PAM computer, Convergent?

On Sat, 12 Jul 1997, Sam Ismail wrote: Yep. I just picked up one of these systems myself, last weekend. I'm still a bit baffled as to what can be done with it, but I have boxes of software and manuals yet to work through. Bill Giurnius <thedm(a)somewhere.I.forget> has been helping me out; between the three of us we can probably end up somewhere useful. When you go back for the processor module, see if they've got an extra power supply lying about; I'm still one short. (: Anyway; this machine is Intel based (Mine's one of the first and is an 8 MHz 80186; Bill says that Convergent carried the technology through the 80486) and that bus on the side is called 'Xbus'. It runs a multiuser OS called CTOS which is now owned by Unisys. Apparently, CTOS still has an active (but obscure) development effort behind it, although I'd put it at about the same level as System/36 development. Business oriented, expensive software. Basically, a salvaging the last scraps of your hardware investment sort of deal. Not useful for a hobbyist, anyway. It could run a network of up to 48 machines, by chaining 24 machines to either of two RS422 ports. My box is apparently licensed for standalone use. There is also a 'Miniframe' that Convergent produced, and I've had more luck finding info on. I get the impression, though, that it's more of a standard PC-type box than the modular ones that you and I have stumbled on to. I have the Miniframe FAQ version 0.7 on my box here, in postscript form. I haven't read it yet. The ASCII version I found was only at version 0.3 and not particularly helpful. ok -r