I have a license for VMS 5.2 and was considering buying a working system to run it on. My
microvax I finally gave up the ghost, and I would rather spend time learning than going
through repair at the moment.I have many of the parts below from the uvax 1, but who knows
whats working and whats not, I need to test.
I have a good configuration for the MicroVAX II to build on, but I was looking at the
MicroVAX 3900 since the price disparity is not too significant.
Unfortunately, I don't have a good hardware build plan for the 3900. I am hoping I
can get some good guidance here.
My largest concern is that the hardware is supported by the OS more than anything else.I
want to stick with QBUS.I need to have more than 4 async serial ports with modem control
(so I can hook it up to other systems) considering the DHV11I need ethernet, thinking
DEQNAIm considering the TK50 tape (I would go tk70 if I knew it was backward compat,
I'm just not sure)I dont know which disk controllers to get. I'm guessing it
should be in the KDA50 with RA82 disks, but I have no idea, just guessing.The standard
RX50 floppy.Looking at the VCB02 for video, just as a nicety.And then 64Mb ram.
I have never dealt with the 3900 hardware at all, and I have the hobby funds to procure
something that works.Guessing that I can do it for less than $2k even if I had to buy all
"new" parts. Obviously I want to limit cost as much as possible, but I would
also like to be able to run netbsd on the hardware at a later date if it was interesting
to do so.
I understand that the 3900 can be converted to a microvax III+ with some upgrades, but
will it run VMS 5.2?
Any recommendations?Kevin