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DECstation 320SX scored today

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    #1

    DECstation 320SX scored today

    Today was interesting, my neighbor gave me three computers, the most interesting was this DECstation 320sx.

    It has a bad hard drive, but booted up to the bios. It's complete, has a 1.44mb drive, will very soon have a 5.25" drive, and I am seriously thinking of replacing the hdd with one of those nifty little IDE-SD adapters (the other one is still up in the air, waiting on parts still). I have a video uploading of it now, it's taki nits time to upload.

    Anyway, the other two machines are a PB 386 that has already been partially stripped, and a custom built 486 with a PCChips mainboard in it. The bios is shot, it's giving garbage data in the shape of a bios setup screen. It's a pretty neat board, it has what looks like VESA slots in it with two cards in there. I might or might not mess with that machine, getting a-hold of a BIOS flash utility on a floppy disk is near impossible for me now.

    The DECstation is the best of the bunch. It's got some 72-pin simm ram, with room for 30-pin simms in it, I've already set the 5.25 drive in place just haven't hooked anything up. The harddrives in the other two might help this one out, so I'll do that before I order anything else (thinking of the SD adapter).

    It's a really nice machine, has some upgrade options. I'm going to see if the sound card from the other one (CT1600) can be made to work in it. There are three free ISA slots. The DECstation is what I will concentrate on. The other two are far less interesting.

    /edit Just took some pictures, and I was mistaken about the memory, it's all 30-pin simms, I was thinking of one of the other machines. Pics coming!!

    /editagain pics!! https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...5717430&type=3
    Last edited by NathanAllan; September 18, 2012, 06:49 PM. Reason: details...
    The ancients knew *more* than us...
    http://www.legendarytimes.com/forum/index.php They're baaaack!

    Come and see http://www.gamegavel.com for all your gaming needs! We have Zero-ohm resistors!
    Tags: None
    #2
    Originally posted by NathanAllan View Post
    Today was interesting, my neighbor gave me three computers, the most interesting was this DECstation 320sx.
    Nice score! I looked at the Wikipedia article, and it says "These computers were not built by Digital, but by Tandy Corporation in the United States and Olivetti in Europe. At the time of introduction, Digital offered a trade-in program for owners of its earlier x86, but PC incompatible, computer, the Rainbow 100." I wonder how common these are.

    BTW, the picture link you posted is not available to the public.
    WANTED: Cardinal 2450MNP modem.

    Comment

      #3
      GAH! I'll re-upload them. Try now:

      https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/1...47462279272625
      The ancients knew *more* than us...
      http://www.legendarytimes.com/forum/index.php They're baaaack!

      Come and see http://www.gamegavel.com for all your gaming needs! We have Zero-ohm resistors!

      Comment

        #4
        Originally posted by NathanAllan View Post
        GAH! I'll re-upload them. Try now:

        https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/1...47462279272625
        That works. That's a big mother board, does it have any particularly interesting functions?
        WANTED: Cardinal 2450MNP modem.

        Comment

          #5
          There don't appear to be; math co-processor, ISA slots, on-board video, jumper-able video, all pretty standard stuff. I still find it really interesting, regardless. The 386SX has corners that stick out, and it seems like a portable processor in a desktop, though I can't say for sure on that.

          It looks like a Tandy and I think I own it, too.
          The ancients knew *more* than us...
          http://www.legendarytimes.com/forum/index.php They're baaaack!

          Come and see http://www.gamegavel.com for all your gaming needs! We have Zero-ohm resistors!

          Comment

            #6
            Is that a socketed 386SX? I'd had a vague awareness that such a thing existed, but have never actually seen one before... I've only ever encountered the soldered QFP type.

            Comment

              #7
              Originally posted by Old Thrashbarg View Post
              Is that a socketed 386SX? I'd had a vague awareness that such a thing existed, but have never actually seen one before... I've only ever encountered the soldered QFP type.
              Yes, it's socketed, it's the first one I have ever had, too. It makes me think it's a portable processor, from a laptop or luggable.
              The ancients knew *more* than us...
              http://www.legendarytimes.com/forum/index.php They're baaaack!

              Come and see http://www.gamegavel.com for all your gaming needs! We have Zero-ohm resistors!

              Comment

                #8
                That looks identical to a Tandy 2500SX, except it just has knockout plugs on the back where the Tandy would have input and output jacks for its onboard PSSJ/DAC audio.

                Comment

                  #9
                  All this talk fo it looking like a Tandy 2500SX made me dig out the Tandy and take more pictures, you guys here and facebook and even Youtube got my OCD nerves tingling. YEP! They're almost identical. Motherboards are different, but the cases are totally the same.

                  https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/1...98795136340721
                  The ancients knew *more* than us...
                  http://www.legendarytimes.com/forum/index.php They're baaaack!

                  Come and see http://www.gamegavel.com for all your gaming needs! We have Zero-ohm resistors!

                  Comment

                    #10
                    This is a bit of a cross-post, but has anyone got the setup/bios util used to set the system config for these guys?

                    Comment

                      #11
                      Setup dsk

                      Originally posted by uridium View Post
                      This is a bit of a cross-post, but has anyone got the setup/bios util used to set the system config for these guys?

                      Haven’t tested this in my DECstation 316sx, but seems to be the setup boot disk

                      http://unimatrix.gomtuu.net/DEC_lega...l/epid103.html

                      http://unimatrix.gomtuu.net/DEC_lega...s/UG43316C.EXE for the 316sx
                      http://unimatrix.gomtuu.net/DEC_lega...s/UG43320C.EXE for the 320sx

                      Comment

                        #12
                        Setup utility for DECstation

                        http://unimatrix.gomtuu.net/DEC_lega...l/epid103.html

                        http://unimatrix.gomtuu.net/DEC_lega...s/UG43320C.EXE for DECstation 320sx
                        http://unimatrix.gomtuu.net/DEC_lega...s/UG43316C.EXE for DECstation 316sx

                        Comment

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