VAX 11/785 as a workstation :-)

From: Stephen Bell <steve_at_discus.lincoln.ac.nz>
Date: Thu Aug 2 18:19:50 2001

Hi guys,
   Just got some hardware up & running last week have been meaning to
   post the info.. I'm running it on a PDP-11/44 but can't see any reason
   it wouldn't work in a vax.
   The boards have VT30H printed on them and connect to
   a fairly std looking RGB monitor. Each monitor needs a 2 board set
   I think these things were reasonably common in industrial control systems.
   I'm still not sure how to make use of it properly yet, the RSX driver
   is loaded & i've got an application that draws a picture on the screen.
   Looks like 16 colours, and reasonable resolution.

   The machine it came in had 2 card sets for more than one monitor in
   the card cage.

   4 cables for red-green-blue-sync

   It looks like you can connect a terminal device (software) to the
   display driver and use it as a terminal in text mode as well but I
   haven't figured out how to do that yet. (under RSX)

   I have enough bits & pieces to build up 2 systems so getting the second
   machine up & running with unix is the next project.

Cheers,
     Steve
 



On Thu, 2 Aug 2001, Gunther Schadow wrote:

> Last night I was browsing the UNIBUS/PDP-11 field guide on the
> Web before I went to sleep. Then I dreamed of a VAX 11/785 with
> an UNIBUS extension cabinet full of cards. Included was a 3, 4,
> 5, or so card-set that together comprises a video interface. Hook
> up a composite monitor or RGB monitor and there you have it:
>
> A VAX 11/785 as a workstation!
>
> Write a driver for X11R6 for it and off we go. Has anybody ever
> seen those UNIBUS video monitor adapter sets? I suppose they
> were meant for PDP-11s, but I think running them with a VAX
> would be way cooler. Might not be possible, and certainly would
> involve some serious fiddling. But in a machine that has 10 or
> more cards for just the CPU, a 4 board video adapter would be
> the appropriate thing, wouldn't it? :-)
>
> cheers,
> -Gunther
>
>
Received on Thu Aug 02 2001 - 18:19:50 BST