Drove to Albuquerque. This VAX had been sitting in a damp shed in Mountainair, New Mexico for a decade. The fellow I got it from was most accommodating and had lots of extras and info to offer. I'll definitely be going to him for future needs. He hooke d me up with a case of TU58 tapes, a DELUA, and was generally great to work with. Anyway, it was on the back of his dually pickup and we hefted it into a borrowed minivan.
Got it home. Talk about dirty! Mice had been using the VAX as a shelter, and they had left copious amounts of evidence. All over the unit. Also, plenty of very sinister looking spiders had taken up residence in the cardcage. Time for a shower and rest!
The box is a fairly basic configuration, with no FPA, 8MB RAM. I'd like to equip it with an L0001 FPA, a UDA50 SDI controller, a TU8x tape drive and controller, some disks (either SDI or Massbus), and a copy of VMS. Once I get it working, anyway...
| Slot | Card | Description |
| 1 | OPEN | |
| 2 | L0002-E | Data Path Module (DPM) |
| 3 | L0003-K3 | Memory Interconnect (MIC) |
| 4 | L0004-N2 | Unibus Interconnect (UBI) |
| 5 | L0008-YA | Patchable Control Store (PCS) |
| 6 | OPEN | |
| 7 | OPEN | |
| 8 | L0007-B | Massbus Adapter (MBA) |
| 9 | OPEN | |
| 10 | L0016 | Memory Controller |
| 11 | M8750-CF | 1MB ECC MOS Memory |
| 12 | M8750-CP | 1MB ECC MOS Memory |
| 13 | M8750-CP | 1MB ECC MOS Memory |
| 14 | M8750-CJ* | 1MB ECC MOS Memory |
| 15 | M8750-CJ* | 1MB ECC MOS Memory |
| 16 | M8750-CJ | 1MB ECC MOS Memory |
| 17 | M8750-CJ* | 1MB ECC MOS Memory |
| 18 | M8750-CP | 1MB ECC MOS Memory |
| 19 | M9202 | Unibus Connector |
| 20 | M9202+FLIP CHIP(2) | Unibus Connector |
| 21 | G7273 | NPG and Bus Grant/Continuity |
| 22 | G7273 | NPG and Bus Grant/Continuity |
| 23 | OPEN | |
| 24 | G7273 | NPG and Bus Grant/Continuity |
| 25 | G7273 | NPG and Bus Grant/Continuity |
| 26 | G7273 | NPG and Bus Grant/Continuity |
| 27 | G7273 | NPG and Bus Grant/Continuity |
| 28 | M9313+FLIP CHIP (2) | Unibus Exercisor/Terminator |
( ) = not lit, (0) = lit ( ) POWER OK (0) OVER CURRENT ( ) OVER VOLTAGE (0) +5V FAIL (0) +2.5 FAIL (0) REG FAIL ( ) OVER TEMP
Very interesting. Powering up with cards pulled from backplane results in the following lights on the 854 power controller:
( ) = not lit, (0) = lit ( ) POWER OK ( ) OVER CURRENT ( ) OVER VOLTAGE ( ) +5V FAIL ( ) +2.5 FAIL (0) REG FAIL ( ) OVER TEMP
So obviously, something is shorting out. It's been suggested that the backplane or its wire harness may be hosed, but will check its wiring against the installation manual before leaping to any hasty conclusions. Might go ahead and clean up the TU58 to night.
Cleaned the TU58. I really doubt if it works, but as long as the PSU is tripping out anyway, I'm stuck, so the tape drive really doesn't matter.
I'm in the process of checking cabinet wiring against the schematic in the VAX 11/750 Installation Manual. Already found a couple discrepancies. This may just be why the PSU is freaking out so much. More to come...
I pulled apart the H7104-D tonight, and found that the control board has a blown fuse. This could explain the PSU failures. Will try a new fuse tomorrow.
Wow! The PSU has decided to cooperate all of a sudden. The console now gives me:
%% 00000000 16 >>>
This means that the system passed its microverify test. However, it doesn't seem to be listening to the console. According to Lothian's 11/750 FAQ, this is usually due to a failed 1489 RS-232 line receiver on the L0004 UBI. I've ordered a 1489 and a socket, and desoldered the 1489. The fellow I got the machine from is also sending me an L0004, a UDA50 SDI controller, an RL02 disk unit, and an RL11 controller for the RL02. A fellow in Colorado Springs has a pair of RA70 disk drives as well, but no RA7x enclosure. Apparently, these drives only work with a special control panel. If I can get that enclosure, I should be able to get the 750 up and running. Then, my only remaining wishes for the unit will be an L0001 FPA (not a big priority), a 9-track tape unit (TU8x), a BA-11K expansion cab, and the front and back panels. This unit obviously was coupled to a BA-11K, as there was a DEC power bus cord going from the 875 power controller coiled up in the bottom of the chassis, the left side panel was missing, and the knockouts for that side were knocked out. All that equipment will be a tight fit in my computer room, but I think it should work.
Sent a money order off to Colorado for a pair of RA70 drives.