1 Dec
2015
1 Dec
'15
10:25 p.m.
I purchased a Microvax 3800 a few weeks ago. I have not really had the time
to really take a good look at it until now. I still do not have the needed
power cord to power it Up. Looks like a standard PC power cord with a notch
in it. I found a place that sells them online, still waiting for it to get
here.
I was told the machine was removed from working service, however it looks
like it has been sitting for quite some time. The hard drive, hard drive
controller, and tape controller have been removed.
I purchased a m7769 DSSI controller card online, so that is one more step
in the direction of getting the machine all together. Still waiting to find
the controller for the tape drive and a dssi hard drive, although they look
to be pretty affordable on ebay.
Just figured id post about it here, to show my progress twords getting it
running.
http://postimg.org/gallery/fztxjqbe/
--Devin
1 Dec
1 Dec
11:50 p.m.
On Tue, Dec 1, 2015 at 7:25 PM, devin davison <lyokoboy0 at gmail.com> wrote:
I purchased a m7769 DSSI controller card online, so that is one more step
in the direction of getting the machine all together. Still waiting to find
the controller for the tape drive and a dssi hard drive, although they look
to be pretty affordable on ebay.
Just figured id post about it here, to show my progress twords getting it
running.
http://postimg.org/gallery/fztxjqbe/
--Devin
Those pictures show an H3602 console panel for an M7626 KA660 VAX 4000
Model 200 CPU. That CPU (and also the M7624 KA640 MicroVAX 3300/3400
CPU which uses the same H3602 console panel) has a built in DSSI
controller so there shouldn't be a real need to add a separate M7769
KFQSA DSSI controller.
An M7559 TQK70 controller should be easy and cheap to find, but that's
the last thing I would spend money on myself. Dealing with TK50 / TK70
drives has never been worth the bother for me.
If I already had a working DSSI disk drive to use but no way to load
software I would consider buying an M5976 KZQSA SCSI controller which
can be used with a SCSI CD-ROM drive to install software. (Make an
offer on this one maybe: http://www.ebay.com/itm/151702502097 )
If I didn't already have a working DSSI disk drive to use I might
consider buying a general purpose SCSI controller such as an Emulex
UC07 which can be used with both SCSI disks and CD-ROMs. There are
some on eBay around the $200 range.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/161129117629
http://www.ebay.com/itm/141122593003
I don't have any Emulex SCSI controller myself. I have several CMD and
Dilog SCSI controllers which work well.
2 Dec
2 Dec
12:03 a.m.
On Tue, Dec 1, 2015 at 7:25 PM, devin davison <lyokoboy0 at gmail.com> wrote:
Just figured id post about it here, to show my progress twords getting it
running.
http://postimg.org/gallery/fztxjqbe/
Another tip: If you haven't done so already, remove the CPU console
panel and check to see if there is still a NiCad battery pack
installed. The battery pack is mounted under the console panel PCB and
you have to remove a few screws holding the PCB in place to get to it.
If the pack is still installed then remove it. If it hasn't already
started leaking it is only a matter of time before it does and starts
corroding the PCB.
3 Dec
3 Dec
12:22 a.m.
Thank you for all the helpful information Glen. I will definately grab
that scsi interface when i get the funds, I have a scsi cd drive already to
be used with my SGi gear.
I removed that cpu board out and took a couple of pictures. There is one
connector, on the top, with two notches in it. Same as the controller board
I just bought. I would assume that is the DSSI connector?
http://postimg.org/gallery/1iafnu1oa/
I have a stockpile of scsi disks over here, i might just need to save up
and get the better controller that works with disks as well as cdrom's
I've yet to find the battery, but that is next on my list, thanks for the
suggestion.
--Devin
On Wed, Dec 2, 2015 at 12:03 AM, Glen Slick <glen.slick at gmail.com> wrote:
On Tue, Dec 1, 2015 at 7:25 PM, devin davison
<lyokoboy0 at gmail.com> wrote:
Just figured id post about it here, to show my progress twords getting
it
running.
http://postimg.org/gallery/fztxjqbe/
Another tip: If you haven't done so already, remove the CPU console
panel and check to see if there is still a NiCad battery pack
installed. The battery pack is mounted under the console panel PCB and
you have to remove a few screws holding the PCB in place to get to it.
If the pack is still installed then remove it. If it hasn't already
started leaking it is only a matter of time before it does and starts
corroding the PCB.
2:11 a.m.
On Wed, Dec 2, 2015 at 9:22 PM, devin davison <lyokoboy0 at gmail.com> wrote:
I removed that cpu board out and took a couple of pictures. There is one
connector, on the top, with two notches in it. Same as the controller board
I just bought. I would assume that is the DSSI connector?
http://postimg.org/gallery/1iafnu1oa/
Yes, that is an M7626 KA660 VAX 4000-200 CPU. The blue connector is
the H3602 console panel connector, the bottom grey connector is the
memory connector, and the top grey connector with two notches is the
DSSI connector.
Normally in a BA213 style chassis setup for DSSI disks there would be
a white round cable that feeds down from the storage section on top
which breaks out into the 50-pin plug to connect to the DSSI
controller. It would look similar to the 26-pin cable for the TK70
tape drive, only the cable would be thicker and the connector wider.
In your pictures there is 50-pin flat ribbon cable feeding down from
the storage section. I'm not sure what that would be doing in your
system, that doesn't look like something standard.
-Glen
7:49 a.m.
Yes, that is an M7626 KA660 VAX 4000-200 CPU. The blue connector is
the H3602 console panel connector, the bottom grey connector is the
memory connector, and the top grey connector with two notches is the
DSSI connector.
I recently removed the battery from my M7627 KA660 and documented with
photos, at the bottom of my 4000-200 restoration thread. Hopefully you
will find the visuals useful. I found no similar photos on the web when I
attempted the job:
http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=608
Bill
11:22 a.m.
Well that works out. I've got a couple Of dssi controllers now. Not sure
what that 50 pin cable could have gone to either. I have not opened the top
half of the machine yet.
Thank you for the pictures of where the battery are. I was looking on the
main cpu board itself. Ive yet to take that apart but it is next on my
list. I stockpiled a bunch of lithium batteries fror phone handsets when
radio shack closed down, they were throwing a bunch of them away. odds are
something in the pile will be what i need as a replacement.
On Thu, Dec 3, 2015 at 7:49 AM, william degnan <billdegnan at gmail.com> wrote:
Yes, that is an M7626 KA660 VAX 4000-200 CPU. The blue connector is
the H3602 console panel connector, the bottom grey connector is the
memory connector, and the top grey connector with two notches is the
DSSI connector.
I recently removed the battery from my M7627 KA660 and documented with
photos, at the bottom of my 4000-200 restoration thread. Hopefully you
will find the visuals useful. I found no similar photos on the web when I
attempted the job:
http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=608
Bill
6 Dec
6 Dec
1:24 p.m.
Hi Devin,
I upgraded my 3300 to a KA660 CPU and a CQD SCSI controller. If you
are patient, sometimes QBUS SCSI controllers show up on e-bay much
cheaper than the reqularly listed several hundred dollar ones. I
paid around $75.
As much as I love old CPUs, I've lost my patience with hard disk drives.
I've been using AztecMonster (search ebay) CF-SCSI adapters, with several-GB
CF cards instead of spinning disks. The KA660 and several PDP-11/83s
here run reliably from CF storage. I see now there are SCSI2SD cards for
half the price of the AztecMonster CF adapters I've been using. These
might be an alternative, if they play okay with whatever q-bus SCSI
controller you find. Installing from SCSI CDROM and using flash
storage is definitely the way to go if you can get the parts.
Mark
On Thu, Dec 03, 2015 at 12:22:29AM -0500, devin davison wrote:
Thank you for all the helpful information Glen. I
will definately grab
that scsi interface when i get the funds, I have a scsi cd drive already to
be used with my SGi gear.
I removed that cpu board out and took a couple of pictures. There is one
connector, on the top, with two notches in it. Same as the controller board
I just bought. I would assume that is the DSSI connector?
http://postimg.org/gallery/1iafnu1oa/
I have a stockpile of scsi disks over here, i might just need to save up
and get the better controller that works with disks as well as cdrom's
I've yet to find the battery, but that is next on my list, thanks for the
suggestion.
--Devin
On Wed, Dec 2, 2015 at 12:03 AM, Glen Slick <glen.slick at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, Dec 1, 2015 at 7:25 PM, devin davison <lyokoboy0 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Just figured id post about it here, to show my progress twords getting
> it
> > running.
> >
> > http://postimg.org/gallery/fztxjqbe/
>
> Another tip: If you haven't done so already, remove the CPU console
> panel and check to see if there is still a NiCad battery pack
> installed. The battery pack is mounted under the console panel PCB and
> you have to remove a few screws holding the PCB in place to get to it.
> If the pack is still installed then remove it. If it hasn't already
> started leaking it is only a matter of time before it does and starts
> corroding the PCB.
>
--
Mark G. Thomas (Mark at Misty.com), KC3DRE
1:53 p.m.
On 12/06/2015 10:24 AM, Mark G. Thomas wrote:
As much as I love old CPUs, I've lost my patience
with hard disk
drives.
Same here--using an old system that's brought out only once every few
years only to have its hard drive quit working (or working after a few
smart raps on the HDA with a small mallet) isn't what I look forward to.
I'm using CF on a lot of my old PCs now. No problems at all. One of
these days, I'll get around to doing something for the other non-PC
machines.
--Chuck
3152
days inactive
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billdegnan＠gmail.com -
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