RE: Purchased a Microvax 3800

> -Original Message- > From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of devin > davison > Sent: 10 December 2015 02:35 > To: General Discussion: On-Topic Posts > Subject: Re: Purchased a Microvax 3800 > > I got the power cord for the microvax 3

Re: Purchased a Microvax 3800

I got the power cord for the microvax 3800 in the mail today. I checked the fans as someone suggested, they Spin nice and smooth. I Iooked over everything, nothing seems out of place. I powered the machine on. Very quiet. I expected it to be much louder. I turned the machine on and nothing

Re: SCSI Questions (Was: "Re: Purchased a Microvax 3800")

On 2015-12-07 21:14, Paul Koning wrote: On Dec 7, 2015, at 2:56 PM, Johnny Billquist wrote: On 2015-12-07 20:36, Christian Gauger-Cosgrove wrote: On 7 December 2015 at 14:29, Johnny Billquist wrote: I think all (modern PDP-11) OSes can install from

Re: SCSI Questions (Was: "Re: Purchased a Microvax 3800")

On 2015-12-07 20:36, Christian Gauger-Cosgrove wrote: > On 7 December 2015 at 14:29, Johnny Billquist wrote: >> I think all (modern PDP-11) OSes can install from TMSCP tapes. RSTS/E is >> more picky than some others, though, if I remember right... >> > Yes, RSTS/E installs

Re: SCSI Questions (Was: "Re: Purchased a Microvax 3800")

Connecting a scsi dlt or dat drive is something i had not considered. I thought i would have had to buy and use DEC branded tape drives. I already have a scsi dat and DLT drive in use on my SGI octane. I could probally write the image with the octane and then move the drive over to the microvax

Re: SCSI Questions (Was: "Re: Purchased a Microvax 3800")

Hi, On Mon, Dec 07, 2015 at 02:25:25PM -0500, Christian Gauger-Cosgrove wrote: > On 6 December 2015 at 13:24, Mark G. Thomas wrote: > > As much as I love old CPUs, I've lost my patience with hard disk drives. > > I've been using AztecMonster (search ebay) CF-SCSI adapters, with

Re: SCSI Questions (Was: "Re: Purchased a Microvax 3800")

On 12/08/2015 09:50 AM, devin davison wrote: Hopefully the DLT drive will be supported. the dat drive i have seems finicky at it's best. That, at least in theory, is the great thing about SCSI--it doesn't matter what the device is, so long as it implements a set of basic SCSI device-class

Re: SCSI Questions (Was: "Re: Purchased a Microvax 3800")

On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 11:02 AM, Paul Koning wrote: > One detail on "it doesn't care what the tape is": RSTS kits on 1/2 inch tape > come > in 800 and 1600 bpi versions. They have different boot blocks, each of them > designed to work with all tape drives/controllers

Re: SCSI Questions (Was: "Re: Purchased a Microvax 3800")

"So a 9-track open-reel SCSI drive should work just as well as a DDS, DLT, SLT drive." Oh wow. i had not even considered that. I have a pdp 11 with a beast of a 9 track tape drive in is's own rack, that would be interesting if i could get a scsi tape drive for the vax and use some big tapes to

Re: SCSI Questions (Was: "Re: Purchased a Microvax 3800")

On 2015-12-08 17:02, Paul Koning wrote: On 2015-12-07 20:36, Christian Gauger-Cosgrove wrote: On 7 December 2015 at 14:29, Johnny Billquist wrote: I think all (modern PDP-11) OSes can install from TMSCP tapes. RSTS/E is more picky than some others, though, if I remember

SCSI Questions (Was: "Re: Purchased a Microvax 3800")

On 6 December 2015 at 13:24, Mark G. Thomas wrote: > As much as I love old CPUs, I've lost my patience with hard disk drives. > I've been using AztecMonster (search ebay) CF-SCSI adapters, with several-GB > CF cards instead of spinning disks. The KA660 and several PDP-11/83s >

Re: SCSI Questions (Was: "Re: Purchased a Microvax 3800")

On 2015-12-07 20:25, Christian Gauger-Cosgrove wrote: On 6 December 2015 at 13:24, Mark G. Thomas wrote: As much as I love old CPUs, I've lost my patience with hard disk drives. I've been using AztecMonster (search ebay) CF-SCSI adapters, with several-GB CF cards instead of

Re: SCSI Questions (Was: "Re: Purchased a Microvax 3800")

On 7 December 2015 at 14:29, Johnny Billquist wrote: > I think all (modern PDP-11) OSes can install from TMSCP tapes. RSTS/E is > more picky than some others, though, if I remember right... > Yes, RSTS/E installs from TMSCP just fine (as can RSX-11/M+); I know that in simh you

Re: SCSI Questions (Was: "Re: Purchased a Microvax 3800")

On 2015-12-07 20:36, Christian Gauger-Cosgrove wrote: On 7 December 2015 at 14:29, Johnny Billquist wrote: I think all (modern PDP-11) OSes can install from TMSCP tapes. RSTS/E is more picky than some others, though, if I remember right... Yes, RSTS/E installs from TMSCP

Re: SCSI Questions (Was: "Re: Purchased a Microvax 3800")

> On Dec 7, 2015, at 2:56 PM, Johnny Billquist wrote: > > On 2015-12-07 20:36, Christian Gauger-Cosgrove wrote: >> On 7 December 2015 at 14:29, Johnny Billquist wrote: >>> I think all (modern PDP-11) OSes can install from TMSCP tapes. RSTS/E is >>> more

Re: Purchased a Microvax 3800

Hi Devin, I upgraded my 3300 to a KA660 CPU and a CQD SCSI controller. If you are patient, sometimes QBUS SCSI controllers show up on e-bay much cheaper than the reqularly listed several hundred dollar ones. I paid around $75. As much as I love old CPUs, I've lost my patience with hard disk

Re: Purchased a Microvax 3800

On 12/06/2015 10:24 AM, Mark G. Thomas wrote: As much as I love old CPUs, I've lost my patience with hard disk drives. Same here--using an old system that's brought out only once every few years only to have its hard drive quit working (or working after a few smart raps on the HDA with a

Re: Purchased a Microvax 3800

> > Yes, that is an M7626 KA660 VAX 4000-200 CPU. The blue connector is > the H3602 console panel connector, the bottom grey connector is the > memory connector, and the top grey connector with two notches is the > DSSI connector. > > I recently removed the battery from my M7627 KA660 and

Re: Purchased a Microvax 3800

Well that works out. I've got a couple Of dssi controllers now. Not sure what that 50 pin cable could have gone to either. I have not opened the top half of the machine yet. Thank you for the pictures of where the battery are. I was looking on the main cpu board itself. Ive yet to take that apart

Re: Purchased a Microvax 3800

Thank you for all the helpful information Glen. I will definately grab that scsi interface when i get the funds, I have a scsi cd drive already to be used with my SGi gear. I removed that cpu board out and took a couple of pictures. There is one connector, on the top, with two notches in it.

Re: Purchased a Microvax 3800

On Wed, Dec 2, 2015 at 9:22 PM, devin davison wrote: > > I removed that cpu board out and took a couple of pictures. There is one > connector, on the top, with two notches in it. Same as the controller board > I just bought. I would assume that is the DSSI connector? > >

Re: Purchased a Microvax 3800

On Tue, Dec 1, 2015 at 7:25 PM, devin davison wrote: > > I purchased a m7769 DSSI controller card online, so that is one more step > in the direction of getting the machine all together. Still waiting to find > the controller for the tape drive and a dssi hard drive, although

Re: Purchased a Microvax 3800

On Tue, Dec 1, 2015 at 7:25 PM, devin davison wrote: > > Just figured id post about it here, to show my progress twords getting it > running. > > http://postimg.org/gallery/fztxjqbe/ Another tip: If you haven't done so already, remove the CPU console panel and check to see