On Sun, 2004-11-14 at 19:45 +0000, Tony Duell wrote:
> > > It is an INCREDIBLY BAD idea to just go into a room full of
> > > old computers and just randomly start applying power to equipment
> > > in unknown condition. At an absolute minimum, you should check
> > > the condition of the power supplies.
> > The Nord-10 had at least been powered up in 1993 (I found a system disk
> > backup with that date), and most likely later. The backup battery that
>
> Which is 11 years ago....
At the very most 11 years ago, which still isn't bad.
> > lets the CPU keep the contents of the memory and registers for a short
> > while actually contained a charge. I flipped that switch without
> > worrying the least bit.
>
> I would not be so reckless!. It only takes one failure in the PSU
> regulator to take out most, if not all, of the chips in the machine (I
> don't want to trust that crowbar protection will work!). I, alas, have
> had it happen once, fortunately I could get all the chips and had adump
> of the EPROM, but it was not a cheap experience. Running the PSUs on
> dummy load and making sure the output voltages are correct is something
> that I always do now.
>
> -tony
>
I think it suffices to say that the guy who cut his teeth on the machine
and has supported them since 1986, and *owned the company since 1992*
didn't have any problems with it... He said that the PSUs were sturdy
and had *plenty* of protection. They were used extensively in the
military and several railway backup systems, those things were
ruggedized to hell and back.
I may have been mistaken, but at the time, as presently, I didn't see
the need to delve deeper into the PSU.
--
Tore S Bekkedal <toresbe_at_ifi.uio.no>
Received on Sun Nov 14 2004 - 14:00:48 GMT