Welcome to VAX
Well, it’s time to try a new retrocomputing effort.
I’ve recently picked up several old (late 1980s, early 1990s) era Digital VAX computers and am learning how to develop software for them.
Although they each are technically desktop computers - with available mice and desktop graphical envioronments - I am using them as headless serial terminal servers and network servers, at least for the time being.
I’ve gotten four of these computers and they are all functional; I also have two terminals working from the contemperaneous era.
Computers:
- VAXstation 3100 Model 38
- VAXstation 4000 VLC with 24MB RAM
- VAXstation 4000/60 with 80MB RAM
- VAXstation 4000/96 with 128MB RAM
All of these are operational with ZuluSCSI drives. They have on-board graphics but I have not connected monitors to them. I simply use the serial console.
Terminals:
- Digital VT240
- Digital VT320
- Digital VT420 - damaged badly in transit, unknown if I can get it operational
I’m of course looking to get some more VAXes to add to this up and coming VAX cluster. I am also looking to get some more terminals, including a VT525 and a VT330. With that, a DEChub which would allow me to attach myriad VT terminals to a single VAXstation would be nice.
All have been able to properly boot OpenVMS 7.3 with TCP/IP. I have gotten DECnet working on a few of them.
So far, the VAXstation 4000/60 has been my daily driver, running VMS 7.3 (the last OpenVMS available for VAX). I am doing my hobby software development on there, focusing on single-server multi-user software using concepts like shared memory.
Sometimes it’s astounding how much capability we were able to pack into a handful of megabytes, with UIs that ran over 9600 baud terminals.
I have a MicroVAX as well, but due to its size I have not had the time and space to try to get it up and running VMS. The person I got it from had it running an open source operating system.`