G'day Erik -
Congratulations on your Nova 4 "save"!
Having worked with DG equipment for about 31+ years here are some "Quick
answers":
The Nova 4 and and Nova 3 CPU cards are not compatible, but most of the I/O
cards are.
There are two main I/O daisey chain signals on a standard Nova/Eclipse
backplane - interrupt priority in/out and data channel request in/out - and
they usually should be jumpered across unused slots if other I/O cards exist
higher in the chassis.
Those don't sound like standard DG I/O card numbers: I believe that the DG
board part numbers usually start with 005-xxxx-xx. I would have to research
that. DG put its 15" x 15" card numbers along the "front" reinforcement
bar, that part of the card just opposite the finger contacts and directly
between the two extraction handles. There were usually a series of three
numbers on the bar.
The Nova 4 came in two standard physical configurations and sold/marketed as
three subprocessor "types" (Nova 4/C, 4/S and 4/X) - each different than the
others only in four (4) PROM chips. There was quite an aftermarket for PROM
burner as these four chips cost a minimum of $1,500 from DG (when $1,500 was
'real' money). There is a picture of the front of the Nova 4 at
http://www.SimuLogics.com/nostalgia.htm. BTW, the DG Eclipse S/140 and
subsequent S/280 were virtually identical pieces of hardware since they used
the same microprogramming core, only PROM was different. They also sold
ERCC memory with the Eclipse as a market positioning strategy (i.e. maximum
client $ extraction mechanism).
BTW, Medtronics still uses Nova derivitives called "Strobe Hawk" boards
which are Nova-like co-processors that fit into a PC's ISA slot. The Nova
on the board does all the processing and then requestion all I/O through a
TSR on the PC (egad!). We are currently working with Medtronic to replace
their hardware with our commercial software product (ReNOVAte) as described
at www.SimuLogics.com. A free version of our Nova emulator that is written
in Java is also available at that site. We are also trying to preserve all
DG 16-bit software, hardware and documentation and are actively working with
EMC, DG, TLC and other companies in this respect.
And yes, Carl Friend is an exellent [re]source of additional information
Bruce
----- Original Message -----
From: "ip500" <ip500_at_home.com>
To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 08, 2000 6:31 AM
Subject: Re: DG Nova 4
> Hi Erik,
> Take a look at:
>
> http://www.ultranet.com/~crfriend/museum/machines/Nova4.html
>
> Lots of good info and it answers your question... the boards are NOT
> backward compatable with the 3.
> Regards, Craig
>
>
> ClassicCmp wrote:
> >
> > Hello people,
> >
> > I'm currently seeking information on Data General's Nova line of
> > minicomputers.
> >
> > I saved a Nova 4 yesterday, and since I'm unfamiliar with DG
> > hardware I have a few questions.
> >
> > Is the the Nova 4 bus backwards compatible with the bus on the
> > Nova 3 (i.e. can I pull boards from the 4 and put them in the 3) ?
> >
> > When I remove cards from the backplane, do I have to insert
> > something like a "continuity card" ?
> >
> > The system was in a custom "Medtronic" cabinet, and together with
> > the CPU I got a few I/O boxes which might be useless without the
> > medical equipment.
> >
> > I pulled one of the boards from I/O box 1, and I hope somebody can
> > identify it:
> >
> > DMA0
> >
> > PC BD 207 005-00 C
> >
> > ASSEMBLY 877-121-00 MDA0048-87
> >
> > (handwritten) CC board, sevice, sys zaak
> >
> > The boards in the I/O boxes look just like the ones used in the CPU,
> > same handles, same bus connector, but they're shorter.
> >
> > Furthermore, I'm looking for a description or picture of the back
> > of the CPU box, since I suspect something is missing on the right
> > side of mine.
> >
> > Last but not least, a description or picture of the top of a Perkin
> > Elmer ST-2222 diskdrive would also be greatly appreciated (is there
> > supposed to be a lid ?).
> >
> > Sincerely,
> > Erik.
Received on Wed Nov 08 2000 - 09:50:29 GMT