Is The M9312 Boot Module Essential?

[Rob Jarratt via cctalk]

I have a PDP-11/24. I have never got very far with it because of power
supply problems which I am hopeful will be resolved soon. Looking at the
technical manual, it describes an M9312 bootstrap/terminator module. The
machine did not come with one of these.

 

I am not sure how the machine could have been useful without it. It did work
briefly before the PSU failed and I remember getting a console prompt. So,
is the M9312 essential to ever get this machine to boot up an operating
system?

 

Thanks

 

Rob

Re: VAX9000 unearthed

[Gary Grebus via cctalk]

On 2/18/22 15:35, Paul Koning wrote:




On Feb 18, 2022, at 3:18 PM, Gary Grebus  wrote:

On 2/18/22 09:46, Paul Koning wrote:

...The 9000 also had its own I/O bus, XMI, different from BI.  I don't know how 
its performance compares, whether it was worth the effort.


XMI already existed as the system bus for the VAX 6000 series machines.   I/O 
on the VAX 6000's was via an XMI-to-BI bridge.  I don't remember the exact 
performance specs on XMI, but it was wider and faster than BI.

XMI was then also used as one of the possible I/O buses on the VAX 1 and 
AlphaServer 7000 and 8000 series machines, via a system bus to XMI bridge.   So 
the XMI I/O adapters were common across all these series of machines.


I didn't remember all those details, thanks.

There also was an effort at one point to adopt FutureBus in DEC systems.  We 
did a pile of design in the network architecture group to figure out how to 
handle interrupts and bus cycles efficiently; I don't remember if anything 
actually shipped with that stuff.



There was a FutureBus I/O subsystem for the AlphaServer 8000 series.  It 
was a qualified, orderable option, but I can't imagine we sold very many 
(if any).  It was done supposedly because the US Navy was standardizing 
on FutureBus for some application.  I vaguely recall DEC made an 
Ethernet adapter that went on FutureBus, but you would have needed 
another I/O bus to have a usable system.


The native I/O interface on the AlphaServer 8000 (aka TurboLaser) was 
one or more system bus to "hose" modules, where a "hose" was a pair of 
cables that provided a 32 bit data path in each direction.  The hose 
connected to a bridge module on the target I/O bus.  There was support 
for XMI, PCI, and FutureBus.


-- Gary

Re: VAX9000 unearthed

[ben via cctalk]

On 2022-02-18 8:21 p.m., Mark Linimon via cctalk wrote:

On Fri, Feb 18, 2022 at 05:25:26PM -0500, Patrick Finnegan via cctalk wrote:

Yours will be a lot cheaper to run.


Custom ECL chips?

I think I can go with "relatively cheaper".

Make sure you have a bazillion BTU of air conditioning ...

(Yes, I have had experience with ECL, albeit 1970s low-scale tech.  The
power consumption ... eek ...)

mcl


The 70's was all low scale tech. I suspect it was the high speed/edge 
rates more the power that kept ECL from common use. Any other views on 
this topic. Ben, who only had access to RADIO SHACK in the 70's.

PS: Still grumbling about buying life time tubes at a big price,
just to see all tubes discontinued a year or two later.

Re: VAX9000 unearthed

[Mark Linimon via cctalk]

On Fri, Feb 18, 2022 at 05:25:26PM -0500, Patrick Finnegan via cctalk wrote:
> Yours will be a lot cheaper to run.

Custom ECL chips?

I think I can go with "relatively cheaper".

Make sure you have a bazillion BTU of air conditioning ...

(Yes, I have had experience with ECL, albeit 1970s low-scale tech.  The
power consumption ... eek ...)

mcl

Re: VAX9000 unearthed

[Don Stalkowski via cctalk]

There's an issue of DTJ dedicated to the 9000:

http://dtjcd.vmsresource.org.uk/pdfs/dtj_v02-04_1990.pdf


On Fri, Feb 18, 2022 at 11:01:40PM +, Antonio Carlini via cctalk wrote:
> On 18/02/2022 17:16, Lee Courtney via cctalk wrote:
> > Paul,
> > 
> > What was the timeframe for the MPP?
> > 
> > Lee
> 
> 
> The earliest DECmpp reference I can find is from 1991:
> 
> https://eisner.decus.org/anon/htnotes/note?f1=INDUSTRY_NEWS&f2=551.1
> 
> You can peruse the service manual here:
> 
> http://manx-docs.org/collections/mds-199909/cd2/decmpp/decacsmc.pdf
> 
> 
> There are other docs that you can most easily find by searching for "DECmpp"
> on manx.
> 
> 
> Antonio
> 
> 
> -- 
> Antonio Carlini
> anto...@acarlini.com
> 
> 

Re: VAX9000 unearthed

[Antonio Carlini via cctalk]

On 18/02/2022 17:16, Lee Courtney via cctalk wrote:

Paul,

What was the timeframe for the MPP?

Lee



The earliest DECmpp reference I can find is from 1991:

https://eisner.decus.org/anon/htnotes/note?f1=INDUSTRY_NEWS&f2=551.1

You can peruse the service manual here:

http://manx-docs.org/collections/mds-199909/cd2/decmpp/decacsmc.pdf


There are other docs that you can most easily find by searching for 
"DECmpp" on manx.



Antonio


--
Antonio Carlini
anto...@acarlini.com

Re: VAX9000 unearthed

[Maciej W. Rozycki via cctalk]

On Fri, 18 Feb 2022, Paul Koning via cctalk wrote:

> From what was just reported, the 6000 series indeed did it that way.  
> But I think on the 9000 it was an I/O bus too.  I definitely remember 
> some work on XMI based I/O devices, in particular an FDDI card.  And 
> indeed you can find a spec for that device in 
> http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/xmi/ .

 Also: 
.

  Maciej

RE: Testing H745 Regulators

[Rob Jarratt via cctalk]

I found a 400V part on Mouser and ordered that. 

> -Original Message-
> From: Jonathan Chapman 
> Sent: 18 February 2022 21:23
> To: r...@jarratt.me.uk; Rob Jarratt ; General
> Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts 
> Subject: RE: Testing H745 Regulators
> 
> > I always forget that the VAC is the RMS and not the peak-to-peak. I
> > will look for a minimum rating of 100V.
> 
> 600V bridge modules are often more cost effective, and more likely to be in
> stock. That's why I went with the Vishay part I used.
> 
> If you can't find what you need due to shortages, you can also use a Faston
> tab rectifier and solder wire legs to it.
> 
> Thanks,
> Jonathan

Re: VAX9000 unearthed

[Patrick Finnegan via cctalk]

Cool! It's the baby version of the two 9000/440s I recently rescued.

Yours will be a lot cheaper to run. I'm still working on digesting the
documentation for mine before I try to get them running.

Pictures of mine in their new home: https://i.imgur.com/sVgkuG9.jpg

Patrick Finnegan

On Fri, Feb 18, 2022, 07:53 Joerg Hoppe via cctalk 
wrote:

> Hi,
>
> my computer club c-c-g.de could acquire the remains of a VAX9000 !
> The machine ran at the GWDG computing center in Göttingen, Germany,
> around 1993.
> Parts of it were in stock of their museum for 20+ years.
>
> See lots of hires-pictures at
>
> https://c-c-g.de/fachartikel/359-vax-9000-ein-starker-exot
>
> (scroll to the bottom for a slide show).
>
> Joerg
>
>

Re: VAX9000 unearthed

[Paul Koning via cctalk]

> On Feb 18, 2022, at 4:30 PM, Chris Zach via cctalk  
> wrote:
> 
>> XMI already existed as the system bus for the VAX 6000 series machines.
>> I/O on the VAX 6000's was via an XMI-to-BI bridge.  I don't remember the 
>> exact performance specs on XMI, but it was wider and faster than BI.
> 
> I thought XMI was only supposed to be a CPU/memory bus, with IO being done by 
> multiple VaxBI busses. That's what we had on the 6000 at the computer 
> Society: 2 CPUs, memory, and two VaxBi with a SCSI disk controller on each.

From what was just reported, the 6000 series indeed did it that way.  But I 
think on the 9000 it was an I/O bus too.  I definitely remember some work on 
XMI based I/O devices, in particular an FDDI card.  And indeed you can find a 
spec for that device in http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/xmi/ .

paul

Re: VAX9000 unearthed

[Chris Zach via cctalk]

XMI already existed as the system bus for the VAX 6000 series machines. 
   I/O on the VAX 6000's was via an XMI-to-BI bridge.  I don't remember 
the exact performance specs on XMI, but it was wider and faster than BI.


I thought XMI was only supposed to be a CPU/memory bus, with IO being 
done by multiple VaxBI busses. That's what we had on the 6000 at the 
computer Society: 2 CPUs, memory, and two VaxBi with a SCSI disk 
controller on each.


I think it also had serial connections via terminal servers because the 
ceiling in the computer room collapsed shortly after I started working 
there from all the RS232 cables piled up there. Landed right on the 
SparcStation 20 and "crashed" our WAIS/Gopher server.


Learn something new every day.

RE: Testing H745 Regulators

[Jonathan Chapman via cctalk]

> I always forget that the VAC is the RMS and not the peak-to-peak. I will
> look for a minimum rating of 100V.

600V bridge modules are often more cost effective, and more likely to be in 
stock. That's why I went with the Vishay part I used.

If you can't find what you need due to shortages, you can also use a Faston tab 
rectifier and solder wire legs to it.

Thanks,
Jonathan

Re: VAX9000 unearthed

[Gary Grebus via cctalk]

On 2/18/22 09:46, Paul Koning wrote:




On Feb 18, 2022, at 7:08 AM, Joerg Hoppe via cctalk  
wrote:

Hi,

my computer club c-c-g.de could acquire the remains of a VAX9000 !
The machine ran at the GWDG computing center in G?ttingen, Germany, around 1993.
Parts of it were in stock of their museum for 20+ years.

See lots of hires-pictures at

https://c-c-g.de/fachartikel/359-vax-9000-ein-starker-exot

(scroll to the bottom for a slide show).

Joerg


Excellent photos!

I didn't realize the 9000 had a vector processor.

One reason the design was so expensive is that it was originally planned as a water-cooled machine 
-- code name "Aquarius".  At some point that idea was dropped and switched to air cooling 
-- code name "Aridus".  I guess those skinny pipes with red and blue markers carry jets 
of cooling air, but were originally going to carry water.

The 9000 also had its own I/O bus, XMI, different from BI.  I don't know how 
its performance compares, whether it was worth the effort.



XMI already existed as the system bus for the VAX 6000 series machines. 
  I/O on the VAX 6000's was via an XMI-to-BI bridge.  I don't remember 
the exact performance specs on XMI, but it was wider and faster than BI.


XMI was then also used as one of the possible I/O buses on the VAX 1 
and AlphaServer 7000 and 8000 series machines, via a system bus to XMI 
bridge.   So the XMI I/O adapters were common across all these series of 
machines.


Gary

Re: VAX9000 unearthed

[Chris Zach via cctalk]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MasPar says that MasPar was founded by ex-DEC 
chip VP Jeff Kalb.  He took a design done at DEC, for a massively parallel 
machine inspired by the Goodyear MPP with some changes.  DEC decided not to 
build that so MasPar did and DEC then resold it.  The description sounds 
vaguely familiar.  The manual I downloaded says it has 1024 cores per board, 
and up to 16 boards.  Neat.


If you have a university library nearby go check the old Computer 
Society archives. I was involved with the Supercomputing conferences in 
the early 90's (and built the E-commerce system for SC94's registration) 
and talk of this system has knocked loose a marble in my brain from the 
late 80's. There might be more documentation in the various proceedings 
or in the Computer magazines and Transactions on Parallel Computing from 
the time

Re: Testing H745 Regulators

[Brent Hilpert via cctalk]

On 2022-Feb-17, at 11:40 PM, Rob Jarratt wrote:
>> -Original Message-
>> From: Brent Hilpert 
>> On 2022-Feb-17, at 2:38 PM, Rob Jarratt wrote:
 -Original Message-
 From: Brent Hilpert 
 
 20V on a 10 ohm load: current = 2A.
 15V, 1.5A.
 
 In this regulator design there is no path for more current than that
 which the load draws, aside from temporary peak currents to charge
 capacitors. If you're drawing 5A DC from the bench supply, something
 beyond 'failure to start' is wrong.
>>> 
>>> That's interesting. On the H744s I have observed that if I have a high
>>> load the bench PSU current limiter operates and the regulator cannot
>>> output +5V, but if I start with a lower load and then add load, it can
>>> continue to operate. Is the H745 different to the point that I
>>> shouldn't expect this kind of behaviour? If it is the same, then why
>>> do the H744s do this? I have tried waiting a few moments to allow the
>>> input capacitor to charge up, but the regulator just does not start.
>> 
>> Presumably your high test load plus the initial cap-charge current is
> pushing
>> the bench PS into current limit, that is, with a high load there is less
> available
>> current to charge the caps before the bench PS starts current limiting.
> This
>> would slow down the cap charge rate, so it would take longer for the caps
> to
>> charge. I can't say I see it 'stopping starting', but it would lengthen
> the time to
>> 'start'. How long depends on the numbers. There may also be some
>> dependance on how your bench PS responds in current limit.
>> 
> 
> But if that was the case shouldn't it just take a bit of time to get going,
> once the input cap has charged wouldn't it start regulating? It shouldn't
> take more than a few seconds, but it never seems to start. Anyway with the
> H745 the problem seems to be elsewhere.

The 744 derives the +15 supply for the 723 from the same 20-30VAC main input 
supply, in contrast to the 745 where the +15 is from another source.

With the 744, once your bench supply goes into current limit and drops its 
output voltage, that's also dropping the +15 for the 723. Everything is going 
to be out of whack at that point, the reference supply, the amp/comparator 
action, etc. I can't say at this distance and limited info exactly what's going 
on, there's also the Q7 unijunction shut-down circuit in there. It may be in 
some sort of oscillation 'trying to start' or it may be latched up into an off 
state, because the supply voltage is below some threshold. (I've never dealt 
with these supplies directly, I'm just observing the schematics.)

This behaviour may be different for the 745 because the +15 ancillary supply is 
separate/independant from the main input.

Re: VAX9000 unearthed

[Antonio Carlini via cctalk]

On 18/02/2022 20:35, Paul Koning via cctalk wrote:


There also was an effort at one point to adopt FutureBus in DEC systems.  We 
did a pile of design in the network architecture group to figure out how to 
handle interrupts and bus cycles efficiently; I don't remember if anything 
actually shipped with that stuff.

paul


The DEC 4000 systems (COBRA and the follow-on upgrade, FANG) use FB as 
an I/O bus. DECnis also used FB as its backplane. They couldn't share 
cards though.



Antonio


--
Antonio Carlini
anto...@acarlini.com

Re: VAX9000 unearthed

[Paul Koning via cctalk]

> On Feb 18, 2022, at 3:18 PM, Gary Grebus  wrote:
> 
> On 2/18/22 09:46, Paul Koning wrote:
>> ...The 9000 also had its own I/O bus, XMI, different from BI.  I don't know 
>> how its performance compares, whether it was worth the effort.
> 
> XMI already existed as the system bus for the VAX 6000 series machines.   I/O 
> on the VAX 6000's was via an XMI-to-BI bridge.  I don't remember the exact 
> performance specs on XMI, but it was wider and faster than BI.
> 
> XMI was then also used as one of the possible I/O buses on the VAX 1 and 
> AlphaServer 7000 and 8000 series machines, via a system bus to XMI bridge.   
> So the XMI I/O adapters were common across all these series of machines.

I didn't remember all those details, thanks.

There also was an effort at one point to adopt FutureBus in DEC systems.  We 
did a pile of design in the network architecture group to figure out how to 
handle interrupts and bus cycles efficiently; I don't remember if anything 
actually shipped with that stuff.

paul

Re: VAX9000 unearthed

[Bill Gunshannon via cctalk]

On 2/18/22 13:30, Josh Dersch via cctalk wrote:

On Fri, Feb 18, 2022 at 6:55 AM Paul Koning via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:






Speaking of vector processors: there's a very obscure DEC processor, the
DEC MPP.  I remember seeing the processor architecture document when it was
being designed, not sure why.  It's a very-RISC machine, just a few
instructions, but lots of cores especially for that time -- 256?  More?
Recently I saw it mentioned in some documents, apparently it did get
produced and shipped, perhaps only in small numbers.  I wonder if any have
been preserved.



There was one listed on eBay for an obscene (like $500k?) price for quite
awhile, don't see it listed right now though.  Somehow I doubt it sold.
But at least there's one out there, somewhere...



Maybe, maybe not.  Failure to sell may have resulted in scrapping.
When I had to get rid of my last big iron vaxen at the University
it was made quite clear that if I didn't find them a home in a very
short time they would be scrapped.

bill

Re: VAX9000 unearthed

[Josh Dersch via cctalk]

On Fri, Feb 18, 2022 at 6:55 AM Paul Koning via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

>
>
>
>
> Speaking of vector processors: there's a very obscure DEC processor, the
> DEC MPP.  I remember seeing the processor architecture document when it was
> being designed, not sure why.  It's a very-RISC machine, just a few
> instructions, but lots of cores especially for that time -- 256?  More?
> Recently I saw it mentioned in some documents, apparently it did get
> produced and shipped, perhaps only in small numbers.  I wonder if any have
> been preserved.


There was one listed on eBay for an obscene (like $500k?) price for quite
awhile, don't see it listed right now though.  Somehow I doubt it sold.
But at least there's one out there, somewhere...

- Josh



> As far as I know there is no family connection between that machine and
> anything else DEC did before or since.
>
> paul
>
>
>

Re: VAX9000 unearthed

[Paul Koning via cctalk]

> On Feb 18, 2022, at 12:16 PM, Lee Courtney  wrote:
> 
> Paul,
> 
> What was the timeframe for the MPP?

I thought late 1980s.  Just did some searching, which turns up some manuals for 
the "DecMPP 12000".  And a trade press article that says it's a rebadged MasPar 
machine.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MasPar says that MasPar was founded by ex-DEC 
chip VP Jeff Kalb.  He took a design done at DEC, for a massively parallel 
machine inspired by the Goodyear MPP with some changes.  DEC decided not to 
build that so MasPar did and DEC then resold it.  The description sounds 
vaguely familiar.  The manual I downloaded says it has 1024 cores per board, 
and up to 16 boards.  Neat.

paul

Re: VAX9000 unearthed

[Lee Courtney via cctalk]

Paul,

What was the timeframe for the MPP?

Lee

On Fri, Feb 18, 2022 at 6:47 AM Paul Koning via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

>
>
> > On Feb 18, 2022, at 7:08 AM, Joerg Hoppe via cctalk <
> cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> > my computer club c-c-g.de could acquire the remains of a VAX9000 !
> > The machine ran at the GWDG computing center in Göttingen, Germany,
> around 1993.
> > Parts of it were in stock of their museum for 20+ years.
> >
> > See lots of hires-pictures at
> >
> > https://c-c-g.de/fachartikel/359-vax-9000-ein-starker-exot
> >
> > (scroll to the bottom for a slide show).
> >
> > Joerg
>
> Excellent photos!
>
> I didn't realize the 9000 had a vector processor.
>
> One reason the design was so expensive is that it was originally planned
> as a water-cooled machine -- code name "Aquarius".  At some point that idea
> was dropped and switched to air cooling -- code name "Aridus".  I guess
> those skinny pipes with red and blue markers carry jets of cooling air, but
> were originally going to carry water.
>
> The 9000 also had its own I/O bus, XMI, different from BI.  I don't know
> how its performance compares, whether it was worth the effort.
>
> Speaking of vector processors: there's a very obscure DEC processor, the
> DEC MPP.  I remember seeing the processor architecture document when it was
> being designed, not sure why.  It's a very-RISC machine, just a few
> instructions, but lots of cores especially for that time -- 256?  More?
> Recently I saw it mentioned in some documents, apparently it did get
> produced and shipped, perhaps only in small numbers.  I wonder if any have
> been preserved.  As far as I know there is no family connection between
> that machine and anything else DEC did before or since.
>
> paul
>
>
>

-- 
Lee Courtney
+1-650-704-3934 cell

Re: VAX9000 unearthed

[Paul Koning via cctalk]

> On Feb 18, 2022, at 7:08 AM, Joerg Hoppe via cctalk  
> wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> my computer club c-c-g.de could acquire the remains of a VAX9000 !
> The machine ran at the GWDG computing center in Göttingen, Germany, around 
> 1993.
> Parts of it were in stock of their museum for 20+ years.
> 
> See lots of hires-pictures at
> 
> https://c-c-g.de/fachartikel/359-vax-9000-ein-starker-exot
> 
> (scroll to the bottom for a slide show).
> 
> Joerg

Excellent photos!

I didn't realize the 9000 had a vector processor.

One reason the design was so expensive is that it was originally planned as a 
water-cooled machine -- code name "Aquarius".  At some point that idea was 
dropped and switched to air cooling -- code name "Aridus".  I guess those 
skinny pipes with red and blue markers carry jets of cooling air, but were 
originally going to carry water.

The 9000 also had its own I/O bus, XMI, different from BI.  I don't know how 
its performance compares, whether it was worth the effort.

Speaking of vector processors: there's a very obscure DEC processor, the DEC 
MPP.  I remember seeing the processor architecture document when it was being 
designed, not sure why.  It's a very-RISC machine, just a few instructions, but 
lots of cores especially for that time -- 256?  More?  Recently I saw it 
mentioned in some documents, apparently it did get produced and shipped, 
perhaps only in small numbers.  I wonder if any have been preserved.  As far as 
I know there is no family connection between that machine and anything else DEC 
did before or since.

paul

Re: ID these DEC floppy disks

[Nigel Johnson Ham via cctalk]

Thanks for that. My memory is now refreshed!

Nigel Johnson, MSc., MIEEE, MCSE VE3ID/G4AJQ/VA3MCU
Amateur Radio, the origin of the open-source concept!
Skype:  tilbury2591nw.john...@ieee.org



On 2022-02-18 07:51, Sytse van Slooten via cctalk wrote:

http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp11/xxdp/Turnbull_XXDP_Feb93.pdf  


This doc gives an overview of the naming.

The leading C means PDP-11, but is not used in the file names on the xxdp packs 
and floppies - you'll see it in the listings though.

Cheers
Sytse


On 18 Feb 2022, at 03:12, Nigel Johnson Ham via cctalk  
wrote:

 From my (very stale) memory, FWIW

DEC Diagnostic file names were configured thus:

First Letter - machine they run on.  ones I remember:  Z=all Unibus, 
V=LSI-11(18-bit), J=11/73(22-bit) etc.  Strangely, I seem to remember that C 
represented 11/45, but maybe they changed the scheme at one point. I got into 
sales and management with Emulex after the 11/73A!  Or perhaps the letter C was 
prepended as a media type and the rest follows the pattern

Second and third letters, the system part they were designed for.  Strangely, 
VMSxxx would be memory tests for the LSI-11, nothing to do with VMS/

Fourth letter was the actual diagnostic name if more than one for each part.

Fifth and sixth letters were major and minor rev levels.

So really the names were only unique to four positions.

When running them, I would usually only type the first four letters followed by 
two question marks.

So maybe ZUF and ZXD were amalgamations of various tests!

Or maybe they changed the scheme :-)

cheers,

Nigel


Nigel Johnson, MSc., MIEEE, MCSE VE3ID/G4AJQ/VA3MCU
Amateur Radio, the origin of the open-source concept!
Skype:tilbury2591nw.john...@ieee.org



On 2022-02-17 20:26, Glen Slick via cctalk wrote:

On Thu, Feb 17, 2022 at 4:28 PM Chris Zach via cctalk
   wrote:

Hey all!

While going through floppies I found these and was wondering what they
were. Only clue in Google was someone asking in 1997 same thing.

BL-T540B-M1 CZUFDB1 USER TESTS
BL-T541B-M1 CZXD1B1 FIELD SERVICE TESTS 1
BL-T542B-MC CZXD2B0 FIELD SERVICE TESTS 2
BL-T565B-MC CZXD3B0 FIELD SERVICE TESTS 3
BL-T583B-MC CZXD4B0 FIELD SERVICE TESTS 4

Any ideas? The first one does not have a write protect tab, the others
do. There is also one other disk I found

CZMX4E0 Micro 11 Maint RX50 4

On this one the write protect flag was torn off (was on from factory and
removed)

My guess is that these are Micro-11 diagnostic test disks, as
mentioned in Section 5.7 USER TEST DISKETTES, on Page 5-12, of this
manual:
MicroPDP-11 Systems Technical Manual, EK-MIC11-TM-002
http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp11/microPDP11/EK-MIC11-TM-002_MicroPDP11_Systems_Technical_Manual_Sep85.pdf

These possibly related tests are listed as being included as part of
the XXDP distribution on page A-22 of the PDP-11 Diagnostic Handbook,
1988
http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp11/xxdp/PDP11_DiagnosticHandbook_1988.pdf

ZUFlEO.BINMICRO-11 USER TEST #1
ZUF2EO.BINMICRO-11 USER TEST #2
ZUF3AO.BINMICRO-11 USER TEST #3
ZUF4AO.BINMICRO-11 USER TEST #4

If you have the ability to create ImageDsk images of these disks it
might be interesting to take a look at them.

VAX9000 unearthed

[Joerg Hoppe via cctalk]

Hi,

my computer club c-c-g.de could acquire the remains of a VAX9000 !
The machine ran at the GWDG computing center in Göttingen, Germany, 
around 1993.

Parts of it were in stock of their museum for 20+ years.

See lots of hires-pictures at

https://c-c-g.de/fachartikel/359-vax-9000-ein-starker-exot

(scroll to the bottom for a slide show).

Joerg

Re: ID these DEC floppy disks

[Sytse van Slooten via cctalk]

http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp11/xxdp/Turnbull_XXDP_Feb93.pdf 


This doc gives an overview of the naming.

The leading C means PDP-11, but is not used in the file names on the xxdp packs 
and floppies - you'll see it in the listings though.

Cheers
Sytse

> On 18 Feb 2022, at 03:12, Nigel Johnson Ham via cctalk 
>  wrote:
> 
> From my (very stale) memory, FWIW
> 
> DEC Diagnostic file names were configured thus:
> 
> First Letter - machine they run on.  ones I remember:  Z=all Unibus, 
> V=LSI-11(18-bit), J=11/73(22-bit) etc.  Strangely, I seem to remember that C 
> represented 11/45, but maybe they changed the scheme at one point. I got into 
> sales and management with Emulex after the 11/73A!  Or perhaps the letter C 
> was prepended as a media type and the rest follows the pattern
> 
> Second and third letters, the system part they were designed for.  Strangely, 
> VMSxxx would be memory tests for the LSI-11, nothing to do with VMS/
> 
> Fourth letter was the actual diagnostic name if more than one for each part.
> 
> Fifth and sixth letters were major and minor rev levels.
> 
> So really the names were only unique to four positions.
> 
> When running them, I would usually only type the first four letters followed 
> by two question marks.
> 
> So maybe ZUF and ZXD were amalgamations of various tests!
> 
> Or maybe they changed the scheme :-)
> 
> cheers,
> 
> Nigel
> 
> 
> Nigel Johnson, MSc., MIEEE, MCSE VE3ID/G4AJQ/VA3MCU
> Amateur Radio, the origin of the open-source concept!
> Skype:  tilbury2591nw.john...@ieee.org
> 
> 
> 
> On 2022-02-17 20:26, Glen Slick via cctalk wrote:
>> On Thu, Feb 17, 2022 at 4:28 PM Chris Zach via cctalk
>>   wrote:
>>> Hey all!
>>> 
>>> While going through floppies I found these and was wondering what they
>>> were. Only clue in Google was someone asking in 1997 same thing.
>>> 
>>> BL-T540B-M1 CZUFDB1 USER TESTS
>>> BL-T541B-M1 CZXD1B1 FIELD SERVICE TESTS 1
>>> BL-T542B-MC CZXD2B0 FIELD SERVICE TESTS 2
>>> BL-T565B-MC CZXD3B0 FIELD SERVICE TESTS 3
>>> BL-T583B-MC CZXD4B0 FIELD SERVICE TESTS 4
>>> 
>>> Any ideas? The first one does not have a write protect tab, the others
>>> do. There is also one other disk I found
>>> 
>>> CZMX4E0 Micro 11 Maint RX50 4
>>> 
>>> On this one the write protect flag was torn off (was on from factory and
>>> removed)
>> My guess is that these are Micro-11 diagnostic test disks, as
>> mentioned in Section 5.7 USER TEST DISKETTES, on Page 5-12, of this
>> manual:
>> MicroPDP-11 Systems Technical Manual, EK-MIC11-TM-002
>> http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp11/microPDP11/EK-MIC11-TM-002_MicroPDP11_Systems_Technical_Manual_Sep85.pdf
>> 
>> These possibly related tests are listed as being included as part of
>> the XXDP distribution on page A-22 of the PDP-11 Diagnostic Handbook,
>> 1988
>> http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp11/xxdp/PDP11_DiagnosticHandbook_1988.pdf
>> 
>> ZUFlEO.BINMICRO-11 USER TEST #1
>> ZUF2EO.BINMICRO-11 USER TEST #2
>> ZUF3AO.BINMICRO-11 USER TEST #3
>> ZUF4AO.BINMICRO-11 USER TEST #4
>> 
>> If you have the ability to create ImageDsk images of these disks it
>> might be interesting to take a look at them.