3 Jan
2006
3 Jan
'06
9:36 a.m.
Does anyone have one of these?
They are a VAXstation based workstation with a fancy E&S graphics
subsystem in them. They had a limited release around 1988, which was
when I saw one in operation when E&S did a dog-and-pony show at the
UofU.
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline"-- code samples, sample chapter, FAQ:
<http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/>
Pilgrimage: Utah's annual demoparty
<http://pilgrimage.scene.org>
3 Jan
3 Jan
11:25 a.m.
On 1/3/06, Richard <legalize at xmission.com> wrote:
Does anyone have one of these?
They are a VAXstation based workstation with a fancy E&S graphics
subsystem in them. They had a limited release around 1988, which was
when I saw one in operation when E&S did a dog-and-pony show at the
UofU.
I don't have one, but I remember running into them at DECUS
conventions in the late 1980s - 56-bitplane graphics (double-buffered
24-bitplane main video plus an 8-bitplane hardware menu overlay area)
and a dialbox with at least a dozen dials.
Very nice for the time (and for some time thereafter).
-ethan
1:05 p.m.
On 1/3/06, Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> wrote:
I don't have one, but I remember running into them at DECUS
conventions in the late 1980s - 56-bitplane graphics (double-buffered
24-bitplane main video plus an 8-bitplane hardware menu overlay area)
and a dialbox with at least a dozen dials.
Very nice for the time (and for some time thereafter).
and with a VAXBI bus and a slow CPU (maybe same as VAX8250/8350)
-ethan
9:28 p.m.
On 1/4/06, 9000 VAX <vax9000 at gmail.com> wrote:
On 1/3/06, Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at
gmail.com> wrote:
>-
> I don't have one, but I remember running into them at DECUS
> conventions...
and with a VAXBI bus and a slow CPU (maybe same as
VAX8250/8350)
I don't recall them being VAXBI-based. My recollection was that they
were Qbus-based - essentially a VAXstation-II/GPX, but with *much*
more powerful graphics cards.
Anyone with actual experience (mine was limited to pushing the mouse
around and twisting the dialbox knobs) can feel free to chime in with
corrections/details.
-ethan
4 Jan
4 Jan
3:15 a.m.
On 04/01/2006, at 4:28 PM, Ethan Dicks wrote:
I don't recall them being VAXBI-based. My recollection was that they
were Qbus-based - essentially a VAXstation-II/GPX, but with *much*
more powerful graphics cards.
Anyone with actual experience (mine was limited to pushing the mouse
around and twisting the dialbox knobs) can feel free to chime in with
corrections/details.
Well I was fairly sure that they we BI based and a quick Google lead to
http://www.hoffmanlabs.org/openvms/hwvax.shtml
which seems to confirm this view.
Huw Davies | e-mail: Huw.Davies at kerberos.davies.net.au
Melbourne | "If soccer was meant to be played in the
Australia | air, the sky would be painted green"
10:58 a.m.
Huw Davies wrote:
Well I was fairly sure that they we BI based and a
quick Google lead
to
http://www.hoffmanlabs.org/openvms/hwvax.shtml
which seems to confirm this view.
They were definitely VAXBI with a KA825 (VAX 8250) CPU and
E+S graphics. The disk was an RD54 on a KFBTA controller.
I saw one once (outside DEC, never inside). It would be
nice to find one, but I doubt that there were that many
of them made.
Antonio
--
Antonio carlini
arcarlini at iee.org
11:07 a.m.
In article <001501c61160$e1bf6fb0$5b01a8c0 at pc1>,
"a.carlini at ntlworld.com" <arcarlini at iee.org> writes:
They were definitely VAXBI with a KA825 (VAX 8250) CPU
and
E+S graphics. The disk was an RD54 on a KFBTA controller.
I saw one once (outside DEC, never inside). It would be
nice to find one, but I doubt that there were that many
of them made.
Yep, I don't think I ever saw them inside E&S either. I saw a PS390
and plenty of ESVs, but I never saw a VS8000. The internal name was
"Shadowfax", IIRC.
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline"-- code samples, sample chapter, FAQ:
<http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/>
Pilgrimage: Utah's annual demoparty
<http://pilgrimage.scene.org>
11:28 a.m.
Richard wrote:
Yep, I don't think I ever saw them inside E&S
either. I saw a PS390
and plenty of ESVs, but I never saw a VS8000. The internal name was
"Shadowfax", IIRC.
Internal to E&S? I did see a DEC FS engineer carry in a box of
new memory for our VAX 8200 (when I was a customer) and the box
had "Lynx memory" scribbled on the outside. The VAX 8200 was
Scorpio, but I _thought_ the VAXstation 8000 was Lynx. Several
of the VAXstation series were named after cats (Panther and Cougar
spring to mind).
Antonio
--
Antonio carlini
arcarlini at iee.org
2:25 p.m.
In article <001701c61165$08821630$5b01a8c0 at pc1>,
"a.carlini at ntlworld.com" <arcarlini at iee.org> writes:
Richard wrote:
Maybe I'm misremembering code names. Lynx does sound familiar.
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline"-- code samples, sample chapter, FAQ:
<http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/>
Pilgrimage: Utah's annual demoparty
<http://pilgrimage.scene.org>
Yep, I don't think I ever saw them inside
E&S either. I saw a PS390
and plenty of ESVs, but I never saw a VS8000. The internal name was
"Shadowfax", IIRC.
Internal to E&S? I did see a DEC FS engineer carry in a box of
new memory for our VAX 8200 (when I was a customer) and the box
had "Lynx memory" scribbled on the outside. The VAX 8200 was
Scorpio, but I _thought_ the VAXstation 8000 was Lynx. Several
of the VAXstation series were named after cats (Panther and Cougar
spring to mind). 
5 Jan
5 Jan
9:44 p.m.
On Wed, 2006-01-04 at 15:25 -0700, Richard wrote:
Yes... the VS8000 was codenamed Lynx.
The basic platform started its life as "Aurora", which was intended to
be the bottom of the mid-range server family. It was the first project I
worked on when I joined DEC in 1986.
Aurora was a Microvax II CPU with some local memory, on the BI bus, with
its own set of BI I/O boards. There was a disk controller for RD series
disks (KFBTA if I remember correctly). Also a combined Ethernet and
TK50 controller.
The project was basically doomed when VMS engineering refused to support
a "mutant" MicroVAX II.
But the various parts lived on, including as the VS8000. The Ethernet
controller became the DEBNA which was the standard BI Ethernet card. I
think the CPU board got used for the console processor in the VAX9000.
/gary
Internal to
E&S? I did see a DEC FS engineer carry in a box of
new memory for our VAX 8200 (when I was a customer) and the box
had "Lynx memory" scribbled on the outside. The VAX 8200 was
Scorpio, but I _thought_ the VAXstation 8000 was Lynx. Several
of the VAXstation series were named after cats (Panther and Cougar
spring to mind).
Maybe I'm misremembering code names. Lynx does sound familiar. 
4 Jan
4 Jan
5:25 p.m.
Yep, I don't think I ever saw them inside E&S
either. I saw a PS390
and plenty of ESVs, but I never saw a VS8000. The internal name was
"Shadowfax", IIRC.
Was it? I thogght I read somewhere that a custom chip in the PS390 that
removes stairsteps from diagnonal lines, etc, was called the Shadowfax chip.
-tony
6:49 p.m.
ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) wrote:
Best code names always mix part of a conceivably relevant but incorrect
technology/geographic area that is already known to be involved in
something superficially related,
just to confuse everyone. e.g. Manhattan Project (really nowhere
near manhattan), Tubealloy (had nothing to do with alloys for tubes),
Radiation Lab (was Radar, not nuclear) etc. just to pick 3 from WWII.
Tim.
Yep, I
don't think I ever saw them inside E&S either. I saw a PS390
and plenty of ESVs, but I never saw a VS8000. The internal name was
"Shadowfax", IIRC.
Was it? I thogght I read somewhere that a custom chip in the PS390 that
removes stairsteps from diagnonal lines, etc, was called the Shadowfax chip.
8:56 p.m.
In article <m1EuJsH-000IyPC at p850ug1>,
ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) writes:
I didn't work directly on the project and my memory may be playing
tricks on me!
When you join a company and previous engineers all talk about the code
names for previous projects, they tend to get mixed around in my head.
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline"-- code samples, sample chapter, FAQ:
<http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/>
Pilgrimage: Utah's annual demoparty
<http://pilgrimage.scene.org>
Yep, I
don't think I ever saw them inside E&S either. I saw a PS390
and plenty of ESVs, but I never saw a VS8000. The internal name was
"Shadowfax", IIRC.
Was it? I thogght I read somewhere that a custom chip in the PS390 that
removes stairsteps from diagnonal lines, etc, was called the Shadowfax chip.
12:56 p.m.
On 1/5/06, a.carlini at ntlworld.com <arcarlini at iee.org> wrote:
They were definitely VAXBI with a KA825 (VAX 8250) CPU
and
E+S graphics. The disk was an RD54 on a KFBTA controller.
I saw one once (outside DEC, never inside). It would be
nice to find one, but I doubt that there were that many
of them made.
Well, since I never saw the insides, either, and I was reasonably
certain that they had RD disk, I didn't know there was a BI cage
inside. I had no idea that DEC put RD disks on that platform.
I have an 8300 at home (would love to bump up its memory and CPU
someday), so I know all about small-end BI machines (except how to
finish debugging my broken DWBUA ;-), but I had no idea it was
architecturally close to the VAXstation 8000, even if the model number
is a tip-off.
Thanks for the clarification. As I said, I saw one or two at every
DECUS for a few years about 15 years ago, but never in the field. I'm
sure they were wicked expensive. My employer paid $12,000 for a
stripped (CPU, 12MB, KDB50, DWBUA, no ethernet), used 8200 in, ISTR,
1989 or 1990, and _that_ was a bargain.
-ethan
6706
days inactive
6709
days old
13 comments
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participants (8)
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arcarlini＠iee.org -
ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk -
ethan.dicks＠gmail.com -
glg＠grebus.com -
huw.davies＠kerberos.davies.net.au -
legalize＠xmission.com -
shoppa_classiccmp＠trailing-edge.com -
vax9000＠gmail.com