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So after reading the pocket service guide, it appears my VT278 failed one of the three fatal tests. First appears to be ROM checksum, then RAM and finally making sure the keyboard is plugged in, which could explain why your CRT doesn't power up if the keyboard isn't plugged in. I think there...

I only got the RX02 floppy drives, sitting on casters next to my sofa. I did get a DECmate keyboard, probably in storage, but it's missing some keys. I may or may not have documentation, also in storage. No joke, I got between 1 and 2 trailers worth of documentation (for DEC, IBM, S100 systems...

That made me laugh, as I've had MANY drives sound like that, nearly all of those being MFM or RLL drives.

I don't suppose that was the one that was at the Houston Computer museum, was it? If so, I'm currently trying to troubleshoot it (also acquired the RX02 drives as well).

Yet another update. Reseated things, and oddly, the terminal now comes up, but I have a new issue. The picture gets shaky at random times horizontally. I've got it finally stable after playing with the rearmost POT and have brightness set where I want it. I'm very much a n00b when it comes to...

More updates, in reference to the VT101: Getting +12 to the video controller board. I'm not sure what +12 RTN is on the schematic, but the multimeter shows a negative voltage briefly, but nothing more than a tenth of a volt. -23 on the PSU is really -24.40. The interface to the flyback...

Flashing CPU LED... almost sounds like a heartbeat indicator like I've seen on some HP 9000 workstations. I don't know where my VT278 keyboard is, so I was using one from my VT101, but I think they're mostly the same electrically, right? I know I've used the VT278 keyboard on the VT101 before...

For an update, I did find the pocket service guide. Checked voltages going to the controller board. I didn't record the video, vertical and horizontal voltages, but I'm getting +5, +12, -12 and -23.

That looks like the same supply in the VT101.

I have a total of four terminals. A parts VT101 I bought for 50 bucks, a DECmate (don't remember what I paid - maybe $200 with a keyboard missing a bunch of keycaps), and two other VT101's that I know worked. I fully recapped one of my VT101s and it's a success. CRT has minimal burn-in, connects...

Yay, another VT278 owner. I need to start my own thread. I can't get my CRT itself working on mine. Out of curiosity, did you recap yours at all? Also, is a beep supposed to happen on startup like with the VT100/101? Mine reports power and CPU okay (on the rear LEDs).

Standard SIMMs are fine, like what you'd see in a PC. Just don't use those crappy 3 chip SIMMs, though. I was always told you want to use 9 chip. Either 1MB or 4MB SIMMs will work, and since this is 32 bit, you need to install in sets of 4.

Are they 64MB by chance? I have an SS20 and discovered a bad DIMM at my club's GTG when I showed off my machine, so a bunch of us did some troubleshooting to find it. That made for an interesting demo.

I'm biased and always preferred Solaris 7, but it is a bit bloated. But you could at least try archive.org or elsewhere for sunfreeware compiled for 2.7. You might still get some stuff for 2.5.1, but it will eb limited. SPARCbook CD-ROMs might work, but IIRC, there's custom packages on there...

Nice find. I've seen a few of those drives in my time. They're okay, but suffer from stiction like most drives of its era, where the head sticks to the platter. Gooey bumpers... yup, common with some older Quantums, but lots of manufacturers had that problem. Nonetheless, pretty awesome find and...

I actually checked after I wrote my post and it has PC100 128MB in there. I know I have some 256MB SODIMMs, but I'm pretty sure they're mostly PC133, which has a 50/50 chance of not working. I was probably just going to use it to display PDFs. The previous owner has the IDE cable coming out of...

I'm going to necro another old thread. Anyone know how much RAM these can accomodate? I have three of these. One new in box, another that might be a newer revision, and another that's already hacked. I know the screen is horrible, but was thinking of using it to display PDFs for my presentation...

I thought the sunken nut PSU were on the first versions. My early one has a yellow label. I actually found someone selling a clone case/motherboard, but with the sunken nut IBM PSU and 2 black bracket cards (mono and floppy) for $75. I even told him, I didn't care about the other stuff - I just...

I picked up some new old stock expired ThinkJet cartridges from ebay recently. Still need to try one in the Diconix to see how it works. The cartridge in there now partially works, but it's gotta be at least 20 years old. It's a miracle it even prints! You can still get paper for the...

I actually just found one the other day on a computer I was parting out, and it did indeed have two half height drives.