28 Oct
2009
28 Oct
'09
10:41 a.m.
Another topic....
I got that Ampex "Megastore 316". It's a ramdisk for the Honeywell H316.
Connects via IO but and optionally DMC (kind of data break). Is from the
early 80s and contains to times half a megabyte of core memory. Quite a
mass...
I have some schematics, but not all I would need. Currently it's working
a bit - reading only every second word - but that looks good so far. I
had to make my own cables. Perhaps I did something wrong...?
Played a bit with the controller's microcode. Found no reason why it
skis addresses. There must be something wrong with the bus. I have two
controllers and two core modules - swapping doesn't change anything..
Does anyone on the list have experience, docs or other information to share?
Kind Regards,
Philipp :-)
28 Oct
28 Oct
11:53 a.m.
On 28 Oct 2009 at 18:41, Philipp Hachtmann wrote:
I got that Ampex "Megastore 316". It's a
ramdisk for the Honeywell
H316. Connects via IO but and optionally DMC (kind of data break). Is
from the early 80s and contains to times half a megabyte of core
memory. Quite a mass...
Ampex must have used the term on a number of products. I've got a
full-length ISA card here from Ampex with a ROM labeled "Ampex
Megastore". External interface is a 50 pin header. It appears to be
a SASI interface card.
--Chuck
11:15 a.m.
Ampex must have used the term on a number of products.
I've got a
full-length ISA card here from Ampex with a ROM labeled "Ampex
Megastore". External interface is a 50 pin header. It appears to be
a SASI interface card.
That's what google told me: 50 pin, "megastore", ISA, SASI, questionable
ESDI etc.
The thing I have is a 19" device approx 2/3 height of a pdp8/e, RL02 and
friends.
-- Philipp
1:43 p.m.
On 28 Oct 2009 at 19:15, Philipp Hachtmann wrote:
That's what google told me: 50 pin,
"megastore", ISA, SASI,
questionable ESDI etc.
The thing I have is a 19" device approx 2/3 height of a pdp8/e, RL02
and friends.
Very different, indeed. I think the PC Megastore was a combination
SASI tape and hard disk external box. Probably one of the earliest
hard drives for the PC platform.
--Chuck
1:07 p.m.
There was also Megatape which had a proprietary tape cartridge and a
drive with a Pertec Compatable interface. They managed to come out with
it head on into the SCSI interfaces taking over the world. The drive
was unique in that it fit into one of the CDC 8" drive bays, which were
the ones which set 2 side by side in a 19" rack. Pretty, but didn't
sell well, especially with the custom cartridges.
Megatape tried making Exabyte drives in a rack and eventually
liquidated, so there may be some such boxes around in peoples piles.
I also have a British made device which was "wafer scale" with a SASI
interface from the same time period, was not core, but solid state.
Don't recall the manufacturer right now, but do recall it was the solid
state memory storage unit with 6" (I think) diameter memory wafers in a
stack.
Jim
Chuck Guzis wrote:
On 28 Oct 2009 at 19:15, Philipp Hachtmann wrote:
That's what google told me: 50 pin,
"megastore", ISA, SASI,
questionable ESDI etc.
The thing I have is a 19" device approx 2/3 height of a pdp8/e, RL02
and friends.
Very different, indeed. I think the PC Megastore was a combination
SASI tape and hard disk external box. Probably one of the earliest
hard drives for the PC platform.
--Chuck
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