10 Nov
2001
10 Nov
'01
10:22 a.m.
Matt London wrote:
Hi guys,
Just had a MicroVAX II delivered. It's in an intresting configuration -
in two 19" racks :&)
Anyway, decided to work out what I've got and get things to a point
where I can get her up and running. Unfortunatly, she was
"decomissioned" using a rather large knife, or bolt cutters, judging from
from the damage to just about every cable protruding from the back
(including cables connecting HDD's to CPU).
Just to summarise what there is (more complete list to follow when I
remember to take a pen and paper with me to the office):
o two SMD HDD's - I'll get make/model next time I'm down
o a cipher (?) tape drive (9 track I think?) - again, I'll have to get the
model number later
o two BA23 cases (which I brought home to check out)
It looks awfully as if someone else has pulled some cards at some point,
but here's what's in the BA23's
BA23 number 1:
Front bays: a TK70
Backplane:
A B C D
1 empty
2 KA630 (Quad Width)
3 DATARAM 40918 rev D Assy 62404 Rev D (Quad Width)
4 Emulex QU3210401 (Double Width)
5 Emulex CU021042 Rev F <-- (Quad Width)
6 Emulex CU021042 Rev F <-- (Quad Width)
7 Emulex CC0910401 TQK70
8 empty empty
Looks like there are cab kits for the KA630, and I think there's a board
(and a surviving cable for!) the CC0910401.
(KA630 cab kit in A, B, C, E & F open, D has a blanking plate)
BA23 number 2:
Front bays: an RX50 (minus cable - a PC floppy cable shouyld do the job
right - so long as it's just straight through 34pin, no twist?)
Backplane:
A B C D
1 empty
2 M9405
3 empty
4 M9047 M9047
5 Emulex TU0210401 Rev C
6 M7555 M9047
7 empty M9404
8 empty
No cab kits. (But slots A, D, E and F have no blanking plate and are open)
Now to me, that doesn't look right. The BA23 is QQ/CD for the top 4 slots
and QQ/QQ serpentine for the bottom 4 - right?
I have an awful lot of half cables where they've just been cut right
through the middle - that gives me the feeling it might be tricky to get
this working.
So basically, any pointers on how this might have been configured (there
was one HDD and one BA23 in each rack, with a tape drive in the rack which
had BA23 number 2 in it. Along with any pointers on the best way to get
things up and running again. I didn't get any media for this (besides the
two HDDs).
It looks like one of the HDD's (both are SMD) has a 3 phase PSU - I'm not
going to be able to provide 3 phase (more info tomorrow when I can get to
it)
Oh, and what's J6 on the BA23 PSU for? it looked to be hooked up to a
cable in BA23 number 2's rack.
Oh - and I got a DECserver 90M (which I presume is a terminal server). No
PSU for it tho - anyone got any clue how to test that?
Any thoughts? :&)
Thanks,
-- Matt
Jerome Fine replies:
I thought I would wait for someone who is more aware of the details to answer,
however, that does not seem to have occurred.
(a) The use of 2 * BA23 boxes was an attempt by DEC to allow up to 14 1/2
quad slots within this dual configuration - after subtracting the "1/2 slot"
required
in to "top" box and the "full quad slot" required in the
"bottom" box for the
expansion boards needed to connect the two BA23 boxes.
(b) In the BA23, the first THREE slots are ABCD. The other FIVE slots
are ABAB as for function.
(c) The bus grant chain, I look at the backplane from the rear of the BA23 box
with the top slot being ABCD. Then the top slot can also be LEFT or AB and
RIGHT or CD. The bus grant order is then:
1L 2L 3L 4L 4R 5R 5L 6L 6R 7R 7L 8L 8R
(d) Assuming that the same boards are used in a uVAX II environment as with
a PDP-11 (both are 22 bit Qbus), the usual board placed at the end of the
chain (8R) in the "top" box is the M9404. The M9404 requires only the last
dual
position in the top BA23 box. The M9405 is then placed at the beginning of the
chain (1L) in the bottom box. Since 1R can't have a dual board, the whole quad
slot is lost. Of course, the M9404 can be placed further up the bus grant chain
in the top box if that is preferred and is probably done to balance the load
between two BA23 boxes.
(e) The M9047 board is just a bus grant.
There is a lot more I can say, but since I confine myself to running only PDP-11
systems, I am not on firm ground with the uVAX II. However, I can suggest that
unless there is some reason you wish to continue with the SMD drives, that you
look to other types for hard disk storage. The problem with the RQDX3 (M7555)
is that the largest drive is the RD54 at about 160 MBytes. If you can find a Qbus
host adapter at a price that is OK for you (they still seem to be very expensive as
far as hobby use is concerned), then 2 GByte SCSI drives are now relatively
inexpensive and much more suitable for VMS.
Sincerely yours,
Jerome Fine