Dave McGuire <mcguire@neurotica.com> writes:

> simonb> I'm pretty sure the 5400 series was the multi-cpu series, not
> simonb> the 5800 series.
> 
> Sorry, it's the other way around.  The 58x0 was the multi-cpu one.

Yup.

> The 5400 was in a similar case to the 5500, ran at 20/25 MHz (which?)
> and I'm pretty sure it didn't have SCSI or Ethernet on the motherboard
> (although the definition of which board is the "motherboard" in these
> machines can be interesting - bottom line is SCSI and Ethernet were via
> Q-bus).

Err,  not quite...

	i) the 5400 has DSSI onboard, via an SII chip  (as used in 3100s.)
       ii) I beleive the 5400 has an onboard LANCE with
	    an interface not unlike the 3100s.

      iii) the 5500 has a weirdo proprietary ``second generation
	   ethernet chip'' for which the only documentation I've 
	   ever seen is some marketing-level stuff.   I have no 
           intention of writing a driver for it.
	   You'd be better of with a DEQNA or a DELQA in the Qbus,
	   even if it means no netbooting.

I hope whoever-it-is out there who has a 5500 and no OS
for it gets to see point (iii).


>  Yes...I have a 5800...It's built in the same chassis as the VAX
>62x0, with a big card cage in the middle of a rack...with BI on the
>left and some other bus (XMI, maybe?) on the right.

Yes, XMI. And if I can trust my failing memory, and I think the BI is
via a standard XMI-to-BI adaptor. If so, if you have enough XMI
nexuses you can add more BIs.