Dec AlphaServer 2100, what have I gone and done!

[mpatoray]

Hi all,

Today i want and picked up a DEC AlphaServer 2100 A500MP along with other various goodies, now that it has been unloaded form my car and is sitting in my room I have to say, what did I go and DO!

It is no PDP-11 by any stretch, but it is a very large single cab system, the front panel is locked and the key is lost, i want to get the door open so I can access the drive but have no idea how to do so....

There is a port on the back that looks like a standard HD-15 connector for a VGA monitor except the 2nd pin in the 2nd row is filled in, what is this connector for? If it is for VGA video what kind of cable connects to the port.

Thanks for any help,

Matt

 

[krebizfan]

AlphaServer 2100 should have a VGA card. It will be in a card slot and should be obvious. Some earlier cables were made without a pin there with the missing pin acting as an extra key (like the shaped shell of the connector wasn't enough). You could break off the pin on a new cable but just don't use that cable on a newer system which might want the pin for power.

The good news is that HP has managed to keep much of the documentation available online though a lot is in postscript files. Enjoy your Alpha and all the SCSI parts it contains.
http://www.compaq.com/alphaserver/archive/2100/

 

[Le_Bear]

got a photo? I found most of those keys to be the same, got several of them around.

 

[mpatoray]

I got the lock issue taken care of, also made a VGA cable from one of the many laying around here, like they really NEEDED to remove that one pin...... Now to try to get VMS installed on the beast!

 

[barythrin]

Awesome job! I'm guessing you know about the VMS hobbyist license right? That can get ya rolling on a newer VMS version if the hardware supports it.