[Info-vax] terminal servers etc

[Rich Jordan]

On Jan 8, 11:48 am, VAXman-  @SendSpamHere.ORG wrote:
> In article <df4f40b1-e775-458f-a16f-3efb59b3b... at t5g2000vba.googlegroups.com>, Rich Jordan <jor... at ccs4vms.com> writes:
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> >On Jan 8, 7:40=A0am, F H <fhs... at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> For those who want to find a DECserver 90M on eBay or somewhere else:
> >> please note that not all DECserver 90M terminal servers have a flash
> >> memory card present!
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> >> There are two or even three types of 90M devices:
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> >> - Those without a flash card. They can be recognized by the absence of
> >> an inscription on the front panel. They rely on MOP to download their
> >> OS.
> >> - Those with a 1 MB flash card. They have the inscription "1M Flash"
> >> on the front panel. The OS is on that flash card but it takes several
> >> minutes to decompress the OS on the flash card into memory. They will
> >> download the OS over the network only when a special procedure is
> >> followed at power-on time.
> >> - It seems that a version exists with a 2 MB (or more) flash card.
> >> This system boots stand-alone too and very fast because there is no
> >> decompression to be done. I have however never seen this version.
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> >Are you sure about the no-flash models?  That doesn't show up in any
> >of the networking catalogs I still have (though that predates the
> >selloff of the networking division, now owned by VNETEK).  They did
> >show 1 or 2MB FLASH models, and also early 1MB RAM and later 4MB RAM
> >(for NAS software) but nothing in the 90M without flash boot
> >capability.
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> >I need to open mine up and see what the flash looks like.  I'm pretty
> >sure the RAM is just a standard 72 pin parity SIMM.
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> Let'sput this to rest.  I just opened one of my DECserver90Ms.
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> RAM is soldered on the board. 8xTI-TMS44400DC (1048576-WORD BY 4-BIT
> DYNAMIC RANDOM-ACCESS MEMORIES).  That comprises the 4MB of memory.
> No SIMS, so there's no way to extend the memory.
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> The flash sits on a small daughter card approximately 1.25"x3" and the
> flash is soldered on it.  4xAMD28F020 (2 Megabit (256 K x 8-Bit) CMOS
> 12.0 Volt, Bulk Erase Flash Memory).
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> --
> VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker    VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)ORG
>
> Well I speak to machines with the voice of humanity.

I sitll wonder if DEC ever did sell 90Ms with no flash.  I'm done
checking my sources and haven't found a part number or reference for
such a variation.

Your description jives with my unit.