I have a VAX 4000 with a console SLU that has been host to a battery for
far too long. I removed the battery some time ago and cleaned things up
with vinegar and IPA.
Then I had PSU issues, which I've resolved by swapping for a NOS one
(thanks Witchy!).
Last Wednesday (13-MAR-2024) it booted to the dead sergeant prompt for
the first time in a decade or two (I would guess). It was set to 19200
baud and the console 7-segment LED was a bit the worse for wear, but it
responded to the VT420 quite happily.
But tonight, although it seemed to power up OK, the console was
unresponsive. Shining a light into the MMJ socket showed pin 2 is
missing (2nd from the left looking into the socket
(https://allpinouts.org/pinouts/connectors/serial/dec-mmj-serial/). The
rest show patches of the sort of green you would expect from something
that has been near a leaky battery for some time.
Now I have some console SLUs for the KA650 (uVAX 3600) which have also
generously hosted batteries for longer than they should, but I suppose
if one of those has an OK looking socket I can try a swap. Otherwise,
does anyone have any ideas for a source? I know I could solder to the
six pins at the back and make an adapter, but that is I think would be a
stop gap 9or a last resort if no parts are available.
Pin 2 is TXD+ so I suppose that the RX side still works. I have no
suitable storage for this system (well, I have some RF71 drives but not
the carriers that would be needed to connect to the backplane properly),
so I was planning to netboot from a SIMH instance on a PC. However, to
configure that I would need the ethernet MAC address, and I can't think
of a simple way to get that. unless someone knows whether the ethernet
ID prom is readable in something like a TL866II Plus?
Anyway, thanks in advance for any suggestions or ideas.
Antonio
--
Antonio Carlini
anto...@acarlini.com
