salzman@garfield.RDL.COM (Gumby) (03/22/88)
Does anybody have any information on how to hook up DEC RM05's
to an Alliant FX/8 with a Xylogics 451 controller? Now I know
everyone is asking "why on earth would you want to do that".
Well, let's put it this way. We have the drives attached to
a VAX but they would do us a lot more good on the Alliant.
Basically we need to have removable media on the
Alliant and this should cost less than buying removable Fujitsu's,
though I like that solution a lot better, I'm not the one who controls
the checkbook around here (if ya know what I mean! :-). Any advice would
be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
--
* Isaac Salzman - Sr. Systems Analyst ----
* Research & Development Labs (RDL) /o o/ /
* 5721 W. Slauson Ave., Culver City, CA. 90230-6509 | v | |
* AT&T: +1 213 410 1244, x118 _| |_/
* ARPA: salzman@rdlvax.RDL.COM / | |
* UUCP: ...!{psivax,csun,sdcrdcf,ttidca}!rdlvax!salzman | | | ron@topaz.rutgers.edu (Ron Natalie) (03/23/88)
The answer is: you can't Athough RM05's look like CDC 9766 drives, they can't be directly connected "as RM05's" to the Xylogics 451 SMD interface. The DEC Massbus interface is not the same at all. Now I have this feeling that deep inside these drives lives the SMD 9766 drive, but it would take some modification to the drive to make it useable. I have never heard anyone actually doing this. It may not be possible. -Ron Massbus, is a trademark and a regrettable mistake of Digital Equipment Corp.
grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins) (03/24/88)
In article <129@garfield.RDL.COM> salzman@rdlvax.RDL.COM (Gumby) writes: > > Does anybody have any information on how to hook up DEC RM05's > to an Alliant FX/8 with a Xylogics 451 controller? Now I know > everyone is asking "why on earth would you want to do that". > Well, let's put it this way. We have the drives attached to > a VAX but they would do us a lot more good on the Alliant. There's a minor problem. The DEC RM05 drives are OEM versions of the CDC9766 drive. There are some relatively minor differences that mean you can't plug and play. You should check with some of the third party disk refurbishing/resale outfits to see if they would be willing to make a conversion kit available or perhaps work some kind of exchange deal. You should also check with Alliant to be sure that their controller will work with CDC9766 drives to avoid potential problems. -- George Robbins - now working for, uucp: {uunet|ihnp4|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr but no way officially representing arpa: cbmvax!grr@uunet.uu.net Commodore, Engineering Department fone: 215-431-9255 (only by moonlite)
pechter@dasys1.UUCP (Bill Pechter) (03/26/88)
The truth is you CAN PROBABLY hook the DEC RM05's to the Alliant controller.
You must set them up for sector and index on the correct cable, check that the
two SMD interfaces are identical and double check the pinouts.
I don't have the docs on the Xylogics controller available here...so I can't
be sure. Get the CDC prints and DEC RM05 prints and go over them with the
controller docs. I remember a jumper on the CDC tranceiver cards which
determine where sector and index goes (A or B cable). I think the smd
tranceivers that feed the RM adapter (also known as Massbuss Adapter)
will also drive the xylogics.
Bill Pechter {sun!hoptoad,cmcl2!phri}!dasys1!pechter
Lakewood Microsystems, 103 Governors Road, Lakewood NJ 08701
(201)370-0709 Evenings
Former Alliant Regional Product Support
Former DEC Field Engineer
Presently:
Big Electric Cat Public Access Unix, New York, NY
--
Bill Pechter {sun!hoptoad,cmcl2!phri}!dasys1!pechter
Lakewood Microsystems, 103 Governors Road, Lakewood NJ 08701
(201)370-0709 Evenings
Big Electric Cat Public Access Unix, New York, NYgrr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins) (03/30/88)
In article <3561@dasys1.UUCP> pechter@dasys1.UUCP (Bill Pechter) writes: > The truth is you CAN PROBABLY hook the DEC RM05's to the Alliant controller. > You must set them up for sector and index on the correct cable, check that the > two SMD interfaces are identical and double check the pinouts. This is probably a bit optimistic, as you need some kind of adapter just to get the RM05's to work with the standard CDC SMD excerciser. > Former Alliant Regional Product Support > Former DEC Field Engineer me: occasional SMD drive user... BTW, the best source for SMD drive characteristics and interchangability data is the Emulex Disk/Tape products handbook, unfortunatly it hasn't been updated lately to include all the new post-eagle drives... -- George Robbins - now working for, uucp: {uunet|ihnp4|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr but no way officially representing arpa: cbmvax!grr@uunet.uu.net Commodore, Engineering Department fone: 215-431-9255 (only by moonlite)
chuckh@apex.UUCP (Chuck Huffington) (04/01/88)
In article <3561@dasys1.UUCP>, pechter@dasys1.UUCP (Bill Pechter) writes: > The truth is you CAN PROBABLY hook the DEC RM05's to the Alliant controller. > You must set them up for sector and index on the correct cable, check that the >..... NO: This won't work. The CDC drives built for DEC are not standard SMD drives. The sector/index signals do not appear in either the A or B cables. Instead the output of a sector counter appears. This probably was done to allow use of an MBA design which was done for the Memorex drives used in the RP04, or maybe just to make third party drives a little harder to implement. The 9762/9766 drives built for DEC had several cards changed to provide this modified SMD interface. Chuck Huffington Apex Computer Company
pechter@dasys1.UUCP (Bill Pechter) (04/01/88)
I have posted an earlier follow up but it may have been lost somewhere.
The DEC RM05 drive should work on the Alliant but the following points should
be checked.
There are jumpers on the transceiver cards for sector and index pulses to be
routed to either the A cable or the B cable. I am unsure what the Xylogics
expects (I seem to remember A) and I think the DEC drives run the signal
on B. This can be easily verified through the RM05 prints (not the RM
adapter set labeled RM05 printset -- the CDC prints in 8 1/2 by 11 format).
The sector counter needs to be set for the correct nuber of sectors to
match the Alliant disktab entry. DEC runs at 32...I do not remember
what the Alliant does anymore.
The info should be available from DEC or drop me a line if I can be of
more help.
Bill Pechter {sun!hoptoad,cmcl2!phri}!dasys1!pechter
Lakewood Microsystems, 103 Governors Road, Lakewood NJ 08701
(201)370-0709 Evenings
Big Electric Cat Public Access Unix, New York, NY
Former DEC Field Service
Former Alliant Regional Product Support Engr.
--
Bill Pechter {sun!hoptoad,cmcl2!phri}!dasys1!pechter
Lakewood Microsystems, 103 Governors Road, Lakewood NJ 08701
(201)370-0709 Evenings
Big Electric Cat Public Access Unix, New York, NYpechter@dasys1.UUCP (Bill Pechter) (04/09/88)
I was wrong when I said the RM05 could probably be hooked to the Xylogics
controller without much work. Here are the signal differences...
A cable RM05 9766
pin 14 sec cnt 2 open cable detect
pin 18 index ----
pin 20 sec cnt 4 addr. mark
pin 22 plug valid unit select tag
pin 21 sec cnt 8 busy
pin 23 sel addr 1 unit sel 0
pin 24 sel addr 2 unit sel 1
pin 25 sector ---
pin 26 sel addr 4 unit sel 2
pin 27 sec cnt 1 unit sel 3
pin 28 wrt prot wrt prot
pin 29 pick hold pick hold
pin 30 sec cnt 16 ---
B cable
pin 9 sec 30 +32 unit selected
pin 10 start seek end
pin 13 initialize sector
pin 12 --- index
This info from DEC publication EY-D2111-sp-001 from Educational Services
(RM05 - 9766 differences).
Hope this helps.
--
Bill Pechter {sun!hoptoad,cmcl2!phri}!dasys1!pechter
Lakewood Microsystems, 103 Governors Road, Lakewood NJ 08701
(201)370-0709 Evenings
Big Electric Cat Public Access Unix, New York, NY