ESDI, MSCP, RSX11M, TK50's, etc.

From: Zane H. Healy <healyzh_at_ix.netcom.com>
Date: Mon Sep 28 00:14:39 1998

OK, I've been getting adventurous today. I've been digging through a bunch
of my parts and tapes. I discovered that I've got two ESDI controllers,
instead of the one that I knew about, one is a Emulex QD21 which I found
the manual online for, the other a "Webster WQESD" which I have the manual
for. Figured out how to get both to work, and verified that at least one
of the three 150Mb ESDI drives I've got work. I decided to go with the
WQESD controller since the directions are easier to follow (the ASCII files
are a bit messy on the QD21).
Plus the WQESD controller looks to be the better of the two controllers.

My configuration is as follows for reference

BA123 Cabinet

M8192-YB {11/73}
M8067-LF {RAM}
M8043 {DLV11J, used for console}
Dilog DQ606 {floppy controller, boot ROMs} CSR=17772150
Webster WQESD {Quad-Height, boot ROMs turned off} CSR=17760334
M7504 M7546 {TK50 controller}

NOTE: The DQ606 and WQESD both had the same CSR initially

The drive is a CDC, and I identified all three drives as 150Mb drives when
I got them, but for the life of me I can't find any kind of ID on it at the
moment. It was formated on the WQESD controller.



Next I decided to see about getting RSX11M onto the drive. So I started
looking through my media, including for some reason my TK50's. Based on
the labeling they are backups of DU disks, so the system that I got with
V4.3 must have had DU disks at one point, despite the fact it was running
on a single RL02 when I got it.

I booted off one of my bootable TK50's, giving the RSX equivalent of
Standalone Backup the proper CSR for the WQESD controller, and pulled out
the manuals to try to figure out what I'm doing. Unfortunatly when I try
to "BAD" the disk I get the following:

BAD>du0:/list
BAD -- DU0: Uncoverable error -65.
BAD>


And a "BRU" in the following:

BRU>/ini
From: mu0:
To: du0:

BRU - Starting Tape 1 MUA0:

BRU -- *FATAL* -- Home block write error
I/O error code -65

BRU>

According to the Utilities manual error -65 needs to be looked up in the
"IAS/RSX-11 I/O Operations Reference Manual", which I'm not sure if or
where I've got.

The manual for the WQESD mentions that non-DEC drives must be compatible
with those listed below:

*RX50
*RD51
*RD52
*RC25
*RA60
*RA80
*RA81

So does this mean that it needs to look like one of these drives for the OS
to like it? If so, I guess that explains the above error.


In order to test this theory, I was threatening to replace the ESDI
controller and drive with a RQDX3 and RD52, however, I don't seem to have a
documentation for the RQDX3, just the 1 & 2. Are the 11 jumpers at the
bottom of the board for setting the CSR, and are they the same as on a
RQDX2? They appear to be.

I realize that using the DQ606 and DLV11J in the place of a proper board,
such as a MXV11, to boot off of is far from ideal, unfortunalty it's
currently the best solution I've got. I'd thought of trying to use the
PDP-11/23+ CPU I've got, but discovered it doesn't support TMSCP tape
drives as a boot device, where the DQ606 does. Somehow I don't really feel
like trying to type in the bootstrap for a TK50 if I can help it (yes, I'm
being lazy).

Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions on this mess?

                        Zane
| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Adminstrator |
| healyzh_at_ix.netcom.com (primary) | Linux Enthusiast |
| healyzh_at_holonet.net (alternate) | Classic Computer Collector |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
| Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
| and Zane's Computer Museum. |
| http://www.dragonfire.net/~healyzh/ |
Received on Mon Sep 28 1998 - 00:14:39 BST

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