> ps. there is an RD54 (with VMS on it) for sale on ebay - 
> US$150 !! I didn't think pieces of junk were worth that much :)

I cannot help with the disk issue, but as far as pricing goes,
it's worth what someone will pay for it. Personally, I never had
that many issues with RD5x drives, but they are pretty old and hard
to find now. If your business depends on one, it may seem easier
to pay ~$150 than to find some replacement machine based on 
newer technology. I heard someone had a VAX 9000 shipped from
Europe to the US a little while ago at considerable expense
just to use as a spare for a critical system. It was presumably
(much) cheaper to do that than to re-certify using a newer 
and more commonly available VAX.

Having said that, I wouldn't pay $150 for an RD54, nor would I
sell the few that I have!

Antonio

-- 

---------------
Antonio Carlini             arcarlini@iee.org