DEC Pro380 problems

[Eric Dittman]

On 7/23/2019 7:45 PM, Paul Koning wrote:
> 
> 
>> On Jul 19, 2019, at 10:52 PM, Eric Dittman via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
>>
>> I pulled my Pro380 out of storage after getting a replacement
>> VR201 monitor.  I connected it all together and on powerup I
>> get the following display:
>>
>> http://www.dittman.net/pro380/screen.jpg
>>
>> The tech manual says this is an error from slot 1 (the hard
>> drive controller) and the error is "Non-existent memory trap
>> occurred for longer than 20 seconds".
>>
>> I reseated all the cards.  I noticed three ICs are missing on
>> the hard drive controller but I don't know if they are empty
>> or someone removed the ICs (I can't remember where I got this
>> system).  I can't find a picture of the controller to compare.
>>
>> The missing ICs can be seen here:
>>
>> http://www.dittman.net/pro380/missingics.jpg
> 
> That's normal.  I have a working 380 (well, last time I powered it up) and it has the same three empty sockets as yours.
> 
> The description of the error code isn't very clear.  It might mean that the card is detected (slot present register says there is a card) but the attempts to read the card ID code and associated selftest ROM failed.  That would explain why the second line is 177776 rather than the card ID (000401).
> 
> You might need to clean the connector contacts (connector and backplane) and also check for damaged contacts.

Okay, I looked at the slot and it looks like one of the first pins is
missing:

https://www.dittman.net/pro380/pro380missingpin.jpg

I removed the HD controller and it fails to boot from floppy as well.
The error codes change but seem to point to the RX50 drive being bad.

I had another Pro380 but it's come up missing so I can't swap parts.
I guess I'll keep an eye out for another one.
-- 
Eric Dittman