Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!comp.vuw.ac.nz!actrix!clear
From: clear@actrix.co.nz (Charlie Lear)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.att
Subject: 3B2/400 - Help!!!
Message-ID: <1990Sep12.113334.22017@actrix.co.nz>
Date: 12 Sep 90 11:33:34 GMT
Reply-To: clear@actrix.co.nz (Charlie Lear)
Organization: Actrix Public Access Usenet, Wellington, New Zealand
Lines: 55

I've just bought a second-hand 3B2/400 to run a public access Usenet
site on. It has 4MB of RAM, two 72-meg drives, tape backup and eight
serial ports in addition to the console and contty.
 
The machine was put into storage after a company takeover and all the
720k floppies and DC600 tapes were all thrown into the "common pool"
box.
 
I've got around 20 original AT&T Sys V release 3.0 diskettes and another
ten backups of the C compiler and software generation suite.
 
Now we've spent the last week porting code for a BBS system from
SCO-Xenix to the 3B2, and we're having severe hassles with some 3.0
libraries missing and some libraries being 2.0. Also we do not have the
system core disks or a working key disk.
 
Which libraries contain the directory functions? The 3.0 manuals list
several directory functions but they aren't in any of the libraries.
(Note: the libraries installed on the system are dated July 85 and our
manuals are dated April 86.) The missing functions are opendir, readdir
and so on.
 
Is the processor in the 3B2/400 binary compatible with the 68010 or
similar processors?
 
Now the big plea: if we have a severe hardware problem, we've had it.
With missing core disks and a possible NVR fault (I can't get it to go
into firmware mode) it would be next to impossible to bring back the
system after a crash. Is any site running similar 3B2/400 hardware able
to make backup diskettes and possibly a 23MB tape of the OS? I doubt if
anyone would consider this piracy, its disaster prevention! As I said,
we've got around 20 original disks, and since the takeover nobody seems
to know where the mission critical ones have gone. The consensus is they
were taken from the "pool", reformatted and used on something else.
 
Please email if you are able to help with diskettes, or if you just want
to let us know you're available for a brain-picking session if we get
stuck. There seems to be very few 3B2's in New Zealand, and I haven't
heard of any other /400's of similar configuration, so obviously I'd be
willing to pay for the media and shipping.
 
As a final note, the 3B2 was taken for granted as a slow, clunky old
workhorse where it last worked. It spent the last twelve months serving
as a news machine and not much else. Having sat down with all the
manuals and given it a thorough going-over, I have to say I'm really
impressed. It might be old, and it might not be 33MHz, but its still a
pretty well designed and built bit of hardware.
 
TIA and regards
 Charlie Lear
 
Sysadm and Sysop, The Cave BBS, Wellington, New Zealand
Post: PO Box 12-175, Thorndon, Wellington, New Zealand
Daytime Voice (GMT +12): +64 4 733382  Fax: +64 4 711877
Mail: clear@actrix.co.nz