19 Oct
2000
19 Oct
'00
6:54 a.m.
Yesterday, in response to Neil Cherry's post on his DEC machine I wrote:
Just behind the memory is the video frame buffer. It
is either
a VFB02 mono, or a VFB02 color (p/n 54-19469-01).
Correction: the mono video frame buffer is a VFB01
Later Neil Cherry <ncherry(a)home.net> wrote:
According to message I found during a web search, I
may have purchased a
lemon. It states that the machine won't boot without a keyboard and mouse.
Well I don't have any. I'll have to hunt them down and then load *BSD.
To which Mike Ford <mikeford(a)socal.rr.com> wrote:
No idea on mice, but I still have some LK201 and LK401
DEC keyboards.
Hey Neil, given your 'lemon', some water & sugar: Lemonade!
I have also got some spare LK201's. Also buried deep somewhere is
a couple unused hockey puck mice still in the original box, and they
lastest haul included a bag of hockey pucks as well.
Also adding his two bits was "Sean Caron" <sean(a)techcare.com> and he
wrote:
You may have read about the insidious mouse port
dependency on these
machines :)
These systems must have either a mouse or a
"mouse port terminator"
installed on them to boot NetBSD (and others, perhaps) from the graphics
console.
I think
more information on them can be found on the
NetBSD/pmax Web site, or you
could
also probably look it up by typing something like
"DECstation 3100 mouse
terminator" into your favorite search engine.
Here's the info:
: How can I run a DECstation without the display?
: (From the Ultrix FAQ found at ftp.digital.com)
: To turn a DECstation 2100/3100 into a DECsystem 2100/3100 you need to:
: 1. Remove the Graphics board, keyboard and mouse.
: 2. Put a mouse loopback connector in the hole for the mouse plug.
: The loopback connector part number is: 12-25628-01
: To make your own:
: Short Transmit data to Receive Data, pins 2->4 as shown in the diagram.
: (view looking at the plug).
: 5 6 7
: o o o
: 4 o === o 1
: o o
: 3 2
I'm not sure if its a problem if you boot the
system off a serial console
(which, incidentially, you can do; just hook up a terminal to the port with
the printer icon next to it and flip the little DIP switch S3 on the back
of the system - then you don't even need a mouse, keyboard, or monitor).
Sean, here I will have to say: Huh? There is no DIP switch on the back of
a DECstation 3100's. Is this something on the back of a VAXstation 3100?
If so, I thought we decided this was a DECstation 3100.
Unfortunately, unless you have a MMJ terminal (VT3/400
series) you'll need
to either buy or build a converter to break out MMJ to something more
useful. The only problem is that (out here, at least), MMJ plugs are just
about impossible to find and the converters (MMJ->DB25) cost $25 from DEC.
Ouch!
Ouch is right, never knew DEC wanted that much. Maybe I need to take
my shoe box full of 'em to my safe deposit box. ;-))
And then Neil Cherry wrote:
2 ways around that problem, minor surgery (exacto
blade) or major surgery
(remove MMJ and solder in appropriate 6 pin RJ outlet). I think I'll
start with the exacto first. Actually there is a 3rd method I'll try first
and that is the exacto the RJ11 plug so it no longer has the tab on it.
Neil, if you want to use a PC as a terminal and need one, I have a couple
spare MMJ cables. Or in case you want to 'roll your own' I will post a
'fact file' on MMJ. I have posted it here in the past, but probably not
a bad idea to post again.
Mike