Re: Rugged Nova
Hi Jeffrey, thanks for your answer and recollections on the famous hammer test ;-) > hangar. I was mesmerized as two weights were released from two chains > on opposite sides of the machine as it was running. The two weights There is a youtube video showing some of the testing... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oOgYklBklc ..but the hammer is not hitting the device under test directly, but it is hitting a big steel plate where the device is mounted to (indeed simulating a submarine in harsh "conditions")... > up the Liberty bell, or crashed a VW into a lightpole. The machine > continued to function! Yes, lot of metal inside those Rolms. Although all Aluminium, they are veeery heavy and I always wondered how many of them also have been used in airborne applications, where weight is an issue ;-) Best wishes, Erik.
RE: Datasheet for a NEC Chip in DEC Professional 350
If you know where to find the printset for the 350 then please let me know. In the absence of a printset i have been reverse engineering the schematic to work out the cause of the resets, i am just having trouble tracing one possible path, and i am away all week so can't look again until the weekend. Thanks Rob Sent from my Windows 10 device From: allison via cctech Sent: 06 November 2018 02:24 To: cct...@classiccmp.org Subject: Re: Datasheet for a NEC Chip in DEC Professional 350 On 11/04/2018 08:10 AM, Rob Jarratt via cctech wrote: >> -Original Message- >> From: Tony Duell [mailto:ard.p850...@gmail.com] >> Sent: 04 November 2018 12:42 >> To: r...@jarratt.me.uk; Jarratt RMA ; General >> Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts >> Subject: Re: Datasheet for a NEC Chip in DEC Professional 350 >> >> On Sun, Nov 4, 2018 at 12:37 PM Rob Jarratt via cctalk >> wrote: >>> I have posted previously about a DEC Pro 350 I am trying to get >>> working again. At the moment it seems to be constantly resetting the CPU. >>> >>> >>> >>> I have traced one possible path for the cause of this back to a NEC >>> chip for which I cannot find a datasheet. It is a 40-pin DIP it is >>> marked "NEC Japan >>> 8239K6 D7201C". All I have been able to find is more modern USB host >>> controllers. >> Almost certainly a uPD7201 multi-protocol (asynchronous and synchronous) >> serial chip. I have an NEC data book with it in if all else fails but a >> google >> search for 'uPD7201 datasheet' (no quotes) found sites with the data sheet >> to download as a .pdf file. >> >> Quite why that should reset the machine is beyond me > I have been trying to find what is driving this path in the logic and this > chip was the only one I for which I couldn't identify the pins, but it seems > that from this datasheet > (https://datasheet4u.com/datasheet-pdf-file/1098405/NEC/UPD7201/1) they are > all inputs and not outputs. So I need to look again for an output pin that is > driving this signal. > > Thanks > > Rob > Rob, you need to have the drawing for the PRO-350, and read it. Reset on the F11 chipset is generally part of Pwr-OK and if reset is bouncing likely power is NOT ok. FYI the 7201 is MPSC a dual multiprotocol serial chip not unlike the Z80-SIO. Likely the system wide reset is coming from the power OK generation as you seeing hardware reset into the MPSC. Hint: the pro350 is basically an 11/23 in a different form factor. Allison
Re: RS/6000 values
Looking at Ebay it seems old RS/6000 have become expensive... A Working 7012-390 is certainly rare, they were finicky beasts. I have a 7012-3AT (very similar to the 390) and it's failing diag in weird ways. I've seen a few 390/3AT/3BT/3CT and all of them had similar issues. If you just want a nice machine to run old AIX, try to find a 7011-250 or any of the 7012 series (especially the later ones like 360/370/380). If it doesn't have to be AIX 3.x, get a 7043-43P or 7046-B50. On Mon, Nov 5, 2018 at 5:35 AM Benjamin Huntsman via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > Hi there! > >I don't usually see much discussion on old IBM boxes, but I was looking > for a reasonably-powerful RS/6000 that can run AIX 4.1 and maybe 3.2.5, can > accommodate some decent disks, and isn't 200lbs. The 7012-390 looks > perfect, but I found this one on eBay: > https://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-7012-390-POWER2-512MB-Memory-1GB-SCSI-2-Disk-Drive-CD-Base-Features-RS6000/272362237797?epid=1604049867&hash=item3f6a0def65:g:aJQAAOSwHnFVmutE:rk:1:pf:1 > > >Are 7012-390's really worth $3,000? Anyone out there have one they'd > like to unload for less than 3 grand? :P > > > Thanks! > > > -Ben > > > >
Re: HP-Apollo 9000/425t RAM
On Tue, Nov 6, 2018 at 7:16 AM Chris Hanson via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > Hopefully I can install Domain/OS on a virtual disk using MAME (using the > same node ID) and just blast the raw bits to a SCSI disk to make something > bootable. Anyone know whether that wouldn’t work? > No idea, but I want to know, so please report whether you were successful. Do you have a Domain keyboard? I was never able to find one.
Re: HP-Apollo 9000/425t RAM
On Nov 6, 2018, at 3:48 AM, Rico Pajarola wrote: > >> On Tue, Nov 6, 2018 at 7:16 AM Chris Hanson via cctalk >> wrote: >> Hopefully I can install Domain/OS on a virtual disk using MAME (using the >> same node ID) and just blast the raw bits to a SCSI disk to make something >> bootable. Anyone know whether that wouldn’t work? > No idea, but I want to know, so please report whether you were successful. Will do! > Do you have a Domain keyboard? I was never able to find one. Yes, someone happened to have one on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/302169367965 An Apollo keyboard and mouse also shouldn’t be hard to emulate with something like an Arduino and a PS/2 keyboard and mouse; the combination speaks a sensible and documented TTL serial protocol, and the 7-pin DIN connector can be obtained easily. The biggest difficulty would be mapping a PS/2 keyboard reasonably to all the special Apollo keys. — Chris
Re: DEC Hard drives
Well, then. Time to put these drives in an enclosure to check them out. On 2018-11-05 10:43 PM, stan wrote: I have a Digital RZ56 drive and a couple of Micropolis 1588 drives. Is there any demand for these brick sized drives of cd-rom capacity, or should I just recycle them? Stan
Large Collection Of Dec/Digital PDP Documentation
Hello, I have a complete set of Dec Orange Volumes for RT-11 and RSX11-M I am in the Baltimore Maryland Area. Bring a 12 pack of something nice to drink (Craft Beer Since I Am A Snob) and its all yours. Its a lot of documentation and its all in really decent shape. Just wanted to offer it before I start recycling it. No Shipping. Fran --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus
Re: Large Collection Of Dec/Digital PDP Documentation
For those not in the know, orange binders for RT-11 should mean v5.x. An probably v4.x for RSX11M. Definitely a great pile of documentation for someone that is close enough! Zane Sent from my iPod > On Nov 6, 2018, at 10:11 AM, Fran Smith via cctalk > wrote: > > Hello, > > I have a complete set of Dec Orange Volumes for RT-11 and RSX11-M > > I am in the Baltimore Maryland Area. > > Bring a 12 pack of something nice to drink (Craft Beer Since I Am A Snob) and > its all yours. Its a lot of documentation and its all in really decent shape. > > Just wanted to offer it before I start recycling it. > > No Shipping. > > Fran > > --- > This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. > https://www.avast.com/antivirus >
Re: Large Collection Of Dec/Digital PDP Documentation
On Tue, 11/6/18, Zane Healy via cctalk wrote: > For those not in the know, orange binders for RT-11 should mean v5.x. An > probably v4.x for > RSX11M. Definitely a great pile of documentation for someone that is close > enough! Isn't RT-11 V4 orange? I'll have to check when I get home, but I'm pretty sure that's the set I have. (That and a blue binder set for V3 and a loose set of V2.) BLS
Re: Large Collection Of Dec/Digital PDP Documentation
Fran, If you want to bring them to system source this weekend I can take them and hold for someone else to have. We're having a workshop there on Sunday. Contact me through vintagecomputer.net/contact.cfm Or maybe Sunday someone can pop over then from the workshop. Bill On Tue, Nov 6, 2018 at 1:57 PM Brian L. Stuart via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > On Tue, 11/6/18, Zane Healy via cctalk wrote: > > For those not in the know, orange binders for RT-11 should mean v5.x. > An probably v4.x for > > RSX11M. Definitely a great pile of documentation for someone that is > close enough! > > Isn't RT-11 V4 orange? I'll have to check when I get home, but > I'm pretty sure that's the set I have. (That and a blue binder set > for V3 and a loose set of V2.) > > BLS >
Re: DEC Hard drives
Hello, as other said, there's always demand for old disks, specially if working. The Micropolis are prone to death due to rubber of the head arm going to goo over time... but it can be repaired with some effort. I myself would take some of these disks for shipment, if you are in EU. Thanks Andrea
Re: Large Collection Of Dec/Digital PDP Documentation
Sent from my iPod > On Nov 6, 2018, at 10:57 AM, Brian L. Stuart wrote: > >> On Tue, 11/6/18, Zane Healy via cctalk wrote: >> For those not in the know, orange binders for RT-11 should mean v5.x. An >> probably v4.x for >> RSX11M. Definitely a great pile of documentation for someone that is close >> enough! > > Isn't RT-11 V4 orange? I'll have to check when I get home, but > I'm pretty sure that's the set I have. (That and a blue binder set > for V3 and a loose set of V2.) > > BLS You might be right, my v3 & v4 sets went up to Paul Allen’s museum, I kept the v5.x set. V3 was definitely dark blue. Zane
Re: Large Collection Of Dec/Digital PDP Documentation
Haven't these DEC manual wall sets been scanned more than once, and are available as PDFs? - John
Re: Large Collection Of Dec/Digital PDP Documentation
Yes, but it's nice to have them on the shelf too, much easier to reference if you use them occasionally :-) On Tue, Nov 6, 2018 at 4:57 PM John Foust via cctalk wrote: > > Haven't these DEC manual wall sets been scanned more than once, and > are available as PDFs? > > - John > >
RS6k 7012/320H woes
Since RS6K systems have been mentioned recently, I thought I should ask for advice. I have a Powerserver 320H with 32MB of RAM, an 8-port async EIA-232 adapter, a SCSI adapter and a 400MB HD. No framebuffer or keyboard; no LAN card. Because of the last issue, I haven't tried to do much with it. I tried getting it to talk on the serial console (Serial 1 connector in the back), following all the advice I found on the net: The pinout of the MODU serial connector, the null modem cable with full handshake (also driving the DCD line in the 320H). I turn it on in service mode, and it spits a lot of LED codes, finds the HD, spins it up and it apparently loads something (I suppose AIX) from it. But nothing is ever sent out on the serial 1 port, or any other serial port. I believe that during the POST it fails to initialize the serial 1 and 2 ports, because the 320H's DTR and RTS lines are never asserted (the ports in the async RS232 card do assert these on power up, but they are equally silent). I made sure that the CTS, DSR and DCD inputs of the 320H are being driven by the external terminal. I made a video of the LED codes during POST and found some problems; here are the codes and their meaning: 120 BIST starting a CRC check on the 8752 EPROM. 122 BIST started a CRC check on the first 32K bytes of the OCS EPROM. 124 BIST started a CRC check on the OCS area of NVRAM. 130 BIST presence test started. 101 BIST started following reset. 153 BIST started ACLST test code. 154 BIST started AST test code. 100 BIST completed successfully; control was passed to IPL ROS. 211 IPL ROM CRC comparison error (irrecoverable). !!! 214 Power status register failed (irrecoverable). !!! 218 RAM POST is looking for good memory. 219 RAM POST bit map is being generated. 290 IOCC POST error (irrecoverable). !!! 291 Standard I/O POST running. 252 Attempting a Service mode IPL from 7012 DBA disk-attached devices specified in IPL ROM Default Device List. 253 Attempting a Service mode IPL from SCSI-attached devices specified in the IPL ROM Default Device List. 299 IPL ROM passed control to the loaded program code. 814 NVRAM being identified or configured. 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration method. 813 Battery for time-of-day, NVRAM, and so on being identified or configured, or system I/O control logic being identified or configured. 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration method. 520 Bus configuration running. 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration method. 869 SCSI adapter being identified or configured. 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration method. 954 400MB SCSI disk drive being identified or configured. 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration method. 539 The configuration method has terminated, and control has returned to the configuration manager. 551 IPL varyon is running. 553 IPL phase 1 is complete. The code 290 above is particularly worrysome, I think. The NVRAM battery reads 2.85 volts even after all these years. I reseated all of the chips that are on bases, all of the cards, and connectors; there was no change. Any ideas on how to proceed? carlos.
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
On Tue, Nov 6, 2018, 17:30 Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org wrote: > The code 290 above is particularly worrysome, I think. The NVRAM > battery reads 2.85 volts even after all these years. I reseated all of > the chips that are on bases, all of the cards, and connectors; there was > no change. Any ideas on how to proceed? > > carlos. > I wouldn't worry about any of the bad-sounding codes. How long have you waited? A model 320 is REALLY slow for an RS/6000, and you should get more codes as AIX boots up, and it should eventually clear the display once it's finished booting. Codes are only errors if the system doesn't advance past the code after more than several minutes. Also, the system won't send anything to the console port until well into the boot process, so no output doesn't mean that the serial port is dead. That's what the LED display is for. :) If you've waited at least 10-15 minutes after the last code it displayed, it sounds like you may need to reinstall, or maybe you have a failing or missing hard drive. I'd suggest finding a SCSI CDROM drive for it and get a copy of AIX install media. Note that you *need* install media or another system to rescue a machine with a lost root password, so I'd recommend that anyway. Earlier machines like the 320H would have originally done this off of 8mm tape, but I wouldn't recommend trying that since CD-ROMs are way easier. 10Mb Ethernet cards, compatible CD-ROM drives, and a copy of the media shouldn't be too hard to find. I'm sure someone here or over on the Sunhelp rescue list will be able to help you. If you're in the US, I know a few people here could source you parts. Pat >
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
Those code you highlighted are only a problem if it halts on that code if it continues on then its ok, in fact it is finding something to boot off of 299 means that it has loaded the bootable code from somewhere, in your case likely the disk and has transferred control to it. Do you know if this machine ever had a graphics card of some kind installed? if so then it would likely have been defined as the console, if not then it may be a matter of finding out which serial ports where set up as TTYs. If the disk does in fact have AIX installed on it you will only see activity on ports that have a getty running on them. Do you have anything like diagnostic diskette or original install media you could boot from? Either one of those would check all the serial ports for a terminal. The RS/6000 is very picky about the serial connections and does want to see certain signals present before it will talk to a serial port. Search for the manual "Adapters Devices and Cabling Information for Microchannel Systems" near the back there is a section about cabling pay attention to the device called printer/terminal interposer there is a wiring diagram, it is effectively a null modem. Another potentially useful manual is "Diagnostic Information for Microchannel Systems" There are equivalent manuals for the early PCI systems as well substitute "Multibus" for Microchannel" Paul. On 2018-11-06 6:29 PM, Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez via cctalk wrote: Since RS6K systems have been mentioned recently, I thought I should ask for advice. I have a Powerserver 320H with 32MB of RAM, an 8-port async EIA-232 adapter, a SCSI adapter and a 400MB HD. No framebuffer or keyboard; no LAN card. Because of the last issue, I haven't tried to do much with it. I tried getting it to talk on the serial console (Serial 1 connector in the back), following all the advice I found on the net: The pinout of the MODU serial connector, the null modem cable with full handshake (also driving the DCD line in the 320H). I turn it on in service mode, and it spits a lot of LED codes, finds the HD, spins it up and it apparently loads something (I suppose AIX) from it. But nothing is ever sent out on the serial 1 port, or any other serial port. I believe that during the POST it fails to initialize the serial 1 and 2 ports, because the 320H's DTR and RTS lines are never asserted (the ports in the async RS232 card do assert these on power up, but they are equally silent). I made sure that the CTS, DSR and DCD inputs of the 320H are being driven by the external terminal. I made a video of the LED codes during POST and found some problems; here are the codes and their meaning: 120 BIST starting a CRC check on the 8752 EPROM. 122 BIST started a CRC check on the first 32K bytes of the OCS EPROM. 124 BIST started a CRC check on the OCS area of NVRAM. 130 BIST presence test started. 101 BIST started following reset. 153 BIST started ACLST test code. 154 BIST started AST test code. 100 BIST completed successfully; control was passed to IPL ROS. 211 IPL ROM CRC comparison error (irrecoverable). !!! 214 Power status register failed (irrecoverable). !!! 218 RAM POST is looking for good memory. 219 RAM POST bit map is being generated. 290 IOCC POST error (irrecoverable). !!! 291 Standard I/O POST running. 252 Attempting a Service mode IPL from 7012 DBA disk-attached devices specified in IPL ROM Default Device List. 253 Attempting a Service mode IPL from SCSI-attached devices specified in the IPL ROM Default Device List. 299 IPL ROM passed control to the loaded program code. 814 NVRAM being identified or configured. 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration method. 813 Battery for time-of-day, NVRAM, and so on being identified or configured, or system I/O control logic being identified or configured. 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration method. 520 Bus configuration running. 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration method. 869 SCSI adapter being identified or configured. 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration method. 954 400MB SCSI disk drive being identified or configured. 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration method. 539 The configuration method has terminated, and control has returned to the configuration manager. 551 IPL varyon is running. 553 IPL phase 1 is complete. The code 290 above is particularly worrysome, I think. The NVRAM battery reads 2.85 volts even after all these years. I reseated all of the chips that are on bases, all of the cards, and connectors; there was no change. Any ideas on how to proceed? carlos.
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
Paul Berger via cctalk wrote: Those code you highlighted are only a problem if it halts on that code if it continues on then its ok, in fact it is finding something to boot off of 299 means that it has loaded the bootable code from somewhere, in your case likely the disk and has transferred control to it. Do you know if this machine ever had a graphics card of some kind installed? if so then it would likely have been defined as the console, if not then it may be a matter of finding out which serial ports where set up as TTYs. If the disk does in fact have AIX installed on it you will only see activity on ports that have a getty running on them. Do you have anything like diagnostic diskette or original install media you could boot from? Either one of those would check all the serial ports for a terminal. The RS/6000 is very picky about the serial connections and does want to see certain signals present before it will talk to a serial port. Search for the manual "Adapters Devices and Cabling Information for Microchannel Systems" near the back there is a section about cabling pay attention to the device called printer/terminal interposer there is a wiring diagram, it is effectively a null modem. Another potentially useful manual is "Diagnostic Information for Microchannel Systems" There are equivalent manuals for the early PCI systems as well substitute "Multibus" for Microchannel" Since it does not stop after the "290 IOCC POST error (irrecoverable)." code, then perhaps there's hope. I made diagnostic diskettes from images that I found on the net, and the system reads the diskette on power up, but after a while it goes back to reading the HD instead. When it reads the diskette it does not sound like it fails to seek or read, but it is possible that the diskette was not written correctly. As for the null modem cable, I actually tried several schemes in an RS-232 break-out box, but none worked. Just silence, and most important, no assertion of the DTR or RTS lines on the part of the 320H, even when CTS, DCD and DSR are being asserted from my terminal. I am pretty sure that this machine was always headless; it was used for accounting and inventory in a small business and all it had was terminals, a printer, and the tape drive. If it seems like it can be revived, perhaps I will invest in a LAN card for it. My only experience with AIX was as a user in a big SP system at Cornell in the 90's; I loved it, but it was only from a user's perspective, not an admin. Carlos.
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
On 11/06/2018 05:39 PM, Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez via cctalk wrote: As for the null modem cable, I actually tried several schemes in an RS-232 break-out box, but none worked. Are you connecting a computer to act as a client? Or are you actually connecting a (dumb) terminal? -- Grant. . . . unix || die
Re: Large Collection Of Dec/Digital PDP Documentation
On 06/11/2018 21:45, Zane Healy via cctalk wrote: On Nov 6, 2018, at 10:57 AM, Brian L. Stuart wrote: Isn't RT-11 V4 orange? I'll have to check when I get home, but I'm pretty sure that's the set I have. (That and a blue binder set for V3 and a loose set of V2.) You might be right, my v3 & v4 sets went up to Paul Allen’s museum, I kept the v5.x set. V3 was definitely dark blue. Interesting. My sets of RT-11 V4.0 are all dark blue. The only V3 I've seen is light blue. -- Pete Pete Turnbull
Re: Large Collection Of Dec/Digital PDP Documentation
My orange manual set is for VMS 4.4 On Tue, Nov 6, 2018 at 7:43 PM Pete Turnbull via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > On 06/11/2018 21:45, Zane Healy via cctalk wrote: > > On Nov 6, 2018, at 10:57 AM, Brian L. Stuart > wrote: > >> > > >> Isn't RT-11 V4 orange? I'll have to check when I get home, but > >> I'm pretty sure that's the set I have. (That and a blue binder set > >> for V3 and a loose set of V2.) > > > You might be right, my v3 & v4 sets went up to Paul Allen’s museum, I > kept the v5.x set. > > > > V3 was definitely dark blue. > > Interesting. My sets of RT-11 V4.0 are all dark blue. The only V3 I've > seen is light blue. > > -- > Pete > Pete Turnbull >
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
On 2018-11-06 8:39 PM, Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez via cctalk wrote: Paul Berger via cctalk wrote: are equivalent manuals for the early PCI systems as well substitute "Multibus" for Microchannel" Since it does not stop after the "290 IOCC POST error (irrecoverable)." code, then perhaps there's hope. I made diagnostic diskettes from images that I found on the net, and the system reads the diskette on power up, but after a while it goes back to reading the HD instead. When it reads the diskette it does not sound like it fails to seek or read, but it is possible that the diskette was not written correctly. As for the null modem cable, I actually tried several schemes in an RS-232 break-out box, but none worked. Just silence, and most important, no assertion of the DTR or RTS lines on the part of the 320H, even when CTS, DCD and DSR are being asserted from my terminal. I am pretty sure that this machine was always headless; it was used for accounting and inventory in a small business and all it had was terminals, a printer, and the tape drive. If it seems like it can be revived, perhaps I will invest in a LAN card for it. My only experience with AIX was as a user in a big SP system at Cornell in the 90's; I loved it, but it was only from a user's perspective, not an admin. Carlos. For loading the diagnostic from diskettes diskettes see the section "running diagnostic program from diskette" in the previously mentioned "Diagnostic Information for Microchannel Systems" the key switch has to be in the service (wrench) position insert the appropriate boot diskette there are two 8MB of memory and >16MB of memory turn on power and after the self test it should start reading the diskette and when it finishes it will display C01 to prompt for the next diskette if that does not happen either the image is bad or there is a problem with the diskette drive. There is a reasonable good chance that there is an issue with the diskette drive, especially if it was sitting on a carpeted floor. Typically the diskette drive was rarely used and the fans in the system will draw air in through the diskette drive carrying all kinds of contamination with it, you may want to open the drive up and clean it out and clean the heads. It is very likely that the diskette drive in the machine has the power lines in the ribbon cable instead of a separate power connector making replacements hard to find. As for the serial there is only one scenario that works fully pined cables with a null modem that matches the wiring of the printer terminal interposer. I don't think that an ethernet card is going to be a big help if you want to use the AIX that is on the disk as you have no way of configuring the ethernet network unless you can get a terminal working. Another roadblock may be the root password, it is possible to break in when you have physical access to the machine however you still need a terminal and you also need original install media at the same level of AIX or a mksysb backup tape from the same level of AIX to boot into maintenance mode. The original install media for a machine of this vintage would have been a tape or lots and lots of diskettes. Getting diagnostics to work would be a really good start. The AIX on the SP2 would have been the same, in fact the hardware on the SP2 nodes was similar to the regular RS/6000 boxes except the console was through a special serial network in the frame and accessed through the control workstation. Most regular users likely accessed the nodes through a LAN. Paul.
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
> Getting diagnostics to work would be a really good start. I may have install media and diagnostic disks for the 320H kicking around. > The AIX on the SP2 would have been the same, in fact the hardware on the > SP2 nodes was similar to the regular RS/6000 boxes except the console > was through a special serial network in the frame and accessed through > the control workstation. Most regular users likely accessed the nodes > through a LAN. Someday I would like an SP or SP2 system. What was the internal network on the original SP machines? Did they use that weird forgotten optical port the first generation RS/6000s had? -- Will
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
Grant Taylor via cctalk wrote: On 11/06/2018 05:39 PM, Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez via cctalk wrote: As for the null modem cable, I actually tried several schemes in an RS-232 break-out box, but none worked. Are you connecting a computer to act as a client? Or are you actually connecting a (dumb) terminal I am actually connecting a Macbook Pro with Serial.app (worth the $$$) and a USB-RS232 adapter; this has worked fine with many kinds of hardware. The only real terminals that I have are a vt220 and two IBM 3151's that actually came with this system. carlos.
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
Grant Taylor via cctalk wrote: On 11/06/2018 05:39 PM, Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez via cctalk wrote: As for the null modem cable, I actually tried several schemes in an RS-232 break-out box, but none worked. Are you connecting a computer to act as a client? Or are you actually connecting a (dumb) terminal I am actually using a Macbook Pro with Serial.app (worth the $$$) and an USB-RS232 adapter; this has worked fine with many kinds of hardware. The only real terminals that I own are a VT220 and two IBM 3151's that actually came with this system; all of them are functional. carlos.
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
Paul Berger via cctalk wrote: For loading the diagnostic from diskettes diskettes see the section "running diagnostic program from diskette" in the previously mentioned "Diagnostic Information for Microchannel Systems" the key switch has to be in the service (wrench) position insert the appropriate boot diskette there are two 8MB of memory and >16MB of memory turn on power and after the self test it should start reading the diskette and when it finishes it will display C01 to prompt for the next diskette if that does not happen either the image is bad or there is a problem with the diskette drive. There is a reasonable good chance that there is an issue with the diskette drive, especially if it was sitting on a carpeted floor. Typically the diskette drive was rarely used and the fans in the system will draw air in through the diskette drive carrying all kinds of contamination with it, you may want to open the drive up and clean it out and clean the heads. It is very likely that the diskette drive in the machine has the power lines in the ribbon cable instead of a separate power connector making replacements hard to find. As for the serial there is only one scenario that works fully pined cables with a null modem that matches the wiring of the printer terminal interposer. I don't think that an ethernet card is going to be a big help if you want to use the AIX that is on the disk as you have no way of configuring the ethernet network unless you can get a terminal working. Another roadblock may be the root password, it is possible to break in when you have physical access to the machine however you still need a terminal and you also need original install media at the same level of AIX or a mksysb backup tape from the same level of AIX to boot into maintenance mode. The original install media for a machine of this vintage would have been a tape or lots and lots of diskettes. Getting diagnostics to work would be a really good start. The AIX on the SP2 would have been the same, in fact the hardware on the SP2 nodes was similar to the regular RS/6000 boxes except the console was through a special serial network in the frame and accessed through the control workstation. Most regular users likely accessed the nodes through a LAN. Paul. Thank you, I'll double check the null cable and clean the diskette drive. The diagnostics disk's images that I found are simply labeled "AIX diagnostics" with four 1.44MB images named disk1-disk4; there is no mention of different versions according to RAM size. I suppose that if I wanted to reset the root password I could mount the HD on another system, bvi the raw disk, look for the "root:" string and edit the next few bytes... but right now it seems like the AIX installation in that disk is hosed anyway. We did connect via LAN to Cornell's SP2. I loved that everything just worked. Later, Cornell retired that system and replaced it with an NT Velocity cluster. The user experience was nowhere near as good. carlos.
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
On 2018-11-06 10:58 PM, Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez via cctalk wrote: Grant Taylor via cctalk wrote: On 11/06/2018 05:39 PM, Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez via cctalk wrote: As for the null modem cable, I actually tried several schemes in an RS-232 break-out box, but none worked. Are you connecting a computer to act as a client? Or are you actually connecting a (dumb) terminal I am actually connecting a Macbook Pro with Serial.app (worth the $$$) and a USB-RS232 adapter; this has worked fine with many kinds of hardware. The only real terminals that I have are a vt220 and two IBM 3151's that actually came with this system. carlos. You might try one of the 3151 they are known to work. for diagnostics set comm parms to 9600,N,8,1 Paul.
