What have I got here?
Robert A. Hyman
I've got a little Mips mini which I'd like to know more about. I found it in
someones office a while ago.
The company inventory sticker says 'M/500', but I can't find any model numbers
on the box anywhere.
Inside, it has an R2300 CPU board and 2 R2350 memory boards.
It also has 16 serial ports, 2 console ports, a parallel port (maybe 2?),
an ethernet port, a 60 MB cartridge tape drive and a 380(?) MB disk drive.
It seems to use a VME bus.
When I log on it says: 4.3 BSD Unix, and the motd has "UMIPS-BSD (M_SERIES.2)"
embeded in it.
It's got a fair complement of software (C, PASCAL and FORTRAN compilers, etc),
but none of the files needed to rebuild the kernel or to do maintenance on the
disk drive. If the disk ever fails, I think all I'd be able to do is push it
off the loading dock.
Anyway, any insight into this little marvel would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Bert Hyman
Unisys, Roseville MN
be...@rsvl.unisys.com
Jay McCauley
Gee, you guys NEVER throw anything away, do you?
"Poooof," as he blows a cloud of dust away from the dusty sarcophagus, the
lettering in some ancient hieroglypics becomes clearer...
"Beware, all ye who enter here, and defile the tomb of the m/500" the
strange writings said. "This machine has been in its sacred repose for
years, and must not be disturbed from its unending slumber."
"This machine sprang from the earliest days of the First Kingdom of MIPS,
under the reign of the early Pharohs and their legions RISC Zealots.
Ye who dare to trespass on its tomb are DOOMED by the CURSE OF THE M/500UMMY."
"In its heart beats the undieing R2000, running with the speed of the
desert Cheatah, a blinding 8 MHz. In its 8 MB of memory (4 MB per board),
all the scrolls from the ancients can be stored for sacred study. The
whining incantations of the SMD drives can accompany you as you recite
the long dead secret incantations: 'Turn off the disks before the CPU'."
"Ye who seek enlightenment by study of the old ways would do well
to marvel at the stark, simple beauty of UMIPS-BSD; the cleanliness
of the port from BSD 4.3, the speed of its VM, the total lack of
unclean business applications... Purity incarnate! Never in the
new crystal palaces of System V with their rococo embelishments
was such beauty seen!!"
"To preserve the life of the m/500, the ancient curse decrees that he
who opens the case must give his life to the machine, preferably by
diving under it as it is pushed from the sacred loading dock!"
"YOU ARE WARNED, OH UNBELIEVERS!! THE CURSE OF THE M500UMMY IS NOW ON YOU!!!"
With the reading of the last cryptic phrase, his blood ran cold.
He gave an involuntary shudder and quickly sought safety in the
reassuring warmth cast off from the ECL RC6280. He knew that the
curse could never reach him in the wilds of the north country with
it's harsh winters and winning baseball teams. Little did he know that
just down the road, the long damped fires of the cult of RISC were
again being fanned by the new converts at the dreaded CONTROL DATA CORP!
<<<<<< COMING SOON TO A THEATER NEAR YOU, "m/1000, THE CURSE CONTINUES">>>>>>
(It is getting close to Halloween ;-)
Jay
Jay
--
Jay McCauley
MIPS Computer Systems, 928 E. Arques, Sunnyvale, CA 94086 (408)524-8211
{decwrl,pyramid,ames}!mips!jay j...@mips.com