>> On Jul 2, 2025, at 11:13 AM, Jon Elson via cctalk <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >> On 7/2/25 06:08, P Gebhardt via cctalk wrote: >>> Dear list members, >>> >>> I was wondering if anybody is aware of VAX 86x0 schematics having survived >>> the product life cycle within DEC? I searched the web extensively but could >>> not find any hints on this. >>> It seems that DEC never published such details as schematics for the >>> successor of the VAX 11/78x systems, not even on microfiche, maybe due to >>> the macrocell array >implementation (just a guess). All I could find is >>> that there were illustrated parts list on microfiche. >>> However, maybe Hewlett Packard handed DEC-internal documents over to a >>> museum such as the CHM? Or a former designer still have schematics in their >>> archives? >>> Any pointers would be greatly appreciated! >> >> I did have a KA630-AA print set at one time. That was about the latest >> prints I have seen. >> >> Jon > > >That makes some sense. Print sets were needed in older machines because FE >would actually replace failed components on a board. With "swap the failed >board" repair procedures, it >isn't all that useful for support engineers to >know how a board works, much less what the detailed circuitry looks like. > > paul
Being aware that field engineers would never fix board with MCA technology on site drove me to the question if there may be former engineers that worked on the 8600 development that may still have the actual schematics anywhere? Or DEC-internal documents that may have made to HP who would have donored it to CHM for instance. But I guess that hopes can be kept very low on this. The company I work for (I do electronics and FPGA design development) threw away all documents about special computer systems that they designed in the early 90's. This happened when two development sites were merged. Typically, during such procedures, a big "clean-up" takes place to save space and moving-related costs. Just too bad that I happened to save one of those systems but no documentation or schematics are around any more. Even the retired engineers, I contact so far, did not have anything anymore... Best regards, Pierre
