16 Mar
2010
16 Mar
'10
5:19 p.m.
Subject:
Booting a VAXstation
From:
Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com>
Date:
Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:20:19 +0000
To:
"General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only" <cctech at classiccmp.org>
To:
"General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only" <cctech at classiccmp.org>
I have a VAXstation 3100 model 38 I bought on eBay for the princely
sum of ?0.99. Sadly it came without disks and I have no wide-SCSI
disks of <1GB.
Hi, Liam.
First thing to do is find yourself a copy of the manual for the
machine as you can do a bunch of stuff with it just from built in
diagnostics.. I seem to recall them being out on the web.. possibly here:
http://deathrow.vistech.net/~cvisors/DEC94MDS/
I know Antonio Carlini had a site with lots of nice docs too.. but my
link is dead.
Also check out older posts where people were in the same boat.. such as:
http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctech/2004-December/036556.html
My machine came with a TZ30 drive, an RD54 CD, and hard disk all
internally... mine's the M48..same as yours but with bigger case.
You might need a special cable for the external SCSI.. as its got a
funny connector on the computer end. I found one on ebay.
For hard drives, I found that I had to experiment with different ones..
not all would work (even if under 1gb). Most did, however.
Enjoy,
John Singleton
16 Mar
16 Mar
10:33 p.m.
I know Antonio Carlini had a site with lots of nice
docs too.. but my
link is dead.
I'm still here but I never had a site. Were you thinking of Manx
perhaps?
http://vt100.net/manx
No longer maintained (I believe) but still extremely useful.
Antonio
11:08 p.m.
On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 5:19 PM, js at cimmeri.com <js at cimmeri.com> wrote:
Subject:
Booting a VAXstation
From:
Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com>
Date:
Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:20:19 +0000
To:
"General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only" <cctech at classiccmp.org>
To:
"General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only" <cctech at classiccmp.org>
I have a VAXstation 3100 model 38 I bought on eBay for the princely
sum of ?0.99. Sadly it came without disks and I have no wide-SCSI
disks of <1GB.
Hi, Liam.
? First thing to do is find yourself a copy of the manual for the machine as you can do a
bunch of stuff with it just from built in diagnostics..?? I seem to recall them being out
on the web.. possibly here:
?http://deathrow.vistech.net/~cvisors/DEC94MDS/
Thanks for the tip. I did actually get the original owners' manual
with this machine - and a couple of mice, a keyboard & a 17" mono
screen. Just no disks/sleds/cables or anything. :?(
I know Antonio Carlini had a site with lots of nice docs too.. but my link is dead.
Also check out older posts where people were in the same boat.. such as:
http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctech/2004-December/036556.html
Very helpful... thanks!
My machine came with a TZ30 drive, an RD54 CD, and
hard disk all internally... mine's the M48..same as yours but with bigger case.
You might need a special cable for the external SCSI.. as its got a funny connector on
the computer end.? I found one on ebay.
I might be able to improvise one - I have a lot of SCSI cables. I used
to run a lot of SCSI kit, although almost none is left now. A whole
pile of it went to a collector off this very list, in fact... (Hi,
Rod!)
For hard drives, I found that I had to experiment with
different ones.. not all would work (even if under 1gb).?? Most did, however.
Enjoy,
? John Singleton
It will be a learning experience!
--
Liam Proven ? Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/liamproven
Email: lproven at cix.co.uk ? GMail/GoogleTalk/Orkut: lproven at gmail.com
Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 ? Cell: +44 7939-087884 ? Fax: + 44 870-9151419
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MSN: lproven at hotmail.com ? ICQ: 73187508
11:25 p.m.
On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 4:08 PM, Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com> wrote:
http://antinode.info/dec/vs3100_scsi.html
BC56H (also 17-02008-01 straight 50-pin)
BC09J (also 17-02443-01 right angle 50-pin)
example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140333879294
I should pick up one of these myself for a 3100-M76 I recently acquired.
I'm also missing the internal SCSI terminator, P/N 12-33816-01 I
believe. Anyone know where to find one of those? I could probably
build a short adapter cable to plug in a standard external SCSI
terminator on to the end of the internal SCSI cable harness.
You might need
a special cable for the external SCSI.. as its got a funny connector on the computer end.?
I found one on ebay.
I might be able to improvise one - I have a lot of SCSI cables. I used
to run a lot of SCSI kit, although almost none is left now. A whole
pile of it went to a collector off this very list, in fact... (Hi,
Rod!)
11:34 p.m.
On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 11:25 PM, Glen Slick <glen.slick at gmail.com> wrote:
On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 4:08 PM, Liam Proven
<lproven at gmail.com> wrote:
http://antinode.info/dec/vs3100_scsi.html
BC56H (also 17-02008-01 straight 50-pin)
BC09J (also 17-02443-01 right angle 50-pin)
example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140333879294
Thanks. Sadly, as the listing says:
?
WE DO NOT SHIP INTERNATIONALLY!!!
?
Not very helpful of them, but that is quite common with US companies,
especially since the USPS stopped offering surface post. That crippled
one of my favourite sites, www.bookmooch.com
So does it need to be that DEC-specific cable? Nothing else uses that
size of external SCSI connector, or is the wiring nonstandard?
And what kind of cable do I need to attach 50-pin SCSI drives
internally to the SCSI card's 104-pin connector?
--
Liam Proven ? Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/liamproven
Email: lproven at cix.co.uk ? GMail/GoogleTalk/Orkut: lproven at gmail.com
Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 ? Cell: +44 7939-087884 ? Fax: + 44 870-9151419
AOL/AIM/iChat/Yahoo/Skype: liamproven ? LiveJournal/Twitter: lproven
MSN: lproven at hotmail.com ? ICQ: 73187508
You might
need a special cable for the external SCSI.. as its got a funny connector on the computer
end.? I found one on ebay.
I might be able to improvise one - I have a lot of SCSI cables. I used
to run a lot of SCSI kit, although almost none is left now. A whole
pile of it went to a collector off this very list, in fact... (Hi,
Rod!)
17 Mar
17 Mar
midnight
On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 4:34 PM, Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com> wrote:
So does it need to be that DEC-specific cable? Nothing else uses that
size of external SCSI connector, or is the wiring nonstandard?
And what kind of cable do I need to attach 50-pin SCSI drives
internally to the SCSI card's 104-pin connector?
Everything I've read on the net indicates that the 3100 external SCSI
cable is non-standard so your best bet would be to try to acquire an
original DEC cable.
Are you missing the internal SCSI harness as well? For a Model 38
from looking at the online manuals I believe you would
want a
17-02439-01 Internal SCSI-A bus data cable.
Found that part number in this manual. Don't take my word that is the
correct part since I don't have a Model 38 to check myself.
VAXstation 3100 Maintenance
Guide Addendum
Models 38 & 48
Order Number EK-344AA-AD-001
If that is the correct part number and it is what you need and you
can't find it anywhere else, they are listed at
http://www.jtcomputer.com for $25 and their website says the ship
international. They also list the BC56H-03 there for $10, and I'll
probably by one from them myself.
5404
days inactive
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5 comments
4 participants
participants (4)
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arcarlini＠iee.org -
glen.slick＠gmail.com -
js＠cimmeri.com -
lproven＠gmail.com