29 Oct
2019
29 Oct
'19
7:45 a.m.
an IBM 4331 for 1000 Euro b.i.n. seems OK to me, if I was in that sort of thing !
See? https://www.ebay.de/itm/IBM-grosrechner/184010116585 and his other offerings...
Jos
29 Oct
29 Oct
8:27 a.m.
On 10/29/2019 09:45 AM, jos via cctalk wrote:
an IBM 4331 for 1000 Euro b.i.n. seems OK to me, if I was
in that sort of thing !
See https://www.ebay.de/itm/IBM-grosrechner/184010116585
and his other offerings...
WOW, this is some amazing stuff he has!
Jon
9:28 a.m.
New subject: Introduction and need help bringing some pdp11's back
Hi all!
Re-subscribing to this list after a 20+ year "vacation" while raising
kids. I was pretty active in the Dec pdp10, pdp11, and pdp8 communities
back in the 80's and managed to acquire a lot of "stuff". Now that I
have some time and space again I'm looking back into the pile of "high
mass hobbies" and wondering what still works.
In terms of communities I see the pdp8-lovers list is still going but I
can't seem to find the pdp11 email list anymore. If anyone can add me
I'd appreciate.
On to the technical issues: I currently am trying to bring back online a
PDT11/150 and my main Q-Bus pdp11/73. The 11/150 is trying to boot but
it looks like my old disk with RT11 5.1 and the PD: boot driver is no
longer working. Does anyone have a copy of RT11 5.1 source disks they
can loan me (I can't find my set).
The 11/73 is a bit more interesting: It's an 11/73 quad height CPU, 4mb
of ram on a single DEC Q bus card, and for storage has an MTI ESDI
controller hooked up to a Fujitsu ESDI drive. After some workings I was
able to get the controller back online (hint: The password to get into
the controller to make changes is MTI) and while I can boot RT11 off one
of the two partitions my RSX11M 4.0 generated instance is flunking with
a boot error. Probably some disk rot.
I also have a RLV12 controller in it and a pair of RL02's sitting in a
closet here that I can drag upstairs with RSX111M 4.1 on them. Better
than nothing and might allow me to boot up and possibly run a disk
repair/regenerate the boot code on the EDSI disk. But that's not the
real problem.
The real problem is I'm trying to put an RQDX3 in there instead of the
ESDI controller so I can boot off RX50's. And I have no idea which way
all the various ribbon cables are supposed to go. Will any 50 pin cable
work between the RQDX3 and the BA23 distribution bulkhead? Anything
special about the 34ish pin cable that goes between the bulkhead and the
RX50? So far when I try to boot all devices DU0-3 give me not yet ready.
Ultimately I would like to format one of my MFM Maxtor drives as a RD54,
then install MicroRSX and MicroRSTS from floppy. For the big ESDI drive
I'd be happy getting that upgraded to RSX11M+ if I can find install
media and running it as a serious system.
I also have TK70's, and a couple of other oddball things here including
all the parts for BLT.AI.MIT.EDU (Sometimes called LSD), a RM80, an RX02
with a RXV11 controller, and a bunch of other weird stuff.
Anyway, will be interesting to see if I can get these going. If I can
get the 73 running the next step would be to get the 11/24 up and going,
then start working on the 2020...
CZ
On 10/29/2019 11:27 AM, Jon Elson via cctalk wrote:
On 10/29/2019 09:45 AM, jos via cctalk wrote:
an IBM 4331 for 1000 Euro b.i.n. seems OK to me, if I was in that sort
of thing !
See? https://www.ebay.de/itm/IBM-grosrechner/184010116585 and his
other offerings...
WOW, this is some amazing stuff he has!
Jon 
10:41 a.m.
New subject: Introduction and need help bringing some pdp11's back
On Tue, Oct 29, 2019 at 12:28 PM Chris Zach via cctalk <
cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
Hi all!
Re-subscribing to this list after a 20+ year "vacation" while raising
kids. I was pretty active in the Dec pdp10, pdp11, and pdp8 communities
back in the 80's and managed to acquire a lot of "stuff". Now that I
have some time and space again I'm looking back into the pile of "high
mass hobbies" and wondering what still works.
<snip>
Where are you located?
Bill
11:15 a.m.
New subject: Introduction and need help bringing some pdp11's back
Maryland
On October 29, 2019 1:41:27 PM EDT, Bill Degnan via cctalk <cctalk at
classiccmp.org> wrote:
On Tue, Oct 29, 2019 at 12:28 PM Chris Zach via cctalk
<
cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
--
Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.
Hi all!
Re-subscribing to this list after a 20+ year "vacation" while raising
kids. I was pretty active in the Dec pdp10, pdp11, and pdp8
communities
back in the 80's and managed to acquire a lot
of "stuff". Now that I
have some time and space again I'm looking back into the pile of
"high
mass hobbies" and wondering what still
works.
<snip>
Where are you located?
Bill 
11:50 a.m.
New subject: Introduction and need help bringing some pdp11's back
Chris Zach wrote:
Maryland
I'm in Maryland, but not much into dec. You may remember David Gesswein, he's
here in MD as well. The MARCH group is technically in New Jersey, but most of us down
here belong to that as well.
Bill S.
--
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus
5:38 p.m.
New subject: Introduction and need help bringing some pdp11's back
Oh yes. If you could drop David an email with my email I'd appreciate it.
C
On 10/29/2019 2:50 PM, William Sudbrink via cctalk wrote:
Chris Zach wrote:
Maryland
I'm in Maryland, but not much into dec. You may remember David Gesswein, he's
here in MD as well. The MARCH group is technically in New Jersey, but most of us down
here belong to that as well.
Bill S.
11:13 a.m.
New subject: Introduction and need help bringing some pdp11's back
On 29/10/2019 16:28, Chris Zach via cctalk wrote:
The real problem is I'm trying to put an RQDX3 in
there instead of the
ESDI controller so I can boot off RX50's. And I have no idea which way
all the various ribbon cables are supposed to go. Will any 50 pin cable
work between the RQDX3 and the BA23 distribution bulkhead? Anything
special about the 34ish pin cable that goes between the bulkhead and the
RX50? So far when I try to boot all devices DU0-3 give me not yet ready.
Welcome back!
No, there's nothing special about either the 50-way ribbon cable or the
34-way ribbon cable. Just don't use a PC-style floppy cable with a
twist in it. DEC did it the way God (and Alan Shugart) intended. But
which distribution bulkhead have you got? I assume not an M9058,
because that's a card with lots of options that goes in a Q-bus
backplane and wants jumpers setting.
Either way, you might find this file helpful if you want to work out
what's going where:
http://www.dunnington.info/public/RQDX/RQDXn_pinout.pdf
and maybe even a glance at this one:
http://www.dunnington.info/public/RQDX/M9058_schematic.pdf
because it shows the relationship between the connectors and the signals
a bit better.
--
Pete
Pete Turnbull
2:27 p.m.
New subject: Introduction and need help bringing some pdp11's back
On 10/29/19 2:13 PM, Pete Turnbull via cctalk wrote:
On 29/10/2019 16:28, Chris Zach via cctalk wrote:
I assume your building up a Qbus PDP-11.
To go from RQDX3 to any drive you need a distrbution panel as used in
BA23 or M9058 distribution board usually used in BA123.
The M9058 can plug in to any general slot in Qbus for power and does not
past interrupt or DMA grant. Bottom/end of the bus is fine.
Then you need a 50 wide cable from RQDX3 to the distribution board and
the cable to match floppy from the distribution board (usually 34 wide).
FYI that combo works with RX50, RX33 (teac FD55GFR) , and RX23 (3.5"
floppy).
The most desirable drive is the RX33 as it stores more and faster
plus makes it easier to write a disk from a PC.
Jumper details are up to you to slug out but I have two systems using
the RQDX3 and M9058. I also have the Micro PDP-11 using the ba23
distribution. Don't ask right now I can not get to them for the next
month. Drive jumpers have to be correct.
If the cables are upside down you break nothing but noting works.
Hint flip only one end!
All of this is in the various manuals but no single one!
Allisonn
The real problem is I'm trying to put an
RQDX3 in there instead of the
ESDI controller so I can boot off RX50's. And I have no idea which way
all the various ribbon cables are supposed to go. Will any 50 pin
cable work between the RQDX3 and the BA23 distribution bulkhead?
Anything special about the 34ish pin cable that goes between the
bulkhead and the RX50? So far when I try to boot all devices DU0-3
give me not yet ready.
Welcome back!
5:37 p.m.
New subject: Introduction and need help bringing some pdp11's back
I assume your building up a Qbus PDP-11.
Yup. They're easier to get going for starters and since I got rid of the
11/44 the fastest system I've got.
To go from RQDX3 to any drive you need a distrbution
panel as used in
BA23 or M9058 distribution board usually used in BA123.
Yup, got one of those in the BA23. Oh, are the floppies DU0/DU1 with the
disk drive DU2 or is it different?
The M9058 can plug in to any general slot in Qbus for
power and does not
past interrupt or DMA grant. Bottom/end of the bus is fine.
Interesting, I didn't realize the RQDX series boards didn't use
interrupts or DMA. Does the CPU just poll them endlessly?
Then you need a 50 wide cable from RQDX3 to the
distribution board and
the cable to match floppy from the distribution board (usually 34 wide).
Got that. The floppy cable I have has a twist between the second and
third plugs, but I'm using the straight section only.
Jumper details are up to you to slug out but I have
two systems using
the RQDX3 and M9058. I also have the Micro PDP-11 using the ba23
distribution. Don't ask right now I can not get to them for the next
month. Drive jumpers have to be correct.
For the RX50's were there any jumpers? If I'm still fiddling with this
in a month I might ask for a pic of the configuration.
All of this is in the various manuals but no single
one!
The RQDX3 was kind of out of my price zone the last time I worked on
this stuff. The ESDI controller is extremely fast (and does elevator
seeks so it rocks on RSX11) but doesn't have floppy support.
I'll see if I can dig out/find any of my RQDX1 boards to cross-check the
RQDX3. Any of them should be able to run a RX50 (and lord be told I have
RD52 and RD53 drives around here....)
\
6:34 p.m.
New subject: Introduction and need help bringing some pdp11's back
On 29/10/2019 20:37, Chris Zach via cctalk wrote:
The M9058 can plug in to any general slot in Qbus for
power and does not
RQDX1 and 2 did not pass them but used them. (Maybe not NPG)? I believe
the RQDX3 did, however.
Nigel
Nigel Johnson
MSc., MIEEE
VE3ID/G4AJQ/VA3MCU
Amateur Radio, the origin of the open-source concept!
You can reach me by voice on Skype: TILBURY2591
If time travel ever will be possible, it already is. Ask me again yesterday
This e-mail is not and cannot, by its nature, be confidential. En route from me to you, it
will pass across the public Internet, easily readable by any number of system
administrators along the way.
Nigel Johnson <nw.johnson at ieee.org>
Please consider the environment when deciding if you really need to print this message
past interrupt or DMA grant.? Bottom/end of the
bus is fine.
Interesting, I didn't realize the RQDX series boards didn't use
interrupts or DMA. Does the CPU just poll them endlessly?
6:38 p.m.
New subject: Introduction and need help bringing some pdp11's back
Oh the 9058 is the "Q Bus" card with the 50 pin breakout to 34 pin and
20 pin lines for the various drives. That's not the RQDX3, and I don't
need that since I have the BA23 with a bulkhead connector.
And yes, I do remember nothing could be after a RQDX1 or 2 so they had
to be in the last unused slot on the box with a grant card needed if the
slot above and to the right was open. They do use DMA/NPG.
Off to look up the jumper settings and see if this RQDX3 is configured
properly....
CZ
On 10/29/2019 9:34 PM, Nigel Johnson via cctalk wrote:
On 29/10/2019 20:37, Chris Zach via cctalk wrote:
The M9058 can plug in to any general slot in Qbus
for power and does not
RQDX1 and 2 did not pass them but used them. (Maybe not NPG)? I believe
the RQDX3 did, however.
Nigel
Nigel Johnson
MSc., MIEEE
VE3ID/G4AJQ/VA3MCU
Amateur Radio, the origin of the open-source concept!
You can reach me by voice on Skype:? TILBURY2591
If time travel ever will be possible, it already is. Ask me again yesterday
This e-mail is not and cannot, by its nature, be confidential. En route
from me to you, it will pass across the public Internet, easily readable
by any number of system administrators along the way.
?? Nigel Johnson <nw.johnson at ieee.org>
Please consider the environment when deciding if you really need to
print this message
past interrupt or DMA grant.? Bottom/end of the
bus is fine.
Interesting, I didn't realize the RQDX series boards didn't use
interrupts or DMA. Does the CPU just poll them endlessly?
6:53 p.m.
New subject: Introduction and need help bringing some pdp11's back
On 10/29/19 9:34 PM, Nigel Johnson via cctalk wrote:
On 29/10/2019 20:37, Chris Zach via cctalk wrote:
Ok for the edification of all. The M9058 IS NOT the RQDX3 board,
It is the breakout board used with The RQDX2 or 3. What the M9058 needs
power for, it adds additional decodes to address up to 4 RD drives
or 4 floppies, the total is four if mixed so the usual was 3 RDs and 1
floppy usually RX50 or later RX33.
All RQDX3 pass grants, some later version RQDX2s pass grants.
The RQDX3 with either breakout board can interface RD50 through RD54
MFM disks and RX50, RX33, as well as RX23 depending on revision level
and system software.
The RQDX2 is an earlier quad width and ther eare at least three versions
(firmware and board revisions) will work with All of the RDs 50 through
54 but only RX50 and later RX33.
How do I know?
MicroVaxII in BA23
MicrovaxII/GPX in BA123
MicroPDP-11 in BA23 pedestal stand
BA11 PDP-11/23 (with smaller ABCD backplane)
BA11 PDP11/23B (18 slot backplane)
BA11 PDP11/73 (18 slot backplane)
All of winch have RQDX3 or late version RQDX2 (BA11 11/23)
with the BA23 breakout board or M9058 (standard config is BA123).
Not all of those are "supported configuration" but the docs
describe them and the setup is straight forward.
Allison
The M9058 can plug in to any general slot in Qbus
for power and does not
RQDX1 and 2 did not pass them but used them. (Maybe not NPG)? I believe
the RQDX3 did, however.
Nigel
past interrupt or DMA grant.? Bottom/end of the
bus is fine.
Interesting, I didn't realize the RQDX series boards didn't use
interrupts or DMA. Does the CPU just poll them endlessly?
Nigel Johnson
MSc., MIEEE
VE3ID/G4AJQ/VA3MCU
Amateur Radio, the origin of the open-source concept!
You can reach me by voice on Skype:? TILBURY2591
If time travel ever will be possible, it already is. Ask me again yesterday
This e-mail is not and cannot, by its nature, be confidential. En route
from me to you, it will pass across the public Internet, easily readable
by any number of system administrators along the way.
?? Nigel Johnson <nw.johnson at ieee.org>
??? Please consider the environment when deciding if you really need to
print this message
7:14 p.m.
New subject: Introduction and need help bringing some pdp11's back
Ok, first hurdle is down. In reading the RQDX3 Controller Module Users
Guide it shows that for a BA23 the 50 pin cable goes down under the Q
bus chassis then loops straight up into the RQDX3. Which is impossible
to do with a modern (hee hee!) 50 pin SCSI ribbon cable as the cable
keys are set up so that it would not be possible to plug the cable into
the RQDX3 without inverting it (Because DEC likes to sell their cables
with upside-down keys). However 30 seconds with a flush cutting pliers
allowed me to remove the cam/key from the cable connector and plug it
into the RQDX3.
System is now booting up off the floppy. Good step forward. I'll shut it
down for now, and get a XXDP+ floppy from Ebay. That should allow me to
format a Maxtor RD54 drive and get this thing up to steam.
Bit of progress. Thanks all! :-)
CZ
On 10/29/2019 9:53 PM, allison via cctalk wrote:
On 10/29/19 9:34 PM, Nigel Johnson via cctalk wrote:
On 29/10/2019 20:37, Chris Zach via cctalk wrote:
Ok for the edification of all. The M9058 IS NOT the RQDX3 board,
It is the breakout board used with The RQDX2 or 3. What the M9058 needs
power for, it adds additional decodes to address up to 4 RD drives
or 4 floppies, the total is four if mixed so the usual was 3 RDs and 1
floppy usually RX50 or later RX33.
All RQDX3 pass grants, some later version RQDX2s pass grants.
The RQDX3 with either breakout board can interface RD50 through RD54
MFM disks and RX50, RX33, as well as RX23 depending on revision level
and system software.
The RQDX2 is an earlier quad width and ther eare at least three versions
(firmware and board revisions) will work with All of the RDs 50 through
54 but only RX50 and later RX33.
How do I know?
MicroVaxII in BA23
MicrovaxII/GPX in BA123
MicroPDP-11 in BA23 pedestal stand
BA11 PDP-11/23 (with smaller ABCD backplane)
BA11 PDP11/23B (18 slot backplane)
BA11 PDP11/73 (18 slot backplane)
All of winch have RQDX3 or late version RQDX2 (BA11 11/23)
with the BA23 breakout board or M9058 (standard config is BA123).
Not all of those are "supported configuration" but the docs
describe them and the setup is straight forward.
Allison
The M9058 can plug in to any general slot in Qbus
for power and does not
RQDX1 and 2 did not pass them but used them. (Maybe not NPG)? I believe
the RQDX3 did, however.
Nigel
past interrupt or DMA grant.? Bottom/end of the
bus is fine.
Interesting, I didn't realize the RQDX series boards didn't use
interrupts or DMA. Does the CPU just poll them endlessly?
Nigel Johnson
MSc., MIEEE
VE3ID/G4AJQ/VA3MCU
Amateur Radio, the origin of the open-source concept!
You can reach me by voice on Skype:? TILBURY2591
If time travel ever will be possible, it already is. Ask me again yesterday
This e-mail is not and cannot, by its nature, be confidential. En route
from me to you, it will pass across the public Internet, easily readable
by any number of system administrators along the way.
?? Nigel Johnson <nw.johnson at ieee.org>
??? Please consider the environment when deciding if you really need to
print this message
30 Oct
30 Oct
8:29 a.m.
New subject: Introduction and need help bringing some pdp11's back
On 10/29/2019 10:14 PM, Chris Zach via cctalk wrote:
Ok, first hurdle is down. In reading the RQDX3
Controller Module Users
Guide it shows that for a BA23 the 50 pin cable goes down under the Q
bus chassis then loops straight up into the RQDX3. Which is impossible
to do with a modern (hee hee!) 50 pin SCSI ribbon cable as the cable
keys are set up so that it would not be possible to plug the cable
into the RQDX3 without inverting it (Because DEC likes to sell their
cables with upside-down keys). However 30 seconds with a flush cutting
pliers allowed me to remove the cam/key from the cable connector and
plug it into the RQDX3.
System is now booting up off the floppy. Good step forward. I'll shut
it down for now, and get a XXDP+ floppy from Ebay. That should allow
me to format a Maxtor RD54 drive and get this thing up to steam.
Bit of progress. Thanks all! :-)
CZ
I created an XXDP floppy for the RX33 drive in my BA23 based PDP-11/23
using simh and then copying the image to real floppy using Putr.? It
seemed brute force.? Is there an easier way?
29 Oct
29 Oct
7:18 p.m.
New subject: Introduction and need help bringing some pdp11's back
On 10/29/19 8:37 PM, Chris Zach via cctalk wrote:
I like them for the many flavors of CPU and and possible configurations.
I have a few really one of every possible base PDP-11 and a few MicroVax
cpus.
Memory test. Look up the standard jumpers. Should be in the MicroPDP-11
handbook or slipcase doc set.
Oh yes they do! The breakout board m9058 is a dumb beast.
The RQDX3 is M7555.
And yes you can put a RQDX3 and M9058 in a BA23 for a three drive system
using half height drives (two st225 or st250 and a RX33). That is not
documented but works just fine.
The twisted cables are for PCs only the rest of the world never did
that. Reason if you did it the normal way you could have up to four
drives (but you had to setup the jumper/dip-switches) the twisted scheme
maxed at 2 (no setup as both drive were the same).
If no one played with the RX50s (and they actually work) it should be
plug and play. About half the RX50s I see are not functional and that
was more than 25 years ago and it cannot have gotten better. Ir you
end up with a pile you can play mix and match and maybe get lucky.
Yes I believe two of them one being drive select. Right now I can maybe
touch them, open them up for PICs, your kidding. ;)
I'm overhauling space (one 10x14 room) that has both lab, office and
ham radio... and a 50" rack of PDP11/73, BA123 MicoVAXII, and 10
Microvax3100s of multiple flavors, 2 MV2000s (one to format media and
the other runs ultrix 4.2) plus a few Linux PCs to do day to day stuff.
Then there is the S100 collection.
RQDX1 is in compatable with RQDX3 formatted RD disks! best leave that
one alone.
I was lucky being both Ex-Digit (former dec) and in the immediate area
so finding stuff years ago was easy and free. Long since dried up.
best advice is get DOCs, as much and varied of the QBUS PDP-11 family
and the various packaged systems as you can find or on line. Oh the
nasty part, you will have to actually read them to find a lot of the
details.
Allison
I assume your
building up a Qbus PDP-11.
Yup. They're easier to get going for starters and since I got rid of the
11/44 the fastest system I've got. To go from RQDX3 to any drive you need a
distrbution panel as used in
BA23 or M9058 distribution board usually used in BA123.
Yup, got one of those in the BA23. Oh, are the floppies DU0/DU1 with the
disk drive DU2 or is it different? The M9058 can
plug in to any general slot in Qbus for power and does not
past interrupt or DMA grant.? Bottom/end of the bus is fine.
Interesting, I didn't realize the RQDX series boards didn't use
interrupts or DMA. Does the CPU just poll them endlessly? Then you need
a 50 wide cable from RQDX3 to the distribution board and
the cable to match floppy from the distribution board (usually 34 wide).
Got that. The floppy cable I have has a twist between the second and
third plugs, but I'm using the straight section only. Jumper details
are up to? you to slug out but I have two systems using
the RQDX3 and M9058.? I also have the Micro PDP-11 using the ba23
distribution.?? Don't ask right now I can not get to them for the next
month.? Drive jumpers have to be correct.
For the RX50's were there any jumpers? If I'm still fiddling with this
in a month I might ask for a pic of the configuration. All of this is
in the various manuals but no single one!
The RQDX3 was kind of out of my price zone the last time I worked on
this stuff. The ESDI controller is extremely fast (and does elevator
seeks so it rocks on RSX11) but doesn't have floppy support.
I'll see if I can dig out/find any of my RQDX1 boards to cross-check the
RQDX3. Any of them should be able to run a RX50 (and lord be told I have
RD52 and RD53 drives around here....)
\ 
7:16 p.m.
New subject: Introduction and need help bringing some pdp11's back
Hi Chris,
I have a lot of the parts you might need. Please feel free to contact me
off list
Thanks, Paul
On Tue, Oct 29, 2019 at 11:28 AM Chris Zach via cctalk <
cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
Hi all!
Re-subscribing to this list after a 20+ year "vacation" while raising
kids. I was pretty active in the Dec pdp10, pdp11, and pdp8 communities
back in the 80's and managed to acquire a lot of "stuff". Now that I
have some time and space again I'm looking back into the pile of "high
mass hobbies" and wondering what still works.
In terms of communities I see the pdp8-lovers list is still going but I
can't seem to find the pdp11 email list anymore. If anyone can add me
I'd appreciate.
On to the technical issues: I currently am trying to bring back online a
PDT11/150 and my main Q-Bus pdp11/73. The 11/150 is trying to boot but
it looks like my old disk with RT11 5.1 and the PD: boot driver is no
longer working. Does anyone have a copy of RT11 5.1 source disks they
can loan me (I can't find my set).
The 11/73 is a bit more interesting: It's an 11/73 quad height CPU, 4mb
of ram on a single DEC Q bus card, and for storage has an MTI ESDI
controller hooked up to a Fujitsu ESDI drive. After some workings I was
able to get the controller back online (hint: The password to get into
the controller to make changes is MTI) and while I can boot RT11 off one
of the two partitions my RSX11M 4.0 generated instance is flunking with
a boot error. Probably some disk rot.
I also have a RLV12 controller in it and a pair of RL02's sitting in a
closet here that I can drag upstairs with RSX111M 4.1 on them. Better
than nothing and might allow me to boot up and possibly run a disk
repair/regenerate the boot code on the EDSI disk. But that's not the
real problem.
The real problem is I'm trying to put an RQDX3 in there instead of the
ESDI controller so I can boot off RX50's. And I have no idea which way
all the various ribbon cables are supposed to go. Will any 50 pin cable
work between the RQDX3 and the BA23 distribution bulkhead? Anything
special about the 34ish pin cable that goes between the bulkhead and the
RX50? So far when I try to boot all devices DU0-3 give me not yet ready.
Ultimately I would like to format one of my MFM Maxtor drives as a RD54,
then install MicroRSX and MicroRSTS from floppy. For the big ESDI drive
I'd be happy getting that upgraded to RSX11M+ if I can find install
media and running it as a serious system.
I also have TK70's, and a couple of other oddball things here including
all the parts for BLT.AI.MIT.EDU (Sometimes called LSD), a RM80, an RX02
with a RXV11 controller, and a bunch of other weird stuff.
Anyway, will be interesting to see if I can get these going. If I can
get the 73 running the next step would be to get the 11/24 up and going,
then start working on the 2020...
CZ
On 10/29/2019 11:27 AM, Jon Elson via cctalk wrote:
On 10/29/2019 09:45 AM, jos via cctalk wrote:
an IBM 4331 for 1000 Euro b.i.n. seems OK to me, if I was in that sort
of thing !
See https://www.ebay.de/itm/IBM-grosrechner/184010116585 and his
other offerings...
WOW, this is some amazing stuff he has!
Jon
8:11 p.m.
New subject: Introduction and need help bringing some pdp11's back
Hi Paul!
Pleasure to meet you. What kinds of things do you have?
What I would love to do is get the latest versions of RSX11/M+ up and
running. I have compiler licenses for Fortran77 and Cobol81, but only
11/M 4.1 and 4.0 media on RL02/01 packs.
C
On 10/29/2019 10:16 PM, Paul Anderson via cctalk wrote:
Hi Chris,
I have a lot of the parts you might need. Please feel free to contact me
off list
Thanks, Paul
On Tue, Oct 29, 2019 at 11:28 AM Chris Zach via cctalk <
cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
> Hi all!
>
> Re-subscribing to this list after a 20+ year "vacation" while raising
> kids. I was pretty active in the Dec pdp10, pdp11, and pdp8 communities
> back in the 80's and managed to acquire a lot of "stuff". Now that I
> have some time and space again I'm looking back into the pile of "high
> mass hobbies" and wondering what still works.
>
> In terms of communities I see the pdp8-lovers list is still going but I
> can't seem to find the pdp11 email list anymore. If anyone can add me
> I'd appreciate.
>
> On to the technical issues: I currently am trying to bring back online a
> PDT11/150 and my main Q-Bus pdp11/73. The 11/150 is trying to boot but
> it looks like my old disk with RT11 5.1 and the PD: boot driver is no
> longer working. Does anyone have a copy of RT11 5.1 source disks they
> can loan me (I can't find my set).
>
> The 11/73 is a bit more interesting: It's an 11/73 quad height CPU, 4mb
> of ram on a single DEC Q bus card, and for storage has an MTI ESDI
> controller hooked up to a Fujitsu ESDI drive. After some workings I was
> able to get the controller back online (hint: The password to get into
> the controller to make changes is MTI) and while I can boot RT11 off one
> of the two partitions my RSX11M 4.0 generated instance is flunking with
> a boot error. Probably some disk rot.
>
> I also have a RLV12 controller in it and a pair of RL02's sitting in a
> closet here that I can drag upstairs with RSX111M 4.1 on them. Better
> than nothing and might allow me to boot up and possibly run a disk
> repair/regenerate the boot code on the EDSI disk. But that's not the
> real problem.
>
> The real problem is I'm trying to put an RQDX3 in there instead of the
> ESDI controller so I can boot off RX50's. And I have no idea which way
> all the various ribbon cables are supposed to go. Will any 50 pin cable
> work between the RQDX3 and the BA23 distribution bulkhead? Anything
> special about the 34ish pin cable that goes between the bulkhead and the
> RX50? So far when I try to boot all devices DU0-3 give me not yet ready.
>
> Ultimately I would like to format one of my MFM Maxtor drives as a RD54,
> then install MicroRSX and MicroRSTS from floppy. For the big ESDI drive
> I'd be happy getting that upgraded to RSX11M+ if I can find install
> media and running it as a serious system.
>
> I also have TK70's, and a couple of other oddball things here including
> all the parts for BLT.AI.MIT.EDU (Sometimes called LSD), a RM80, an RX02
> with a RXV11 controller, and a bunch of other weird stuff.
>
> Anyway, will be interesting to see if I can get these going. If I can
> get the 73 running the next step would be to get the 11/24 up and going,
> then start working on the 2020...
>
> CZ
>
> On 10/29/2019 11:27 AM, Jon Elson via cctalk wrote:
>> On 10/29/2019 09:45 AM, jos via cctalk wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> an IBM 4331 for 1000 Euro b.i.n. seems OK to me, if I was in that sort
>>> of thing !
>>>
>>> See https://www.ebay.de/itm/IBM-grosrechner/184010116585 and his
>>> other offerings...
>>>
>> WOW, this is some amazing stuff he has!
>>
>> Jon
>
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17 comments
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participants (10)
-
allisonportable＠gmail.com -
billdegnan＠gmail.com -
cz＠alembic.crystel.com -
dj.taylor4＠comcast.net -
elson＠pico-systems.com -
jos.dreesen＠greenmail.ch -
nw.johnson＠ieee.org -
pete＠dunnington.plus.com -
useddec＠gmail.com -
wh.sudbrink＠verizon.net