Well, dang it... I'd hoped to have the RA82 subsystem working before I
offered this beastie up, but... I have other projects. Lots of them.
Situation: MicroVAX II in a DEC four-foot rack cabinet, two BA23 boxes
interconnected with the usual bus expansion cards/cables. Has 8 megs RAM,
RQDX3, an RX50 floppy and a TK50 tape drive. Also has a KDA50 SDI
controller hitched to an RA82, and an RD53 70 meg HD hitched to the RQDX3.
And it has a DHV11 8-line serial MUX.
The RA82 passes all its internal tests. The SDI controller passes all its
internal tests. HOWEVER -- the RA82 drive cannot be seen by the SDI
controller. Not in diags, not through the OS. Zilch. I've replaced cables,
tried all three possible floating CSR addresses, changed both SDI boards,
and futzed with the drive until I'm blue in the face. Nada.
It is my belief that the RA82's interface circuitry is misbehaving,
internal tests notwithstanding. I lack another SDI drive to verify things
one way or another.
So, here's the way its coming down. This beastie is up for grabs as of
now. If nothing else, the rack cabinet and cards would probably be useful
to someone. I will continue to work with the RA82, and it will go with the
system, but I'm not going to put a whole ton of effort into it unless
someone on the list comes up with a bright idea.
I'm located in Kent, WA, southeast of Seattle. Please E-mail me if you're
interested and we'll arrange for pickup. NOTE: Unless the recipient is
willing to pay for crating and shipping -- and it will take a pallet and
lift-gate truck to transport safely -- this is going to be local pickup only.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Sysop, The Dragon's Cave BBS (Fidonet 1:343/272)
(Hamateur: WD6EOS) (E-mail: kyrrin(a)jps.net)
"Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own
human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."