VAXstation 3100/76: GPX or SPX?
Alan Frisbie
1) What is the order number of the technical manual?
2) How can one tell, by physical inspection, if the graphics
board (I'm assuming that it *is* a separate board) is the
SPX or GPX option?
3) Can a /76 be easily converted from SPX to GPX or vice versa?
What are typical costs of the two options?
--
-- "From:" line deliberately munged to prevent harvesting by spambots.
-- Alan E. Frisbie Frisbie "AT" Flying-Disk "DOT" Com
-- Flying Disk Systems, Inc.
Chris Scheers
>
> I am looking for information on the VAXstation 3100/76:
>
> board (I'm assuming that it *is* a separate board) is the
> SPX or GPX option?
If you have both of them available, it is easy to tell which is which.
The GPX board is almost full of chips and the SPX board is almost bare
in comparison. In particular, the SPX has many fewer ZIP memory chips.
What I usually look for is a 2 pole DIP switch on the SPX board. This
selects between 1024x864 and 1280x1024. I don't think the GPX board has
any switches.
Good luck!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Scheers, Applied Synergy, Inc.
817-237-3360 (Voice) 817-237-3074 (Fax) Internet: a...@airmail.net
Hoff Hoffman
In article <1999Mar18....@flying-disk.spamblock.com>, fri...@flying-disk.spamblock.com (Alan Frisbie) writes:
:I am looking for information on the VAXstation 3100/76:
:1) What is the order number of the technical manual?
Donno. I don't know that a technical manual was ever even produced
for this particular system, nor do I know if it is still available.
Maintenance guide and addendum is/was EK-VS31M-MG and EK-331AA-AD.
:2) How can one tell, by physical inspection, if the graphics
: board (I'm assuming that it *is* a separate board) is the
: SPX or GPX option?
Though, strictly speaking, this won't count as "physical inspection":
>>> T 50
Shows SPGFX (ScanProc Graphics) for SPX, and shows 8PLN for GPX.
(4PLN is arguably also possible with GPX, but it definitely wasn't
a standard configuration.)
SPX switch 1 on selects 1280x1024@66hz, off 1024x 864.
:3) Can a /76 be easily converted from SPX to GPX or vice versa?
Yes.
: What are typical costs of the two options?
Donno, now. Originally, the SPX upgrade was about US$3500. But
that was a long time ago...
-------------------------- pure personal opinion ---------------------------
Hoff (Stephen) Hoffman OpenVMS Engineering hoffman#xdelta.zko.dec.com
John Laird
> I am looking for information on the VAXstation 3100/76:
>
> board (I'm assuming that it *is* a separate board) is the
> SPX or GPX option?
As mentioned, the SPX board has a dip switch to set display resolution.
I think it also has "SCANPROC" stamped on it, whereas the GPX board is more
likely labelled 8-PLANE or 8PLN. (The low-res setting on the SPX board
matches the video output of the GPX board, so it is a more useful, as well
as much faster, card.)
> 3) Can a /76 be easily converted from SPX to GPX or vice versa?
> What are typical costs of the two options?
You simply replace one board with the other - if you remove the board
altogether, you get monochrome "GPX" from the motherboard. The GPX part
is VS40X-PA, while the SPX equivalent is WS01. Over here in the UK, you
will find them running at about $40 and $80 from second-user suppliers.
No doubt you will find someone giving them away (with CPU, memory, etc) !
--
John Laird (jo...@yrl.co.uk) "I have discovered a truly elegant sig,
Yezerski Roper Ltd sadly there is no room here to show it."
http://www.yrl.co.uk
Alan Frisbie
hof...@xdelta.enet.dec.nospam (Hoff Hoffman) writes:
<good stuff about 3100/76>
Thanks for the info; it is very helpful.
A guy with a couple of /76's has told me that one of
them has what appears to be an SPX board, but that the
other has no add-on board. What is that model? Or
has it simply been cannibalized? He doesn't have a
monitor handy, so he can't run any tests.
Hoff Hoffman
In article <1999Mar19....@flying-disk.spamblock.com>, fri...@flying-disk.spamblock.com (Alan Frisbie) writes:
:A guy with a couple of /76's has told me that one of
:them has what appears to be an SPX board, but that the
:other has no add-on board. What is that model? Or
:has it simply been cannibalized? He doesn't have a
:monitor handy, so he can't run any tests.
Use the serial console -- toggle S3 (up?) and use the printer port...
(This has the added benefit of determining if the system will pass
self-test, telling you rather more about the condition of the iron.)
Alan Frisbie
jo...@yrl.co.uk (John Laird) writes:
> The low-res setting on the SPX board matches the video
> output of the GPX board, so it is a more useful, as well
> as much faster, card.
Faster I will agree with. Unfortunately, the SPX board
will not work with VWS (VAX Workstation Software), which
I like very much. So, for me, it is not more useful.
> You simply replace one board with the other - if you remove the board
> altogether, you get monochrome "GPX" from the motherboard. The GPX part
> is VS40X-PA, while the SPX equivalent is WS01.
Thanks for the part numbers. If I understand you correctly
(reading between the lines and making some assumptions), the
"bare" /76 gets you (single-plane? 4-plane?) monochrome
GPX graphics. The VS40X-PA (GPX) board gets you 8-plane
color (colour) graphics, and the WS01 (is that the whole
part number?) gets you faster 8-plane color SPX graphics.
Is this all correct? Does SPX gain you anything other
than speed?
Thanks to everyone who is helping me with all this. I've
ordered the EK-VS31M-MG manual that Hoff mentioned, but
the EK-331AA-AD addendum is no longer available. Does
anyone out there have a copy?
I also found the EK-VX31A-KT "VAXSTAT 3100/MOD 76 OWN/UP KIT"
manual, which I have ordered. I don't know what it includes,
but I should find out in a few weeks.
Richard Tomkins
bit per colour and I also had a second head on it with Gray Scale from the
built-in GPX portion.
rtt
In article
<F4CEDF8556F2109F.93B9F267...@library-proxy.airnews.net>,
a...@airmail.net wrote:
> Alan Frisbie wrote:
> >
> > I am looking for information on the VAXstation 3100/76:
> >
> > 2) How can one tell, by physical inspection, if the graphics
> > board (I'm assuming that it *is* a separate board) is the
> > SPX or GPX option?
>
> If you have both of them available, it is easy to tell which is which.
> The GPX board is almost full of chips and the SPX board is almost bare
> in comparison. In particular, the SPX has many fewer ZIP memory chips.
>
> What I usually look for is a 2 pole DIP switch on the SPX board. This
> selects between 1024x864 and 1280x1024. I don't think the GPX board has
> any switches.
>
> Good luck!
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Chris Scheers, Applied Synergy, Inc.
>
> 817-237-3360 (Voice) 817-237-3074 (Fax) Internet: a...@airmail.net
--
This mind left BLANK intentionally!
Maarten van Breemen
a GPX board. Someone wants to trade this for an SPX board? Location:
's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
John Laird
> jo...@yrl.co.uk (John Laird) writes:
>
>> The low-res setting on the SPX board matches the video
>> output of the GPX board, so it is a more useful, as well
>> as much faster, card.
>
> Faster I will agree with. Unfortunately, the SPX board
> will not work with VWS (VAX Workstation Software), which
> I like very much. So, for me, it is not more useful.
Good point.
>> You simply replace one board with the other - if you remove the board
>> altogether, you get monochrome "GPX" from the motherboard. The GPX part
>> is VS40X-PA, while the SPX equivalent is WS01.
>
> Thanks for the part numbers. If I understand you correctly
> (reading between the lines and making some assumptions), the
> "bare" /76 gets you (single-plane? 4-plane?) monochrome
> GPX graphics. The VS40X-PA (GPX) board gets you 8-plane
> color (colour) graphics, and the WS01 (is that the whole
> part number?) gets you faster 8-plane color SPX graphics.
> Is this all correct? Does SPX gain you anything other
> than speed?
That is all correct, and the "bare" graphics is single-plane. SPX is also
higher-resolution, don't forget. And the early Trinitron monitors which were
compatible with this, were much better than the old fuzzy VR290/299s.
>
> Thanks to everyone who is helping me with all this. I've
> ordered the EK-VS31M-MG manual that Hoff mentioned, but
> the EK-331AA-AD addendum is no longer available. Does
> anyone out there have a copy?
>
> I also found the EK-VX31A-KT "VAXSTAT 3100/MOD 76 OWN/UP KIT"
> manual, which I have ordered. I don't know what it includes,
> but I should find out in a few weeks.
That might well cover the Model 38 -> Model 76 upgrade kit. I'm fairly
sure this manual was one of the ones available in Bookreader form on the
CONOLD CDs, until a year or so back (I can only see the VS4000 manuals
now).
Antonio Carlini
>Thanks to everyone who is helping me with all this. I've
>ordered the EK-VS31M-MG manual that Hoff mentioned, but
>the EK-331AA-AD addendum is no longer available. Does
>anyone out there have a copy?
I have an electronic copy of EK-331AA-AD (I don't how you can get this, or
even if you can). It is seven chapters or so each of which covers installation
of a specific option (disk drive and associated plate, tape drive, memory
etc.). Chapter 6 covers installation of a VS40X-PA (GPX module). Somewhat
condensed, the procedure is: remove upper drive plate (if present), remove
lower drive plate (if present), install graphics card, reverse previous
removals. There appear to be no switches to set on the GPX card (which is how
I recall it - only SPX has a pair of switches to check).
There are three VS3100-76 configurations that I recall:
no card: mono graphics, sold as VAXstation 3100 Model 76
GPX card: sold as VAXstation 3100 Model 76/GPX
SPX card: sold as VAXstation 3100 Model 76/SPX
If you bought an upgrade to the SPX you got a little "plastic sticker" that
said "SPX"; I presume a similar stick-on part existed for the GPX but I've
never seen one of those.
>I also found the EK-VX31A-KT "VAXSTAT 3100/MOD 76 OWN/UP KIT"
>manual, which I have ordered. I don't know what it includes,
>but I should find out in a few weeks.
I don't have a copy of that one but I guess it's just a "composite" kit
consisting of an Owner's Guide and an Upgrade guide (to what I wonder?).
Antonio
Antonio Carlini Mail: car...@marvin.reo.dec.com
DECnet-Plus for OpenVMS Engineering
COMPAQ Reading, UK
Alan Frisbie
car...@marvin.reo.dec.com (Antonio Carlini) writes:
Indeed it is (it arrived today). The kit contains a 7" x 9"
three-ring binder, two "customer letters" with suggested
SYSGEN parameter settings, and two manuals:
EK-VX31M-UG VAXstation 3100 Model 76 Owner's Guide
EK-VX31M-CG VAXstation 3100 Model 76 Upgrade Guide
The Maintenance Guide (EK-VS31M-MG) fits nicely in the same binder.
I don't understand why two of the manuals have "VX" in the part
number, and the other has "VS".
In the Maintenance Guide, there is also a reference to the
SPX Graphics Coprocessor Maintenance Guide (EK-WS01X-MS).
Douglas S. Meade
Bill Jackson
color graphics. The SPX and GPX would work on all of them. (the GPX also
came in a monochrome 4-plane version, but there weren't many of those sold)
The VS3100 Model 76 had no on-board graphics and only had off-board GPX or
SPX. I think most of them shipped with SPX graphics except for those
configs that had VWS and not DECwindows.
The SPX had many fewer parts on it and a switch, that's the easiest way to
tell them apart. The GPX had lots of ZIP memory chips on it as the frame
buffer (the 4-plane version had half as many as the 8-plane version)
Alan Frisbie wrote in message
<1999Mar19....@flying-disk.spamblock.com>...
Bill Jackson
Antonio Carlini wrote in message <7d5n4j$d16$2...@nntpd.lkg.dec.com>...
>
>There are three VS3100-76 configurations that I recall:
>
>no card: mono graphics, sold as VAXstation 3100 Model 76
>GPX card: sold as VAXstation 3100 Model 76/GPX
>SPX card: sold as VAXstation 3100 Model 76/SPX
If I remember correctly, the Model 76 had no on-motherboard graphics,
everything was on a daughter card. The only configurations that were sold
had GPX or SPX cards in them.
>
>If you bought an upgrade to the SPX you got a little "plastic sticker" that
>said "SPX"; I presume a similar stick-on part existed for the GPX but I've
>never seen one of those.
>
there was never any GPX sticker, we chose not to make it.
Antonio Carlini
>
>Antonio Carlini wrote in message <7d5n4j$d16$2...@nntpd.lkg.dec.com>...
>
>>
>>There are three VS3100-76 configurations that I recall:
>>
>>no card: mono graphics, sold as VAXstation 3100 Model 76
>>GPX card: sold as VAXstation 3100 Model 76/GPX
>>SPX card: sold as VAXstation 3100 Model 76/SPX
>
>If I remember correctly, the Model 76 had no on-motherboard graphics,
>everything was on a daughter card. The only configurations that were sold
>had GPX or SPX cards in them.
The VS3100-76 in the lab looks like it has mono graphics. I am sure that I
have run a VAXstation 3100 M76 in monochrome mode but I cannot verify that as
all the monitors I have here seem to be colour!
John Laird
> The VS3100 Model s 30, 40, 38 and 48 had on-board monochrome and off-board
> color graphics. The SPX and GPX would work on all of them. (the GPX also
> came in a monochrome 4-plane version, but there weren't many of those sold)
>
> The VS3100 Model 76 had no on-board graphics and only had off-board GPX or
> SPX. I think most of them shipped with SPX graphics except for those
> configs that had VWS and not DECwindows.
Not so. We had a 3100/76 with no graphics card and it did b/w graphics
(not very quickly, and a waste of a fairly good CPU). We also had a 3100/38
with an SPX card.
Five minutes with a screwdriver and we now have a 3100/76 SPX and a 3100/38...
Richard Jordan
> SPX. I think most of them shipped with SPX graphics except for those
> configs that had VWS and not DECwindows.
>
head option as being available for the VS3100m76; my understanding was
that this used a special cable that sent the built-in mono signal to one
monitor and the color option signal to the other.
Unless the GPX and SPX option boards also contained a mono frame buffer,
how could the dual head option have worked on the m76 without the basic
built in mono buffer?
Rich Jordan
rjo...@mcs.net
Bill Jackson
Richard Jordan wrote in message <7f4r4q$id5$1...@Mars.mcs.net>...
Hmmm..... I had thought that the Model 76 was with no graphics. (based on
who did the design of the box, it wasn't the guys who did the other
VS3100's) Damned, the memory is fading fast, that WAS one of the products
that I launched.
As for the dual-head cable, you're right. All they are is splitters. The
connector on the back of the box caries both the Monchrome and color signals
on it. You can build the cable by getting a piece of coax, a male and
female d-sub connector and a soldering iron. Everything goes through except
the pins to the monochrome monitor. Then tell the software to turn on the
extra head and you're all done.
Fred Kleinsorge
>
> Richard Jordan wrote in message <7f4r4q$id5$1...@Mars.mcs.net>...
> >> The VS3100 Model 76 had no on-board graphics and only had off-board GPX
> or
> >> SPX. I think most of them shipped with SPX graphics except for those
> >> configs that had VWS and not DECwindows.
> >>
>
>
> Hmmm..... I had thought that the Model 76 was with no graphics. (based on
> who did the design of the box, it wasn't the guys who did the other
> VS3100's) Damned, the memory is fading fast, that WAS one of the products
> that I launched.
>
My memory of this is that all of the 3100's, including the VS3100-76
included the monochrome FB onboard (hmmm. Let me remember, this was the
RigelMax, aka Panther). There was never a major respin of the basic
3100 design. So if you had a cable splitter, you could bring out both
the mono and color signals. The GPX was the standard color graphics
unless you were looking for 3D capability. Of course, it was a long
time ago since I was writing console support for VMS on these things.
The next re-design of the VAX workstation (and the last) was the VS4000
included the LCG graphics in the memory controller. You then plugged in
one of the FB options to determine how many heads, or monitor type
(yup). Or you could plug in a respin of the SPX/G or GT option which
then replaced the LCG functionality. Later versions of the VS4000
dropped the LCG completely and required the SPX.