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Cannot connect Linux to VAXstation 4000/90 (cougar) via RS-232

Nice! Didn't know how much of the actual DEC flat cable is out there in spool form. I bought a 500 foot roll of "silver satin" flat cable, which works fine but doesn't have DEC numbering on it.

In a similar vein, I've got a 1000 foot spool of one of the plenum-rated Belden cables DEC spec'ed for thinnet. The spool is marked with DEC numbers but I believe the cable itself is just marked with Belden information.
 
zamp said:
I don't know if they're the least expensive, but I got a bag of 50 of those at https://www.ebay.com/itm/262227271837?_trksid=p11400.c100710.m-1&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D41050%26meid%3D61b8ab0fbdc34ec9b7d08a085441c1e4%26pid%3D100710%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D2%26sd%3D162291819594&ul_noapp=true . Quality is good, and the plastic in them has not yet become brittle.
Click to expand...

You can get them from Vnetek for around $15/pack of 50. Vnetek is who took over DEC's networking stuff, I forget exactly when this happened. They still carry a lot of useful DEC gear, I was able to buy a brand-new V.35 cable for my DECbrouter (a Cisco bridge/router in DEChub 90 module format) from them recently.
 
glitch said:
You can get them from Vnetek for around $15/pack of 50. Vnetek is who took over DEC's networking stuff, I forget exactly when this happened. They still carry a lot of useful DEC gear, I was able to buy a brand-new V.35 cable for my DECbrouter (a Cisco bridge/router in DEChub 90 module format) from them recently.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that is good to know. I had previously found the Vnetek site when this topic first came up and thought the $15 price seemed decent, but wondered if this was a legit business or one of those stale sites that no longer has the items they list, or never actually had them. I might order some for future needs while I still can.
 
Yep, I sort of thought the same thing too :) Ordered my cable and it shipped promptly, seemed to be a brand-new cable. Some of their stuff is very reasonably priced, some of it seems quite expensive for what it is. Cables and cable accessories seem to be some of the cheaper stuff they carry.

I ordered myself one of those linked 1000-foot spools of Spectra-Strip that's supposed to have the DEC part number stickers, we'll see if they're all like that! If anyone is interested in cables, I can make up a bunch of 10' standard rollover cables and make them available, I know not everyone wants to invest in a 1000' roll of wire, professional crimp frame + die set, and 50x MMJ ends just for a cable or two!
 
glitch said:
I was able to buy a brand-new V.35 cable for my DECbrouter (a Cisco bridge/router in DEChub 90 module format) from them recently.
Click to expand...

Interesting. What are you doing with the DECbrouter? I have some M3108 DSV11 boards and V.35 modems that I thought might be interesting to try to hook together for a DECnet link between a couple of VAX systems. One of those projects I haven't gotten around to actually trying for a long time now.

I just happened to pick up my first DEChub 90 system today with some DECserver 90L+ (8 port LAT only) and DECserver 90TL (8 port LAT + Telnet) servers. I'm also getting a DECbridge 90 to connect it to the rest of my network. I already had some DECserver 200 (8 port LAT only) and DECserver 300 (16 port LAT + Telnet) servers and didn't really need any of the new gear. Just thought it would be interesting to tinker with and compare the various servers. Don't give me any ideas of other things I need to add to the DEChub 90. :)
 
Sounds like you're well on your way to a heap of DEChub modules, all on your own :p I'm getting my DEChub 90 system set up just for fun, to have a separate network segment for the old computers to run on. Currently I've got one port of the DECbrouter on a HDLC link to my Cisco 2801 over the V.35 cable. I've got an 8-port DECrepeater plugged in, as well as a pair of DECserver 90L+ terminal servers, which don't currently have anything to MOP boot and load firmware from.

It's my understanding, from reading the manual, that the DECserver 90L+ can be used to originate connections out to other MMJ equipment (manual example is "sharing" a serial printer). I hope to be able to use it to establish console connections to other DEC hardware. If that works out, it's probably the cheapest way to get console connections to 8 devices with MMJ console ports!

I've got a DECagent 90 and a DECpacketprobe 90 as well, haven't done anything with those yet. Still looking for a copy of HubVIEW if you happen to come across one. I have a DECrepeater module with 10baseFL (or FIORL, I forget which) as well as a DECbridge 90 with both 10baseFL and AUI. I originally had the DEChub 90 system connected to the rest of the network through the DECbridge 90 on 10baseFL.
 
I previously said I have a DEWGB DECbridge 90 on the way. That's not right, I was just thinking about getting one of those. I'll probably grab one when I find a cheap one.

What I do have on the way is a DENMA DECagent 90. I haven't found a source for HubVIEW. I haven't looked too hard yet. I do have the HUBWATCH031 HUBwatch for OpenVMS VAX, Version 3.1 kit on a layered product CD. I'll have to try installing and running that sometime after I get the DECagent 90 set up.

I also have a DETML DECrepeater 90T-16 on the way so I can connect systems through its 10Base-T ports instead of the ThinWire port of the DEChub.

You mentioned MOP booting. Both the DSRVD DECserver 90L and the DSRVG DECserver 90L+ boot directly from their firmware. They don't download anything. I opened up a DSRVG DECserver 90L+ to take a look. It has an 80C32 and an M27C512 so all of the code has to fit in 64KB and I don't remember seeing any external RAM for much working data space.

Booting from ROM is nice, but seems to come with some limitations compared to other servers such as the DECserver 200 or DSRVE DECserver 90TL. The DSRVG DECserver 90L+ doesn't maintain a dynamic list of available services. There doesn't seem to be any equivalent of the SHOW SERVICES command so you have to know what services are available. Also missing is the SET PORT ACCESS command so you can set a port to be REMOTE or DYNAMIC instead of LOCAL, and the SET SERVICE command to create LAT services for ports. Using those commands on a DECserver 200 or DSRVE DECserver 90TL I was able to get things set up so that I could connect from one port to another.

On the DSRVG DECserver 90L+ you can set a port to be either a terminal or a printer. I tried setting a port to be a printer but couldn't figure out what to specify for Service, Node, and Port to connect to it from another local port. I also never saw any service listed for the printer port when using SHOW SERVICES from another server. If someone knows how to set this up on a DSRVG DECserver 90L+ I would like to know.
 
Got the DENMA DECagent 90 today. Plugged it in and downloaded the firmware update from V2.1.3 to V3.0.1 from the denma301.sys file and now it's good to go and I can manage all of the DECserver 90L+ modules in the DEChub 90 from a single console. I guess I'm easily amused. I'll have to try installing and running HUBwatch for OpenVMS VAX sometime later.

Code: 
 DECagent 90                                                All Rights Reserved
================================================================================

                            AGENT INSTALLATION MENU

 [1] Reset to Factory Defaults            [10] Configure/Perform Downline Load
 [2] Reset with Current Settings          [11] Set Console Password
 [3] Show Current Settings                [12] Switch to SLIP Mode
 [4] Set Agent IP Address/Gateway/Subnet  [13] Show Community
 [5] Set Agent Read/Write Community       [14] Enable/Disable Repeater Port
 [6] Add/Remove Trap Address              [15] Connect MOP
 [7] Enable/Disable SNMP Sets             [16] Start Event Logger
 [8] Enable/Disable Downline Load         [17] Display Error Log Entries
 [9] Enable/Disable Backplane Management  [18] Exit Console


================================================================================


                               Enter selection : 13

 DECagent 90                                                All Rights Reserved
================================================================================

                              SHOW COMMUNITY

     Index      Type      Community
     -----      ----      ---------

       1    DEChub 90-8   public

================================================================================

          Enter Community Index : 1

DECagent 90 =============================================== All Rights Reserved

                         Community 1: public

    Slot         Type                     MAC Address               Reachable
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      1     DECserver 90L+              08-00-2B-2D-86-D7             Yes
      2     DECserver 90L+              08-00-2B-9F-59-9F             Yes
      3     DECserver 90L+              00-00-F8-52-32-21             Yes
      4     DECserver 90L+              08-00-2B-99-4F-25             Yes
      5     Empty
      6     Empty
      7     Empty
      8     DECagent 90                 08-00-2B-92-DD-87








          Press Return for Port Status Map...

DECagent 90 =============================================== All Rights Reserved

                         Community 1: public

                                             Port Status Map
Slot  Type               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
                         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1  DECserver 90L+      - - - - - - - -
  2  DECserver 90L+      - - - - - - - -
  3  DECserver 90L+      - - - - - - - -
  4  DECserver 90L+      - - - - - - - -
  5  Empty
  6  Empty
  7  Empty
  8  DECagent 90






   [ (+) Active  (-) Inactive  (x) Management Disabled  (?) Data Unavailable ]

                         Press any key for Main Menu ...
 
glitch said:
Yep, I sort of thought the same thing too :) Ordered my cable and it shipped promptly, seemed to be a brand-new cable. Some of their stuff is very reasonably priced, some of it seems quite expensive for what it is. Cables and cable accessories seem to be some of the cheaper stuff they carry.

I ordered myself one of those linked 1000-foot spools of Spectra-Strip that's supposed to have the DEC part number stickers, we'll see if they're all like that! If anyone is interested in cables, I can make up a bunch of 10' standard rollover cables and make them available, I know not everyone wants to invest in a 1000' roll of wire, professional crimp frame + die set, and 50x MMJ ends just for a cable or two!
Click to expand...

Glitch,
I’d be very interested in about five 10 foot MMJ cables. Let me know how to order them from you.
Thanks,
Mark Matlock
 
Mark, PM sent.

For anyone else, just PM me through the forums, message me on IRC, or use the contact form on my site.
 
I ordered some H8220 bags of 50 MMJ connectors from Vnetek last Friday. They arrived today.

They have original DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION labels on the bags, with a DATE CODE of NQ73900000, whatever that means.

They were $15 for each bag of 50, plus shipping. Lowest price I found online.

H8220.jpg
 
Yeah, I suspect they're just going through a mountain of DEC surplus they either bought or inherited. There are a few other companies with reasonable prices on MMJ ends, but you typically don't get to Vnetek's price until you're around QTY 250. Nice to be able to just buy 25 :)
 
I picked up one of those eBay 1000-ft spools, which was delivered Friday. Shipped in its original carton with the DEC customer H8240 part number labels on it along with the Spectra-Strip manufacturer tag. I don't see any printing on the cable itself.

H8240-1.jpg

H8240-2.jpg

H8240-3.jpg

H8240-4.jpg
 
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