Hi Michael,

>    You wrote:
> > i got this machine as a VAXSTATION 3500.
>    Is it in a floorstand BA213 enclosure? Does it have a big front door?
> Does this door actually say "VAXstation 3500" on it? Do you know if it
> comes directly from DEC or has been tinkered with? So far the only thing
I
> know about VAXstation 3500 is the following line from Jim Agnew's
> _MicroVAX/VAXstation Systems FAQ_:
> >  0A | 1 | 65D | 2.8   | Q      | VAXstation 3200, 3500   | Mayfair/GPX

cause i saw it till now only on the FAQ, i think this "D" is a typo.

> > VCB02      M7169-00   << ???
> > VCB02       M7168-00
> > VCB02      M7168-00
>    Aha! Here we go! This is what gives you 8-plane video, as well as
> keyboard and mouse ports. M7169 is the main board, and each M7168 is 512
KB
> of video RAM. You can have one or two of them, giving you 4 planes and 8
> planes, respectively. You have two, so that's 8 planes. This whole thing
is
> known as VCB02, QDSS, or "dragon board". Now your situation starts
becoming
> clearer to me.

>    I will be able to say more if you answer the following questions.
These
> questions apply ONLY to BA213. If your system has a different enclosure,
> tell me what it is and I will ask different questions. If your system IS
in
> a BA213, open the front door. You should see the Q-bus card cage.

Yes, it is a BA213, as i already found out. For your information, it was
sold as a VS31S-B2.


> Normally
> you won't see the cards themselves, only their covers. Each cover is held
> in place with two quarter-turn fasteners, one at the top and the other at
> the bottom. Turn them with a Phillips screwdriver. The rightmost slot is
> #1. That's where the CPU sits. On MicroVAXen it's covered with a double-
> width cover, which also covers the first memory module. Is this also the
> case on your system? 

yes.

> These covers also have stickers on them. What does
> this one say? What connectors does this cover have on it, and what cables
> are connected to them? Remove this cover. Is there a baud rate selector
on
> the back? What internal cables go to the cover and to the CPU? 

sticker on the double-width front:

KA650-BA 
M7620-BA

and

MS650-AA
M7621-A      

on the back, is a baud-selector "sticker : S1 Baud with different
baudrates, from 300=0 to 38400=7"
also a batterie, and one 10 pin connector,  one 20 pin connector to the cpu
board. 


> Repeat this
> for the VCB02 boards and their covers. Do the monitor, keyboard, and
mouse
> connect with one cable to a DB15 like on VS2000? Where does this cable
go?

there is a db15 which go to the vcb02, M7169-00. But don't think about, i
already removed it. I want to use this machine through v24 or tcp/ip. (till
the graphics option in NetBSD)

>    First I have to inform you that Q-bus MicroVAXen with DEQNA/DELQA
cannot
> netboot NetBSD because of the lack of standalone drivers in the boot
> program (MOP will work and the boot program will load and run, but it
won't
> be able to load the kernel or anything else). But my second reaction is,
> why do you want to netboot in the first place?!?! You have a tape drive!!
I
> personally find netbooting flawed from the outset. Suppose that you live
in
> a distant village in the former Soviet Union and your VAX is the only
> computer in the radius of two hundred kilometers.

No, middle of colorado mountains. :)
But i have no possibility to write this tapes here. 
I probably go for a MVaxII with floppy and tape, which can boot from
floppy, make a tape, boot a tape on VS3500 and .....

>    I also have to inform you that if you intend to run NetBSD on your
VAX,
> you'll have to part with graphics and switch to the serial console.
NetBSD
> doesn't support any graphics on QDSS (actually on anything), not even
> terminal emulation, so if your VAX runs with the graphical console, it
> simply won't work. If you answer my questions about your cabling
> configuration, I will be able to tell you how to switch the console.

the console runs already. no matter, if the VCB** Boards are installed or
not (????)
(please have a look on the mail from Antonio Carlini on this subject.) But
probably are this boards broken...

>    On the other hand, you should remember that NetBSD is not the only
> operating system for VAXen. There is also Berkeley UNIX(R), which IMHO is
> vastly superior. The only problem with it is that people who have copies
of
> it are not willing to share them. The two releases suitable for this
> purpose are 4.3BSD-Tahoe and 4.3BSD-Reno (both must obviously be compiled
> for VAX, even the former). These do have working support for QVSS and
QDSS
> graphics, but I don't know how good it is. I personally would always run
> with a serial console on architectures like VAXen and MIPSen that support
> this, and only run with a graphical console on architectures like IBM PC
> that don't support serial ones.

I want to use NetBSD, cause i have already a Decstation 5000/133 and a PC
running NetBSD. And as you said, it is no easy to get the 4.3BSD-Tahoe and
4.3BSD-Reno. Anyway, if you are not on the campus anymore.


Thank you very much.
I really appreciate your help.

emanuel.

>    
>    Sincerely,
>    Michael Sokolov
>    Phone: 440-449-0299
>    ARPA Internet SMTP mail: sokolov@alpha.ces.cwru.edu