test-drb

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

101090 discussions

by curtis＠hawkmountain.net

Glen Slick wrote: > Curt, > > I also have a 4000-200. There are faster desktop 3100 and 4000 > models, but I think it's kinda cool having the big Q-bus box to tinker > with. ... M7622-AT boards aren't > too expensive on eBay at times, but then you have to pay for shipping > too and that adds up. > ... Yes, but would M7622-AE from Microvax III work in a VAX 4000/200 (my same size module is M7622-AT) ????? > You don't have an ethernet board? Look for a M3127-PA DESQA-SA or a > M7516-PA DELQA-S. They can be cheap at times on eBay. > I have a separate ethernet board (DEC) that came with it but wasn't in it. Does the KA660 have on board ethernet, or no ? (I didn't even think to look) > Don't know anything about a SI-SC 1000. Power up the 4000-200 to the > >>>> prompt and do a "SHOW QBUS" and "SHOW DEV". That should help to >>>> > figure out what address(es) the SI-SC 1000 is at and whether it is > MSCP or TMSCP, or both. If it is MSCP it might support booting from a > SCSI CD-ROM. You could also look for a M5967 KZQSA which will support > booting from a SCSI CD-ROM. > > For the CXA16 and CXY08 you need breakout cable sets. I forget what > the part numbers for those cables are. > > An RF72 is 1GB, RF73 is 2GB, RF74 is ~4GB. They might all work fine > on a 4000-200 with VMS7.3. > Anyone have any DSSI drives 1G or larger for me to expand my storage with (cheap to free is best :-) ) ? > A TF70 is a DSSI TK70. > > Does the 4000/200 support TF70 (if so, why did they ship it with a TK70 and TQK70 controller (presuming it was shipped with them... I don't actually know that it was)) ? Anyone have a TF70 (or other DSSI tape drive) (same cheap to free requirement :-) ) ? I'd like to max the memory... anyone have memory boards for a 4000/200 ? Thanks, -- Curt > Have fun. I'm sure you'll get lots of other helpful responses. > > -Glen > > On Tue, Apr 29, 2008 at 8:04 PM, Curtis H. Wilbar Jr. > <rescue at hawkmountain.net> wrote: > >> I am the 'proud' owner of a VAX 4000/200. >> >> I have not tried to do much with it yet, first I'll indicate it's config, >> then my questions >> (as I'm 'new' to VAX (I admin'd one for a bit 14 years ago... but I deferred >> to several >> folk on campus as I was new to admin'ing VMS and I didn't stay in the role >> long enough >> to really pick much up)). >> >> M9715-AA VAX 4000 internal card (terminates DSSI and SCSI busses) >> M7626-AA KA660 CPU >> M7622-AT 16M Memory >> M7622-BF 8M Memory >> M3108-PA DSV11-S 2 Line Sync Comm >> SI-SC 1000 System Industries SCSI card >> M3118-YA CXA16-M 16 Async Line >> M3118-YA CXA16-M 16 Async Line >> M3119-YA CXA08-M 8 Async Line >> M3118-YA CXA16-M 16 Async Line >> M7559-00 TQK70 Tape controller >> >> are the cards present (from slot 0? (rightmost slot)) >> >> And it has 3 DSSI drives, 2 5.25" RF31 (381M) and 1 3.5" RF36 (in one of the >> 'rail' sets >> that will support 2 3.5" drives) (1.6G). >> >> the 2 RF31s are ID 0 and 1 >> the RF36 is ID 2 >> >> It also has a TK70. >> >> Now onto the questions: >> >> 1. How is 24M of RAM ? Should I be on the lookout for more ? >> 2. What releases of VMS, Vax Ultrix, etc should I limit myself to based on >> 24M and KA660 ? >> 3. Was there a DSSI version of TK70 ? >> 4. 4000/200 does not have SCSI, correct ? (other than someone added an SI >> SC-1000) >> 5. any idea if a SCSI CD can be booted via the SI SC-1000 ? (boot cmds >> would be ?) >> 6. This is supposed to have some version of VMS on it... I have no PW... >> pointers to 'break in' >> procedure and password reset ? What is the default sysadmin account as >> well ? >> 7. There is what looks like a 50 pin scsi terminator (small size like Sun >> 411 case) that I've >> identified as DSSI terminator., What is the 50 pin centronics style >> connector above that ? >> 8. What is a DSV11-S good for ? >> 9. Not that I plan to, but how do you make use of the async cards (they have >> 50 pin centronics >> style connectors) >> 10. Anyone got any more of the 2 3.5" drive mounting assemblies ? >> 11. Anyone got any RF36 or higher density DSSI drives available ? >> 12. Can the DSSI drive 'bus' be converted to SCSI ? >> 13. What is the largest drive/partitions supported on 4000/200 (DSSI or >> otherwise) ? >> 14. Have I asked enough questions ? (What have I forgotten to ask :-) ? ) >> >> How are the 4000/200 machines ? (Other VAXen I have is VAXStation 2000 and >> VAXStation 3100, neither of which is running (driveless))... I find the >> enclosure >> design pretty cool... and for a large box, has nice design (visually)... (I >> know it is no >> SGI... and that it is DEC beige.... but I like the design (doors, badge, >> etc)). >> >> Any drop in cpu/memory upgrades that are worthwhile (in the free to cheap >> territory >> of course :-) ). >> >> Thanks in advance for any cool info/pointers/etc... >> >> -- Curt >> >> >> >> > >

17 years, 11 months

Tektronix Microlab I has been claimed

by hardware＠ees1s0.engr.ccny.cuny.edu

The Tektronix Microlab I has been claimed. -kurt

17 years, 11 months

The collision of classic computer warez and politics

by spectre＠floodgap.com

For once, a political thread that is actually on topic! -- San Diego GOP chairman gets heat for his past as a Commodore 64 cracker. http://rawstory.com/news/2008/San_Diego_GOP_chairman_cofounded_internationa… We should expect more from our leaders. Like some good Apple II cracks also. -- ------------------------------------ personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckaiser at floodgap.com -- When you're in it up to your ears, keep your mouth shut. -------------------

17 years, 11 months

Osborne Vixen drawings

by silent700＠gmail.com

In sorting a small corner of my voluminous Stack of Stuff tonight, I uncovered something I thought I had lost - a stack of apparently original schematic drawings of the Osborne Vixen. I'm not sure how many pages there ought to be, but I have thirteen. I'm wondering: a) are these already scanned and out there somewhere? b) is there any interest in having them scanned and available? c) if (!a and b) and I can't get to an 11x17 scanner that won't destroy them, can anyone handle the scanning for me? (I would like the originals back, though.) Additional interesting trivia - when I found them they were in an official Atari "Petty Cash Reimbursement Envelope." -- jht

17 years, 11 months

tektronix 4205

by Biddr6＠aol.com

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17 years, 11 months

Free to a good home (UK) - bits!

by rtellason＠verizon.net

On Thursday 01 May 2008 18:00, Robert Jarratt wrote: > > -----Original Message----- > On Behalf Of James > > Sent: 30 April 2008 22:20 > > To: General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only > > Subject: Re: Free to a good home (UK) - bits! > > > > > I would be interested in any 50-pin SCSI disks, especially any that are > > > 1.09 GB or less (can't remember the exact figure for sure but > > > thereabouts) and any larger 50-pin SCSI disk that are no more than one > > > inch in height. > > > Regards > > > Rob > > > > Hi Rob, I just checked and the smallest I have is around 2GB. However, I > > do have a few slim 50 pin disks. I'll list the numbers so you can check > > suitability: > > > > 4 * Seagate ST32171N (2GB) > > 1 * Seagate ST32272N (2GB) > > 4 * IBM DCAS-34330 (4GB) > > > > Let me know if you'd like any of these and you can either collect > > (Southampton) or I'll ship them if you cover the costs. > > > > Cheers, > > James > > They look fine. Contact me at rob underscore j37 at hotmail dot com. We can > discuss payment etc off-list. If there's interest, I have some number of "smaller" drives on hand as well, and will be making a list near-term. Any of you guys want some, feel free to email me off-list and we'll figure something out... -- Member of the toughest, meanest, deadliest, most unrelenting -- and ablest -- form of life in this section of space, ?a critter that can be killed but can't be tamed. ?--Robert A. Heinlein, "The Puppet Masters" - Information is more dangerous than cannon to a society ruled by lies. --James M Dakin

17 years, 11 months

Mitsubishi Diamondscan 20m

by chrism3667＠yahoo.com

picked up one of these at a doofis computer flea market this past weekend. Didn't know anything about it in particular, but the switch settings specific to 8, 16, 64 color TTL led me to believe it would be applicable for vintage usage. I was right, following my looking up it's specs on the web. Problem is the thing displays nothing (although tube is emminently functional - considerable static on the face of the tube, and it flashes white when powered down), the only *sign* is the blinking diode next to the up/down contrast or brightness buttons (there's 4 in all, it probably doesn't matter, and I can't remember). Anyone have one, or a manual? It would be a shame if I couldn't get this puppy operational. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

17 years, 11 months

Free to a good home (UK) - bits!

by james＠machineroom.info

> > I would be interested in any 50-pin SCSI disks, especially any that are 1.09 > GB or less (can't remember the exact figure for sure but thereabouts) and > any larger 50-pin SCSI disk that are no more than one inch in height. > > Regards > > Rob > > Hi Rob, I just checked and the smallest I have is around 2GB. However, I do have a few slim 50 pin disks. I'll list the numbers so you can check suitability: 4 * Seagate ST32171N (2GB) 1 * Seagate ST32272N (2GB) 4 * IBM DCAS-34330 (4GB) Let me know if you'd like any of these and you can either collect (Southampton) or I'll ship them if you cover the costs. Cheers, James

17 years, 11 months

hey, have old computer stuff for sale, have to make some room here

by lgburbage＠woh.rr.com

I have a friend who is interested in an original Wico Command joystick for the Atari 800. Do you have one or access to one? Gary Burbage

17 years, 11 months

NeXT MO Dump Offer

by mtapley＠swri.edu

At 12:00 -0500 4/28/08, Gavin wrote: >I have successfully repaired a NeXT MO drive and it is remarkably >reliable... Care to post details? I have two MO drives, both of which are (I think) non-functional... -- - Mark, 210-379-4635 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Large Asteroids headed toward planets inhabited by beings that don't have technology adequate to stop them: Think of it as Evolution in Fast-Forward.

17 years, 11 months

LF: Information on "WordWizard" under NorthStar system

by dave06a＠dunfield.com

Hi Guys, I've been asked to try and recover documents from some Hard Sectored NorthStar diskettes - I'm told they were created with Advantage hardware. I've succesfully made images of the disks using my NST utility (So I know the disks are readable) ... however neither CP/M nor N* GDOS recognizes the disks - all I get it "garbage" when attempting to list the directory. Examining the data on the disk, they do not appear to contain a recognizable directory block. The all do however contain the string "WordWizard 1.2.0 JUN 16 1983P" at the same offset near the beginning of the disk. I'm guessing that "WordWizard" is a word processing package which maintains it's own disk structure, not using OS files. So - I'm looking for information: - Does anyone know what OS WordWizard ran under? - Does anyone have a copy of WordWizard for N* systems? - Any info about the disk structure used by this program? Thanks, Dave -- dave06a (at) Dave Dunfield dunfield (dot) Firmware development services & tools: www.dunfield.com com Collector of vintage computing equipment: http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/index.html

17 years, 11 months

manual wanted for Scion Microangelo MA520, palette card

by eric＠brouhaha.com

The MA520 was a redesign of the MA512, using 64K DRAMs and 2732 EPROMs. It also fixed the problem that the MA512 consumed a block of 16 I/O ports even though it only actually used two. (That was awful if you wanted to use four or eight of the things for color.) I found a scan of the MA512 manual, but nothing on either the MA520 or the palette card. Does anyone have them? AutoCAD-80 apparently supported the Microangelo cards: http://www.fourmilab.ch/autofile/www/chapter2_14.html Does anyone still have a copy of that, or any other interesting software that uses the Microangelo? Thanks, Eric

17 years, 11 months

free: Tektronix Microlab I with complete docs

by hardware＠ees1s0.engr.ccny.cuny.edu

People, I recently bought a Tektronix Microlab I on eBay. It was sold as is, and in fact does not work. If anybody wants to take a stab at fixing it, you can have it. It is some kind of combination trainer/emulator. It has RS-232 and audio in/out to be used by the monitor program for loading programs into RAM. It looks like a microprocessor trainer: hex keypad, LED display, buttons for stepping through and starting and stopping the program. It can support a variety of different processors via personality cards. The card that is in there is for the TI TMS9900. Good luck finding other personality cards. They definitely were produced. When it is powered up, it shows different things on the LED and never responds to user input. I have made no effort at further diagnosis. Who knows, it might just be a power supply problem (linear, I think). It comes with complete documentation on microfiche including schematics. If somebody is interested in fixing it, it's free. -kurt

17 years, 11 months

MicroPdp-11 RQDX1 boot problem

by julianskidmore＠yahoo.com

Hi folks, I refitted the power supply and put the pdp-11 back together. However when I try to boot the pdp-11 from the hard drive it throws up an error 20 on the console, which says there's a controller error. I can't see what the problem is, though something's not quite right. The RQDX1's diagnostics pass on startup - it shows a sequence of leds, and after several seconds they all go off. The pdp-11 startup tests seem to be OK. My ribbon cables between the pdp-11 appear to be connected correctly. The RD52 drive light pops on briefly on boot (as I would expect if it initially spins up), but oddly I don't see a light popping on on the RX-50 drive (though I seem to remember it did). Any thoughts? -cheers from julz @P ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

17 years, 11 months

MicroPdp-11 H7864 power supply question.

by julianskidmore＠yahoo.com

Well, I can answer my own post this time! The J11 connector merely fits onto one of the fans. Thankfully I figured that out before I connected it all up and powered it on! -cheers from julz @P ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

17 years, 11 months

Cartifile

by quapla＠xs4all.nl

Hi All, I have an Unibus interface card for something called 'CARTRIFILE 20/40' >from Tri-data. I googled it, but very litte info is to be found. Can someone tell me more about it? It is a quad slot board with a connector on one side. Thanks, Ed

17 years, 11 months

tape drives

by cclist＠sydex.com

> Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:20:17 -0400 > From: "Roy J. Tellason" > I saw some conversation going by in here recently about Exabyte drives, > only the numbers don't sound anything like what I have, which is marked > "Model: HH CTS". There are all sorts of other numbers on there, for > various aspects of it. Most Exabyte drives have model numbers of the form 8xxx, from 8000 to 8900, then the "Mammoth" models. The basic early 8200 will hold about 2.1G on a standard 8mm tape. Later models require different tapes to take advantage of larger capacities. Quality of the drives are all over the place, from the built-like-a- brick-outhouse 8200 and 8500 to the cheap-hunk-of-plastic 8700. > I'm told that these hold 20G on a tape. The guy I got 'em from > unfortunately doesn't have any tapes to go along with them. One of those > tapes would back up pretty much of what I have on my LAN here, or whole > machines, as they sit. I'm guessing that the interface I'll be looking > at after I take it off of the current mounting plate will be SCSI-wide, > like the CD drives and some of the other stuff I have with it. I suspect that that's 20G "compressed", which is the equivalent of "Chinese electric motor horsepower", i.e. extremely optimistic. > Think I can get 'em going under linux? :-) Sure--just be certain that the SCSI "flavor" matches what you've got on your controller. The general idea is that any SCSI tape drive that supports the standard command set will work with Linux--and probably many other platforms. It's been too long since I did "anybody's SCSI tape backup" software, but the only gotchas are packages that use nonstandard behavior such as read-after-write or strange varieities of tapemarks. Heck, even the command set for auto-changers is standard, being applicable to a little magazine that sits in your tape drive to a bunch of robots crusing racks of 1/2" reel-to-reel tapes. At least in theory, you can use anything from a 1/2" reel-to- reel drive to a DLT without changing software. Most SCSI tape drives feature read-after-write verification, which puts them way above the garden variety consumer "floppy tapes", most of which were garbage, IMOHO. While not as good as DLT, 8mm is head-and-shoulders above 4mm DAT as concerns reliability. The bottom of the barrel, IMOHO, was the Datasonix Pereos 2.5mm format. Cheers, Chuck

17 years, 11 months

Sun 3/80 keyboard issue

by silvercreekvalley＠yahoo.com

I'm in the process of bringing a Sun 3/80 back to life. First - incredibly - the NVRAM on the 3/80 was still functional - ie there is life in the battery after - what -15+ years? Hard to believe, but as far as I can tell the settings are all correct. I'm however short on various items and wondered if anyone had any of these:- I'd like to get an original Sun PS2 to Sun type 4/5 keyboard converter these had the part number 370-2068. I've tried Belkin F1D082 and other more recent adapters with the 3/80 but none work. A borrowed Sun adapter did work though. I dont know what the difference is, but I suspect the Sun 3/80 is expecting the type 4 keyboard only. Secondly, I'd like to find a colour framebuffer for this machine, unfortunately they are not easy to find as the 3/80 had its own unique layout for the sockets, etc. Its somewhat hard to find part numbers for 3/80 colour framebuffers, most are the mono 501-1402 board, so I guess anything other than that might be colour. One known board is the 501-1443 cg4 colour card. I'd be happy to pay say up to $150 for one of those, or if you prefer I can exchange for my spare 3/80, your choice. Anyway - any help appreciated. Thanks Ian. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

17 years, 11 months

CDP-1802 Bonanza

by jpvdg＠cybersmart.co.za

Please help.... I'm trying to purchase the CDP1802 processor and user manual to build the ELF. I have no idea where to get these items...if you can assist please let me know. Many thanks Jeanne-Pierre

17 years, 11 months

Free to a good home (UK) - bits!

by arcarlini＠iee.org

Robert Jarratt wrote: > I would be interested in any 50-pin SCSI disks, especially any that > are 1.09 > GB or less (can't remember the exact figure for sure but thereabouts) Would this be for a VAXstation 3100 or early MicroVAX 3100? If so the magic figure is 1.073GB. I've used 50-68&80 adapters on VAXes with no problem. > and > any larger 50-pin SCSI disk that are no more than one inch in height. VAXstation 4000 VLC? The adapters I used only just fit in there - room is indeed very tight! Antonio No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 269.23.6/1402 - Release Date: 28/04/2008 13:29

17 years, 11 months

NeXT MO Dump Offer

by ball.of.john＠gmail.com

>Gavin Thomas Nicol wrote: > > I have successfully repaired a NeXT MO drive and it is remarkably > > reliable... I have been banging on it solid for a week and it hasn't > > died. Knowing how hard it is to find a working drive, I'd like to > > extend an offer to anyone on the list that has NeXT MO media: I'm > > willing to dump the media so long as you take care of postage both > > ways. I'll send you back a CDROM or DVD with dump, dump.old, tar and > > dd images, and the original media if you want it (I'd be happy to > > hold on to old media if you don't want it). > >Jerome Fine replies: >I use a Sony SMO S-501 MO drive with 5 1/4" media that hold >about 295 MegaBytes on each side for a total of 590 MegaBytes. >I have no idea if these media are the same, but within a few >years, I will likely want to sell most of them all along with >most of the drives. > >However, since I now rarely use the media (when DVD media are >4.7 GB or almost 10 times the capacity), I am confident that >I can start to dispose of many of the S-501 media. > >Anyone interested? Are the media for the S-501 and the NeXT >MO drives different? If they are identical, then there are >a lot of media available (more than 100) for $ 1.00 each >plus postage. > >Sincerely yours, > >Jerome Fine Unfortunately I too own an SMO S-501 and the NeXT OD cartridges are in no way compatible with the drive. The closest relative to the NeXT OD media and the NeXT OD drive is the Canon Canofile which uses proprietary hardware (the drives are a little different but the cartridges are the same). As for your offer I might go for it as I am in serious need of some more media. Where exactly are they and how many do you have? John.

17 years, 11 months

"Vintage Systems" Engineer job at Vulcan

by sellam＠vintagetech.com

Well, here it is, an invitation to apply to your dream job :) Server Engineer (Vintage Systems) This role is responsible for the day-to-day operation and maintenance of a collection of classic and antique computer systems. Responsibilities include installation, troubleshooting, maintenance, and operation of vintage computer systems, including but not limited to PDP-10, PDP-8 and PDP-11 computers and related systems in conjunction with other Technology teams. Duties include software installation, configuration, maintenance, procurement of parts, and certification/performance testing of the various computer systems. When required and on occasion, responsibilities include assisting on special projects. This position also provides first through third tier support and troubleshooting for computer systems at the facility to ensure optimum performance for the clients. http://jobs.vulcan.com/default.cfm?szCategory=JobProfile&szOrderID=1541&szJ… Other requirements not listed in the description include desiring rain over 80% of the year and a preference for dressing in flannel (but I must say, Seattle has probably the best FM radio dial anywhere). -- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org [ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ] [ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]

17 years, 11 months

8251 troubles

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: 8251 troubles > From: Brent Hilpert <hilpert at cs.ubc.ca> > Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:22:08 -0800 > To: General at priv-edtnaa03.telusplanet.net, > "Discussion at priv-edtnaa03.telusplanet.net":On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >dwight elvey wrote: >> >> Hi >> The routines SETUP and COUT are ROM routines. >> SETUP passes the first byte to the clock generator and the >> remaining to the command port of the 8251. The command/status >> port is 1 while the data is 0. >> COUT sends text to a video board. >> The second COUT never seems to get executed?? I give plenty >> of time between characters because I send then manually. >> The board can do interrupt driven serial but that didn't seem to >> work so I went for the simpler polling method. >> >> DI >> CALL SETUP >> ; .DB $01F ; 9600 >> ; .DB $01D ; 4800 >> .DB $01B ; 2400 >> ; .DB $019 ; 1200 >> .DB $0AA ; SYNC >> .DB $0AA ; SYNC >> .DB $040 ; RESET >> .DB $0CE ; 2STOP, NO PARITY, 8BIT , X16 >> .DB $010 ; CLEAR ERRORS >> .DB 0 >> >> MVI A,$027 ; RTD, DTR AND REC-EN TX-EN >> OUT 1 >> >> CALL TIN >> >> CALL COUT ; This works >> >> CALL TIN >> >> CALL COUT ; never gets here >> ...................................... >> >> TIN: >> IN 1 >> ANI 2 >> JZ TIN >> IN 0 >> RET > >I have the datasheet for the 8251A but not the 8251 here, so just some guesses: They are the same except for timing and some quirks/bugs. > - perhaps the 8251 (as opposed to the A) requires the receiver to be re-enabled > (not a full reset) after receipt of each character (an 'explicit ack') (?). Not required. > - .. check the error flags to see if a framing error is occurring? You don't have to but it's an idea. > - .. try sending a stream of (best random) characters at full rate, > as opposed to just 2 manually? This might get around some framing > inconsistency or such to at least see if a subsequent character can be received. ??why. > - (may be inconsequential, but in the init sequence the two sync characters > are not preceded by a mode byte (perhaps SETUP does this internally?)) Thats required only for SYNC mode not async. Allison

17 years, 11 months

Using the TD8-E with the MS8-C memories

by bob＠jfcl.com

>Eric wrote: > However, some PDP-8/a configurations used the later revision of the >M8300/M8310/M8330-YA CPU along with semiconductor memory (usually >MS8-C or MS8-D). In this case, the engineering designation of the CPU is >KK8-F, to distinguish it from a KK8-E which might not have the necessary >stall support. AFAIK the only requirement for using a KK8-E in the 8/A chassis is that the M8320 timing generator board has to include a certain ECO. This is spelled out in the "PDP-8/A Operator's Handbook", p3-3. The rest of the 8/E board set is the same either way, and the modified M8320 still works in an 8/E chassis. I assume that at some point all the M8320s produced had this ECO and thus would work either way. This is the first I've heard about them having a special designation. The manual doesn't say specifically what the TG module ECO does, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if it had something to do with implementing NTS STALL. In any case the change can't have been too complicated since it could be done in the field as an ECO. Bob

17 years, 11 months

Using the TD8-E with the MS8-C memories

by bob＠jfcl.com

Is it possible (i.e. is the CPU fast enough) to use a TD8-E in an 8A6xx machine (KK8-E CPU) and the MS8-C memory? I know the original MOS memories for the 8/A, the MS8-A, were _waaayyyy_ too slow work with the TD8E, but it appears that the MS8C is a lot faster. Thanks to David Gesswein I found a manual for the MS8-C here http://www.pdp8online.com/pdp8cgi/query_docs/tifftopdf.pl/pdp8prints/ms8-c.p df If I read it right, it seems to say that the MS8C has a cycle time of 1.2/1.4us (i.e. just as fast as the KK8-E) and that it does transparent refresh (i.e. the refresh doesn't slow down the CPU at all). And if I'm still reading right, it seems like the only time the MS8C uses NTS STALL is when the processor first starts up (i.e. goes from the HALT state to RUN), and that's just to synchronize the transparent refresh cycles with the CPU. If all that's correct, then it ought to be possible to use the MS8C with the TD8E. Does anybody know if this is true before I pull my hair out trying to get it to work? And if that works, is it also possible to use the KK8-A CPU (slightly slower than the KK8-E) in the same configuration? I have both CPU card sets, but the KK8-A takes fewer slots. Thanks, Bob Armstrong

17 years, 11 months

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test-drb