 FPGA since the last time I sent out an update. Most of my time has been writing various testcases and getting them to work on Xilinx's iSIM simulator. I'm making pretty good progress and have tested a fair number of the modules in the MEM11 FPGA design. I have found some bugs in my code but most of the problems have actually been in my test cases. So far I've tested (and they "work"): * Various "register" modules that I've written * Reset sequencer * Status jumpers and status LEDs * LED panel interface for the RF11 LEDs * FRAM interface * absolute and periodic timers * Hardware multiplier * DMA FIFO These all form the high level blocks that the J1 micro will interface to. My test code is actually using the registers and register addresses (MMIOs) that the J1 would use. The next blocks to test are the UART interface and all of the various aspects of the UNIBUS interface (which I've partitioned into about 6 distinct modules each of which will be tested separately). I'm still undecided with the UART as to how far to go in creating a behavioral model for the UART part itself (vs just making something that has the appropriate number of registers and can "wiggle" the interrupt line). I did create a behavioral model for the FRAMs but that was relatively easy (just some big arrays). Once I have the UNIBUS tested out, I'll figure out how to get the J1 to execute some test code and I'll re-run all of the tests on the full FPGA design with tests on the J1. I'm pretty excited as I'm not finding a lot of issues with the design. However, the UNIBUS modules may have more issues due to the relative complexity of what's going on there. Plus the test cases will be much more involved (ie I have to write tests to not only initialize the various aspects of the UNIBUS module but also generate correct UNIBUS transactions with correct timing). However, I'm getting better at writing the testcases and what I usually run into now are typo's. TTFN - Guy

9 years, 11 months

Omnibook 425/430 drivers?

by derschjo＠gmail.com

Hi all -- Got myself a small toy, an Omnibook 430 (486sx-25, non-backlit VGA display, runs off 4x AA batteries. fun.) It came only with the "System" Card (as opposed to the "System/Applications" Card), which has just enough to boot DOS and provide a few utilities, but nothing more. I'm working on getting Windows 3.1 running and I'd like to find an appropriate driver for the mouse, socket services, etc. I've pulled the drivers and utilities off of the System/Application card >from my Omnibook 300, and it's sort of working, but there are issues (the mouse stops working after the system goes to sleep, for example). I haven't been able to find a source for these (and HP's site has nothing, of course...) Anyone have any leads? Thanks, Josh

9 years, 11 months

VAX-11/730 success!

by tmfdmike＠gmail.com

Thanks to those who helped and advised; I discovered a problematic pin on the TU58 10-pin DIP connector. With this fixed, TU58EM worked correctly and the console code loaded. The CPU passes diags as far as the RL02 test; not surprising as there's no RL controller or drive - or the special diag pack! - installed. On a point of order... is there any reason an Emulex UCxx Unibus SCSI controller wouldn't work in this machine? Anyone with any experience there? If it emulates an MSCP disk closely it should Just Work? I'm thinking a SCSI2SD solution to give me a reliable one-box system... Mike http://www.corestore.org 'No greater love hath a man than he lay down his life for his brother. Not for millions, not for glory, not for fame. For one person, in the dark, where no one will ever know or see.'

9 years, 11 months

Xenosoft in New Haven CT?

by woyciesjes＠sbcglobal.net

A friend asked me if I had heard of a company called Xenosoft.... Now why does that sound familiar, in regards to this bunch here? Her daughter was contacted by a headhunter about a clerk position in New Haven CT.... -- --- Dave Woyciesjes --- ICQ# 905818 --- CompTIA A+ Certified IT Tech -http://certification.comptia.org/ --- HDI Certified Support Center Analyst -http://www.ThinkHDI.com/ Registered Linux user number 464583 "Computers have lots of memory but no imagination." "The problem with troubleshooting is that trouble shoots back." - from some guy on the internet.

9 years, 11 months

MM11-U/UP core memory backplanes

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

So I have some MM11-U UNIBUS core memory cards, and in trying to locate a backplane to plug them into, I remembered a story I'd read on Guy's Web-site about some issues he'd had with parity and non-parity operation: http://www.shiresoft.com/pdp-11/11-10/index.html and mention of the backplanes as being specific to parity and non-parity operation. So, I figured I'd better make sure what kind of MM11-U's I had, and get the correct backplane (MF11-U or MF11-UP). So I looked at the prints sets, and... the part number for the parity and non-parity backplanes is the same. WTF? Extensive further digging finally turned up this, in the "MF11-U/UP core memory system maintainence manual" (DEC-11-HMFMA-B-D, 3rd Printing, November 1974): 5.2.3 "Installation Procedure" "A backplane jumper is required from B1U1 to B2U1 for non-parity memory. This jumper should not be present for parity memory." Which makes sense. Apparently, for parity operation, SSYN is routed through the M7259 Parity Controller, and it only issues the SSYN once it has checked that the parity is OK. So, on non-parity installations, the 'proto-SSYN' from the rest of the memory is just hard-wired straight to the output to the UNIBUS (hence the jumper). Also, since the MM11-L system uses the same parity controller board (M7259), it seems a reasonable conclusion that there should be a similar jumper on the MF11-L backplane, and I have found such a jumper on some MF11-L backplanes, but I have yet to find anything in any DEC documentation about it. Speaking of MM11-L/ME11-L/MF11-L backplanes, there appear to be at least four different etch revisions (and I suspect the earliest one cannot be tweaked to run parity, since it _doesn't_ have that jumper on it). But that's for another day! Noel

9 years, 11 months

Best name for PDP-11/05-10

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Mattis Lind > The NC is in the BA11-D 10 1/2 inch box. It uses the H750 PSU. Odd. I have an -11/10 in a 10-1/2 box with an H750; the metal plate on the back of the box just says "PDP 11-10" (well, the '-' is actually a dot, at the level of the '-'). No 'NC'. I wonder if that's a configuration designator, not a model? {At this point, IRL, I did a whole lot of reading and looking.} I looked in some old PDP-11/05-10 price lists... (More "11/21"s... :-), and did find some -11/05 models with pretty large alphabetic model designators, e.g. "11/05-LB", but no "11/10-NC". However, the "Options and Modules List" online from June, 1974 _does_ list the "11/10-NC" - it describes it as "KD11-B, BA-11DC 10.5 INCH BOX, MM11-L, KY11-JE, CONFIG 4, 115V". There's also an "11/05-NC", the same except for a "KY11-JD" (that must be for the different number printed on the faceplate). No idea what the "CONFIG 4" means... However, the real victory came when looking in my just-acquired copy of DEC-11-H05AA-B-D.pdf. I see it also includes a "DEC-11-H05AA-B-D Supplement 1", which is the "PDP-11/05, 11/10 10 1/2 inch mounting box and power system" - and that _does_ describe the NC/ND (120V/240V). And those have a slightly different backplane (below) from the ones described in DEC-11-H05AA-A-D; so that's a fourth model of -11/05-10 backplane - and it does differentiate the -11/05N-10N (as I will call them) from the others. > I have three machines with three different backplanes. One 11/05-NC, > one 11/10 in 5.25 inch box and one 11/05-S in BA11-K. What kind of backplane does the second one have; one of the 2xMM11-L CPU backplanes (one with, and one without, an SPC slot), or the 1xMM11-L? > NC can have two MM11-L. No SPC slots. Got it. I was very confused, because the 11/05-10 manual (DEC-11-H05AA-A-D) says that the 2xMM11-L backplane has one SPC slot (the last one, IIRC). However, as noted, the -11/05N-10N apparently has a different backplane, to accomodate the M9970 dual console serial line connector card. (That backplane isn't documented in the DEC-11-H05AA-A-D -11/05-10 manual I'd been looking at - that manual doesn't show a space on the 2xMM11-L backplane for that card). However, the later "PDP-11/05, 11/10 10 1/2 inch mounting box and power system" manual _does_ describe it; and in adding a slot for the M9970, they lost the SPC slot in the 2xMM11-L backplane. So I guess that's the one you're talking about here? > From: Bill Degnan > The more useful box is the S model because the more standard enclosure > can be used for testing other UNIBUS cards more easily or than parity > RAM. ?? How is is better? The BA11-D box will hold hex cards? Or are the SPC slots in the 11/05-10S backplane MUD slots? Or is it just that the BA11-K will hold DD11-C/D backplanes, with MUD slots? (I don't know if there are any MUD backplanes that go into the BA11-D - at least without a hand-mod to the power connector.) Noel

9 years, 11 months

PDP-11/20 vd one that just says pdp 11 what are the date differences?? OEM?

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Michael Thompson > The white paper tag for the system configuration says that it was > configured on 3/3/73 with a KC11 processor That's an -11/15, then. The -11/20 has a KA11 processor. So the front panel just says "pdp-11"? Noel

9 years, 11 months

Keys - Non-Ace was RE: ACE Key codes (xx2247 etc.)

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

I'll put the list of ACE keys (and codes, as we get them) on a website on the classiccmp server for posterity. Actually, this whole thing came up in my brain due to tracking down keys for a Pr1me machine (non-ace). But I did find there is apparently a service http://key.me where you take a picture of your key with their app, and they mail you a copy (or if there is a kiosk of theirs in your area, you can do it real time there). They must have some "internal representation" of a key such that a key (any key, any size, including car keys that are those "grooves") can be stored "digitally" and downloaded. I wonder if similar art exists such that we could store "whatever is necessary" to reproduce keys other than ACE ones (rack cabinets, etc.). It would have to be something that can be presented to a locksmith to make... Just a thought... J

9 years, 11 months

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