Still seeking 3B2 information

[Jerry Kemp]

Hello Seth,

Thanks for the update.

I wish I could assist further, but aside from shell scripting, I'm not a 
developer, and aside from my "ATT System Administrator" classroom book, I really 
don't have any additional documentation.

That said, I will close with a thank you for your work on this and progress you 
have made so far to date.  I think that it is an exciting project, and honestly, 
I really never expected to see a 3B2 emulator.  I hope the items provided by Al 
Kossow is what you need to move this project forward.

Jerry Kemp


On 08/14/15 02:28 PM, Seth Morabito wrote:
> * On Tue, Aug 11, 2015 at 09:36:36AM -0500, Jerry Kemp <other at oryx.us> wrote:
>> Hello Seth,
>>
>> We were having a 3B2 discussion on the Sun Rescue list, and that got
>> me to thinking about your emulator project.
>>
>> Can you share a status update?
>
> Hi Jerry,
>
> Sadly, it's been stalled for quite some time now. Current status is
> pretty much the same as it was in January. The simulator can boot the
> 3B2/400 firmware, pass diagnostics, and read directories from virtual
> floppy disks. Unfortunately, it can't get much beyond that -- trying
> to boot the UNIX kernel still fails miserably.
>
> I'd hoped to have much better progress to share, but Real Life
> intervened by throwing me several major curve-balls in the first half
> of this year, and it's only now that things are really starting to
> settle down.
>
> Even so, two things are still really holding me up:
>
> 1. Lack of good documentation for the system design of the 3B2
>
> 2. Lack of access to a physical 3B2
>
> I hope to get #2 sorted out soon(-ish), so I can run a 3B2 with a
> logic analyzer attached. There's still some mystery surrounding some
> system timers and interrupts that I need to figure out before I can
> really make progress.
>
> I'd still love to get #1 sorted out, too. There are some 3B2 internals
> docs on their way to Al Kossow that I hope will get scanned in the
> next few months, I think that would help greatly.
>
> Best Wishes,
>
> -Seth
>