This is all bringing back when Intel tried to see BM's to me at Tektronix. Got to go see them being made. Something just told me "dead end".
-pete On Thu, Feb 22, 2018 at 5:09 PM, dwight via cctalk <[email protected]> wrote: > Looking things up, I don't think the Nicolet one with the scope was the > Intel one. > > Dwight > > > ________________________________ > From: cctalk <[email protected]> on behalf of allison via > cctalk <[email protected]> > Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2018 3:14:45 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: WTB Intel 7110 Bubble Memory Subsystem or Chipset > > On 02/22/2018 03:08 PM, Mark J. Blair via cctalk wrote: > > I'm about to acquire a couple of 1980s-vintage military surplus > AN/UGC-137A terminals (i.e., glass TTYs with some local message preparation > and storage capabilities) which have a bubble memory subsystem. They use > plug-in cartridges containing 256 kbytes of storage in the form of two > Intel 7110 1 Mbit bubble memory chips and their 7242 formatter/sense > amplifiers. > > > > One of the cartridges contains the one and only copy of the terminals' > firmware, which I believe they need to load up at each reboot. Naturally, > extracting the contents of that irreplaceable cartridge for archival, and > potential future emulation, is going to be a very high priority for me. I > have a few different approaches in mind for accomplishing that. One > approach would be to remove the two memory devices from the critical > cartridge in order to dump their contents in an independent bubble memory > subsystem. > > > > With that in mind, I'd like to get my hands on a working Intel 7110 > bubble memory subsystem, or the parts to build one myself (i.e., a complete > 7110/7220/7230/7242/7250/7254 chipset that I could make a board around). > What you plan is risky. You first need to know how they organize the > data in each of the loops. > The problem is did that interleave the two bubble or are they addressed > seperately. Both possibilities > were the case. Each BM required its own CPG, FSA and drivers but could > share the 7220 BMC. > > > Might anybody here have what I need available for sale or trade? I might > be able to use some arbitrary old computer or other device that has a > subsystem based around the Intel 7110, or a development kit such as the > Intel BPK-72, or a chipset to make my own board. > I got two of them back in the 80s, they are now part of a CP/M Z80 > system I built back then. > Not much storage and sorta slow and power hungry. > > > If I can't acquire or make the hardware to dump the memory chips outside > of their native system, then I think my next option would be to passively > snoop the host bus interface of the Intel 7220 controller I expect to find > inside the terminals as they perform their initial firmware load, so that I > can reconstruct the cartridge contents from the trace data. > The best and lowest risk point is to snoop is at the data bus > interface. Logic analyzer or something fast enough to > grab the data. The 7220 chip set gave a nice bus interface with a > fairly simple command set. Its also the side of > the device thats well documented. > > I may have a few of the basic bubble memory units 7110 as they were > socketed. No extra CPD, FSA, Driver devices, > or BMC 7220. > > > Allison > > > The terminals were made by the Librascope division of Singer, and > brochures can be found here: > > > > http://www.librascopememories.com/Librascope_Memories/ > Product_Literature_files/Communications%20Terminal.pdf > > > > http://www.librascopememories.com/Librascope_Memories/ > Product_Literature_files/SST.pdf > > > > http://www.librascopememories.com/Librascope_Memories/ > Product_Literature_files/Bubble%20Memory%20Cartridge.pdf > > > > I already have the critical cartridge in hand, and I posted some > pictures of it on Twitter: > > > > https://twitter.com/nf6x/status/964578291767173120 > > > > > > > > > > >
