RL02 Spinup fails

[william degnan]

I have successfully built a rl02  disk using pdpgui on a windows XP laptop,
the newer version works on window 10.  All you need other than the software
is a serial card like a m7800.  Pdpgui acts as a gui.  Do you have a m9312
rom/terminator card with a terminal console rom?

Bill Degnan
twitter: billdeg
vintagecomputer.net
On Nov 11, 2017 7:04 AM, "Aaron Jackson via cctech" <cctech at classiccmp.org>
wrote:

> Well, some progress.
>
> It seems that a terminator is not required so long as the cable is VERY
> short. The controller RLV12 controller appears to have a few termination
> resistors on it anyway. There is no fault light appearing and the drives
> spin up fine. Mine cable is less than 20cm and the PDP is sitting just
> on top of the drive.
>
> I can see that the drive is communicating because the lsb of the csr
> changes flips between 0 and 1 when I load and unload the drive.
>
> I wanted to try and dump the disks using vtserver, but when I run the
> copy program I end up with the following
>
> ]] Enter name of input record/device: rl(0,0,0)
> ]]
> ]] Can't get rl(0,0,0) sts
> ]] rl(0,0,0) err cy=0, hd=0, sc=2, rlcs=142205, rlmp=0
> ]] rl(0,0,0) error reading labelsector
> ]] Enter name of input record/device:
>
> The same happened on both packs - they have both been cleaned and look
> as though they are in good condition. The heads have been cleaned too.
>
> Given that the drive appears to be communicating with the PDP-11, where
> might this problem come from?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Aaron.
>
> Aaron Jackson via cctech writes:
>
> > Hi everyone,
> >
> > I have managed to hook up an RL02 drive to my PDP-11 (thanks to Dave
> > Wade for the drives) . This took me longer than I thought it would - I
> > tried with a flat ribbon cable with a DIY terminator going straight into
> > board , but couldn't get it to work. Removed the terminator, and the
> > fault light turned off. So that's positive.
> >
> > I tried to load a cartridge, which I had cleaned, inspected and
> > generally appears to be in good condition. It started to spin up and I
> > could hear it getting faster, but after 30-40 seconds the fault light
> > returns. I made a short video demonstrating this:
> >
> >          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=japwBBodO8U
> >
> > According to the manual the fault light can appear for the following
> > reasons:
> >
> > - Drive select error... Surely this would come on at the start?
> > - Seek time out error... I'd have to hear the heads move first
> > - Write current in heads during sector time error... Same as above
> > - Loss of system clock... The fault light would be on from the start.
> > - Write protect error... I don't think it got that far
> > - Write data error... Same as above
> > - Spin error... Is this the only remaining fault?
> >
> > So could the only cause be a spin error? I am wondering if the belt is
> > slipping or something like that?
> >
> > Can anyone offer some advice?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Aaron.
>
>
> --
> Aaron Jackson
> PhD Student, Computer Vision Laboratory, Uni of Nottingham
> http://aaronsplace.co.uk
>