Re: WTB: DEC Rainbow Expansion Memory

[Warner Losh via cctalk]

Found this file on an old Rainbow floppy. It has more detailed data.

http://people.freebsd.org/~imp/RBMEMRY.TXT

Sorry I didn't convert it to HTML...

Warner

On Sat, Apr 15, 2017 at 7:49 AM, Tapley, Mark via cctalk
 wrote:
> On Apr 13, 2017, at 3:20 PM, Warner Losh via cctalk  
> wrote:
>
>> On Thu, Apr 13, 2017 at 12:00 PM, shad via cctech
>>  wrote:
>>> Hello,
>>> I'm in the pretty same condition, I have a Rainbow 100B without memory
>>> expansion.
>>> Not sure however, about the correct board number, which would fit the 100B.
>>> What should I search for?
>>
>> The DEC part numbers for these are PC1XX-AY (128k) and PC1XX-AZ
>> (256k). I'm not sure what the board numbers are, and some auctions
>> list those instead.
>>
>> They are the same board. There's 4 switches on the board. One for each
>> of the 3 banks to select between 64kbit chips and 256kbit chips. You
>> want 4164 or 41256 for the board. It's super easy to upgrade (I bought
>> a AY back in the day and then 18 months later I bought 27 41256 chips
>> and swapped them out in about 10-15 minutes.
>>
>> I'm not sure what the 100A needs. I have no experience with the 100A 
>> hardware.
>>
>> Warner
>
> I”m pretty sure the PC100A takes the same board. I believe I have a 100A set 
> up like that, but I’ll have to check when I get back (from vacation) in a 
> week or so (unless you get a definitive answer before that). Meantime if you 
> spot one of those boards, obviously it would be good to grab it; sounds like 
> there are 100B users on-list who would be happy to give it a home if I’m 
> wrong about it working in the 100A.
>
> Meantime, from my Rainbow Technical Manual copyright 1984 scan (ask, 
> I have a fair number of these documents) which says it refers to model PC100A:
>
> Rainbow Memory Extension Option Installation Guide:EK-PCMKE-IN
>
> …Two versions of the memory extension option are available: a 64 K byte 
> option (part number PC1XX-AA) and a 192K byte option (part number PC1XX-AB). 
> The memory option is installed in the J6 connector …
> …   Both versions of the memory extension option use the same printed 
> circuit board etch and the same type of 6kK x 1 bit memory chips. … the 192K 
> byte version contains twenty-seven 64K x 1 bit chips arranged as three 64K 
> byte memory stacks. ...
>
>
> From my Rainbow Owner’s manual 1st ed. Sept 1983, Appx. C, Table C-1
> …
> 64K byte memory board option:   PC1XX-AC
> 256K byte memory board option:  PC1XX-AD
> 64K byte memory component kit (9 chips) PC1XX-AY
> 256K byte memory component kit (9 chips)PC1XX-AZ
> …
>
> Hope  this helps.

Re: WTB: DEC Rainbow Expansion Memory

[Warner Losh via cctalk]

On Sat, Apr 15, 2017 at 9:56 AM, william degnan via cctalk
 wrote:
>>
>>
>> Rainbow Memory Extension Option Installation Guide:EK-PCMKE-IN
>>
>> …Two versions of the memory extension option are available: a 64 K byte
>> option (part number PC1XX-AA) and a 192K byte option (part number
>> PC1XX-AB). The memory option is installed in the J6 connector …
>> …   Both versions of the memory extension option use the same printed
>> circuit board etch and the same type of 6kK x 1 bit memory chips. … the
>> 192K byte version contains twenty-seven 64K x 1 bit chips arranged as three
>> 64K byte memory stacks. ...
>>
>>
>> From my Rainbow Owner’s manual 1st ed. Sept 1983, Appx. C, Table
>> C-1
>> …
>> 64K byte memory board option:   PC1XX-AC
>> 256K byte memory board option:  PC1XX-AD

I think that have what looks like the AD option, but it only brings my
Rainbow 100A up to 256k. I bought the 100A recently based on a seller
telling me it was a 100B. Grump. But at least its floppy controller
and drive are in much better shape than my old ones, so I have some
parts now. Just not sure what to do with them, but they may become
spare parts, which I might be willing to part with. Not sure yet.

Also, the boards themselves have numbers like 53xx and don't list
the actual part. So googling for them often involves googling for that
number because it's what sellers have easily available to them...

>> 64K byte memory component kit (9 chips) PC1XX-AY
>> 256K byte memory component kit (9 chips)PC1XX-AZ
>> …
>>
>> Hope  this helps.
>
>
>
> Just chiming in...I am the person who provided Warner with the VENIX
> disks.  I probably have more RAM than I need in my machines (I have three
> and I think I have an A, B, and a regular Rainbow here.  All of this talk
> has peaked my interest to set mine up and see if the new Rainbow I just got
> this week works.  In addition to VENIX I have a lot of other disks and
> parts.

Cool! I've had much luck since we talked last. I'm 5 sectors away from
having all the disks read. Well, and understanding the encoding used
on the boot disk to store the serial number in a difficult to
replicate manner. At least I think that's what's going on. See
http://bsdimp.blogspot.com/2017/04/rainbow-100-venix86r-disks-found.html
for a few details.

Unfortunately, the 5 sectors are on User disks 2 and 3, so are early
in the series, which may make all the other readable disks useless.
Not sure if there was compression at the time, so maybe it will just
corrupt a few files. This is out of 16 400k disks, so it's a quite
high percentage for them being so old.

Btw, anybody know what might be on an "Enhanced BWS Supplementary
disk"? A quick google search didn't bring up anything, but it's a
Version 7 Unix. I'm hoping it's the compiler, in which case I may be
able to reconstruct the missing material from the V7 sources.

Warner

Re: WTB: DEC Rainbow Expansion Memory

[william degnan via cctalk]

>
>
> Rainbow Memory Extension Option Installation Guide:EK-PCMKE-IN
>
> …Two versions of the memory extension option are available: a 64 K byte
> option (part number PC1XX-AA) and a 192K byte option (part number
> PC1XX-AB). The memory option is installed in the J6 connector …
> …   Both versions of the memory extension option use the same printed
> circuit board etch and the same type of 6kK x 1 bit memory chips. … the
> 192K byte version contains twenty-seven 64K x 1 bit chips arranged as three
> 64K byte memory stacks. ...
>
>
> From my Rainbow Owner’s manual 1st ed. Sept 1983, Appx. C, Table
> C-1
> …
> 64K byte memory board option:   PC1XX-AC
> 256K byte memory board option:  PC1XX-AD
> 64K byte memory component kit (9 chips) PC1XX-AY
> 256K byte memory component kit (9 chips)PC1XX-AZ
> …
>
> Hope  this helps.



Just chiming in...I am the person who provided Warner with the VENIX
disks.  I probably have more RAM than I need in my machines (I have three
and I think I have an A, B, and a regular Rainbow here.  All of this talk
has peaked my interest to set mine up and see if the new Rainbow I just got
this week works.  In addition to VENIX I have a lot of other disks and
parts.

Not saying I plan to sell anything in particular, but once I assess my
systems and get one good maxed out working system going I will probably
sell off the spare parts.

Bill

Re: WTB: DEC Rainbow Expansion Memory

[Tapley, Mark via cctalk]

On Apr 13, 2017, at 3:20 PM, Warner Losh via cctalk  
wrote:

> On Thu, Apr 13, 2017 at 12:00 PM, shad via cctech
>  wrote:
>> Hello,
>> I'm in the pretty same condition, I have a Rainbow 100B without memory
>> expansion.
>> Not sure however, about the correct board number, which would fit the 100B.
>> What should I search for?
> 
> The DEC part numbers for these are PC1XX-AY (128k) and PC1XX-AZ
> (256k). I'm not sure what the board numbers are, and some auctions
> list those instead.
> 
> They are the same board. There's 4 switches on the board. One for each
> of the 3 banks to select between 64kbit chips and 256kbit chips. You
> want 4164 or 41256 for the board. It's super easy to upgrade (I bought
> a AY back in the day and then 18 months later I bought 27 41256 chips
> and swapped them out in about 10-15 minutes.
> 
> I'm not sure what the 100A needs. I have no experience with the 100A hardware.
> 
> Warner

I”m pretty sure the PC100A takes the same board. I believe I have a 100A set up 
like that, but I’ll have to check when I get back (from vacation) in a week or 
so (unless you get a definitive answer before that). Meantime if you spot one 
of those boards, obviously it would be good to grab it; sounds like there are 
100B users on-list who would be happy to give it a home if I’m wrong about it 
working in the 100A. 

Meantime, from my Rainbow Technical Manual copyright 1984 scan (ask, I 
have a fair number of these documents) which says it refers to model PC100A:

Rainbow Memory Extension Option Installation Guide:EK-PCMKE-IN

…Two versions of the memory extension option are available: a 64 K byte option 
(part number PC1XX-AA) and a 192K byte option (part number PC1XX-AB). The 
memory option is installed in the J6 connector …
…   Both versions of the memory extension option use the same printed 
circuit board etch and the same type of 6kK x 1 bit memory chips. … the 192K 
byte version contains twenty-seven 64K x 1 bit chips arranged as three 64K byte 
memory stacks. ...


From my Rainbow Owner’s manual 1st ed. Sept 1983, Appx. C, Table C-1
…
64K byte memory board option:   PC1XX-AC
256K byte memory board option:  PC1XX-AD
64K byte memory component kit (9 chips) PC1XX-AY
256K byte memory component kit (9 chips)PC1XX-AZ
…

Hope  this helps.

Re: WTB: DEC Rainbow Expansion Memory

[Warner Losh via cctalk]

On Thu, Apr 13, 2017 at 12:00 PM, shad via cctech
 wrote:
> Hello,
> I'm in the pretty same condition, I have a Rainbow 100B without memory
> expansion.
> Not sure however, about the correct board number, which would fit the 100B.
> What should I search for?

The DEC part numbers for these are PC1XX-AY (128k) and PC1XX-AZ
(256k). I'm not sure what the board numbers are, and some auctions
list those instead.

They are the same board. There's 4 switches on the board. One for each
of the 3 banks to select between 64kbit chips and 256kbit chips. You
want 4164 or 41256 for the board. It's super easy to upgrade (I bought
a AY back in the day and then 18 months later I bought 27 41256 chips
and swapped them out in about 10-15 minutes.

I'm not sure what the 100A needs. I have no experience with the 100A hardware.

Warner

Re: WTB: DEC Rainbow Expansion Memory

[shadoooo via cctalk]

Hello,
I'm in the pretty same condition, I have a Rainbow 100B without memory
expansion.
Not sure however, about the correct board number, which would fit the 100B.
What should I search for?

Thanks
Andrea

Re: WTB: DEC Rainbow Expansion Memory

[Chuck Guzis via cctalk]

On 04/12/2017 12:41 PM, Warner Losh via cctech wrote:
> For you and me both. I was getting read errors on my RX-50, so I
> tried to swap in a new drive, and now that's all I get as well. Guess
> I'll have to figure out another way to get the Venix/86R disks
> copied.


Got a PC with a 5.25" HD drive?  Use Dave Dunfield's ImageDisk under
MS-DOS and it'll do the job just fine.

I've done it myself.

--Chuck

Re: WTB: DEC Rainbow Expansion Memory

[Stephen Pereira via cctalk]

I’m glad to hear that you still have some possibilities there.  I’ve go nothing 
on mine.  I guess I’ll have to start looking for another RX-50 disk drive 
controller board.  Since those are as scarce as the memory expansion boards, 
I’m not very hopeful.

Guess it’ll be time to sell the parts on eBay…  Hopefully, I can get some of my 
investment back.

smp
--
Stephen M. Pereira
Bedford, NH  03110
KB1SXE

> On Apr 12, 2017, at 3:49 PM, Warner Losh  wrote:
> 
> Thanks! I have another experiment to try, but need some parts for
> that, so it will have to wait until they arrive. the unit has been a
> bit flakey this time, so I don't know if I need a new controller
> board, new RX-50 or a new power supply. Or a ROM refresh
> 
> Warner
> 
> On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 1:47 PM, Stephen Pereira
>  wrote:
>> Wow.  Since misery loves company, I guess we make a great pair today!
>> 
>> Good luck with your equipment!
>> 
>> smp
>> --
>> Stephen M. Pereira
>> Bedford, NH  03110
>> KB1SXE
>> 
>> On Apr 12, 2017, at 3:41 PM, Warner Losh  wrote:
>> 
>> For you and me both. I was getting read errors on my RX-50, so I tried
>> to swap in a new drive, and now that's all I get as well. Guess I'll
>> have to figure out another way to get the Venix/86R disks copied.
>> 
>> Warner
>> 
>> On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 1:23 PM, Stephen Pereira
>>  wrote:
>> 
>> I guess it doesn’t make any difference now.  I reassembled the computer and
>> now I get a message 28 “RX50 Controller Board" failure during POST.
>> I’ve taken it apart and put it back together several times, but I cannot
>> clear the failure.  This really has been a bad day!
>> 
>> smp
>> --
>> Stephen M. Pereira
>> Bedford, NH  03110
>> KB1SXE
>> 
>> On Apr 12, 2017, at 3:07 PM, Warner Losh  wrote:
>> 
>> On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 1:00 PM, Stephen Pereira
>>  wrote:
>> 
>> Thanks for your response.
>> 
>> Just to be certain, I just tore it all down and reconfirmed, in case my
>> memory was playing any tricks.
>> 
>> I have a PC-100B with no expansion card.
>> 
>> Thanks again for the advice.
>> 
>> 
>> Bummer. The cards come up from time to time in different places, but
>> there's none on ebay right now. Last summer there were like 5,
>> including one that had an 8087 coprocessor option...
>> 
>> smp
>> --
>> Stephen M. Pereira
>> Bedford, NH  03110
>> KB1SXE
>> 
>> On Apr 12, 2017, at 2:20 PM, Warner Losh  wrote:
>> 
>> On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 11:06 AM, Stephen Pereira via cctech
>>  wrote:
>> 
>> I’m looking for expansion memory for my DEC Rainbow.
>> 
>> I currently have 128K RAM, and I’d like to have 256K RAM, so I can actually
>> use the Lotus 1-2-3 that I recently purchased (without thinking).
>> 
>> Any suggestions?
>> 
>> 
>> So is this a 100A with a 64k expansion card? Or is it the 100B with no card?
>> 
>> If you have the 100A and a 3-bank expansion card, you should be able
>> to remove the 64k chips that are on there and replace them with 256k
>> chips. You should be able to take it to 832k with 27 256kbit DRAM
>> chips. 41256-120's in DIP 16 if I recall correctly. Need to set the
>> DIP switches correctly. This is the easiest path forward, if you are
>> lucky enough to have this configuration, since chips are easy to get,
>> relatively speaking, and last time I priced them, they were ~0.70 each
>> so this will set you back ~$20 from JAMECO. You'll want an anti-static
>> setup to do this, since the BBSs were full of people that had done
>> this w/o adequate setup blowing up their card / chips. IMHO, if you
>> are going this route, it's not worth messing with 64k chips since the
>> price difference is tiny and the win for 3 banks of 256k on the
>> Rainbow is big.
>> 
>> If you have a 100B with no expansion card, I can't help... The
>> expansion card is the hard bit these days...
>> 
>> Warner
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 

Re: WTB: DEC Rainbow Expansion Memory

[Warner Losh via cctalk]

Thanks! I have another experiment to try, but need some parts for
that, so it will have to wait until they arrive. the unit has been a
bit flakey this time, so I don't know if I need a new controller
board, new RX-50 or a new power supply. Or a ROM refresh

Warner

On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 1:47 PM, Stephen Pereira
 wrote:
> Wow.  Since misery loves company, I guess we make a great pair today!
>
> Good luck with your equipment!
>
> smp
> --
> Stephen M. Pereira
> Bedford, NH  03110
> KB1SXE
>
> On Apr 12, 2017, at 3:41 PM, Warner Losh  wrote:
>
> For you and me both. I was getting read errors on my RX-50, so I tried
> to swap in a new drive, and now that's all I get as well. Guess I'll
> have to figure out another way to get the Venix/86R disks copied.
>
> Warner
>
> On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 1:23 PM, Stephen Pereira
>  wrote:
>
> I guess it doesn’t make any difference now.  I reassembled the computer and
> now I get a message 28 “RX50 Controller Board" failure during POST.
> I’ve taken it apart and put it back together several times, but I cannot
> clear the failure.  This really has been a bad day!
>
> smp
> --
> Stephen M. Pereira
> Bedford, NH  03110
> KB1SXE
>
> On Apr 12, 2017, at 3:07 PM, Warner Losh  wrote:
>
> On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 1:00 PM, Stephen Pereira
>  wrote:
>
> Thanks for your response.
>
> Just to be certain, I just tore it all down and reconfirmed, in case my
> memory was playing any tricks.
>
> I have a PC-100B with no expansion card.
>
> Thanks again for the advice.
>
>
> Bummer. The cards come up from time to time in different places, but
> there's none on ebay right now. Last summer there were like 5,
> including one that had an 8087 coprocessor option...
>
> smp
> --
> Stephen M. Pereira
> Bedford, NH  03110
> KB1SXE
>
> On Apr 12, 2017, at 2:20 PM, Warner Losh  wrote:
>
> On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 11:06 AM, Stephen Pereira via cctech
>  wrote:
>
> I’m looking for expansion memory for my DEC Rainbow.
>
> I currently have 128K RAM, and I’d like to have 256K RAM, so I can actually
> use the Lotus 1-2-3 that I recently purchased (without thinking).
>
> Any suggestions?
>
>
> So is this a 100A with a 64k expansion card? Or is it the 100B with no card?
>
> If you have the 100A and a 3-bank expansion card, you should be able
> to remove the 64k chips that are on there and replace them with 256k
> chips. You should be able to take it to 832k with 27 256kbit DRAM
> chips. 41256-120's in DIP 16 if I recall correctly. Need to set the
> DIP switches correctly. This is the easiest path forward, if you are
> lucky enough to have this configuration, since chips are easy to get,
> relatively speaking, and last time I priced them, they were ~0.70 each
> so this will set you back ~$20 from JAMECO. You'll want an anti-static
> setup to do this, since the BBSs were full of people that had done
> this w/o adequate setup blowing up their card / chips. IMHO, if you
> are going this route, it's not worth messing with 64k chips since the
> price difference is tiny and the win for 3 banks of 256k on the
> Rainbow is big.
>
> If you have a 100B with no expansion card, I can't help... The
> expansion card is the hard bit these days...
>
> Warner
>
>
>
>

Re: WTB: DEC Rainbow Expansion Memory

[Stephen Pereira via cctalk]

I guess it doesn’t make any difference now.  I reassembled the computer and now 
I get a message 28 “RX50 Controller Board" failure during POST. 
I’ve taken it apart and put it back together several times, but I cannot clear 
the failure.  This really has been a bad day!

smp
--
Stephen M. Pereira
Bedford, NH  03110
KB1SXE

> On Apr 12, 2017, at 3:07 PM, Warner Losh  wrote:
> 
> On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 1:00 PM, Stephen Pereira
>  wrote:
>> Thanks for your response.
>> 
>> Just to be certain, I just tore it all down and reconfirmed, in case my
>> memory was playing any tricks.
>> 
>> I have a PC-100B with no expansion card.
>> 
>> Thanks again for the advice.
> 
> Bummer. The cards come up from time to time in different places, but
> there's none on ebay right now. Last summer there were like 5,
> including one that had an 8087 coprocessor option...
> 
>> smp
>> --
>> Stephen M. Pereira
>> Bedford, NH  03110
>> KB1SXE
>> 
>> On Apr 12, 2017, at 2:20 PM, Warner Losh  wrote:
>> 
>> On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 11:06 AM, Stephen Pereira via cctech
>>  wrote:
>> 
>> I’m looking for expansion memory for my DEC Rainbow.
>> 
>> I currently have 128K RAM, and I’d like to have 256K RAM, so I can actually
>> use the Lotus 1-2-3 that I recently purchased (without thinking).
>> 
>> Any suggestions?
>> 
>> 
>> So is this a 100A with a 64k expansion card? Or is it the 100B with no card?
>> 
>> If you have the 100A and a 3-bank expansion card, you should be able
>> to remove the 64k chips that are on there and replace them with 256k
>> chips. You should be able to take it to 832k with 27 256kbit DRAM
>> chips. 41256-120's in DIP 16 if I recall correctly. Need to set the
>> DIP switches correctly. This is the easiest path forward, if you are
>> lucky enough to have this configuration, since chips are easy to get,
>> relatively speaking, and last time I priced them, they were ~0.70 each
>> so this will set you back ~$20 from JAMECO. You'll want an anti-static
>> setup to do this, since the BBSs were full of people that had done
>> this w/o adequate setup blowing up their card / chips. IMHO, if you
>> are going this route, it's not worth messing with 64k chips since the
>> price difference is tiny and the win for 3 banks of 256k on the
>> Rainbow is big.
>> 
>> If you have a 100B with no expansion card, I can't help... The
>> expansion card is the hard bit these days...
>> 
>> Warner
>> 
>> 

Re: WTB: DEC Rainbow Expansion Memory

[Warner Losh via cctalk]

On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 1:00 PM, Stephen Pereira
 wrote:
> Thanks for your response.
>
> Just to be certain, I just tore it all down and reconfirmed, in case my
> memory was playing any tricks.
>
> I have a PC-100B with no expansion card.
>
> Thanks again for the advice.

Bummer. The cards come up from time to time in different places, but
there's none on ebay right now. Last summer there were like 5,
including one that had an 8087 coprocessor option...

> smp
> --
> Stephen M. Pereira
> Bedford, NH  03110
> KB1SXE
>
> On Apr 12, 2017, at 2:20 PM, Warner Losh  wrote:
>
> On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 11:06 AM, Stephen Pereira via cctech
>  wrote:
>
> I’m looking for expansion memory for my DEC Rainbow.
>
> I currently have 128K RAM, and I’d like to have 256K RAM, so I can actually
> use the Lotus 1-2-3 that I recently purchased (without thinking).
>
> Any suggestions?
>
>
> So is this a 100A with a 64k expansion card? Or is it the 100B with no card?
>
> If you have the 100A and a 3-bank expansion card, you should be able
> to remove the 64k chips that are on there and replace them with 256k
> chips. You should be able to take it to 832k with 27 256kbit DRAM
> chips. 41256-120's in DIP 16 if I recall correctly. Need to set the
> DIP switches correctly. This is the easiest path forward, if you are
> lucky enough to have this configuration, since chips are easy to get,
> relatively speaking, and last time I priced them, they were ~0.70 each
> so this will set you back ~$20 from JAMECO. You'll want an anti-static
> setup to do this, since the BBSs were full of people that had done
> this w/o adequate setup blowing up their card / chips. IMHO, if you
> are going this route, it's not worth messing with 64k chips since the
> price difference is tiny and the win for 3 banks of 256k on the
> Rainbow is big.
>
> If you have a 100B with no expansion card, I can't help... The
> expansion card is the hard bit these days...
>
> Warner
>
>

Re: WTB: DEC Rainbow Expansion Memory

[Stephen Pereira via cctalk]

Wow.  Since misery loves company, I guess we make a great pair today!

Good luck with your equipment!

smp
--
Stephen M. Pereira
Bedford, NH  03110
KB1SXE

> On Apr 12, 2017, at 3:41 PM, Warner Losh  wrote:
> 
> For you and me both. I was getting read errors on my RX-50, so I tried
> to swap in a new drive, and now that's all I get as well. Guess I'll
> have to figure out another way to get the Venix/86R disks copied.
> 
> Warner
> 
> On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 1:23 PM, Stephen Pereira
>  wrote:
>> I guess it doesn’t make any difference now.  I reassembled the computer and
>> now I get a message 28 “RX50 Controller Board" failure during POST.
>> I’ve taken it apart and put it back together several times, but I cannot
>> clear the failure.  This really has been a bad day!
>> 
>> smp
>> --
>> Stephen M. Pereira
>> Bedford, NH  03110
>> KB1SXE
>> 
>> On Apr 12, 2017, at 3:07 PM, Warner Losh  wrote:
>> 
>> On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 1:00 PM, Stephen Pereira
>>  wrote:
>> 
>> Thanks for your response.
>> 
>> Just to be certain, I just tore it all down and reconfirmed, in case my
>> memory was playing any tricks.
>> 
>> I have a PC-100B with no expansion card.
>> 
>> Thanks again for the advice.
>> 
>> 
>> Bummer. The cards come up from time to time in different places, but
>> there's none on ebay right now. Last summer there were like 5,
>> including one that had an 8087 coprocessor option...
>> 
>> smp
>> --
>> Stephen M. Pereira
>> Bedford, NH  03110
>> KB1SXE
>> 
>> On Apr 12, 2017, at 2:20 PM, Warner Losh  wrote:
>> 
>> On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 11:06 AM, Stephen Pereira via cctech
>>  wrote:
>> 
>> I’m looking for expansion memory for my DEC Rainbow.
>> 
>> I currently have 128K RAM, and I’d like to have 256K RAM, so I can actually
>> use the Lotus 1-2-3 that I recently purchased (without thinking).
>> 
>> Any suggestions?
>> 
>> 
>> So is this a 100A with a 64k expansion card? Or is it the 100B with no card?
>> 
>> If you have the 100A and a 3-bank expansion card, you should be able
>> to remove the 64k chips that are on there and replace them with 256k
>> chips. You should be able to take it to 832k with 27 256kbit DRAM
>> chips. 41256-120's in DIP 16 if I recall correctly. Need to set the
>> DIP switches correctly. This is the easiest path forward, if you are
>> lucky enough to have this configuration, since chips are easy to get,
>> relatively speaking, and last time I priced them, they were ~0.70 each
>> so this will set you back ~$20 from JAMECO. You'll want an anti-static
>> setup to do this, since the BBSs were full of people that had done
>> this w/o adequate setup blowing up their card / chips. IMHO, if you
>> are going this route, it's not worth messing with 64k chips since the
>> price difference is tiny and the win for 3 banks of 256k on the
>> Rainbow is big.
>> 
>> If you have a 100B with no expansion card, I can't help... The
>> expansion card is the hard bit these days...
>> 
>> Warner
>> 
>> 
>> 

Re: WTB: DEC Rainbow Expansion Memory

[Warner Losh via cctalk]

For you and me both. I was getting read errors on my RX-50, so I tried
to swap in a new drive, and now that's all I get as well. Guess I'll
have to figure out another way to get the Venix/86R disks copied.

Warner

On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 1:23 PM, Stephen Pereira
 wrote:
> I guess it doesn’t make any difference now.  I reassembled the computer and
> now I get a message 28 “RX50 Controller Board" failure during POST.
> I’ve taken it apart and put it back together several times, but I cannot
> clear the failure.  This really has been a bad day!
>
> smp
> --
> Stephen M. Pereira
> Bedford, NH  03110
> KB1SXE
>
> On Apr 12, 2017, at 3:07 PM, Warner Losh  wrote:
>
> On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 1:00 PM, Stephen Pereira
>  wrote:
>
> Thanks for your response.
>
> Just to be certain, I just tore it all down and reconfirmed, in case my
> memory was playing any tricks.
>
> I have a PC-100B with no expansion card.
>
> Thanks again for the advice.
>
>
> Bummer. The cards come up from time to time in different places, but
> there's none on ebay right now. Last summer there were like 5,
> including one that had an 8087 coprocessor option...
>
> smp
> --
> Stephen M. Pereira
> Bedford, NH  03110
> KB1SXE
>
> On Apr 12, 2017, at 2:20 PM, Warner Losh  wrote:
>
> On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 11:06 AM, Stephen Pereira via cctech
>  wrote:
>
> I’m looking for expansion memory for my DEC Rainbow.
>
> I currently have 128K RAM, and I’d like to have 256K RAM, so I can actually
> use the Lotus 1-2-3 that I recently purchased (without thinking).
>
> Any suggestions?
>
>
> So is this a 100A with a 64k expansion card? Or is it the 100B with no card?
>
> If you have the 100A and a 3-bank expansion card, you should be able
> to remove the 64k chips that are on there and replace them with 256k
> chips. You should be able to take it to 832k with 27 256kbit DRAM
> chips. 41256-120's in DIP 16 if I recall correctly. Need to set the
> DIP switches correctly. This is the easiest path forward, if you are
> lucky enough to have this configuration, since chips are easy to get,
> relatively speaking, and last time I priced them, they were ~0.70 each
> so this will set you back ~$20 from JAMECO. You'll want an anti-static
> setup to do this, since the BBSs were full of people that had done
> this w/o adequate setup blowing up their card / chips. IMHO, if you
> are going this route, it's not worth messing with 64k chips since the
> price difference is tiny and the win for 3 banks of 256k on the
> Rainbow is big.
>
> If you have a 100B with no expansion card, I can't help... The
> expansion card is the hard bit these days...
>
> Warner
>
>
>

Re: WTB: DEC Rainbow Expansion Memory

[Stephen Pereira via cctalk]

Thanks for your response.

Just to be certain, I just tore it all down and reconfirmed, in case my memory 
was playing any tricks.

I have a PC-100B with no expansion card.

Thanks again for the advice.

smp
--
Stephen M. Pereira
Bedford, NH  03110
KB1SXE

> On Apr 12, 2017, at 2:20 PM, Warner Losh  wrote:
> 
> On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 11:06 AM, Stephen Pereira via cctech
>  wrote:
>> I’m looking for expansion memory for my DEC Rainbow.
>> 
>> I currently have 128K RAM, and I’d like to have 256K RAM, so I can actually 
>> use the Lotus 1-2-3 that I recently purchased (without thinking).
>> 
>> Any suggestions?
> 
> So is this a 100A with a 64k expansion card? Or is it the 100B with no card?
> 
> If you have the 100A and a 3-bank expansion card, you should be able
> to remove the 64k chips that are on there and replace them with 256k
> chips. You should be able to take it to 832k with 27 256kbit DRAM
> chips. 41256-120's in DIP 16 if I recall correctly. Need to set the
> DIP switches correctly. This is the easiest path forward, if you are
> lucky enough to have this configuration, since chips are easy to get,
> relatively speaking, and last time I priced them, they were ~0.70 each
> so this will set you back ~$20 from JAMECO. You'll want an anti-static
> setup to do this, since the BBSs were full of people that had done
> this w/o adequate setup blowing up their card / chips. IMHO, if you
> are going this route, it's not worth messing with 64k chips since the
> price difference is tiny and the win for 3 banks of 256k on the
> Rainbow is big.
> 
> If you have a 100B with no expansion card, I can't help... The
> expansion card is the hard bit these days...
> 
> Warner

Re: WTB: DEC Rainbow Expansion Memory

[Warner Losh via cctalk]

On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 11:06 AM, Stephen Pereira via cctech
 wrote:
> I’m looking for expansion memory for my DEC Rainbow.
>
> I currently have 128K RAM, and I’d like to have 256K RAM, so I can actually 
> use the Lotus 1-2-3 that I recently purchased (without thinking).
>
> Any suggestions?

So is this a 100A with a 64k expansion card? Or is it the 100B with no card?

If you have the 100A and a 3-bank expansion card, you should be able
to remove the 64k chips that are on there and replace them with 256k
chips. You should be able to take it to 832k with 27 256kbit DRAM
chips. 41256-120's in DIP 16 if I recall correctly. Need to set the
DIP switches correctly. This is the easiest path forward, if you are
lucky enough to have this configuration, since chips are easy to get,
relatively speaking, and last time I priced them, they were ~0.70 each
so this will set you back ~$20 from JAMECO. You'll want an anti-static
setup to do this, since the BBSs were full of people that had done
this w/o adequate setup blowing up their card / chips. IMHO, if you
are going this route, it's not worth messing with 64k chips since the
price difference is tiny and the win for 3 banks of 256k on the
Rainbow is big.

If you have a 100B with no expansion card, I can't help... The
expansion card is the hard bit these days...

Warner

WTB: DEC Rainbow Expansion Memory

[Stephen Pereira via cctalk]

I’m looking for expansion memory for my DEC Rainbow.

I currently have 128K RAM, and I’d like to have 256K RAM, so I can actually use 
the Lotus 1-2-3 that I recently purchased (without thinking).

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
smp
—
Stephen M. Pereira
Bedford, NH  03110
KB1SXE