Recent content by w2hx

thanks a ton, @Steve Toner and @Ed Groenenberg ! many thanks!!!

I picked up a bare-bones PDP-11/23 a few weeks ago and it had this strange quad size card in it. Seems to allow another dual size card to be inserted into it. https://w2hx.com/?prefix=x/What-Is-It/PDP-11-Thing/Board1/ For other pictures of this thingy, you can see here...

ok folks! good news! I got it to boot! I tried to check the cables, but I didn't get far because they aren't visible from the back (except the big ribbon cable which was ok at the rear) and I couldn't pull out the drives to see if they were connected (presumably because they were connected!). I...

hmm. Are DU1 and 2 the floppy drives? I thought they were just other (non-existent) hard drives? Or maybe they are all DU units? To answer you question, I've tried booting DU0 through DU4 and the floppies never show any activity (or sound like there is any activity). Also, I made a little video...

ok folks. I moved the CPU and memory cards to eliminate the empty slot. Things are definitely different now, but still no joy. First, neither position of the READY button (in or out) illuminates that button. However, I now get a different error message. It now looks to be trying to boot from...

Ok! Great information! So @Uniballer suggests I move the CPU and memory to the LEFT, is that right? So that will move the gap from between slot 3 to slot 1 (where slot 1= right most board), correct? Regarding the ready light, should I boot to the ODT to give me a chance to get the ready light...

I should mention too, that all 4 leds on the controller card go off after briefly being all on. I believe this means that the controller has passed the self-test.

Hi all, DEC newbie here. I acquired this MicroPDP a few years back (don't recall exactly where or how). Here are the boards... M8639, M8067, M8189 the rear... When I turn it on, it tries to boot I can also get into a menu... But booting from DU0 never works. I do see the...

@F11ACP Great info! thank you very much. I purchased that manual on ebay and I've already begun to read the PDFs. Thanks a lot. BTW I think the problem was SYS$SYSTEM wasn't translating to where the SHUTDOWN program was located. I think I had to go to SYS$COMMON or something, but with some...

Hi all, Several years ago, I acquired a MicroVAX desktop standing thingy. It has been in storage for all those years. Last night I decided to boot it up (prev owner gave me the un/pw for it) and lo and behold, I logged into VMS 5.3! Then I remembered, I really don't know anything about VMS. I...

Sorry for the dead video links. Here are two videos for this LA-120. and enjoy

Ok, I fixed it! Thanks for everyone's suggestions. A little lubrication on the rails did the trick. Here is video on the fix:

Hi all, I recently acquired a very nice decwriter III and it seems in good nick. However, the self test "hangs" on the return direction of the second line. Here is a video on it: anyone have any ideas where to look? In local mode, it appears to work properly. I havent tried any external...

@falter Old thread but saw this on ebay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/204610931883 Crazy price but maybe has some tapes or something useful. Also this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/204246026148 Any updates on this project? 73 Eugene W2HX

Hi friends. This rack is available for free. I am located in 10510 happy to drive, up to say 1.5 hours to meet up to transfer vehicles? https://w2hx.com/ForSale/DEC%20Rack/20200719_114742.jpg https://w2hx.com/ForSale/DEC%20Rack/20200719_114751.jpg it is in very nice condition. Comes with...