On 08/18/2015 10:24 AM, Ben Sinclair wrote:
So I'm apparently back to just trying to get the basic system running.
I have no idea why this system is so flaky. One day it works great,
the next it doesn't. Maybe it's just cursed!
I ran a MicroVAX-II at home for 21 years, from 1986 to about
2007. I added stuff to it for some time, had 3 tape drives,
several disks, several generations of graphics systems,
etc. Some time around 1999 or so, it started to get flaky,
and once a month or so it would hang. The fix was to power
off, reseat all the cards and it would usually come up for
another month or two. Cleaning the card cage connectors by
vacuuming first, then wiping with alcohol-soaked towel
helped it a bit more. I've finally retired the system and
given most of the peripheral boards away. The CPU still
works, but the disk I had used for a long time died.
So, cleaning the card edge connectors and backplane
connectors may help.
Jon
