Hey MVII gurus! Along with working on my uPDP this morning I tried to get the MVII running. Well, the negative things folks have said about RD53's are definitely true. It would not spinup properly. Seemed to have a speed control problem as I could hear the drive electronics alternately whine and be quiet in rather frequent, constant intervals even after some lengthy period of time. It's shot I guess. Let's go through what transpires after either power turn-on or hitting 'Restart' as I wrote it down from the screen: KA630-A.V1.3 Performing normal system tests 7..6..etc. <this section passes okay> Tests completed Loading system software. 2.. <more than a minute wait here> ?54 RETRY 2.. <another wait> ?54 RETRY ad infinitum or at least untils the cows come home . . . <I turn off power here and give up> So, what we learned here is that the KA630 ROM is version 1.3 and the failure error is 54. What exactly does '54' mean (I have no tech manuals or anything for this machine to help here)? The inside of the TK50 is rather dusty and dirty. I plan to take it out and get as much dust and junk out of it as possible before I put in a tape (I got the DEC MVII Diagnostic tape, MicroVMS 4.2 and a DECUS tape with a bunch of utilities :) ). How critical is it to have a very clean drive? Seems the opening on the front of the drive with no tape inserted allows too much junk to wander into it. Anybody have an RD54 or equivalent they're willing to sell me? Thanks for your help again, Chris -- -- Christian Fandt, Electronic/Electrical Historian Jamestown, NY USA cfandt(a)netsync.net Member of Antique Wireless Association URL: http://www.ggw.org/freenet/a/awa/