28 Jun
2002
28 Jun
'02
7:01 a.m.
--- Patrick Finnegan <pat(a)purdueriots.com> wrote:
I seem to remember someone saying that the DECservers
are basically a
Q-Bus PDP-11 system. Is this correct, or am I thinking of something
else?
As Eric Dittman already pointed out, you are correct in the case of
the DECserver 500 and 550. There is a (labelled) KDJ11 board on a
Qbus. I have one (the CPU board, not the DECserver).
Also, does anyone know what they're based off of
and if it's possible to
make them boot a 'conventional' os by changing their bootroms?
My board was so modified (by someone else). I have not had a chance to
play with it yet - it has a BA213-style DEC handle and I have no
compatible enclosures. My choices are to use a Qbus extender (for
testing, obviously) or to drill off the handle and replace it with
an older one or to get a newer enclosure. I think I will eventually
get a BA213 chassis (seeing as how one went for $20 at Dayton with the
KA655 board, memory, disk controller and two DELQAs still installed!)
but temporarily, I might remove the handle. One minor problem with
that is what to do with the diagnostic LED and console MMJ - in a BA-213,
it fits nicely on the bracket (unlike a console I/O panel for, say,
a MicroVAX I or II in a BA23) I was thinking of making an extender cable
for a BA23, but hadn't gotten around to punching holes in a metal plate
to mount it.
AFAIK, there will be no perceptible difference between a KDJ11 board
from a DECserver 5xx and a _real_ MicroPDP-11/53 cpu
board - they both
have some locally mounted RAM, same boot ROMs, etc. Your
operating
system will probably not see any difference - it's the same card once
you have the same firmware in it.
-ethan
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com