On 9/21/16 1:03 PM, Ethan Dicks wrote:
On Wed, Sep 21, 2016 at 3:48 PM, Josh Dersch <dersc...@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi all --
I have a VAX 8250 I'm bringing up and I'd like to track down an Ethernet
adapter, this would be the T1034 (DEBNT). There are a few on eBay, but
none include the cabling and bulkhead, which would be nice to have.
I think I came upon one of those many years ago and never managed to
get the cabling working (the module shows up). I'd love to hear about
any resolution on this.
I'll let you know. I have a DEMNA (XMI Ethernet) boardset with
cable/bulkhead which is completely useless to me as I don't have a
compatible VAX. The cabling looks like it might be compatible with the
DEBNT but I haven't found a pinout anywhere to check. (If anyone wants
to trade, let me know...)
I'm also looking for a T1010 (BI to Unibus adapter), as the one in my
system is shot (and given the lack of documentation, I doubt I'm going to
be able to fix it).
I have a couple of broken T1010 boards - the damage was obvious -
something messed up with the cabling caused some sort of high-current
fault that cracked a specific DEC IC and fried the trace going to the
part. If you have one that "doesn't work", it depends on what's
really going on as to how "fixable" it is.
The yellow LED does not light, and it's reported as device code FFFF in
the VAXBI configuration. Self-test hangs for ~30 seconds waiting for
the T1010 to do something. So it's not real happy right now. Nothing
looks to be visibly damaged.
I now have a good set of
cables, a good T1010 module, a good DD11-DK, and three bad M9313 UET
boards. I know they are bad because I can follow what docs _are_ out
there, bang on some BI registers and see that it's failing self-test
in a specific way that means "I can't talk to the UET". If you can
talk to the BI chip on your T1010 board (the state of the yellow LED
is not indicative of that), then you might be able to learn something
about what's failing. If you can't talk to the BIIC, they are
socketed and you could try swapping it with one from another board.
There are a couple of revs of the BIIC. I've never known that it
makes much practical difference, but just be aware there are stamped
revision letters on the chip.
As mentioned, besides the T1010, you'll need 4x 30-pin cables, and a
paddle card to the front of a DD11, and the DD11 itself - mine is in a
BA11-K next to the cabinet with the 8250 BA32, but I know that there
were also some BA32 with one BI cage and one DD11-DK. I do not know
how those are powered or wired in. You'll also need a working M9313.
That's the specific reason I'm trying to get a Unibus PDP-11 working
right now - to test my M9313 cards and verify any repairs.
Ah. I have the T1010, the cabling, the DD11 in a BA11-K, but what I
thought was the appropriate paddle in the DD11 isn't -- it's an M9014.
Which will work with my VAX-11/750, so I guess I'll hold onto it :). So
I guess I have less of a reason to track down a T1010 at the moment...
Also -- any suggestions for mass storage? I have a KDB50 (T1002, T1003
set), but SDI drives are getting harder to find.
I still owe you a list and/or picture from my external SDI<->ESDI box,
but, yeah, SDI drives aren't getting more abundant.
Thanks :). Whenever you have the time, no big hurry. It's not like
ESDI drives are falling from the trees :).
I assume VAXBI SCSI
adapters are even more scarce than their Unibus counterparts....
ISTR back in the day, new, a VAXBI SCSI board was $10,000. I have
never seen one in person.
There's one on eBay, but the seller wants $1200 for it so I think I'll
pass...
Thanks for the information!
- Josh
-ethan
