15 Dec
2014
15 Dec
'14
10:47 a.m.
From: John Rollins
it doesn't appear to transmit data from the
console port on the back. I
have tried ... every conceivable switch setting on the PDP with nothing
...
So when I power up, the LED display on the front counts down through
the numbers and stops at 4. As near as I can tell, this is something of a
good sign.
Should be; my User's+Maint Guide says that means "Dialog Mode: Waiting for
input".
Short of spending an entire day disassembling half the
machine and
tracing every wire hoping to find something out of place, does anyone
have any ideas on what may be happening here, or what to look for?
I asssume you've tried setting the baud rate with the switches on the CPU
card (in case the cable to the back panel is damaged - or, more likely, the
rotary baud select switch has a bad contact due to corrosion over time)?
If you have the parts, fabricating a substitute serial interface cable would
also be something to try.
The next step would normally be to disable the on-board serial interface, and
provide a substitute console interface, out on the bus. _Alas_, as far as I
can tell from reading the KDB11-B User's Guide (EK-KDJ1B-UG-001), there is no
way to disable the on-board serial interface.
AFAIK, the prints for the 11/84 (MP-02536/MP-01955) don't seem to be online.
I can't locate prints for the 11/83 (uses the same CPU board, I think)
either. So I can't check to make sure that it is in fact impossible to
disable the on-board serial interface.
And the other next step, to look at the serial output and see if it looks OK,
will be a little tricky without prints, although the KDB11-B User's Guide
does contain something about it, on pp. 5-38 to 5-41 (165-168 of the PDF).
Noel
15 Dec
15 Dec
11:40 a.m.
On 15/12/2014 18:47, Noel Chiappa wrote:
> From: John Rollins it doesn't appear to
transmit data from the
> console port on the back. I have tried ... every conceivable switch
> setting on the PDP with nothing
I asssume you've tried setting the baud rate with
the switches on the
CPU card (in case the cable to the back panel is damaged - or, more
likely, the rotary baud select switch has a bad contact due to
corrosion over time)?
The normal setting is all 8 switches in the pack at E83 (beside the
LEDs) off. Switch 1 is to do with the console SLU (see below). 2, 3
and 4 set the boot device (all off means boot according to the settings
in the EEPROM; all on means power up in ODT providing switch 1 is off).
Switch 5 is the "force dialog mode" switch - on an 11/83, setting 1
and 5 on is used to "disable customer access to setup", to prevent the
most common cause of the not booting correctly problem. If switch 5 is
on, the CPU won't go into dialog mode. 6, 7, and 8 set the baud rate,
providing the rotary switch on the panel is either disconnected or set
to 7 or set to 15. For 9600 set 6 and 8 on, 7 off; for 1200 set 7 on, 6
and 8 off. All on is 38400; all off is 300.
If you have the parts, fabricating a substitute serial
interface
cable would also be something to try.
Always a a useful device for QBus machines. The same cable fits
KDF11-B, KDJ11-B, DLV11-J, MXV11-A, MXV11-B, etc.
The next step would normally be to disable the
on-board serial
interface, and provide a substitute console interface, out on the
bus. _Alas_, as far as I can tell from reading the KDB11-B User's
Guide (EK-KDJ1B-UG-001), there is no way to disable the on-board
serial interface.
Actually, setting switch 1 (in the pack at E83, beside the LEDs) on
should disable the console, but I know that at least on early boards it
doesn't (wasn't implemented) and I can't remember if that's a hardware
issue or a ROM function.
--
Pete
Pete Turnbull
16 Dec
16 Dec
12:25 a.m.
On 2014-12-15 20:40, Pete Turnbull wrote:
On 15/12/2014 18:47, Noel Chiappa wrote:
If switch 5 is on, it will not go into dialog mode, true. But it will
still print information out on the console.
Starting with the numbers printed during the memory test, and then
information about it starting to boot from whatever.
Baud rates is, however, a very good tip.
Johnny
--
Johnny Billquist || "I'm on a bus
|| on a psychedelic trip
email: bqt at softjar.se || Reading murder books
pdp is alive! || tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol
> From: John Rollins it doesn't appear to
transmit data from the
> console port on the back. I have tried ... every conceivable switch
> setting on the PDP with nothing
I asssume you've tried setting the baud rate
with the switches on the
CPU card (in case the cable to the back panel is damaged - or, more
likely, the rotary baud select switch has a bad contact due to
corrosion over time)?
The normal setting is all 8 switches in the pack at E83 (beside the
LEDs) off. Switch 1 is to do with the console SLU (see below). 2, 3
and 4 set the boot device (all off means boot according to the settings
in the EEPROM; all on means power up in ODT providing switch 1 is off).
Switch 5 is the "force dialog mode" switch - on an 11/83, setting 1
and 5 on is used to "disable customer access to setup", to prevent the
most common cause of the not booting correctly problem. If switch 5 is
on, the CPU won't go into dialog mode. 6, 7, and 8 set the baud rate,
providing the rotary switch on the panel is either disconnected or set
to 7 or set to 15. For 9600 set 6 and 8 on, 7 off; for 1200 set 7 on, 6
and 8 off. All on is 38400; all off is 300.
3659
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bqt＠update.uu.se -
jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu -
pete＠dunnington.plus.com