XLERB

Yes, but very out of practice at the moment! Irish tunes are my favorite.

I was getting a “x6” error code and discovered that there was a problem in the firehose cable that prevented data from being written to the floppy.

“I am holding: Safety sneakers, Sack of crackers”

I have ”Sorcerer” in the original box.

Fight on! K.F.G., as they say in my support group (Keep F'in Going!) I've been dealing with prostate cancer since November. Fighting the fatigue and other side effects. I've really appreciated the work you've done on Yesterday's News.

So… end of the story. Working, with the ancient floppy drive (now quieted down) and even the p-Code card working fine (so that wasn’t the cause of my problems). Quiet, seems to run cool enough. I won’t be running this system 24/7, by any means. (Wish I hadn’t given away the extra flat screen monitor we had kicking around the basement. That old CRT is heavy).

Will do that, thanks! .. This is a drive I bought from a guy as a spare back in 1988 or so and it’s been sitting in the basement in a box. The rails and related parts are right there to see. At least it works, unlike my original Shugart from the PEB combo sale from TI in 1984 or whenever that was. I feel like an archeologist. The guy I bought it from had a sticker on it saying “Dsk2” but it works as DSK1. I think he removed the jumper that made it DSK2.

I’ll defer to those who know more on this voltage regulator issue, but I do have a working disk drive so this is now a fully functioning spare system, albeit with a single ancient SSSD drive that makes some interesting sounds while in operation.

Thanks for the caution, I appreciate it. I’m going by the extensive discussion up-thread, and don’t plan to run this as my main box until I can make sure the cards aren’t running hot. I know it’s less than ideal, but I hope it will do. I’m counting on the fact that people have run BBS systems continuously this way without problems. I guess we have to live with the fact that TI made one of its more boneheaded decisions (out of many) to supply everything with 16v and 8v and then have the cards regulate that down. The other broken PEB will be my attempt to properly replace components on the original board, if I can manage to get them unsoldered. I have new capacitors and voltage regulators. That should occupy my next couple months. If that works, it’ll be the one that I feel comfortable using continually.

Yes! Clunking disk drive and all! Thanks to all who helped, especially jedimatt42 and insanemultitasker. IMG_2210.MOV

I still remember the “clunk” of the original Shugart drive that was my sole disk drive back in the day. I still have it in the basement - I should try it in this repaired PEB just to hear the sound again. (I mention the PEB so I won’t be off topic in my own thread 😇). By the way, it’s kind of funny that the Molex connector for the floppy drive (or whatever) has survived in these new power supplies. Kind of like how USB-A is still everywhere. I had a little trouble stuffing that hydra-headed bouquet of SATA and whatnot connectors into the PEB since I didn’t want to cut them off.

Wow! I imaged a new card with 3.1 and hit “Upgrade” and it went to 3.4 before I’d even seen this post. Rapid progress! And all my files got restored perfectly. One nice touch- In the “Files” tab on the webUI, I like the link-trail to “You are here” to replace the old ftp-style “one level up” button.

I got it all back together (managed to save the push-button switch with careful soldering and some epoxy glue to hold the joint securely), and it’s putting out the expected voltages. Still have to try my spare cards in it - 32K and disk controller for now. My only glitch is that the PSON pin didn’t seem to work properly, and I think it’s because the breakout board I bought has a built-in on/off switch that interferes with it. And of course that switch is inaccessible once I put the PEB back together. However, the “standby” pin seems to work when I wire it to the push-button switch. Except it works in reverse - the power is on when the push-button is disengaged, and off when it’s engaged, and only when the internal switch on the board is on. But that’ll do. Odd but seems to work. i kept the rocker switch from the new power supply and put it in the hole on the back of the PEB where the fuse holder used to be, after enlarging the opening to be a rectangle. I like the idea of being able to kill the power completely without unplugging it. Gee, I’ll miss the jet airplane sound when I turn it on now.

So following JediMatt42's lead, I am installing the ATX PSU and the breakout board in pretty much the same locations. I don't have a 3D printer so I cut up an old CD holder and put it where the plastic TI bracket was, and used a scrap of Plexiglas from a window repair to make a base for the breakout board. Now wiring the 115V socket and switch. That original push button switch is fragile - the lugs break off when I try to un-solder it. But I'll see what I can do. The fan from the new power supply had longer screws than the length or=f the TI bolts so I had to grind down the plastic on the corners of the fan housing but that will work. If the switch isn't usable, maybe one like this one - with a blue LED built in - would fit. But it might be hard because the old switch doesn't actually attach to the front panel, just protrudes through a hole.

Nice idea, maybe I will do that!