Info wanted-- IBM 3274

From: Philip.Belben_at_powertech.co.uk <(Philip.Belben_at_powertech.co.uk)>
Date: Fri Jul 24 08:00:21 1998

Joe wrote:

> I bought one with a pile of stuff. What is it?

I can do little more than repeat the message I sent on the subject a few
months ago:

John R. Keys Jr. Wrote:

> Well today made up for a slow week, got the following items:

[...]

> IBM 3274-31C with 8" diskettes sofeware

I'm sure you'll have fun with all your finds, but this is the one that
caught my eye.

Last week (?) someone was asking questions along the lines of what the
heck does one do with an IBM 3278?

The answer is, plug it into this. Neither is much use without the
other! I suggest the two of you get together over this...

The 3274 is called a "terminal controller". It is not per se a
computer, although I think it may have had microprocessors and things in
it. The floppy drives were for saving and loading configuration data
(along the lines of Port 1 a 3278, port 2 is a 3299 with 8 3278s hung
off it, port 3 is a printer etc...) It multiplexes terminals and things
to an IBM mainframe channel. While the 3278 and its relatives use the
IBM SNA protocol over 93 ohm co-ax, the 3274 can AFAIK connect over an
ordinary serial line. In which case all you need to do is write drivers
for whatever machine you choose as the host...

Happy hacking!

Philip.
Received on Fri Jul 24 1998 - 08:00:21 BST