26 Nov
2014
26 Nov
'14
11:57 a.m.
From: Jon Elson
Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2014 10:36 AM
On 11/26/2014 01:47 AM, Eric Smith wrote:
> On Tue, Nov 25, 2014 at 7:42 PM, Jon Elson
<elson at pico-systems.com> wrote:
>> On 11/25/2014 02:18 PM, Eric Smith wrote:
>>> Actually to 13 massive linear regulators
on multiple large heat sinks.
>> There may have been several versions. The
KL10B in a Decsystem 2020
>> we had
> A DECSYSTEM-2020 uses a KS10, which has no ECL,
and uses a big
> switching power supply made by third parties. The KL10B was used in
> the DECsystem-1090, but not in any DECSYSTEM-20 models.
Not true! The CPU was, absolutely, a KL10B. It was
in a big orange
cabinet that was fairly similar in size and shape to a VAX 11/780. It
had a PDP 11/40 (I think) in the next bay over as the I/O processor.
I am not so clear about the exact "DECSystem" designation, but it VERY
much was a DECSystem 20<something>. [...] The label on the front of
the cabinet said "DECSystem-20" without specifically giving the model
number.
Only the DECSYSTEM-2020 (with the KS10 processor) expanded on the "20"
in the name.
I believe that the KL10B processor was used in the so-called "Model A"
DECSYSTEM-2040 and the DECsystem-1080. All the later systems, generically
called "Model B" by the diagnostics and RSX-20F, were the various suffixes
named by Eric, along with some he did not mention.
We have a non-running 1090 here at the museum which is clearly and
unambiguously labeled as a KL10D, as well as a KL10PV (blue 1095) and
KL10PW (orange 2065) which run WAITS and Tops-10 7.04, respectively.
Rich
Rich Alderson
Vintage Computing Sr. Systems Engineer
Living Computer Museum
2245 1st Avenue S
Seattle, WA 98134
mailto:RichA at LivingComputerMuseum.org
http://www.LivingComputerMuseum.org/
26 Nov
26 Nov
12:36 p.m.
Rich Alderson wrote:
We have a non-running 1090 here at the museum which is
clearly and
unambiguously labeled as a KL10D, as well as a KL10PV (blue 1095) and
KL10PW (orange 2065) which run WAITS and Tops-10 7.04, respectively.
Is the 1090 new? I didn't see it when I visited...
I remember you pointing to the second KL and saying WAITS had booted,
but stopped when it realized it didn't have all the hardware it
expected. Has it been appeased?
For the deeply curious, here is Joe & Eric Smith's (no relation)
table of the PDP-10 models DEC shipped:
https://www.brouhaha.com/~eric/retrocomputing/pdp-10/models.html
12:55 p.m.
On Wed, Nov 26, 2014 at 1:36 PM, Phil Budne <phil at ultimate.com> wrote:
For the deeply curious, here is Joe & Eric
Smith's (no relation)
table of the PDP-10 models DEC shipped:
https://www.brouhaha.com/~eric/retrocomputing/pdp-10/models.html
Joe refers to the KL10-PW as a "Model C". That's a very logical thing
to do, but unfortunately DEC always referred to it as "Model B", even
though there are a few supervisor software-visible differences.
3:27 p.m.
From: Phil Budne
Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2014 12:37 PM
Rich Alderson wrote:
> We have a non-running 1090 here at the museum
which is clearly and
> unambiguously labeled as a KL10D, as well as a KL10PV (blue 1095) and
> KL10PW (orange 2065) which run WAITS and Tops-10 7.04, respectively.
Is the 1090 new? I didn't see it when I
visited...
It is not in a display area. It is in the original computer room on the
3rd floor of the building, back when it was simply a personal project of
Paul Allen. It was in fact the original system I was hired to work on,
in 2003.
I remember you pointing to the second KL and saying
WAITS had booted,
but stopped when it realized it didn't have all the hardware it
expected. Has it been appeased?
I spent most of 2014 getting WAITS running. That involved research into
the file system layout on RP07s, using FILDDT on Tops-10 under klh10 to
scribble the expected bits in the correct places on disk images. This
includes the HOM blocks, the correctly initialized Storage Allocation
Table, the Master File Directory, an entry for 1,3.UFD in the MFD, and an
entry for DART.DMP in ]1,3]. (.DMP is the extension for executables.)
Once that was done, I began populating the file system by building images
of DART tapes (the Disk Archive/Retrieval Tool, or summat like) on TOPS-20,
writing them to real 9-track tape, then reading them under WAITS.
It's been an interesting, enlightening year full of opportunities to learn
Things I Did Not Know(TM).
Rich
Rich Alderson
Vintage Computing Sr. Systems Engineer
Living Computer Museum
2245 1st Avenue S
Seattle, WA 98134
mailto:RichA at LivingComputerMuseum.org
http://www.LivingComputerMuseum.org/
5:57 p.m.
On 11/26/2014 01:57 PM, Rich Alderson wrote:
I believe that the KL10B processor was used in the
so-called "Model A" DECSYSTEM-2040 and the DECsystem-1080.
OK, thanks for
clearing that up! So, it must have been a
2040, then, which now sounds
right. I was just mis-remembering the 2020. Hmmm,
possibly the big update I
observed might have actually changed the model designation,
too, from a 2040
up to a higher number. They replaced somewhere over half
the boards in the
system.
Jon
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days inactive
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4 comments
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participants (4)
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elson＠pico-systems.com -
phil＠ultimate.com -
RichA＠LivingComputerMuseum.org -
spacewar＠gmail.com