Turning a VAX 11/750 into a workstation (Re: VMS for MicroVAX II/III (was Re: Value of a PDP/8?))
10 Mar
2007
10 Mar
'07
12:29 a.m.
On 3/10/07, Sridhar Ayengar <ploopster at gmail.com> wrote:
Ethan Dicks wrote:
I almost had an 11/750 land on me, but I was able to coax it out of
the side door of a Chevy Astro mini-Van (alone) without getting
squished or pinched. That was a fun experience.
Thinking about the whole "11/750 workstation" concept - I wonder if
one could take a qbus mono framebuffer and hang it off of some flavor
of Qniverter? It'd be glacial compared to a real VAXstation II or
VAXstation 2000, but presuming the framebuffer doesn't depend on
anything peculiar to POST on a MicroVAX II, it'd be slick to see. For
"real" work on an 11/750, any flavor of DMA-capable Unibus comms
interface (DEC DMF-32, Emulex CS21...) and an authentic
ANSI-compatible dumb terminal (VT100, VT220...) is just fine (but back
in the day, the "power users" had two terminals on their desk, along
with a serial switch box to manage "multiple sessions" in hardware).
-ethan
I think a 11/750 makes a fine single-user VMS
"workstation" ;-)
Never trust a workstation that couldn't roll over you and smash you flat? 
10 Mar
10 Mar
1:21 a.m.
New subject: Turning a VAX 11/750 into a workstation (Re: VMS for MicroVAX II/III (was Re: Value of a PDP/8?))
Ethan Dicks wrote:
I almost had an 11/750 land on me, but I was able to coax it out of
the side door of a Chevy Astro mini-Van (alone) without getting
squished or pinched. That was a fun experience.
I once (with the help of a bunch of other people) was attempting to
unload a DECsystem 5810 (a VAX 6000-300, except with MIPS CPUs -- I got
the machine from Dave McGuire the first time I met him, and I still have
it) from a rental truck down the ramp and it started to tip off the side
of the ramp towards me. I wasn't standing at the time. It landed on me
as I was kneeling down. I caught it.
Now it may seem that sounds implausibly superhuman, but I'd probably
qualify it as thoroughly stupid. You see, I held it up only for a split
second. If it had been another split second, it would have crushed me
dead. No more Sridhar. The people helping me reacted quickly and got
it tilted back up before my strength gave out, which, obviously, it was
about to.
In any case, I felt *sore* the next day. Especially my neck.
I think a 11/750 makes a fine single-user VMS
"workstation" ;-)
Never trust a workstation that couldn't roll over you and smash you flat? Thinking about the whole "11/750
workstation" concept - I wonder if
one could take a qbus mono framebuffer and hang it off of some flavor
of Qniverter? It'd be glacial compared to a real VAXstation II or
VAXstation 2000, but presuming the framebuffer doesn't depend on
anything peculiar to POST on a MicroVAX II, it'd be slick to see. For
"real" work on an 11/750, any flavor of DMA-capable Unibus comms
interface (DEC DMF-32, Emulex CS21...) and an authentic
ANSI-compatible dumb terminal (VT100, VT220...) is just fine (but back
in the day, the "power users" had two terminals on their desk, along
with a serial switch box to manage "multiple sessions" in hardware).
I once asked a question as to whether it would be possible to build a
VAX 6000-based workstation by hanging a Qbus framebuffer from a Unibux
slot hooked to a VAXBI bridge in a VAXBI slot in a secondary BI cage
hooked to a VAX 6000 through an XMI->VAXBI bridge. The consensus was
that it probably wouldn't work. 8-)
I'm going to try anyway. I just haven't had the time.
Peace... Sridhar
4:23 a.m.
On Sat, 2007-03-10 01:21:00 -0500, Sridhar Ayengar <ploopster at gmail.com> wrote:
Ethan Dicks wrote:
I almost had an 11/750 land on me, but I was able to coax it out of
the side door of a Chevy Astro mini-Van (alone) without getting
squished or pinched. That was a fun experience.
I once (with the help of a bunch of other people) was attempting to
unload a DECsystem 5810 (a VAX 6000-300, except with MIPS CPUs -- I got
the machine from Dave McGuire the first time I met him, and I still have
it) from a rental truck down the ramp and it started to tip off the side
of the ramp towards me. I wasn't standing at the time. It landed on me
as I was kneeling down. I caught it.
We (three friends and myself) once brought my VAX 6320 down into a
friend's basement. The box fittet the stairs quite exactly and all
four of us had quite aching bones for a month. OTOH, I don't think
that this box will come /out/ there ever. Maybe except if being cutted
down into pieces...
MfG, JBG
--
Jan-Benedict Glaw jbglaw at lug-owl.de +49-172-7608481
Signature of: "really soon now": an unspecified period of time,
likly to
the second : be greater than any reasonable definition
of "soon".
I think a 11/750 makes a fine single-user VMS
"workstation" ;-)
Never trust a workstation that couldn't roll over
you and smash you flat? 
8:05 a.m.
The DEC VS11/VSV11 kind of did the earliest "Vax workstation."
It was a Qbus graphics subsystem with 20 inch monitor which hooked up to a
Unibus interface.
Bill
On 3/10/07, Jan-Benedict Glaw <jbglaw at lug-owl.de> wrote:
On Sat, 2007-03-10 01:21:00 -0500, Sridhar Ayengar <ploopster at gmail.com>
wrote:
We (three friends and myself) once brought my VAX 6320 down into a
friend's basement. The box fittet the stairs quite exactly and all
four of us had quite aching bones for a month. OTOH, I don't think
that this box will come /out/ there ever. Maybe except if being cutted
down into pieces...
MfG, JBG
--
Jan-Benedict Glaw jbglaw at lug-owl.de
+49-172-7608481
Signature of: "really soon now": an unspecified period of
time, likly to
the second : be greater than any
reasonable definition
of "soon".
Ethan Dicks wrote:
> > > I think a 11/750 makes a fine single-user VMS "workstation" ;-)
> > Never trust a workstation that couldn't roll over you and smash you
flat?
I almost had an 11/750 land on me, but I was able to coax it out of
the side door of a Chevy Astro mini-Van (alone) without getting
squished or pinched. That was a fun experience.
I once (with the help of a bunch of other people) was attempting to
unload a DECsystem 5810 (a VAX 6000-300, except with MIPS CPUs -- I got
the machine from Dave McGuire the first time I met him, and I still have
it) from a rental truck down the ramp and it started to tip off the side
of the ramp towards me. I wasn't standing at the time. It landed on me
as I was kneeling down. I caught it.
10:37 p.m.
New subject: Turning a VAX 11/750 into a workstation (Re: VMS for MicroVAX II/III (was Re: Value of a PDP/8?))
Bill Pechter wrote:
The DEC VS11/VSV11 kind of did the earliest "Vax
workstation."
It was a Qbus graphics subsystem with 20 inch monitor which hooked up to a
Unibus interface.
I'm reasonably certain there was an earlier workstation configuration
for VAXen. I think the earliest was a UNIBUS-attached graphical console
for the VAX 11/780.
Peace... Sridhar
11 Mar
11 Mar
1:35 a.m.
New subject: Turning a VAX 11/750 into a workstation (Re: VMS for MicroVAX II/III (was Re: Value of a PDP/8?))
At 10:37 PM -0500 3/10/07, Sridhar Ayengar wrote:
Bill Pechter wrote:
I believe you're thinking of the VAXstation 100 terminal (aka VS100).
Zane
--
| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator |
| healyzh at aracnet.com (primary) | OpenVMS Enthusiast |
| MONK::HEALYZH (DECnet) | Classic Computer Collector |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
| Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
| PDP-10 Emulation and Zane's Computer Museum. |
| http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |
The DEC VS11/VSV11 kind of did the earliest
"Vax workstation."
It was a Qbus graphics subsystem with 20 inch monitor which hooked up to a
Unibus interface.
I'm reasonably certain there was an earlier workstation
configuration for VAXen. I think the earliest was a UNIBUS-attached
graphical console for the VAX 11/780.
Peace... Sridhar 
1:08 p.m.
New subject: Turning a VAX 11/750 into a workstation (Re: VMS for MicroVAX II/III (was Re: Value of a PDP/8?))
On Sat, 10 Mar 2007, Jan-Benedict Glaw wrote:
On Sat, 2007-03-10 01:21:00 -0500, Sridhar Ayengar
<ploopster at gmail.com> wrote:
I moved not one but two 11/780's into my basement by myself. I had to
remove every thing from inside the frame and carry it down the stairs (CPU
cardcage was the worst) then use a cable hoist to slide the frame down the
stairs.
I also moved an 11/750 down the stairs fully loaded (no sheetmetal
though.) When I move I think I'll pay somebody to get them back out....
Clint
Ethan Dicks wrote:
I once (with the help of a bunch of other people) was attempting to
unload a DECsystem 5810 (a VAX 6000-300, except with MIPS CPUs -- I got
the machine from Dave McGuire the first time I met him, and I still have
it) from a rental truck down the ramp and it started to tip off the side
of the ramp towards me. I wasn't standing at the time. It landed on me
as I was kneeling down. I caught it.
We (three friends and myself) once brought my VAX 6320 down into a
friend's basement. The box fittet the stairs quite exactly and all
four of us had quite aching bones for a month. OTOH, I don't think
that this box will come /out/ there ever. Maybe except if being cutted
down into pieces...
MfG, JBG
> I
think a 11/750 makes a fine single-user VMS "workstation" ;-)
Never trust a workstation that couldn't roll over you and smash you flat?
I almost had an 11/750 land on me, but I was able to coax it out of
the side door of a Chevy Astro mini-Van (alone) without getting
squished or pinched. That was a fun experience.
6338
days inactive
6339
days old
6 comments
6 participants
participants (6)
-
cctech＠porky.vax-11.org -
ethan.dicks＠gmail.com -
healyzh＠aracnet.com -
jbglaw＠lug-owl.de -
pechter＠gmail.com -
ploopster＠gmail.com