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DEC PRO380/VAX Console real time interface.

My plan is to start exploring the RTI card as a data acquisition board. It has an 8255 on it along with a couple of serial ports. The 8255 can handle parallel I/O. I haven't found much documentation on the real-time interface except for the one key manual that contains the pinout and no real-time library software for the PRO. One exists, but nowhere to be found at this point. But using some things about macro programming that I learned from vol.litwr on the PRO graphics thread, I think we can program it directly.
 
Thank you @anasana; I believe that the RTI maintenance disk software was yours as well? Did you recover any other RTI-specific software?

I tried running your dissasm TXT file through Google translate to see if the comments would become intelligible. Alas, no.
 
I had some luck with Google translate, but had to import it first to another format. I haven't been able to get the nice spacing and started to put that in manually.
 

Attachments

  • utes_alg_Translated.txt
    45.4 KB · Views: 1
Hello,
I saw that @marmotking asked back in Nov, 2022 about software for the VAX Console.
I recently bought a full set of diskettes and archived them.
I haven't had a chance to properly organize the files (they're still named by my internal catalog numbers), but I've put them up at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1fMpgeRk5Qc8r4pRQybEj7aYyHyykkv7m?usp=sharing
A very important file is in 'keyfiles/release.22e', so I'm attaching it. It contains release notes and, most importantly, installation instructions.
This set of diskettes appears to be:
Code: 
                 VAX 8800/8700/8550/8500 CUSTOMER CONSOLE KIT

                        Order Number: BT-ZMAAD-C3-V28

                                                      
  MINIMUM HARDWARE REVISION supported by this CONSOLE KIT:           

   Processor                            System Revision supported
  ================================================================
     8800                                         B1
  ================================================================
     8700                                         A1
  ================================================================
     8500
           50 Hz                                  B1
           60 Hz                                  C1
  ================================================================
     8550
           50 Hz                                  B1
           60 Hz                                  C1
  ================================================================

    The MINIMUM VMS REVISION supported by this kit is VMS VERSION V4.4.
    The MINIMUM DIAGNOSTIC REVISION supported by this kit is VERSION 5.0.     

































<more>
26-May-1987                         KITCONT.TXT                      Page 2 of 3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


                                  CONTENTS OF KIT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  P/N            VOLUME_ID      NAME (and file revisions where applicable)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  36-20220-01    n/a            KEYBOARD STRIP
  AA-FH28C-TE    n/a            CONSOLE USER GUIDE
  AA-FH29E-TE    n/a            CONSOLE RELEASE NOTES   

  BL-FH31B-ME    PROSYSTEMV3    P/OS HARD DISK SYSTEM CONSOLE
  BL-FH32B-ME    PROSETUPV3     P/OS HARD DISK SETUP CONSOLE
  BL-FI92A-ME    PROCTABV3      P/OS SYSTEM SERVICES CONSOLE
  BL-FH33B-ME    PROLIBRARV3    P/OS LIBRARIES CONSOLE       
  BL-FI95A-ME    PROGRAPH1V3    P/OS GRAPHICS CONSOLE
  BL-FI94A-ME    PRODRIVERS     P/OS DRIVERS CONSOLE
  BL-FI93A-ME    PROMENUV3      P/OS MENUS CONSOLE
  BL-FI96A-ME    PROACCOUNTV3   P/OS ACCOUNT CONSOLE

  BL-FJ00A-ME    SYNERGYV2      PRO/COMM SYNERGY CONSOLE 4/4
  BL-FH36B-ME    PROCOMAV3      PRO/COMM CONSOLE 1/4
  BL-FH37B-ME    PROCOMBV3      PRO/COMM CONSOLE 2/4
  BL-FH38B-ME    PROCOMCV3      PRO/COMM CONSOLE 3/4

  BL-FH39F-ME    CONSOLEDCL1    COMMAND LANGUAGE 1/2 CONSOLE
  BL-FH40B-ME    CONSOLEDCL2    COMMAND LANGUAGE 2/2 CONSOLE

  BL-FH41E-ME    NCON1          RX100 CONSOLE TASKS             
                                  - [ZZSYS]     RTDRV.TSK     Rev=3
                                  - [CONSOLE]   CONSOLE2.TSK  Rev=5
                                  - [CONSOLE]   CONSOLE1.TSK  Rev=5
                                  - [LBS]       LBS.TSK       Rev=3

  BL-FH42E-ME    NCON2          RX101 ISP MICROCODE           
                                  - [CONSOLE]   CCODE.BIN     Rev=1
                                  - [CONSOLE]   DRAM.BIN      Rev=2
                                  - [CONSOLE]   SDFDEF.BIN    Rev=4
                                  - [CONSOLE]   UCODE.BIN     Rev=7

  BL-FH67F-ME    NCON3          RX99  REVISION HISTORY       
                                  - [8500]      REVHIST.DAT
                                  - [8550]      REVHIST.DAT
                                  - [8700]      REVHIST.DAT
                                  - [8800]      REVHIST.DAT   
                
  BL-FH43E-ME    NCON4          RX102 BOOT COMMAND FILES     

  BL-FI48C-ME    NCON5          RX98 CI VMB SYSTEM CODE
                                  - [CONSOLE]   CI780.BIN   Rev=8
                                  - [USERFILES] CI780.BIN   Rev=8
                                  - [CONSOLE]   CIBCA.BIN
                                  - [USERFILES] CIBCA.BIN
                





<more>
26-May-1987                         KITCONT.TXT                      Page 3 of 3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


                              CONTENTS OF KIT (cont'd)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  P/N            VOLUME_ID      NAME (and file revisions where applicable)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  BL-FH11F-ME    NDIAG1         RX104 DIAG SUPER                 
                                  - [USERFILES] EZSAA.EXE   Rev=10.7

  BL-FH22B-ME    NDIAG2         RX105 VAX DISK FORMATTERS   

  BL-FH23A-ME    NDIAG3         RX106 VAX AUTOSIZER

  BL-FH05E-ME    NDIAG4         RX107 MICRODIAG #1
                                  - [CONSOLE]   EZKPA.      Rev=5
                                  - [CONSOLE]   EZKPB.      Rev=5
Sadly, I don't have either the "36-20220-01 KEYBOARD STRIP" nor the "AA-FH28C-TE CONSOLE USER GUIDE", but the "AA-FH29E-TE CONSOLE RELEASE NOTES" were included on the diskette and are the attached file. And I do have all 23 diskettes mentioned plus 3 VAX/VMS stand-alone backup diskettes.
Here is a mapping between my code and the DEC P/N and information:
Code: 
T9AD01  BL-HC51C-BE   VAX/VMS V4.5 BIN RX50 1/3          SABKUP
T9AD02  BL-HC52C-BE   VAX/VMS V4.6 BIN RX50 2/3          SABKUP
T9AD03  BL-HC53C-BE   VAX/VMS V4.6 BIN RX50 3/3          SABKUP
T9BD01  BL-FH05E-ME   RX107 MICRODIAG #1                 NDIAG4
T9BD02  BL-FH11F-ME   RX104 DIG SUPERVISOR               NDIAG1
T9BD03  BL-FH22B-ME   RX105 VAX DISK FORMATTERS          NDIAG2
T9BD04  BL-FH31B-ME   P/OS HARD DISK SYSTEM CONSOLE      PROSYSTEMV3
T9BD05  BL-FH23B-ME   RX106 VAX AUTOSIZER                NDIAG3
T9BD06  BL-FH40B-ME   COMMAND LANGUAGE 2/2 CONSOLE       CONSOLEDCL2
T9BD07  BL-FH38B-ME   PRO/COMM CONSOLE 3/4               PROCOMCV3
T9BD08  BL-FH39F-ME   COMMAND LANGUAGE 1/2 CONSOLE       CONSOLEDCL1
T9BD09  BL-FH33B-ME   P/OS LIBRARIES CONSOLE             PROLIBRARV3
T9BD10  BL-FH37B-ME   PRO/COMM CONSOLE 2/4               PROCOMBV3
T9BD11  BL-FH32B-ME   P/OS HARD DISK SETUP CONSOLE       PROSETUPV3
T9BD12  BL-FH36B-ME   PRO/COMM CONSOLE 1/4               PROCOMAV3
T9CD01  BL-FJ00A-ME   PRO/COMM SYNERGY CONSOLE 4/4       SYNERGYV2
T9CD02  BL-FI92A-ME   P/OS SYSTEM SERVICES CONSOLE       PROCTABV3
T9CD03  BL-FI93A-ME   P/OS MENUS CONSOLE                 PROMENUV3
T9CD04  BL-FI95A-ME   P/OS GRAPHICS CONSOLE              PROGRAPH1V3
T9CD05  BL-FI96A-ME   P/OS ACCOUNTS CONSOLE              PROACCOUNTV3
T9CD06  BL-FI94A-ME   P/OS DRIVERS CONSOLE               PRODRIVERS
T9CD07  BL-FH41E-ME   RX100 CONSOLE TASKS                NCON1
T9CD08  BL-FH42E-ME   RX101 ISP MICROCODE                NCON2
T9CD09  BL-FH43E-ME   RX102 BOOT COMMAND FILES           NCON4
T9CD10  BL-FH67F-ME   RX99 REVISION                      NCON3
T9CD11  BL-FI48C-ME   RX98 CI VMB SYSTEM CODE            NCON5
I did a trial installation following the attached instructions into an Xhomer instance and I have the following note:
Code: 
        Note there is an error in the procedure.  Immediately before
        installing "Pro/Communications V3.0" into the user's
        environment, you must start Synergy by pressing "Additional
        Options" (ESC), selecting "Synergy Window Manager", and then
        "Suspend Synergy".
Please let me know if this helps anyone and/or if you have trouble getting the files.
At some point in the future I'll clean up the files (compress the images, rename everything by the DEC PN, etc.) and hopefully bitsavers will host it.
In the meantime I'll leave it up on my Google drive for at least a few months.
--Bjoren
 

Attachments

  • release.22e.txt
    69.9 KB · Views: 4
Thank you all. Success! The maintenance disk works and I updated my Pro maintenance disk set. It requires a loop back connector. You can easily do that with the breakout board I describe. I used the ROM code to confirm how to write to the RTI card. I wrote the attached program to set to each bit of Ports A, B and C on the parallel interface, one bit at a time. It runs under P/OS, RSX-11. I also attached a photo of the internal S cable and how I mimic the DEC pod with a D-62 cable and breakout board. The internal S cable fits like a Tetris piece into the case - amazing mechanical design. The RTI card allows you to do digital data acquisition and control. I have not experimented with the serial ports yet. I noticed there is a RTDRV. TSK driver file on one of the disks davibear made available. It might be interesting to reverse engineer this file to find out what calls it supports.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2748.jpeg
    IMG_2748.jpeg
    2.5 MB · Views: 6
  • RTI.mac.txt
    4.4 KB · Views: 5
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