tu58 carts for 730 on ebay

From: Michael Sokolov <msokolov_at_ivan.Harhan.ORG>
Date: Sat Mar 27 14:50:36 2004

Brad Parker <brad_at_heeltoe.com> wrote:

> Someone's selling tu58 carts (a.k.a. "dectape II") for a 730 on ebay.

I have bought them. These are the very same diagnostics I wrote about on this
list just a short while ago when discussing poor man's alternatives to AXE for
validating new VAX implementations until we can raise enough manpower and
firepower to storm into HP headquarters and seize AXE at gunpoint. These diags
are not specific to 730, I read about them first in an 8200 manual and they test
for correct operation of standard VAX instructions. I understand from the
discussion on this list that their coverage is nowhere near as complete as AXE,
but it's still a more complete test than just seeing my new VAX boot
4.3BSD-Quasijarus. (For example, UNIX makes absolutely no use of executive or
supervisor modes, just kernel and user.)

The next challenge will be reading the TU58s. I have the TU58 mechanical units,
but not the controller board (the board that talks serial on one side and drives
the head coils on the other). So I'll need to find a controller board first
before I can read them. When I do read them, I'll post the block images on my
FTP site.

MS
Received on Sat Mar 27 2004 - 14:50:36 GMT