AlphaServers

[Zane Healy]

> On Mar 13, 2018, at 5:44 AM, Kyle Owen via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
> 
> Several people have now mentioned they have dead Alphas. What is generally
> failing about them?
> 
> Kyle

My DEC AlphaStation PWS 433au lost a PCI slot, after I used it for a few years.  I ran it like that for several years until I upgraded to an XP1000.

My Compaq XP1000/667 lost it’s powersupply after I’d had it for about a year.  I replaced it with the power supply from my XP1000/500.

A real concern is the AlphaStation 200/233’s I have.  I’ve not powered either up in about a decade, and I’d really like to put one back into use.  Most issues I’ve heard around Alpha’s seem to be this model, or server class systems.  Then again, there were a ton of “Onsale.com Alpha’s” in the hands of hobbyists.  I bought three that way, one was for a friend.  These are great little boxes, and you can take them way beyond the advertised RAM limit, up to 768MB, IIRC.  Of course that assumes you’re lucky enough to get ahold of large enough SIMM’s.

On the VAX side, the power supply is out on my VAXstation 4000/vlc.  I also have a VAXstation 4000/60 with issues, and a /90 with issues.  The only VAX I’m currently running is a /60.  I have several other VAXen though, mostly Q-Bus systems.

The fact is, these are all very old systems (both the VAX and Alpha), and not really designed to be repairable).

Really on the VAX side, emulation makes sense.  For $75, I picked up a HP i5 system that’s dedicated to running SIMH 24x7, and I also have SIMH running on my HP i7 ESXI system, and on a RPi2.  The i7 is my fastest “VAX”.  

If running commercially, emulation makes sense for the Alpha.  For the Hobbyist, not so much.  The only good way to get Alpha emulation for a Hobbyist right now is if you’re running Windows.  I’m not running Windows, and the hobbyist emulator config is rather small for my needs.

As an FYI, I’ve been working on updating my DEC Emulation webpages, and have the VAX and Alpha pages fairly up to date.  

http://www.avanthar.com/healyzh/decemulation/vax.html

http://www.avanthar.com/healyzh/decemulation/Alpha.html

Zane