At one time DEC left it up to the branches whether or not to maintain
non-DEC parts. The switch would help by disabling the device while running
diags and doing other maintenance. Nobody wanted to be liable if a non-DEC
board had to be pulled.
Paul
On Mon, Jul 23, 2018 at 11:57 PM, Paul Birkel via cctalk <
cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Birkel [mailto:pbirkel at
gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2018 2:36 AM
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
Subject: RE: Strange third party board in PDP-11/45
...
From the ABLE marketing literature:
CACHE/ 45 (CACHE BUFFER MEMORY) INSTALLS IN: PDP-11/45, -11/50 and -11/55
CAPACITY: 2048 byte (1 K word).
ENHANCEMENT FACTOR: Run time reductions to 50% (100% speed improvement) are
achievable.
CACHE PARITY: Automatically goes off-line in event of any data error.
RANGE SELECTION: User may optimize hit ratio by upper/lower limit switch
settings.
SPECIAL FEATURE: Cache/ 45 can be enabled via software or console switches.
Presumably that's what Mattis has in-hand.
-----
https://books.google.com/books?id=hYD3sny2NzEC&pg=PA23&
lpg=PA23&dq=ABLE+Comp
uter+technology+ACT+DEC+%22CACHE/45%22&source=bl&ots=
b15iACJbMd&sig=oLMrJMn2
qEFmxiKSMIhpLF5qYnk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjcyvzi87TcAhVOw1kKHdc5A
8kQ6AEwAHoE
CAIQAQ#v=onepage&q=ABLE%20Computer%20technology%20ACT%
20DEC%20%22CACHE%2F45%
22&f=false
Computerworld, Page 23, July 26, 1976
ACT Has PDP-11/45 Buffer
SANTA ANA, Calif. - Able Computer Technology (ACT) has a 2K-byte cache
buffer for use with the Digital Equipment Corp. POP-11/45.
The Cache/45 is contained on a single printed circuit board that plugs into
the
system's chassis.
Buffer control is provided over every core memory address location on the
Unibus. A switch within the memory buffer permits a choice of either
on-line
or off-line operation, the company said.
The buffer costs $7 ,000. ACT is at I 538-E Chestnut St., Santa Ana, Calif.
92705.
(Somewhat strange use of the expressions "on-line" and "off-line"
operation,
IMO.)
I presume that the reason for "single printed circuit board" is that only a
single "normal" slot is occupied.
paul