I have successfully built a rl02 disk using pdpgui on a windows XP laptop, the newer version works on window 10. All you need other than the software is a serial card like a m7800. Pdpgui acts as a gui. Do you have a m9312 rom/terminator card with a terminal console rom?
Bill Degnan twitter: billdeg vintagecomputer.net On Nov 11, 2017 7:04 AM, "Aaron Jackson via cctech" <cct...@classiccmp.org> wrote: > Well, some progress. > > It seems that a terminator is not required so long as the cable is VERY > short. The controller RLV12 controller appears to have a few termination > resistors on it anyway. There is no fault light appearing and the drives > spin up fine. Mine cable is less than 20cm and the PDP is sitting just > on top of the drive. > > I can see that the drive is communicating because the lsb of the csr > changes flips between 0 and 1 when I load and unload the drive. > > I wanted to try and dump the disks using vtserver, but when I run the > copy program I end up with the following > > ]] Enter name of input record/device: rl(0,0,0) > ]] > ]] Can't get rl(0,0,0) sts > ]] rl(0,0,0) err cy=0, hd=0, sc=2, rlcs=142205, rlmp=0 > ]] rl(0,0,0) error reading labelsector > ]] Enter name of input record/device: > > The same happened on both packs - they have both been cleaned and look > as though they are in good condition. The heads have been cleaned too. > > Given that the drive appears to be communicating with the PDP-11, where > might this problem come from? > > Thanks, > > Aaron. > > Aaron Jackson via cctech writes: > > > Hi everyone, > > > > I have managed to hook up an RL02 drive to my PDP-11 (thanks to Dave > > Wade for the drives) . This took me longer than I thought it would - I > > tried with a flat ribbon cable with a DIY terminator going straight into > > board , but couldn't get it to work. Removed the terminator, and the > > fault light turned off. So that's positive. > > > > I tried to load a cartridge, which I had cleaned, inspected and > > generally appears to be in good condition. It started to spin up and I > > could hear it getting faster, but after 30-40 seconds the fault light > > returns. I made a short video demonstrating this: > > > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=japwBBodO8U > > > > According to the manual the fault light can appear for the following > > reasons: > > > > - Drive select error... Surely this would come on at the start? > > - Seek time out error... I'd have to hear the heads move first > > - Write current in heads during sector time error... Same as above > > - Loss of system clock... The fault light would be on from the start. > > - Write protect error... I don't think it got that far > > - Write data error... Same as above > > - Spin error... Is this the only remaining fault? > > > > So could the only cause be a spin error? I am wondering if the belt is > > slipping or something like that? > > > > Can anyone offer some advice? > > > > Thanks, > > > > Aaron. > > > -- > Aaron Jackson > PhD Student, Computer Vision Laboratory, Uni of Nottingham > http://aaronsplace.co.uk >
