RK05 interfacing to unibus PDP-11 (was RK05 stuff)

From: Tony Duell <ard_at_p850ug1.demon.co.uk>
Date: Mon Jul 19 17:34:10 2004

>
> Now that it appears that my two RK05J drives are fundamentally
> sound, I'm ready to move on to the next step(s).
>
> Can someone here on the list supply me with the numbers of each
> of the cards in the RK05 drive's logic unit, for both the PDP-11 and
> the PDP-8? I need to verify what's in my two drives and make

I can look them up, but I can tell you that the cards (other than the
interface cable) are the same for PDP8s and PDP11s. There are no changes
(not even jumpers). The only thing you might want to fiddle with is the
drive select, but I think your drives are 0 and 1 anyway.

> sure that they are correct for the unibus PDP-11.
>
> Also, the numbers of each of the cards in the RK11 controller set
> for a unibus PDP-11 (11/40, 11/34, etc). I have a 3-card set that
> I got from someone and it's supposed to be the RK11 controller
> card set, and the three cards are connected together on top by some
> type of connector. Based on what I reading here, the RK11 set is

I hate to say this, but that sounds suspiciously like an RK8e Omnibus
controller for the PDP8. That is 3 quad cards with top connector blocks.
I think one of the cards has edge connectors in all 8 possible positions
(4 go into the backplane, 4 link to the other 2 cards with the top
connectors).

> made up of four cards, not 3, and needs a dedicated backplane.

Yes, that's the RK11-D. A 4 slot hex-height backplane, specially wired.
it takes 4 quad cards, and the A/B positions of each slot are used for
Unibus In, Unibus Out, Drive bus and power.

There's also the RK11-C, which is a 10.5" high rack-mount backplane full
of small flip-chip cards.

>
> Can someone elaborate on the details of connecting RK05 drives to
> a unibus pdp-11 or point me to someplace that explains this in detail?
> What does the RK11 backplane look like, how/where do you
> connect it to the other backplane, etc.

It looks like normal 4 slot hex backplane. It mounts in the CPU box or an
expansion box to the left of the last backplane you have. You put an M920
jumper between Unibus out (leftmost A/B) of you existing system and
Unibus In (rightmost A/B) of the RK11-D backplane. The terminator goes in
Unibus Out (leftmost A/B) of the RK11-D (OK, you might want to put it
nearer the CPU to give it a higher interrupt and NPR priority, but that's
not a real problem at the moment). You need a special power jumper cable
that goes into connector A of one of the middle 2 slots -- I will have to
check which one. It's shown in the printset, but note that DEC show the
module positions looking at the _wiring side_ of the backplane, not at
the sockets. This has caught me out!. The A/B connectors of the other
middle slot take one end of the drive cable.

Oh yes, the remaining connector -- B of the slot that takes the power
cable -- is for a KM11 test board, and can be ignored at the moment.

-tony
Received on Mon Jul 19 2004 - 17:34:10 BST