Find of the day

From: Clint Wolff <vaxman_at_oldy.crwolff.com>
Date: Thu Sep 16 18:53:25 1999

On Wed, 15 Sep 1999 cem14_at_cornell.edu wrote:

>
>
> On Wed, 15 Sep 1999, Clint Wolff (VAX collector) wrote:
>
> > The pinout is a bit strange:
> >
> > DE-9 (DEC) DB-25 (PC)
> > 1 1
> > 2 3
> > 3 2
> > 4 5
> > 5 6
> > 6 20
> > 7 7
> > 8 -\
> > 9 -/ (short 8 & 9) together
>
> Great! now all I have to do is solder.
>
> > The three position rotary switch controls the power up mode
> > (arrow is normal, face is language inquiry, i dunno the other one)
>
> Ok, so nothing bad would happen by choosing the wrong one. This
> switch really was a big question mark for me.
>
> > The maximum amount of memory you can have in a uVAX II is 16Mb, using
> > two 8Mb memory boards. Unless it is a VAXStation II/GPX in which case
> > the max is 12MB (or maybe 13MB)... You don't have the extra three cards
> > to make it a GPX system.
>
> Apparently, there used to be other cards in here; there are four
> small PC's fixed in the inside of the back panel, each holding
> four DB25M connectors, but the ribbon cables coming out of them
> are not connected to anything...
>

These are the breakout panels for two DHV11 (or is it DHU11) serial
boards. Its nice to have an additional terminal to log into from
time to time if the machine isn't on the network.
You can probably find one on EBay for ~$10 (they aren't very popular).

> > 75 or so MB MFM hard drive. Probably dead... They never were very
> > good.
>
> hmm, everyone has expressed the same opinion about the drive.
> Tony at least said that it was fixable, what he did not say
> was whether he was the only one who could possibly fix them :-)
>

Anyone with the customer diagnostics (and a uVAX II) can reformat it,
people with a uVAX 2000 can COMPLETEly reformat it (including the
bad block table, spare tracks, etc)...
I bought a SCSI controllers (CMD CQD-240/TM) for mine, and I run a
single 1.2GB drive. They are quieter, and more reliable. This is
a fairly expensive solution... I paid $800 each for the SCSI controller
(refurbished, from a DEC reseller... Foolish me...), and $200 each for
the drives.

In one of your other EMails, you expressed an interest in VMS... You
can get a (free) license for hobbiest use for VMS from DECUS... You
have to buy the CDROM, and then figure out how to get it onto the
disk. Booting from a Linux system is apparently possible, though
I haven't tried it.

>
> Thanks for all the info!
>

Welcome! try http://vaxarchive.org for more stuff... They seem to
be having trouble staying up though, so try at different times of
the day.

>
> Carlos.
>
>

clint
Received on Thu Sep 16 1999 - 18:53:25 BST

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