15 Nov
2005
15 Nov
'05
7:18 p.m.
Subject: PDP-11/73 booting!
From: David Betz <dbetz at xlisper.mv.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 19:56:03 -0500
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at
classiccmp.org>
I got my PDP-11/73 booting by connecting an RX02 drive to the system
and using an RT-11 boot floppy. I've convinced myself that the 1.5mb
of memory (two M8059s and a third party card) works and that the
KDJ11-A CPU is working as well as the multi-function boot card
(M8047) and the RX02 drive and controller (M8029).
Unfortunately, I still can't access the RL01 drive. RT-11 sees the
controller card but if I type "DIR RL0:", there is no indication that
Ah thats...
dir DL0:
the RL02 is accessed by the DL: driver. is there a DL.sys on the disk?
the drive is even accessed. The disk seems to spin up
and the ready
light comes on on the drive but I don't seem to be able to access the
drive from RT-11. I've also tried using a scratch pack and typing
"INIT DL0:" but that doesn't work either. Does anyone have any idea
what might cause this kind of behavior? Also, can anyone make me a
bootable RX02 disk with the RL01 diagnostics on it? I can supply the
blank disk?
Assuming the interrupt grant is good (no empty slots between the cpu and
the RLV controller. the cables are good and connected correctly. No fault
light and When the load bitton is in you get spin up and a white load lamp.
It should work.
Allison
15 Nov
15 Nov
7:32 p.m.
Yes, you're right. I did type DL not RL. That was a typo in my
message. Yes, the DL.SYS driver is on the boot disk (RX02), there are
no empty slots between the CPU and the RL controller. The slots are
filled as follows:
KDJ11-A
MSV11-LK
MSV11-LK
National Semiconductor memory board (1mb)
RLV12
M8029 (RX02 controller)
MXV11
No fault light (and it isn't burned out), the white load light (with
the "0" on it) lights.
So, I suppose that means that the cables are probably bad? BTW, I
have the cable plugged into the top connector on the RL01 and the
terminator on the bottom. Is that correct?
On Nov 15, 2005, at 10:18 PM, Allison wrote:
Subject: PDP-11/73 booting!
From: David Betz <dbetz at xlisper.mv.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 19:56:03 -0500
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"
<cctalk at classiccmp.org>
I got my PDP-11/73 booting by connecting an RX02 drive to the system
and using an RT-11 boot floppy. I've convinced myself that the 1.5mb
of memory (two M8059s and a third party card) works and that the
KDJ11-A CPU is working as well as the multi-function boot card
(M8047) and the RX02 drive and controller (M8029).
Unfortunately, I still can't access the RL01 drive. RT-11 sees the
controller card but if I type "DIR RL0:", there is no indication that
Ah thats...
dir DL0:
the RL02 is accessed by the DL: driver. is there a DL.sys on the disk?
the drive is even accessed. The disk seems to
spin up and the ready
light comes on on the drive but I don't seem to be able to access the
drive from RT-11. I've also tried using a scratch pack and typing
"INIT DL0:" but that doesn't work either. Does anyone have any idea
what might cause this kind of behavior? Also, can anyone make me a
bootable RX02 disk with the RL01 diagnostics on it? I can supply the
blank disk?
Assuming the interrupt grant is good (no empty slots between the
cpu and
the RLV controller. the cables are good and connected correctly.
No fault
light and When the load bitton is in you get spin up and a white
load lamp.
It should work.
Allison 
16 Nov
16 Nov
7:05 a.m.
On 11/16/05, David Betz <dbetz at xlisper.mv.com> wrote:
No fault light (and it isn't burned out), the
white load light (with
the "0" on it) lights.
That's a very good sign.
So, I suppose that means that the cables are probably
bad?
It's possible. I've had problems with RL/RK cables that have been
bent too many times.
BTW, I
have the cable plugged into the top connector on the RL01 and the
terminator on the bottom. Is that correct?
It doesn't matter - there's about 2 cm of 40-pin ribbon cable
connecting the two, but it really doesn't matter which one takes in
the signals and which one has the terminator. Swap them if you feel
unsure.
I suppose you could test the terminator to ensure it's not defective.
Additionally, I suppose you could have a problem with some of the
drive or controller electronics, but I don't recall that being a
common issue - when either the boards in the drive or the controller
were bad somehow, I remember things really didn't work (the board not
showing up in memory, the FAULT light not going out, etc)
Check the Berg end of the controller cable - make sure you don't have
any disloged pins or wires that are pulling out of the crimp pins...
those ends are somewhat fragile (compared to IDC-type flat cables),
and I've seen some mechanical abuse. Also, if any part of the cable
as been doubled-over hard (like to "dress" them in a cabinet), you
might try a light massage of the elbow of the crimp. I have one
particular cable someone folded over tight that I splinted with a bit
of plastic and some tie wraps to keep it from re-flexing at the same
point - if you bent that particular cable over about 45 degrees at the
old flex point, I don't recall the symptoms, but I know it broke
something.
-ethan
7:23 a.m.
Check the Berg end of the controller cable - make sure
you don't have
any disloged pins or wires that are pulling out of the crimp pins...
those ends are somewhat fragile (compared to IDC-type flat cables),
and I've seen some mechanical abuse.
Okay, that's at least part of the problem. The red wire that connects
near the end of the connector marked AB is broken. Looks like it will
be difficult to fix since part of the connector seems to be glued
together as well as tie wrapped together.
4:32 p.m.
Check the Berg end of the controller cable - make
sure you don't have
any disloged pins or wires that are pulling out of the crimp pins...
those ends are somewhat fragile (compared to IDC-type flat cables),
and I've seen some mechanical abuse.
Okay, that's at least part of the problem. The red wire that connects
near the end of the connector marked AB is broken. Looks like it will
30 Nov
30 Nov
3:53 p.m.
Well, I have bad news and good news. The bad news is that I was
unable to fix my RL01 cable. I tried a few approaches to reconnect
the pins I could see were disconnected and wasn't able to get it to
work. However, the good news is that I was able to acquire another
cable and that fixed the problem entirely. In fact, the PDP-11/73
booted off the RL01 pack the first time I powered it up. I have three
packs and was able to read all of them. One contains RT-11 V5.5,
another is a TSX-Plus system disk but appears just to boot RT-11SJ.
It does have lots of files on it with ".tsx" extensions but doesn't
seem to boot TSX. The third is a blank scratch pack.
I'm now in the market for a cable and breakout panel (cab kit?) for
my RQDX3 controller so that I can connect an ST225 drive and an RX50
floppy drive to my 11/73. I know it's possible to build one of these
but from my experience with attempting to fix the RL01 cable, I don't
think I want to tackle that project. If someone has a cable and
breakout panel they'd like to sell please get in touch with me.
Anyway, thanks to everyone who has given me help with this machine. I
now have a working PDP-11/73 with 1.5mb of memory, an RX02 floppy
drive and an RL01 hard drive and it's all working!
3:59 p.m.
David Betz wrote:
Well, I have bad news and good news. The bad news is
that I was unable
to fix my RL01 cable. I tried a few approaches to reconnect the pins I
could see were disconnected and wasn't able to get it to work. However,
the good news is that I was able to acquire another cable and that
fixed the problem entirely. In fact, the PDP-11/73 booted off the RL01
pack the first time I powered it up. I have three packs and was able to
read all of them. One contains RT-11 V5.5, another is a TSX-Plus system
disk but appears just to boot RT-11SJ. It does have lots of files on it
with ".tsx" extensions but doesn't seem to boot TSX. The third is a
blank scratch pack.
You need to actually run TSX. The bit you want it TSX.SAV iirc.
Gordon.
4:03 p.m.
So you boot the system in RT-11 and then start TSX? Thanks! I'll try
that. Do you know where I can find a description of TSX?
On Nov 30, 2005, at 6:59 PM, Gordon JC Pearce wrote:
David Betz wrote:
Well, I have bad news and good news. The bad news
is that I was
unable to fix my RL01 cable. I tried a few approaches to
reconnect the pins I could see were disconnected and wasn't able
to get it to work. However, the good news is that I was able to
acquire another cable and that fixed the problem entirely. In
fact, the PDP-11/73 booted off the RL01 pack the first time I
powered it up. I have three packs and was able to read all of
them. One contains RT-11 V5.5, another is a TSX-Plus system disk
but appears just to boot RT-11SJ. It does have lots of files on
it with ".tsx" extensions but doesn't seem to boot TSX. The third
is a blank scratch pack.
You need to actually run TSX. The bit you want it TSX.SAV iirc.
Gordon.
1 Dec
1 Dec
2:16 a.m.
David Betz wrote:
So you boot the system in RT-11 and then start TSX?
Thanks! I'll try
that. Do you know where I can find a description of TSX?
Up to version 6.2, a big box of folders in my server room :-)
Other than that, and probably more usefully, bitsavers have a good
archive with all the install guides and stuff.
http://www.classiccmp.org/bitsavers/pdf/dec/pdp11/tsxPlus/
Gordon.
30 Nov
30 Nov
3:59 p.m.
On Wednesday 30 November 2005 15:53, David Betz wrote:
--snip--
Anyway, thanks to everyone who has given me help with
this machine. I
now have a working PDP-11/73 with 1.5mb of memory, an RX02 floppy
drive and an RL01 hard drive and it's all working!
Cool!!! Glad you've got it running!
Cheers,
Lyle
--
Lyle Bickley
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
Mountain View, CA
http://bickleywest.com
"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"
10:02 p.m.
David,
Glad to hear you have it up and running! That's great!
Jon
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org
[mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of David Betz
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2005 6:54 PM
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
Subject: Re: PDP-11/73 booting!
Well, I have bad news and good news. The bad news is that I
was unable to fix my RL01 cable. I tried a few approaches to
reconnect the pins I could see were disconnected and wasn't
able to get it to work. However, the good news is that I was
able to acquire another cable and that fixed the problem
entirely. In fact, the PDP-11/73 booted off the RL01 pack the
first time I powered it up. I have three packs and was able
to read all of them. One contains RT-11 V5.5, another is a
TSX-Plus system disk but appears just to boot RT-11SJ.
It does have lots of files on it with ".tsx" extensions but
doesn't seem to boot TSX. The third is a blank scratch pack.
I'm now in the market for a cable and breakout panel (cab
kit?) for my RQDX3 controller so that I can connect an ST225
drive and an RX50 floppy drive to my 11/73. I know it's
possible to build one of these but from my experience with
attempting to fix the RL01 cable, I don't think I want to
tackle that project. If someone has a cable and breakout
panel they'd like to sell please get in touch with me.
Anyway, thanks to everyone who has given me help with this
machine. I now have a working PDP-11/73 with 1.5mb of memory,
an RX02 floppy drive and an RL01 hard drive and it's all working!
6727
days inactive
6742
days old
10 comments
7 participants
participants (7)
-
ajp166＠bellatlantic.net -
ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk -
dbetz＠xlisper.mv.com -
ethan.dicks＠gmail.com -
gordonjcp＠gjcp.net -
jmiles007＠iquest.net -
lbickley＠bickleywest.com