20 Jun
2009
20 Jun
'09
9:15 a.m.
I recently acquired two complete original DEC KM11 maintenance panel
board sets (the board with the four toggle switches and bank of
incandescent lamps) and the other "extender" board with the
transistorized drivers for the lamps.
From what I've been able to tell, these boards can
be used for
diagnosing things at the microcode level on (at least) the first
generation microcoded Unibus PDP 11's (11/35, 11/45, 11/05) as well as
diagnosis of the RK11 disk controllers (with an appropriate plastic
overlay for the indicator lights). The question I have is can this be
used on an 11/34a to step through the microcode?
The 11/34a runs fine so I don't need them for actual diagnostic work,
but it'd be at least cool to try out the KM11s (I understand that two
are needed) and watch the lights if they in fact will work on the
11/34a. I've dug around in the usual places to try to find the answer
myself, and have come up empty. Also, if the KM11 can be used on the
11/34a, does anyone know of documentation that explains how to use it in
this context?