29 Apr
2001
29 Apr
'01
9:31 a.m.
Does anyone have any empty DEC Storageworks SBB cases
available? I'm trying to find some 5.25" cases I can
stick a CDROM drive and DLT drive in to use with my
Storageworks shelves so I can hot-swap the drives
between my two systems.
--
Eric Dittman
dittman(a)dittman.net
29 Apr
29 Apr
2:29 p.m.
Does anyone have any empty DEC Storageworks SBB cases
available? I'm trying to find some 5.25" cases I can
stick a CDROM drive and DLT drive in to use with my
Storageworks shelves so I can hot-swap the drives
between my two systems.
Good luck, the 5.25" ones are so rare I've never been able to get my hands
on one. Your best bet for finding one for a semi-outragous price (as
opposed to totally outragous price) is eBay.
I'm pretty much totally StorageWorks for my DEC gear, and I often wonder
why I don't get smart and move to a 3rd party solution. Though I can't
wait to get a house so I can fire up my StorageWorks RAID arrays :^) Just
got a DEC PCI Diff card so I'll be able to connect to one of them on Friday.
I for one would love an affordable CD-ROM SBB, and TZ88 or TZ89 SBB :^)
Still figure the odds of that happening!
Zane
--
| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator |
| healyzh(a)aracnet.com (primary) | OpenVMS Enthusiast |
| healyzh(a)holonet.net (alternate) | Classic Computer Collector |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
| Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
| and Zane's Computer Museum. |
| http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |
3:30 p.m.
Does anyone
have any empty DEC Storageworks SBB cases
available? I'm trying to find some 5.25" cases I can
stick a CDROM drive and DLT drive in to use with my
Storageworks shelves so I can hot-swap the drives
between my two systems.
Good luck, the 5.25" ones are so rare I've never been able to get my hands
on one. Your best bet for finding one for a semi-outragous price (as
opposed to totally outragous price) is eBay. I'm pretty much totally StorageWorks for my DEC
gear, and I often wonder
why I don't get smart and move to a 3rd party solution. Though I can't
wait to get a house so I can fire up my StorageWorks RAID arrays :^) Just
got a DEC PCI Diff card so I'll be able to connect to one of them on Friday.
I've got a BA350, BA356, and RaidArray 310. I'd like to get
another HSZ20 to use with the one in the RA310 for redundant
backup. Even better I'd like to get an HSZ40 (or two). I'm
using the RA310 in a SCSI cluster with two PWS500au systems
with a FWD card in each box.
I for one would love an affordable CD-ROM SBB, and
TZ88 or TZ89 SBB :^)
Still figure the odds of that happening!
I have a DLT4000 (the same as a TZ87). I'd like a TZ88
or TZ89, but the DLT4000 works okay for now (and was
much cheaper than a TZ88).
--
Eric Dittman
dittman(a)dittman.net
30 Apr
30 Apr
5:09 a.m.
I've never seen empty 5.25" SBB cases on eBay.
I'm hoping
to find some cases that people have pulled the guts out of
to use somewhere else or have had the drives fail.
OK, I think you've got a point there, it's rare enough that I see empty
3.5" ones up there. However, I think I have seen CD-ROM's in the SBB's
before. Just out of my price range, IIRC.
I've got a BA350, BA356, and RaidArray 310.
I'd like to get
another HSZ20 to use with the one in the RA310 for redundant
backup. Even better I'd like to get an HSZ40 (or two). I'm
using the RA310 in a SCSI cluster with two PWS500au systems
with a FWD card in each box.
I forget what the beasties I've got are called. Three shelves for disks,
and one shelf for the RAID Controllers. I'm pretty sure the controllers
are either HSZ40's or 50's. Then there are the 4 BA350's. I'm still
looking for at least one BA356.
Now how on earth are you getting a FWD card to work in PWS500au's, or maybe
I should ask which card? That's a KZPSA isn't it? I tried the KZPSA I
just got in my PWS433au, and it wouldn't boot, as it complained about an
unrecognized card.
I have a DLT4000 (the same as a TZ87). I'd like a
TZ88
or TZ89, but the DLT4000 works okay for now (and was
much cheaper than a TZ88).
I just got a DLT2000 (unfortuantly not quite the same thing as a TZ86), but
haven't tried it out yet.
At one point my primary server was an AlphaStation 500/333 with two BA350's
and a Exabyte Jukebox. I've trimmed that down to one BA350 to save power,
and the weekend before last I replaced the AlphaStation 500/333 with only
96MB of RAM with the AlphaStation 200 4/233 with 384MB of RAM (can't afford
RAM for the 500, but got the RAM in the 200 for free from a friend) so I
could run DECwindows on it, though I'll probably eventually swap it with
the PWS433au in the next few weeks.
Zane
--
| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator |
| healyzh(a)aracnet.com (primary) | OpenVMS Enthusiast |
| healyzh(a)holonet.net (alternate) | Classic Computer Collector |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
| Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
| and Zane's Computer Museum. |
| http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |
6:24 a.m.
I've got a
BA350, BA356, and RaidArray 310. I'd like to get
another HSZ20 to use with the one in the RA310 for redundant
backup. Even better I'd like to get an HSZ40 (or two). I'm
using the RA310 in a SCSI cluster with two PWS500au systems
with a FWD card in each box.
I forget what the beasties I've got are called. Three shelves for disks,
and one shelf for the RAID Controllers. I'm pretty sure the controllers
are either HSZ40's or 50's. Then there are the 4 BA350's. I'm still
looking for at least one BA356. Now how on earth are you getting a FWD card to work in
PWS500au's, or maybe
I should ask which card? That's a KZPSA isn't it? I tried the KZPSA I
just got in my PWS433au, and it wouldn't boot, as it complained about an
unrecognized card.
I'm using KZPSA cards. I've got an ISP1040A built-in as well
on one of the PWS systems and an Intraserver U2W/Ethernet card
in the other. The Intraserver is a leftover from when I was
using a PC164LX system. I'm going to replace the board set
in the other system with a set that includes the ISP1040A.
At that point I'll remove the Intraserver card. That's
another reason I want to find a couple of empty 5.25" SBB
cases; I want to avoid trying to use the built-in ISP1040A
controllers with external devices (which is not supported
but may work).
I have a
DLT4000 (the same as a TZ87). I'd like a TZ88
or TZ89, but the DLT4000 works okay for now (and was
much cheaper than a TZ88).
I just got a DLT2000 (unfortuantly not quite the same thing as a TZ86), but
haven't tried it out yet. From what I've read the big difference between the
DLTx000 drives and
the equivalent TZ8x drives is the TZ8x drives will read TK50/TK70
tapes,
but I haven't tried yet. I suppose one could try to write the TZ8x
firmware in the DLTx000 drives, but I'd rather just buy a cheap TK70
off eBay than risk destroying my DLT4000.
At one point my primary server was an AlphaStation
500/333 with two BA350's
and a Exabyte Jukebox. I've trimmed that down to one BA350 to save power,
and the weekend before last I replaced the AlphaStation 500/333 with only
96MB of RAM with the AlphaStation 200 4/233 with 384MB of RAM (can't afford
RAM for the 500, but got the RAM in the 200 for free from a friend) so I
could run DECwindows on it, though I'll probably eventually swap it with
the PWS433au in the next few weeks.
The AS200 4/233 was my first Alpha (my wife bought it for me
to replace my VS3100, which I still have). I followed that
with a couple of PC164 motherboards, then a PC164SX (which
can't run VMS, so I used it for Digital Unix until I sold
it), followed by a PC164LX, followed by three PWS500au systems
(one of which has a ruined case but was bought as it had a
2MB cache module). I have someone digging up a replacement
case, and I'm on the lookout for two more 2MB (or 4MB if
I get lucky) cache modules. The PWS500au systems displaced
the PC164 and PC164LX systems for VMS, so the PC164LX is
my Tru64 system now. I also have a VS4000-60 running. The
two VS3100 systems are kept around just-in-case, and I have
a MVII which I'm mentioned is in line for a PDP-11 transplant
as soon as I find a CPU and memory.
--
Eric Dittman
dittman(a)dittman.net
7:35 a.m.
Now how on
earth are you getting a FWD card to work in PWS500au's, or maybe
I should ask which card? That's a KZPSA isn't it? I tried the KZPSA I
just got in my PWS433au, and it wouldn't boot, as it complained about an
unrecognized card.
I'm using KZPSA cards. I've got an ISP1040A built-in as well
on one of the PWS systems and an Intraserver U2W/Ethernet card
in the other. The Intraserver is a leftover from when I was
using a PC164LX system. I'm going to replace the board set
in the other system with a set that includes the ISP1040A.
At that point I'll remove the Intraserver card. That's
another reason I want to find a couple of empty 5.25" SBB
cases; I want to avoid trying to use the built-in ISP1040A
controllers with external devices (which is not supported
but may work).
You're going to remove the Intraserver card?!?!?! If it was me I'd be
putting a couple decent sized U2W SCSI disks on that sucker, instead of
messing around with UW or worse SCSI disks! I'd really like to add an
Intraserver card with a 3rd party tower of Ultra160 disks, that's my
long-term plan.
BTW, it sounds like your ISP1040A is on the Motherboard itself? My
controller is a PCI card, while running Narrow SCSI devices off the
connector on the board isn't supported, it works. You can plug your UW
SCSI disks to the 68-pin connector, and Narrow to the 50-pin connector.
What are you using for Graphics Cards? I've got an Elsa Gloria in my
PWS433au, and it totally sucks. I get definite ripple on the left side
when scrolling web pages in Netscape, and some problems when doing other
things.
From what I've read the big difference between the
DLTx000 drives and
the equivalent TZ8x drives is the TZ8x drives will read TK50/TK70 tapes,
but I haven't tried yet. I suppose one could try to write the TZ8x
firmware in the DLTx000 drives, but I'd rather just buy a cheap TK70
off eBay than risk destroying my DLT4000.
That's the difference, however, as far as I know, it's not a firmware
issue, it's a calibration issue. I'm not worried about reading TK70's
really, but it would be nice to be able to read TK50's, still I've a TZ30
for that.
The AS200 4/233 was my first Alpha (my wife bought it
for me
to replace my VS3100, which I still have). I followed that
with a couple of PC164 motherboards, then a PC164SX (which
can't run VMS, so I used it for Digital Unix until I sold
it), followed by a PC164LX, followed by three PWS500au systems
(one of which has a ruined case but was bought as it had a
2MB cache module). I have someone digging up a replacement
case, and I'm on the lookout for two more 2MB (or 4MB if
I get lucky) cache modules. The PWS500au systems displaced
the PC164 and PC164LX systems for VMS, so the PC164LX is
my Tru64 system now. I also have a VS4000-60 running. The
two VS3100 systems are kept around just-in-case, and I have
a MVII which I'm mentioned is in line for a PDP-11 transplant
as soon as I find a CPU and memory.
Sounds like as bad of a menagerie as I've got around here, though instead
of the PC164 stuff I've got a DEC3000/300LX and the AlphaStation 500/333.
I just unlobotomized and increased the PDP-11/73 I've got in a MVII BA123
Chassis, I got a quad-hieght /73 board for it in place of the dual-hieght
/73 I'd been using and some other stuff. It's *SO* nice finally running
with a full blown board, and having the console at 38,400 instead of 9600!
Zane
--
| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator |
| healyzh(a)aracnet.com (primary) | OpenVMS Enthusiast |
| healyzh(a)holonet.net (alternate) | Classic Computer Collector |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
| Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
| and Zane's Computer Museum. |
| http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |
1 May
1 May
5:54 a.m.
Now how on earth are you getting a FWD card to work in
PWS500au's, or maybe
I should ask which card? That's a KZPSA isn't it? I tried the KZPSA I
just got in my PWS433au, and it wouldn't boot, as it complained about an
unrecognized card.
I'm using KZPSA cards. I've got an
ISP1040A built-in as well
on one of the PWS systems and an Intraserver U2W/Ethernet card
in the other. The Intraserver is a leftover from when I was
using a PC164LX system. I'm going to replace the board set
in the other system with a set that includes the ISP1040A.
At that point I'll remove the Intraserver card. That's
another reason I want to find a couple of empty 5.25" SBB
cases; I want to avoid trying to use the built-in ISP1040A
controllers with external devices (which is not supported
but may work).
You're going to remove the Intraserver card?!?!?! If it was me I'd be
putting a couple decent sized U2W SCSI disks on that sucker, instead of
messing around with UW or worse SCSI disks! I'd really like to add an
Intraserver card with a 3rd party tower of Ultra160 disks, that's my
long-term plan. BTW, it sounds like your ISP1040A is on the
Motherboard itself? My
controller is a PCI card, while running Narrow SCSI devices off the
connector on the board isn't supported, it works. You can plug your UW
SCSI disks to the 68-pin connector, and Narrow to the 50-pin connector.
The ISP1040A is on the slot board. There were two different revisions
(that I know of) of the PWS-au systems. One has the Intel I/O chipset
on the mainboard, no SCSI on the slot board, and no USB ports. The other
has a Cypress I/O chipset on the mainboard, ISP1040A SCSI on the slot
board, and two USB ports. You can't mix-and-match the mainboards and
the slot boards, either (I tried, it didn't work, confirmed on c.o.v).
I will need to keep a SCSI CDROM on a different controller if I can't
find an SBB case, and the DLT on one of the systems.
What are you using for Graphics Cards? I've got
an Elsa Gloria in my
PWS433au, and it totally sucks. I get definite ripple on the left side
when scrolling web pages in Netscape, and some problems when doing other
things.
Right now I am using a VT525 with a 19" monitor. I was using an Else
Gloria, but the speed was bad enough that I just decided to do any
DECwindows stuff using my Linux system as the display. I did buy an
Oxygen VX1 PCI, but the current driver doesn't work right with pre-
21264 CPUs. The card will display, but the system is so slow it
takes five minutes to log in to the console to kill the DECwindows
server.
From what
I've read the big difference between the DLTx000 drives and
the equivalent TZ8x drives is the TZ8x drives will read TK50/TK70 tapes,
but I haven't tried yet. I suppose one could try to write the TZ8x
firmware in the DLTx000 drives, but I'd rather just buy a cheap TK70
off eBay than risk destroying my DLT4000.
That's the difference, however, as far as I know, it's not a firmware
issue, it's a calibration issue. I'm not worried about reading TK70's
really, but it would be nice to be able to read TK50's, still I've a TZ30
for that. The AS200 4/233
was my first Alpha (my wife bought it for me
to replace my VS3100, which I still have). I followed that
with a couple of PC164 motherboards, then a PC164SX (which
can't run VMS, so I used it for Digital Unix until I sold
it), followed by a PC164LX, followed by three PWS500au systems
(one of which has a ruined case but was bought as it had a
2MB cache module). I have someone digging up a replacement
case, and I'm on the lookout for two more 2MB (or 4MB if
I get lucky) cache modules. The PWS500au systems displaced
the PC164 and PC164LX systems for VMS, so the PC164LX is
my Tru64 system now. I also have a VS4000-60 running. The
two VS3100 systems are kept around just-in-case, and I have
a MVII which I'm mentioned is in line for a PDP-11 transplant
as soon as I find a CPU and memory.
Sounds like as bad of a menagerie as I've got around here, though instead
of the PC164 stuff I've got a DEC3000/300LX and the AlphaStation 500/333.
I just unlobotomized and increased the PDP-11/73 I've got in a MVII BA123
Chassis, I got a quad-hieght /73 board for it in place of the dual-hieght
/73 I'd been using and some other stuff. It's *SO* nice finally running
with a full blown board, and having the console at 38,400 instead of 9600!
10:52 a.m.
I did not have to do anything special with my KZPSA
cards (except
switch one to ID 6 so I could SCSI cluster the systems).
Odd. Do you happen to know what version of the firmware you're running? Is
it the lastest, or an old version. It looks like my problem is the version
of PWS firmware I've got.
The Intraserver card has a bug with systems with a
Pyxis chipset
that requires a special patched driver. So my long-term plan is to
buy a DS10 and use the Intraserver card there.
Ah. :^( Well, I'm glad to find that out before going out and spending $300
for the card.
Right now I am using a VT525 with a 19" monitor.
I was using an Else
Gloria, but the speed was bad enough that I just decided to do any
DECwindows stuff using my Linux system as the display. I did buy an
Oxygen VX1 PCI, but the current driver doesn't work right with pre-
21264 CPUs. The card will display, but the system is so slow it
takes five minutes to log in to the console to kill the DECwindows
server.
Sounds about like me, though I've currently still got the Elsa Gloria in the
machine, but am using my Mac as the display. I've tried a ZLXp-L1 and it
refuses to boot as it has an unknown device in it.
That sucks about the Oxygen card, I'd been considering that one. Any idea
how well the Oxygen card would work in a DS10? Be nice if DS10's would
start hitting the used market :^)
Are you willing to sell the old /73 board? I'd
rather have a slow /73
than none at all.
I'm afriad you missed my point. That and some other stuff were part of a
deal that got me the Quad-Hieght /73 CPU.
Zane
12:56 p.m.
I did not have
to do anything special with my KZPSA cards (except
switch one to ID 6 so I could SCSI cluster the systems).
Odd. Do you happen to know what version of the firmware you're running? Is
it the lastest, or an old version. It looks like my problem is the version
of PWS firmware I've got. The
Intraserver card has a bug with systems with a Pyxis chipset
that requires a special patched driver. So my long-term plan is to
buy a DS10 and use the Intraserver card there.
Ah. :^( Well, I'm glad to find that out before going out and spending $300
for the card. Sounds about like me, though I've currently still
got the Elsa Gloria in the
machine, but am using my Mac as the display. I've tried a ZLXp-L1 and it
refuses to boot as it has an unknown device in it.
That sounds like an out-of-date firmware issue on the PWS, or
you need to move the card to a different slot.
That sucks about the Oxygen card, I'd been
considering that one. Any idea
how well the Oxygen card would work in a DS10? Be nice if DS10's would
start hitting the used market :^)
The VX1 is supposed to work quite well on a DS10. I'm waiting for
the DS10 boxes to drop. Right now the cheapest I've found is about
$3400, but that's with memory, drives, etc. loaded. Noone seems to
sell a stripped DS10.
Are you
willing to sell the old /73 board? I'd rather have a slow /73
than none at all.
I'm afriad you missed my point. That and some other stuff were part of a
deal that got me the Quad-Hieght /73 CPU.
1:55 p.m.
I loaded the latest version of the firmware available
from
the website. I updated the systems when I bought them.
OK, next time I've got a chance to play with the system I'll look into the
firmware.
Sounds about
like me, though I've currently still got the Elsa Gloria in the
machine, but am using my Mac as the display. I've tried a ZLXp-L1 and it
refuses to boot as it has an unknown device in it.
That sounds like an out-of-date firmware issue on the PWS, or
you need to move the card to a different slot. The VX1 is supposed to work quite well on a DS10.
I'm waiting for
the DS10 boxes to drop. Right now the cheapest I've found is about
$3400, but that's with memory, drives, etc. loaded. Noone seems to
sell a stripped DS10.
I think that's about what I've seen also. IIRC, the DS10 is supposed to be
able to use standard DIMM's, instead of fancy RAM. It would definitly be
nice to be able to get a stripped one. I remember when they first came out
there was someplace that was selling "almost stripped" ones for Linux. At
the time the price difference was over $2000 between one of those and one
with OpenVMS. Now it looks like the difference might be as low as
$500-1000.
Zane
3:17 p.m.
Sounds about like me, though I've currently still
got the Elsa Gloria in the
machine, but am using my Mac as the display. I've tried a ZLXp-L1 and it
refuses to boot as it has an unknown device in it.
That sounds like an out-of-date firmware issue on the PWS, or
you need to move the card to a different slot. The VX1 is
supposed to work quite well on a DS10. I'm waiting for
the DS10 boxes to drop. Right now the cheapest I've found is about
$3400, but that's with memory, drives, etc. loaded. Noone seems to
sell a stripped DS10.
I think that's about what I've seen also. IIRC, the DS10 is supposed to be
able to use standard DIMM's, instead of fancy RAM. It would definitly be
nice to be able to get a stripped one. I remember when they first came out
there was someplace that was selling "almost stripped" ones for Linux. At
the time the price difference was over $2000 between one of those and one
with OpenVMS. Now it looks like the difference might be as low as
$500-1000. 
2 May
2 May
4:31 a.m.
I have a VX1 on one of my PCs. It's starting to get a bit long in the
tooth. There are faster cheaper PCI cards out there.
Peace... Sridhar
On Tue, 1 May 2001, Eric Dittman wrote:
I loaded the latest version of the firmware available from
the website. I updated the systems when I bought them.
Well, the patched driver does work, but every time a SCSI patch is
released there's a new version of PKW$DRIVER, and the fixes in the
Intraserver patched version aren't in there, so you'd have to get
an updated patched version each time (if available). I decided I
didn't want this headache.
Yes, I did miss that point.
--
Eric Dittman
dittman(a)dittman.net
I did not have to do anything special with my KZPSA
cards (except
switch one to ID 6 so I could SCSI cluster the systems).
Odd. Do you happen to know what version of the firmware you're running? Is
it the lastest, or an old version. It looks like my problem is the version
of PWS firmware I've got. The
Intraserver card has a bug with systems with a Pyxis chipset
that requires a special patched driver. So my long-term plan is to
buy a DS10 and use the Intraserver card there.
Ah. :^( Well, I'm glad to find that out before going out and spending $300
for the card. Sounds about like me, though I've currently
still got the Elsa Gloria in the
machine, but am using my Mac as the display. I've tried a ZLXp-L1 and it
refuses to boot as it has an unknown device in it.
That sounds like an out-of-date firmware issue on the PWS, or
you need to move the card to a different slot.
That sucks about the Oxygen card, I'd been
considering that one. Any idea
how well the Oxygen card would work in a DS10? Be nice if DS10's would
start hitting the used market :^)
The VX1 is supposed to work quite well on a DS10. I'm waiting for
the DS10 boxes to drop. Right now the cheapest I've found is about
$3400, but that's with memory, drives, etc. loaded. Noone seems to
sell a stripped DS10.
Are you
willing to sell the old /73 board? I'd rather have a slow /73
than none at all.
I'm afriad you missed my point. That and some other stuff were part of a
deal that got me the Quad-Hieght /73 CPU. 
1 May
1 May
4:42 a.m.
Eric Dittman wrote:
my Tru64 system now. I also have a VS4000-60 running. The
two VS3100 systems are kept around just-in-case, and I have
a MVII which I'm mentioned is in line for a PDP-11 transplant
as soon as I find a CPU and memory.
--
Eric Dittman
dittman(a)dittman.net
I'm trying to do the opposite, turn an extra mPDP11/BA23 into
a MVII. Would you be interesting in swapping your MVII faceplate
assy for my MicroPDP11 faceplate assy (assuming we are both
talking BA23 of course)
nick oliviero
5:43 a.m.
I'm trying to do the opposite, turn an extra
mPDP11/BA23 into
a MVII. Would you be interesting in swapping your MVII faceplate
assy for my MicroPDP11 faceplate assy (assuming we are both
talking BA23 of course)
Do you want to swap just the faceplate, or the faceplate,
CPU, memory, and CPU cab. kit?
--
Eric Dittman
dittman(a)dittman.net
11:07 a.m.
Eric Dittman wrote:
Sorry, that was meant to go off-list. Was thinking of trading just the
faceplate (control panel) and cpu cab-kit. Haven't used a BA23/MVII
before, besides the ID plate are the front panels the same?
nick o
I'm trying to do the opposite, turn an extra
mPDP11/BA23 into
a MVII. Would you be interesting in swapping your MVII faceplate
assy for my MicroPDP11 faceplate assy (assuming we are both
talking BA23 of course)
Do you want to swap just the faceplate, or the faceplate,
CPU, memory, and CPU cab. kit?
--
Eric Dittman
dittman(a)dittman.net
8397
days inactive
8400
days old
15 comments
4 participants
participants (4)
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