Hi, All, I've been trying to dust off a MicroVAX 2000 for VCFmw, and so far, all I've accomplished is literally getting the dust off. This unit was one I tried to install the SCSI-enabled patched boot ROMs in some time back. I _thought_ I had arranged the original ROMs in the same pattern, but it's possible with all the swapping, I got some mixed up. I have checked (and re-downloaded) all the ROMs I have - one factory set (23-092E7-00 through 23-095E7-00) and one patched set. Cross-checking with the Technical Reference manual (EK-VTTAA-TM-001) from Bitsavers, I have verified that all ROMs have reasonable contents in the first few bytes (there are three signature bytes, among other things). No matter which set I have installed, I cannot get the console to respond with the self-test info. Does anyone have a photograph of a KA410 board where the labels on the ROMs can be read? Alternately, does anyone have any docs with part numbers? I'm reasonably certain that the underlying hardware is functional and that I just need to re-install the ROMs correctly. Yes, I could try the lucky-dip method, but one of the ROMs is rather difficult to pull (owing to the memory interface connectors), and I'd rather not break a pin off while sequencing through a dozen chip swaps. I'd like to _know_ what goes where before I proceed (especially if I am wrong and I _do_ have a hardware fault). I don't have any video cables handy, but in case it does come down to testing with a tube vs a console terminal, I have a four-plane video interface in addition to the mono frame buffer all KA410s come with. I had just thought that it would be easy enough to use a BCC08 console cable and go from there (it's worked before). Thanks for any tips or pointers, -ethan P.S. - I've been delving into the guts of the machine deeply enough that I'm musing about what it would take to make a 16MB memory board that didn't respond in the lower 2MB (to work with the on-board memory). Static would be easy to interface, but the KA410 _does_ generate and pass along refresh signals, so something with 30-pin or 72-pin SIMMs shouldn't be that hard to whip up. I'm only considering it because my largest memory board is 4MB, and the current prices for an MS400-CA (12MB DEC board) are more than I'm personally willing to pay - I'll do without first (which is what I'm already doing ;-) P.P.S - this would probably all be moot if I had a SCSI-based MicroVAX slab of some sort, but I just haven't been in the right place at the right time. Perhaps some DEC gear will make an appearance at the VCF...

Hi, All, I've been trying to dust off a MicroVAX 2000 for VCFmw, and so far, all I've accomplished is literally getting the dust off. This unit was one I tried to install the SCSI-enabled patched boot ROMs in some time back. I _thought_ I had arranged the original ROMs in the same pattern, but it's possible with all the swapping, I got some mixed up. I have checked (and re-downloaded) all the ROMs I have - one factory set (23-092E7-00 through 23-095E7-00) and one patched set. Cross-checking with the Technical Reference manual (EK-VTTAA-TM-001) from Bitsavers, I have verified that all ROMs have reasonable contents in the first few bytes (there are three signature bytes, among other things). No matter which set I have installed, I cannot get the console to respond with the self-test info. Does anyone have a photograph of a KA410 board where the labels on the ROMs can be read? Alternately, does anyone have any docs with part numbers? I'm reasonably certain that the underlying hardware is functional and that I just need to re-install the ROMs correctly. Yes, I could try the lucky-dip method, but one of the ROMs is rather difficult to pull (owing to the memory interface connectors), and I'd rather not break a pin off while sequencing through a dozen chip swaps. I'd like to _know_ what goes where before I proceed (especially if I am wrong and I _do_ have a hardware fault). I don't have any video cables handy, but in case it does come down to testing with a tube vs a console terminal, I have a four-plane video interface in addition to the mono frame buffer all KA410s come with. I had just thought that it would be easy enough to use a BCC08 console cable and go from there (it's worked before). Thanks for any tips or pointers, -ethan P.S. - I've been delving into the guts of the machine deeply enough that I'm musing about what it would take to make a 16MB memory board that didn't respond in the lower 2MB (to work with the on-board memory). Static would be easy to interface, but the KA410 _does_ generate and pass along refresh signals, so something with 30-pin or 72-pin SIMMs shouldn't be that hard to whip up. I'm only considering it because my largest memory board is 4MB, and the current prices for an MS400-CA (12MB DEC board) are more than I'm personally willing to pay - I'll do without first (which is what I'm already doing ;-) P.P.S - this would probably all be moot if I had a SCSI-based MicroVAX slab of some sort, but I just haven't been in the right place at the right time. Perhaps some DEC gear will make an appearance at the VCF...

Hi, All, I've been trying to dust off a MicroVAX 2000 for VCFmw, and so far, all I've accomplished is literally getting the dust off. This unit was one I tried to install the SCSI-enabled patched boot ROMs in some time back. I _thought_ I had arranged the original ROMs in the same pattern, but it's possible with all the swapping, I got some mixed up. I have checked (and re-downloaded) all the ROMs I have - one factory set (23-092E7-00 through 23-095E7-00) and one patched set. Cross-checking with the Technical Reference manual (EK-VTTAA-TM-001) from Bitsavers, I have verified that all ROMs have reasonable contents in the first few bytes (there are three signature bytes, among other things). No matter which set I have installed, I cannot get the console to respond with the self-test info. Does anyone have a photograph of a KA410 board where the labels on the ROMs can be read? Alternately, does anyone have any docs with part numbers? I'm reasonably certain that the underlying hardware is functional and that I just need to re-install the ROMs correctly. Yes, I could try the lucky-dip method, but one of the ROMs is rather difficult to pull (owing to the memory interface connectors), and I'd rather not break a pin off while sequencing through a dozen chip swaps. I'd like to _know_ what goes where before I proceed (especially if I am wrong and I _do_ have a hardware fault). I don't have any video cables handy, but in case it does come down to testing with a tube vs a console terminal, I have a four-plane video interface in addition to the mono frame buffer all KA410s come with. I had just thought that it would be easy enough to use a BCC08 console cable and go from there (it's worked before). Thanks for any tips or pointers, -ethan P.S. - I've been delving into the guts of the machine deeply enough that I'm musing about what it would take to make a 16MB memory board that didn't respond in the lower 2MB (to work with the on-board memory). Static would be easy to interface, but the KA410 _does_ generate and pass along refresh signals, so something with 30-pin or 72-pin SIMMs shouldn't be that hard to whip up. I'm only considering it because my largest memory board is 4MB, and the current prices for an MS400-CA (12MB DEC board) are more than I'm personally willing to pay - I'll do without first (which is what I'm already doing ;-) P.P.S - this would probably all be moot if I had a SCSI-based MicroVAX slab of some sort, but I just haven't been in the right place at the right time. Perhaps some DEC gear will make an appearance at the VCF...