[Info-vax] Assistance needed!! working RM05 drive and VAX needed for proje

[Dave McGuire]

On 9/29/23 18:21, Rich Alderson wrote:
> We emulated two kinds of drives:
> 
> 1.  Large Massbus drives (RP06 and RP07), because media for either type was
>      unavaiable.  The last disk manufacturer in the US shipped us a batch of
>      "RP06" packs which were unformattable, because they had changed the
>      chemistry of the slurry.

   I wish you had contacted us; we have some RP06 packs that we'd have 
been happy to share with you.

>>> Keeping old disk drives running is much harder than old CPUs.
> 
>>     It is, but we do it at LSSM.  It's not like it's impossible.
> 
> We kept RK05, RM02, RM03, and RL01 drives running for smaller DEC equipment, as
> well as the drives on the Altos.  It's not impossible, but it wasn't our
> primary raison d'etre...
> 
> NB:  I received training from a former DEC FE in how to install and tune heads
> in an RP06--without the magic suitcase, just a torque wrench.  So don't tell me
> what is and isn't doable.

   Exactly.  Those drives are comparatively easy to maintain, parts are 
findable, and the documentation is first-rate.

               -Dave

-- 
Dave McGuire, President/Curator
Large Scale Systems Museum
New Kensington, PA