It appears to be from the family of machines that originated with the GE535 (and GE 645 original Multics), became Honeywell 600 series, became Honeywell 6000 series, became Honeywell Level 66, became Bull DPS8. I can be confident of that much. It is almost identical to the CPU control panel from the Level-66 machines I remember except that ISTR they were black not white. With a better photo (higher resolution) I could confirm that it was a CPU panel, but probably not the model number as several models shared the same control panel. I see on http://www.multicians.org/multics-stories.html that the CPU panel for a 6180 (Multics) looks very similar, possibly identical. Andy

On 9/8/2010 2:22 PM, Nick Allen wrote: Nick, I forwarded the information to Tom VanVleck who owns the multics site, so he can ask the hardware people he knows. I wonder if you could post your higher resolution photos at full quality on a flickr account, or picassa, so the originals were available. Facebook craps on the quality of what otherwise were good photos, so I always post links for stuff I care about. The CHM has at least the IOM of a Multics system, maybe the entire thing. I am sure it is stored in an inaccessible fashion during construction which is underway, but checking there would be good next year to compare with their system cabinets. The Multics Operator Guide describes how to Bootload multics. When the step dealing with the cpu is reached. (you have to set up the tape drive first, then the IOM) the switch that makes everything go is "Initialize" See page 88 of the manual (in the pdf) or 11-3 if you like the manual's page numbers. http://bitsavers.org/pdf/honeywell/multics/GB61-01B_OperatorsGde_Dec87.pdf in #3 of 5 photos you have on facebook there is a toggle on the left side top of the DISPLAY panel marked "Initalize & Clear", which is another term in the manual. I can't read enough of the other terms on the panel this time of night (vision getting blurry for the night) to look in the manual for register terms. As I said I'd like the real deal, not the mangled facebook version of the photos. Jim

So, I acquired a Xerox Alto II XM several months ago, I am still in SHOCK that I am the proud new owner of the Alto, but I still have yet to get it operational. Does anyone here have working knowledge that can help me troubleshoot the Alto (possibly even video chat with me on skype). Also, I am thinking of insuring the Alto, does anyone have ANY clue on the value of a Xerox Alto II XM (I know they are EXTREMELY RARE, however I don't think I have ever heard of any selling at auction, therefore no idea of the value)?