Well, I did it. Yesterday, the new VAX 4000-200 was disassembled to
the point where the chasis only had the CPU and memory boards left in
it, then I slid it down the basement steps on a strip of cardboard...
somehow, the VAX didn't run me over like a runaway boulder after Wile
E. Coyote while I was sliding it down the steps. Perhaps if I was
sane, I'd have had someone help me, or would have blocked the
door-frame with a wooden board, run rope attached to the VAX around
it, and slowly lowered the VAX down the steps. :-)
Wow, even the nearly empty and baseless BA400 (BA440?) chasis is
somewhat heavy! After getting it downstairs, I somehow moved it
through a space, a couple of yards long, that was only a couple of
inches wider than the cabinet, and re-seated it on its base, sans
replacing the nuts that hold it to the base. There's not enough
free-space there to do turn it sideways and bolt the base back
on... perhaps what's needed is a VAXwinch-II (TM): some pullies
attached to the ceiling that can be used to lift small VAXen.
Anyway, it's now counting down to 3, so, something's working! :-)
...will know more when I can get a terminal attached. Do all
VAX-4000/200 machines make a loud fan noise when first powered on, and
then get much quieter? Are variable-speed fans being used, and is
that noise a test of high-speed operation?
Hopefully this machine has VMS on one of the hard drives to play
with. :-) The only problem is that I don't recall which hard drive was
drive 0 and which one was drive 1; I got them mixed up during
disassembly, so some experimentation is in order.
On Sat, 21 Jul 2001, Chuck McManis wrote:
> I'm glad you got your stuff. I've had a couple of ebay sellers tell me that
Thanks.
> Well the fun thing about the 4000/200 is that it is the fastest "Qbus only"
> VAX. At 5 VUPs its great to run VMS on as a server, or NetBSD.
Yes, that's one reason why I wanted it; plus the fact that I once
worked with one, back around 1991. Actually, what I worked with was a
re-baged MicroVAX 3400 with a VAX 4000 CPU installed and a VAX 4000
badge placed where the removed MicroVAX 3400 badge was. Also it
appears a lot easier to work on than a MicroVAX in cramped quarters.
> That would be the DSSI connector, looks like SCSI but it isn't. Hopefully
At least DSSI drives still appear to still obtainable. SCSI would be
more useful so that I could read a the hobbyist CD-ROM now that DECUS
has finally sent me a membership number. Did DEC made any DSSI CD-ROM
drives?
> Dual height, DB15, sounds like a frame buffer but looking at some of the
> chips will give you and idea.
>From memory, there was a Motorola 68000 CPU, a few Rockwell chips, and
a couple of AMD chips... I'll have to look at the board more closely.
It appears that I'll be pulling this board out, for the time being,
anyway, since this system is not going to be attached to a monitor any
time soon.
[M3135 and M3136]
> Thats correct. It also is a huge clue as to where this system came from,
It appears as though I'll be removing these three DECVoice and M3136
boards as well, if I can't use them with a regular home telephone
line. Drats. I keep getting calls, routinely, for a certain business
whose number is a digit off from mine, and it would be great fun to
use this system to put their frequently mis-dialing customers through
Telephonic Push-button Hell (TM):
Hello, if you've called here to reach [company name], please press 1.
Now, press 2. Very good; your education hasn't been a total failure.
Please press 3 to reach [company name].
You've reached the new automated telephone system of [company name]; we
highly value your business and seek to serve you better. This new
system will make contacting us more convenient for you our valued customer.
Our summer office hours are [blah, blah, blah], our winter office hours
will be [same as the summer hours]; we hope that you're enjoying your
summer as much as we are enjoying ours. Our mailing address is [blah,
blah, blah], and our telephone number is [blah, blah, blah]. Again, our
summer office hours [repeat the rest of the previous sencence]. We at
[company name] are proud of our excellent customer service and all of the
compliments that we receive from our loyal customers who give us their
money to prove that we're the best company in the [ ... ] business.
Thank you. By the way, please don't forget to check the due date on
your latest statement from us after you hang up.
Please enter the last ten digits of your telephone number followed by the
pound sign. You've entered: [the numbers]. If this is correct,
please press 1. If this is incorrect, please hang up and call back.
You've entered 1; if this is correct, please press 2; if this is
incorrect, please hang up and call back.
Please listen carefully to the following menu before making any
selections. For our summer business hours, please press 1. For
our winter business hours, please press 2. For our mailing address,
please press 3. For our telephone number, please press 4. To learn
about our special offers, press 5. To learn about other special
offers available only to new customers whose business we value the
most, please press 6. To cancel your account with us, please
press 7. To learn more about our services, please press 8. If
you'd like to speak with a customer service representative,
please press 0 for a menu of customer service representatives. To
repeat this menu, please press 9.
...in the end, all selections would eventually lead to a message
asking them to please learn to dial the right number, which they can
find in the telephone directory. If some still bother to leave a
message, then I suppose I could return their calls... at 3:00 AM. :-)
> I'm guessing it was surplussed from the National Weather Service. Were
Interesting... so was an old HP calculator that I bought at a hamfest!
:-)
> there any tags or stickers on it?
None, aside from a small, easily removeable, label stating that this is
"VAX 0040;" apparently part of a VAX farm.
> A lot of small VAXen with the DECTalk
> modules were being used as automated weather information devices. (So the
> Talon Tech board might hook it to a weather transmitter!)
Interesting.
> Did they actually remove the tape drive? Or is the panel missing? Also
There's just an empty bay, and a smoked plastic cover over where I'm
guessing the tape drive should go (upper right corner). There's a
tape drive cable that doesn't connect to any boards. I'd have to break
something to remove the smoked plastic cover, however.
> which type of box is it in, BA400 or BA213? You didn't mention a tape
My guess is that it's a BA400 or BA440. There are two doors in the
front that swing open, and no clear sliding door like I remember
seeing on a VAX 3400. The buttons to restart and halt the system are
in the far upper right, and are not those little squares of 4 of 6
buttons, with lights in the middle, like the MicroVAXen have. Also,
it has a single PSU. Each hard drive has it's own cover, pushbuttons,
drive-ID-select key, etc.
> controller in the list of boards (M7559 is the TQK70) so perhaps they ran
> it tape less. You can boot it from the network port, even when there is no
> OS on it.)
I'll pull the M7559 out of a Microvax II; the only problem is that I
see no way to mount a TK70, or to easily connect any power to it. Do
I need a device sled of some sort? Also, can I use a TK50 with the
M7559?
> I have to say I like the 4000/200. The monitor on the CPU is pretty nice,
> and I actually have the _real_ -TM for that one so I can figure out what
> its doing.
Once I assemble a cord that will fit the odd telephone-like
RJ-something sockets for a terminal, I'll check the CPU out further.
What do you mean by having the real -TM for that one?
--
Copyright (C) 2001 R. D. Davis The difference between humans & other animals:
All Rights Reserved an unnatural belief that we're above Nature &
rdd_at_rddavis.net 410-744-4900 her other creatures, using dogma to justify such
http://www.rddavis.net beliefs and to justify much human cruelty.
Received on Sun Jul 22 2001 - 16:36:37 BST