The collected works of Lupin_the_3rd

I'm looking for a DEC Multia VX42 (233 Mhz Alpha processor) that is in excellent condition, and ideally has maxed out memory of 256 MB. Must be clean and in great shape, having the vertical stand is also a bonus.

Thanks

Yes I already own a DS10, an XP1000, a PWS500au, and a 264DP. All with maximum CPU and memory configuration. You could say I'm an Alpha geek.

Mostly I'm looking for something with Alpha processor that I can tinker with that doesn't eat lots of power and make lots of heat like these other machines do.

Gentoo Linux on all of them. I have installation discs for Tru64 5.1 and OpenVMS 7.3 and am experienced in both. But I find Gentoo Linux to be more flexible, and support more up to date modern software, resulting in a more useful machine. It also has software RAID, so I can mirror the disks, and better 3rd party hardware support for USB2 and Firewire 800 PCI cards, SCSI cards, Gig-E cards, etc.

I'd like to get a DS15, but they're outside of my budget still. Some day.

No, I don't run renderman. I use the alphas mostly as hobby machines these days, with the exception of the XP1000 which has a bunch of Firewire 800 drives hanging off it, and its serving them up via NFS.

With the Alpha's awesome FPU performance, I always wondered why projects like F@H didn't ever release an alpha/linux client. I had racks full of the newest Alphas at my disposal in the early 2000's.

I've decided to part with my Indy. It's loaded.

- Sony power supply with fan mod & adjustable fan speed controller
- Very good clean skin, an occasional minor scuff, but very presentable
- R5000 SC processor @ 180 Mhz
- 256 MB of RAM
- XZ graphics board set, and also a 24 bit graphics board as a spare.
- 36 GB 10k rpm SCSI drive (SCA, w/ adapter)
- Both hard drive brackets
- Original SCSI and power cables for drives
- Updated RTC / battery
- 13w3 SGI to VGA adapter, so you can use a standard PC monitor

I'm asking $100 for it. Free local pickup in Washington, DC metro area. $40 Fedex ground shipping to lower 48 states. Inquire about shipping elsewhere, but due to size and weight, it's likely cost prohibitive. Cash, check, Paypal all accepted.

I pulled this from one of my old SS 20's. I no longer have the SS20, so I can't boot up and see the cpu type and speed. It isn't marked on the hardware. Anyone know what this is? Obviously it's a dual-CPU module. There's a 100 Mhz crystal on the board, does that mean 100 Mhz CPU's? Any leads are appreciated.

How do you figure CEO's everywhere are crooks? Make no mistake, there's a fair share of incompetence out there. Look at General Motors for example, a shining example of executive stupidity. But each turd, there are plenty of talented competent executives.

On the subject of HP, that fail boat has been sinking for over a decade now. It started with the Compaq merger, burial of Alpha in favor of Itanium, and followed by a long string of failed mergers, poor investments, and mass layoffs. I know exactly how rotten that company is - I worked for them for many years. I wouldn't go back if they begged me.


Huh? I'm pretty sure Obama and his cronies have been at the helm for right about 4 years now, making poor decisions that hurt everyone. But really, what do you expect from a politician from Chicago, the most politically corrupt city in the nation? Corruption breeds more corruption, and right now, it's rotten all the way to the top.

I just listed my loaded Indy over here:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=16727360

Gentoo works well on IA64. In case you aren't familiar, Gentoo compiles all the packages on your machine, so you get binaries built just for your hardware. I love it on my DEC Alpha's.

Were those things available for Alpha? I don't remember them if they were. Or are you installing the x86 version and running them with the fx32 emulator?

No tips, but I used to have a UP2000 which I think takes the same psu as a DS10. There's a DS10 PSU on ebay right now. Might be cheaper/easier to replace than to repair. I looked into custom PSU for these machines a few years back, and unfortunately, these machines are very heavy on the 3.3v rail, and light on 5v and 12v. Pretty much the opposite of what the peecee industry is doing, so there is no COTS product that can be modified to work, unfortunately.

That's a great link, thank you!

For sure. I'd love a Tadpole AlphaBook. The Sparcbooks do come up on ebay every now and again.

Not wanting to ship an Octane, I fully understand. Big, very heavy, etc. But not wanting to ship a CPU chip is just lazy. Small, doesn't weight much, international shipping won't be more than $20 on it.

Lol, so did I. That is one unhealthy looking psu.

Cool, I used to support a bunch of Intergraph CAD workstations ~12 years ago, and they all used 3dLabs Wildcat cards. Those were some serious hardware back then! There was even some bizarre multi-board cards, where one board plugged into AGP, and others into PCI, and a bridge ribbon cable between them.

Good luck with the sale.

Something I've been curious about, why the dearth of portable workstation class hardware? Try and find a portable laptop style computer that uses a 64 bit CPU, ECC memory, and SAS hard drives. They don't exist.

Sure there's the occasional model from General Dynamics and other defense contractors, but those are typically ruggedized hardware for military use, and they cost a small fortune.

But why is there nothing from Dell, IBM, or HP, that uses an Opteron or Xeon chip, ECC memory, and 2.5" SAS drives? I can build a desktop workstation with these specs for under ~$2k. Why is nothing at all out there in a portable form factor?

Battery life isn't going to be great of course, but currently there are monster gamer laptops with multiple high-end GPU's, 2 or 3 or 4 hard drives, large screens, etc. so it's not unheard of to build a consumer grade portable with high end hardware. As with these gamer laptops, they aren't meant for use on your lap, or in a coffee shop, they're more of a "luggable" than a true "laptop".

The current hardware out there today is positioned perfectly to build such a machine. Current server chips, at least from AMD, are available with TDP as low as 35 watts - on par with a consumer mobile chip, so that would work very nicely in a luggable workstation. Plus enterprise storage, 10k and 15k SAS drives have all moved to a 2.5" form factor, perfect for a mobile workstation.

Thanks for the interesting link, I had not heard of them before.

Looks like their only model with server chips is the "Panther 5SE". A couple show stoppers for me:

1. It says it "supports" ECC, but it uses SO-DIMM laptop memory, of which I've never seen ECC sticks available. Even their own configurator doesn't offer ECC sticks. So the ECC "support" is a sham, since ECC memory isn't available in that form factor, from them or anyone else.

2. It only supports intel Xeon chips, with the most power efficient being a 95w TDP. AMD has server chips with 45W and even 35W TDP - much better suited to a portable machine, IMO.

3. The disk interfaces are all SATA, not SAS.

An interesting link none the less. Know of any others?

1. Where does one buy these? All of the "Where to buy" links on their own web site do not list them for sale! These mythical ECC SO-DIMM's are very difficult to find. Do you have a link to an online store where they can actually be purchased?

2. No, opteron is not a quarter of the performance per watt. Current server chips like opteron or xeon are not the same as the consumer desktop chips, do a google search and read up on them.

3. You are confused about storage media vs. interface. I know it seems like a lot of acronyms, but these are two separate technology areas. SSD vs HDD is a separate discussion from SATA vs SAS interface.

I know there used to be several companies that offered portable workstation & server hardware, but I'm not familiar with who the players are today. Hence my inquiry. Because I am in the market for such a thing, if it can be had for a reasonable sum, say under $4k.