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WD chipset in AM-100, same as LSI in DEC 11/02/23 etc..

Marty

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Jul 26, 2009
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Boulder , Colorado USA
Hi All;
I have am S-100 AM-100 and I don't know IF the WD Ic's in it are any good.. (Alpha Micro)
Is the Chipset for the WD, have the same Pinout as the DEC LSI chipset ??
OR Does anyone have an AM-100 with pictures, that I can at least know that the Two Boards are set up correctly, Jumper wise..
I am posting this in the DEC and the S-100 sections..

THANK YOU Marty
 
Last edited:
Hi All;
Thank You, Chuck for Your response..
Yes, I have it and I have long time ago Printed it out, along with all of the other Manuals..
But, some of the settings were/are unclear.. Which Is Why If someone has a working Board set, I could compare the two..
When, I got these boards Years and Years ago, Alpha Micro was still servicing these Boards.. I got them from a Friend, who had them in an S-100 Cabinet and the System would not work/boot.. So, He called Alpha Micro, they came and checked out the Boards and told Him it was The Disk Drive, a CDC "Hawk".. So, He called the Service people for the CDC "Hawk" and they checked out the Drive and said it was working Perfectly.. And that it was the Cards..
So, He finally, Called me, and Basically gave me the system.. I do not have that original card cage, But I do have all of the Boards.. And Still Don't know If any of them work..

THANK YOU Marty
 
Yes, it's the WD16 chipset, but the instruction set is not the same as the LSI-11.
 
Hey, another Alpha Micro owner. I have a system that was pulled from a working environment (my father's accounting firm) after the hard drive went bad sometime in the 80's. It's sat untouched since then, so it's a pretty good "survivor." However, it's not here at my house; I need to retrieve it from my father's attic, and I'm not sure when I'll be able to coordinate that. It might be next week, it might not be until next month. I'll message you when I get it, and I can supply you with any pictures you want.
 
Hi All;
Glitch, Thank You for Your answer, Yes, I knew that the Instruction set was not the same.. But, If I remember correctly, it was close enough that DEC sued Alpha Micro, and that was "Why" they had to go to the 68000 chip as their CPU of choice..
So, are You saying, Just to be Clear, That I could Unplug my LSI /02 chips and plug them into the AM-100 Board, and I would NOT Blow up either the Chip set, nor the AM-100 Board ??
But, looking thru the AM-100 manual, does, give me enough things to check, with my scope, that I think I can confirm if it is or is not working.. So, Thank You..
I would want to do some more Research, before I try anything as radical as that !!

THANK YOU Marty
 
Electrically, I wouldn't expect the LSI-11 chipset to destroy the board. I also wouldn't expect it to actually work. I'm almost certain that the way the microcoded CPU deals with the bus is fundamentally incompatible between the two systems.
 
Hi All;
Glitch, Thank You for Your Reply.. I sort was hoping to kill two birds with one stone.. That If I couldn't confirm that the WD-16 set was any good, then by plugging an Lsi 11, I could make the Lsi chips work good enough, to prove that the AM-100 boards themselves were any good, and Second that I could test out the Various Lsi 11, chip sets that I have..
Anyway, Thanks for the warning.. I will look into it further and take heed..
Glitch, do You happen to have a set of AM-100 Boards, since You know so much..

THANK YOU Marty
 
Hi All;
I think there IS the possibility that the Boards are Working !!
I have Plugged the Two Boards into a set of Extenders, and also have plugged in the Floppy Control Board, which has a 2708 Eprom, Bootstrap in it.. And the Address lines and the CE line show Activity, not random, but regular..
So, I would say there is a good chance that it is working, Next I will plug in and wire up the AM-300 Serial RS-232 Terminal board.. And see If it shows any signs of life..

THANK YOU Marty
 
Hi All;
As far as I can tell, there is Nothing coming out to the Terminal..
Maybe, until there is an operating system, the Terminal will not operate, since it is all software settable, Baud rate etc..
I have tried Both the Floppy Board, and the CDC "Hawk Board" and Both of them have Proms, which shows regular activity on them..
What I need is an echo program/driver..

THANK YOU Marty
 
Hi All;
Does Anyone Know of where I can get the SoftWare for these Boards ??
Does anyone here in the group know of anyone who has a set of these Boards ??

THANK YOU Marty
 
I do have an AM-100 CPU board set, that's the only part of the system I have though. I read through the very complete documentation for it, it seems the instruction set is simple enough to write an echo routine either in assembly and hand-assemble, or directly in machine code. Burn it to an EPROM and give it ago.
 
Hi All;
Glitch, Thank You for Your Response !!!
I have looked at or through what I have in Documentation, and in the instruction set, I don't see any I/O instructions, I saw plenty of other neat things, but no I/O.. I am probably missing something.. Once, that is found, I can hand assemble it, in direct machine code (as I don't have an assembler for it) and program the Eprom..
I on a side note, have gotten out my SSM 2708/2716 S-100 Eprom programmer/reader, and I am going to copy down the contents of the 2708 in the Floppy card, and the 2816 in the CDC "Hawk" card..
Does, Your Eprom, still have its label and what does it say, mine no longer has a label on it..
Also, almost any S-100 Card cage, with at least Run, Reset/Stop switches should make Your Cards workable, unless they are not in working condition..

THANK YOU Marty
 
I would guess I/O is probably memory mapped for the WD16 CPU as it is with the LSI-11 (and all PDP-11s for that matter). There's probably a dedicated block of memory address space that activates the required S-100 I/O lines.

I don't think either of my CPU boards contain an EPROM. I have only the two-board CPU set. I don't think I've ever powered my board set, I picked them up some time ago because I recognized the WD16 CPU set. One day I'll have time to set them up and poke around!
 
Hi All;
Glitch, You are Right, there is NO Eprom on the two CPU Boards, they are on the Floppy, or other I/O device..
When You Power them up, since You Do not have any AM I/O Boards, then what fooled me, with just the Boards in by themselves, and Of Course Memory, is that at first for awile, it will look as thought nothing is happening, (If You have Front Panel lights) and it takes some time for something to happen.. And, so I didn't leave them in long enough to see anything happen.. So, I though they were dead..

THANK YOU Marty
 
Hi All;

I have copied down the contents for the 2708 Eprom, for the Floppy Controller..
I am going to start on the Code for the CDC Hawk controller..
That Board has a Z-80 on it, so the code at 0000 - 03FF is Z-80 code, which I can Dissassemble..
The code for 0400 - 04FF is for the WD 16 code, and at first glance it looks like the code for the Floppy Controller, So, I can compare the two and note the differences.. Which mostly, I would expect be in the I/O or Memory Mapping since they are at different settings.. And that should point me toward what instructions are for I/O, which would help me figure out "How" to code for the Echo Routine, and thereby, indicate that the AM-100 is indeed working..

THANK YOU Marty
 
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