4 Oct
2007
4 Oct
'07
2:22 p.m.
I'm not hardware-antipathic; I know which end of a
soldering iron to
hold [the cool one :)], and I've hacked together assorted electronics
on occasion (a few of which I've even mentioned here). However, most
of my on-topic hardware, I have no particular interest in repairing
below the board-swap level.
So, while I can't speak for anyone else in this regard, I can perhaps
address your puzzlement as it applies to me.
Most of the hardware in question is SBus-era Suns. I don't run it
under emulation because an emulator, plus the hardware to run it on,
would cost me a lot more than the Suns cost me (which latter figure is
RIght. I wish people would rememebr that when they try to convince me
that the 'emulator is free'. Yes it is, but the hardware to run it on
isn't and not everybody has a modern PC.
usually $0 + shipping, and often the shipping is $0
because they're
local). Then, consider some additional points:
- Speed - emulators are usually slower than the real thing. An
emulated setup capable of matching the real thing's speed will be
substantially more expensive.
I was under the impression that for many older machines (OK, not Sun
workstations) the emulator running on a fast Pentium-x was considerably
faster than th real thing.
- Hardware compat - I have some oddball SBus cards. I daresay
PCI-to-SBus, ISA-to-SBus, etc, bridges exist, but they will be
expensive, probably difficult to find, and may not even play nice
with the emulator.
Very good point. One reason I use some of the older machines is becuase
of the wide range of interfaces available. HPIB is rare on PCs, very
common on HP machines (:-)), very few PCs have an equivalent to the HP
GPIO port, or the BBC Nicro user port, or ADC inputs, oe...
[...]
Now, some of my stuff isn't SBus-era Suns. Much
of *that* stuff I *do*
want to be able to repair down to the chip level - for example, I have
some hp300 hardware with, I suspect, a blown HP-IB driver (last time I
I can't rememebr if schematics, etc, for thsoe are available. I assume
you've poked about on http://www.hpmuseum.net.
tried to use it I was seeing what looked like a
stuck-at fault). When
I get the round tuits together, I'm going to see if I can confirm/deny
my suspicion, and (if confirmed) pull a compatible driver chip from
something else and do a swap. Perhaps someday I'll be applying the
Of course damaged buffers driving external connectors are quite common.
In older machines HP tended to use standard buffer chips to drive the
HPIB connecotr (things like MC3448, SN75160/75161/75162). They did make
their own custom buffer chip in a 40 pin DIL package (I forget the
number, I can find it, and the pinouts, if you suspect you have it) that
handles all the data and handshake lines (It is just a buffer, it doesn't
do the handshake state machine functions), and which turns up in things
like the 82169, 9122, etc.
same philosophy to (say) the SPARCstation 20, and, if
that happens,
I'll probably then be glad I'm not chucking "dead" hardware....
Oh, indeed. If you don't have the skill or knowledge to repair it now,
keep it for when you do (or give it to someone who does).
-tony