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AS/400e info

I haven't received the terminal yet, nor have I seen shipping confirmation, but I finally got my webserver fixed so here's a couple of photos:

Front:

2012_11_09_16_28_02_171.sized.jpg


Rear:

2012_11_09_16_27_46_255.sized.jpg


I was surprised to see the cover on the rear. The guy I got it from, well, probably used it as a nightstand. Anyone wondering about the sound output from one of these will be pleasantly surprised; it's really relatively quiet! The large fans move a lot of air at low RPM, not like a modern 1-U server at all with the screaming tiny fans.

Clay
 
NeXT,

My images are hosted out of my garage, where I was doing some maintenance yesterday probably around the time you noticed. Everything is back up & running again though :) Starting a webserver that is using mysql on a pvfs2 array requires some love (one of my other "spare time" projects).

Clay
 
That's a delicious AS/400 system you got there; love the red. A client we have at work uses AS/400s in their environment.
I laughed when I saw the usual "pencil poker" power button. I'm guessing IBM does that so someone doesn't accidentally press it, although the Z Pro intellistations don't have it in the recess.

I'd love to get one of those some day, along with an intellistation power. It's a pity I'm running out of room, I have a bad habit of rescuing all of the IBMs that get thrown out at work (servers & mini-towers alike).
 
That machine wasn't on Craigslist was it ? It has the identical missing drive slot panel as one I saw awhile ago also in California.
 
mc68010 said:
That machine wasn't on Craigslist was it ? It has the identical missing drive slot panel as one I saw awhile ago also in California.
Click to expand...

Indeed it was... the photo was more than likely stolen from an ebay ad; it's definitely similar but not exactly the same one that was in the photo. Here's the story: I was sitting on the floor of a CO, waiting for a buddy in our NOC to assist me with some T-1 testing. So I decided to check craigslist for a replacement laptop for my desk at work, as the old T22 was really showing it's age. I search for "IBM" with a max price of $200 in the North Bay area... and what pops up? An AS/400. I jumped on it; and am hoping that this new endeavor will be beneficial for my future.

Although I never received shipping confirmation, I did actually receive the terminal yesterday. I believe it's been restored; it looks pretty darn new with no yellow at all on the casing. The keyboard looks new as well, which was very surprising for the price (under $200)! So now I have the 4-port twinax block, a terminal with a twinax connection, but I still need either a twinax cable to connect them or a couple of baluns. I might swing by our local HSC to see if they have any twinax cables, but I kind of doubt it. I also received the SCSI cable for the tape drive, so it looks like one of these days I'll have the machine running.

I'll see about getting all the bits set up & some new photos.

Clay
 
Well guys, time for another update.

I ordered a couple of baluns from ebay (a set, so they are the same) and was finally able to connect the terminal to the system. The terminal started up to the setup screen, and I set it to address 0 while also plugging it into the port labeled 0 on the twinax brick. Terminal on, plugged in, time to power up the system, hoping to see something on the screen.

The challenges continue. I was hoping to perhaps see the DST screen, but nope, nothing. Cursor stays at the top right. The panel on the system still reports the same error code. I had a few moments yesterday to try a few things; I pulled a drive that sounded odd on startup, but the code didn't change. I didn't have a chance to write it down, but the code did change when I pulled the first drive... I'll have some more time today to work with it. The IBM troubleshooting manual seems to translate to "pull a drive, if the code remains try a different one until it goes away".

I'll ask on midrange-l as well, but I still wonder: if the drives were zeroed out, will the system perhaps throw the same code?

Some additional photos in my gallery: http://carleynet.net/familypictures/view_album.php?set_albumName=album70

Clay
 
I can't seem to get the link to work for the photos. I so wish I could score as as/400 around these parts. Instead I settle for my eserver series x 235.


*I see them now :)
 
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Ah yeah, I suffered a power failure earlier today :( and it took out my public facing interface on the webserver. Pics should be working now :)

I was really shocked to find this machine locally, and honestly only knew what it was because my Dad worked with one back in the late '90's. Ironically, I was handed a X335 at work last week for free!

After the power failure, I was poking at the AS400 again. Pulling the disk that's in slot 1, I no longer got the code for a failed CD or disk. The new code refers to "load source failed or not found", which I think is a step in the right direction. I'm guessing that translates to operating system not found. Still nothing on the console though.

Clay
 
cbc said:
Ah yeah, I suffered a power failure earlier today :( and it took out my public facing interface on the webserver. Pics should be working now :)

I was really shocked to find this machine locally, and honestly only knew what it was because my Dad worked with one back in the late '90's. Ironically, I was handed a X335 at work last week for free!

After the power failure, I was poking at the AS400 again. Pulling the disk that's in slot 1, I no longer got the code for a failed CD or disk. The new code refers to "load source failed or not found", which I think is a step in the right direction. I'm guessing that translates to operating system not found. Still nothing on the console though.

Clay
Click to expand...

You can still find some POWER5 intellistations and AS/400 off lease systems for fairly cheap (usually 80% less than it cost new). That's how I get my high-end IBM machines, generally.
 
lyonadmiral said:
I'm curious, what OS will you run on it (OS/400 I am assuming) and what apps will you run on it?
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's going to have to run OS/400. I was hoping to be able to learn about using LPARs, but I don't think this hardware will support that.

Otherwise, I'm going to be using it mostly as a learning tool. CL, RPG, etc. And, probably use SQL on it. Oh yeah, backup & recovery too; I still need to get some more tapes for the Mammoth-2 drive I picked up. Overall, I guess you could say I want to learn to be a system operator :)

Clay
 
I once worked in a school district, where they wanted to eliminate a person but the only way they could do it was to eliminate the position which was the AS/400 operator. Despite being heavily invested in both IBM hardware & software to run everything in the district, they decided to move off it. Too this day more than a decade later there are those in the district who feel it was the biggest mistake they ever made.
 
Update:

As of last night, 1-25-13, I finally see output on the terminal! I was so stoked to see the processor light flicker last night that I was giggling with joy; my wife was questioning the sounds coming from the garage. But hey, after all these months of only seeing the attention light and no activity, it was very cool to see the system start functioning.

The disks are now "initialized", and I have to start the OS install process. Looks like this machine has a RAID card, but the battery is probably dead or close to it. Need to investigate more, hopefully today. Ironically, we have a vacation scheduled and are leaving tomorrow for Lake Tahoe.

Thanks to all the help I got from everyone here and at midrange-l! I will definitely continue to update as progress is made. Need to get more photos as well; although I wish the front of the case was in better shape. Although I do see a front cover on ebay every once in a while, not sure if I can justify the $50 for it yet though LOL.

Clay
 
You can run with a dead battery on the RAID card. It will complain, but it will be functional at a lower performance level. (When the battery is bad the RAID controller is not caching data, so writes will really suffer. Do not try installing a system like this, it will take forever - get the battery changed and the error cleared first.)

Mike
 
I didn't quite get to the point of pulling the RAID card, but I did see the batteries on it. I would imagine I should be able to find them, as well as the main board battery, probably at Radio Shack. Installation went fine, and so far I'm pleased with the system. Of course, there's still a lot for me to learn...

I did get the tape drive installed Saturday night; and found out that the system takes quite a long time to do a controlled shutdown. I want to say like an hour or more... I haven't done a normal B IPL yet, but the A M IPL seems to go quickly. In any case, I was happy to see that although the tape drive was damaged in shipping, my fix for it is working quite well. The 2 tests that were recommended in the manual that came with it worked like a charm!

Clay
 
Some new photos:

$30 Tape drive:
2013_01_29_15_23_25_413.sized.jpg


Temporary location
2013_01_29_15_24_14_869.sized.jpg


Rear
2013_01_29_15_24_45_317.sized.jpg


Too bad my SCSI cable is so short for the tape drive; one of these days I'll find a longer one so that I can re-install the rear cover :)

And finally! A login screen!
2013_01_26_13_07_52_73.sized.jpg


For some reason, I really enjoy sitting at the terminal... the keyboard, surprisingly (to me), is very nice to use.

Clay
 
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