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Was there a VAX SBC?

J

jplr

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Hi, sorry if that question looks strange.
There was a PDP-11 trainer, one SBC (Falcon), and several modern SBC projects around J11 and F11, I was wondering if the same thing happened for the VAX architecture?

Thanks!
Jean-Pierre
 
Thanks @Gary C,
I was also thinking of things like this one:

First new vax in ...30 years? :-)

mail-index.netbsd.org mail-index.netbsd.org

IMG_0837.jpg
 
jplr said:
Thanks @Gary C,
I was also thinking of things like this one:

First new vax in ...30 years? :-)

mail-index.netbsd.org mail-index.netbsd.org
Click to expand...
That project seems to be abandoned. Nothing recent showing on his web page, just one photo of a cheap Chinese FPGA board like the one I use on my FPGA Baby Baby or SSE.
Not sure why, I guess:-

1. VAX architecture is hard to do
2. VAX Microcode is complex and you need to use some from somewhere => so you end up emulation an existing MicroVax which is probably purchasble.
3. At the end of the day you can probably only run VMS, and that is not really what SBCs were about.

Really VAX is more like a Mainframe than a Mini...
 
I agree that complexity would be a (very) big problem. What exactly would one want a "VAX Instruction Set trainer" to do ... of all the things that a VLC (or otherVAX implementation) does? Hexadecimal keypad; array of hexadecimal LED displays, simple monitor, serial interface -- something pretty strictly analogous to the DCT11 EM? I can readily imagine a market of close to zero; as it was, apparently the DCT11 EM wasn't much of a seller given how few seem to remain. Still, it would be an interesting piece of kit :->.

These days perhaps it would be an interesting project to create an "accessory module" (keypad, display, monitor-in-ROM) that works with a minimum-configuration single-module VAX implementation accompanied by a single-module RAM. Or just plug in a Qbone and poke/peek away from there :->.
 
g4ugm said:
2. VAX Microcode is complex and you need to use some from somewhere => so you end up emulation an existing MicroVax which is probably purchasble.
Click to expand...
Sure, but a MicroVAX costs $1500, and an FPGA board costs maybe $200 with all the bits. Also a real MV is four hundred times bigger. 😅
3. At the end of the day you can probably only run VMS, and that is not really what SBCs were about.
Click to expand...
There's this wild new little OS called UNIX that might work 😉
 
oktology said:
Sure, but a MicroVAX costs $1500, and an FPGA board costs maybe $200 with all the bits. Also a real MV is four hundred times bigger. 😅

There's this wild new little OS called UNIX that might work 😉
Click to expand...
You have been reading fairy stories again. There are a pile of VaxStation 3100/30's on E-Bay at $199. e.g.

www.ebay.com

DIGITAL DEC VAXSTATION 3100 WORKSTATION COMPUTER VS42A-AA | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for DIGITAL DEC VAXSTATION 3100 WORKSTATION COMPUTER VS42A-AA at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com

yes its "as seen" but really there isn't much to go wrong in these. They have been there since May so not exactly selling like hotcakes, I think you would get one for less. The critical issue with these for VMS is you need a special mouse for DEC Windows but there is enough info on the net to build one. If you just want an SBC you just need a keyboard and monitor. Yes its a DEC keyboard, but again serial so you can build one yourself or another $40 on E-bay. Oh an you need a SCSI disk thats smaller than 1GB so I use a SCSI2SD in mine. They have the basic display/modify/start commands.

As for UNIX well the VAX support is patchy. If you go back to https://www.ludd.ltu.se/~ragge/ so the home page of the guy building the VAX you will find a link to :-

NetBSD/vax :The forever ongoing project.

another of his projects, so yes you can run UNIX of a sort (not sure the the DEC UNIX's ran on these) but that is still a big operating system that you can run easily on other hardware, so why bother with a VAX.
(oh and his list of VaxStations is wrong, there never was a Vaxstation 3100 m10 or M20)
 
Last edited:
> (oh and his list of VaxStations is wrong, there never was a Vaxstation 3100 m10 or M20)

I am a noob on all these matters but for the sake of precision:
I may be wrong but on Magnusson's page it seems to me that there is no mention of "VaxStation 3100 m10 or m20, what is mentioned is MicroVax 3100 m10 or m20
And I guess it exists as HP says it exists:
 

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g4ugm said:
As for UNIX well the VAX support is patchy. If you go back to https://www.ludd.ltu.se/~ragge/ so the home page of the guy building the VAX you will find a link to :-

NetBSD/vax :The forever ongoing project.

another of his projects, so yes you can run UNIX of a sort (not sure the the DEC UNIX's ran on these) but that is still a big operating system that you can run easily on other hardware, so why bother with a VAX.
Click to expand...

DEC had Ultrix-32 which ran quite well on MicroVAXen, and the CDs are available on bitsavers. UWS (based on X11) works okay, but a bit sluggish if memory serves.

CW
 
jplr said:
> (oh and his list of VaxStations is wrong, there never was a Vaxstation 3100 m10 or M20)

I am a noob on all these matters but for the sake of precision:
I may be wrong but on Magnusson's page it seems to me that there is no mention of "VaxStation 3100 m10 or m20, what is mentioned is MicroVax 3100 m10 or m20
And I guess it exists as HP says it exists:
Click to expand...
From the MicroVAX 3100 owner's manual (1989):

Two models of the MicroVAX 3100 and VAXserver 3100 system are
available: Model 10 and Model 20. The label on the back of the system
unit identifies the model type of your system. Model 10 and Model 20
systems are similar, the primary difference being the physical size of the
system unit and consequently the number of internal storage options which
can be included.
Click to expand...

CW

PS Gunkies has a good landing page: MicroVAX 3100 series
 
Dave, what is the URL of the page you are talking about, I can't find a reference to a VaxStation model m10 or m20 in the page pointed out by Magnusson?
The NetBSD wiki has hundreds or thousands of contributors. Magnusson is not responsible of everything which is written there. Am I missing something?
 
jplr said:
Dave, what is the URL of the page you are talking about, I can't find a reference to a VaxStation model m10 or m20 in the page pointed out by Magnusson?
The NetBSD wiki has hundreds or thousands of contributors. Magnusson is not responsible of everything which is written there. Am I missing something?
Click to expand...

NetBSD/vax Notes on System Models

wiki.netbsd.org wiki.netbsd.org

should have realised it was many people. Can you fix it.
 
g4ugm said:
You have been reading fairy stories again. There are a pile of VaxStation 3100/30's on E-Bay at $199. e.g.

www.ebay.com

DIGITAL DEC VAXSTATION 3100 WORKSTATION COMPUTER VS42A-AA | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for DIGITAL DEC VAXSTATION 3100 WORKSTATION COMPUTER VS42A-AA at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com

yes its "as seen" but really there isn't much to go wrong in these.
Click to expand...

:sick:

185870048611.jpg
 
Still, some eBay sellers are serious, I bought one VaxStation from another seller and it was in a neat state, and for a month it worked.
Afterward, new problems started to appear each time I powered it up.
I guess we can't expect a 34-year-old computer to work perfectly.
 
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