Main channel: First power up of the Plexus dual processor UNIX workstation (Patreon)

Published:

2024-05-26 18:47:41

Imported:

2024-06

Content

Hello my patrons! The first Plexus P/20 video went live yesterday and it's doing quite well from a view perspective. That's good as it can perhaps get some exposure to lead to people seeing it who might have knowledge about these Plexus machines. Someone commented on Part 1 who said they worked at Plexus as a Technical Marketer during the years this was being sold. Hopefully this can perhaps lead to some documentation for the machine.

I don't want to give any spoilers but in part 3 (which I've already shot) there are a lot of ups and downs -- and documentation is sorely needed.

In this second installment on the machine, it continues to be a fun journey. Here I service the power supplies and power it up, running into several road blocks along the way but so far, everything is solvable.

People have been finding little bits of info and I've been putting it on the Github repo: https://github.com/misterblack1/plexus-p20/tree/main

Have a poke around there including in the Docs directory for some neat stuff that was emailed to me.

Enjoy and thanks for the support!

PS: We have a discord server and channel on Usagi's server to discuss this machine: https://discord.gg/rRhUCqWv

Direct link: https://youtu.be/lCPZAYvk940

Files

First power up of the Plexus dual processor UNIX server (Plexus P/20)

In our second installment of the Plexus P/20 series, it's time to try to power-up this old machine and see if we can get it to show some signs of life. Machines like this can be complex, so without any documentation or information about it, I'll have to do a lot of figuring things out as I go. Part 1: https://youtu.be/iltZYXg5hZw Part 2: This part! -- Links My Github Repo (with ROM dumps, technical information and images) https://github.com/misterblack1/plexus-p20 Plexus P/20 Brochure: http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/plexus/brochures/Plexus_P15_P20_Brochure_1985.pdf Plexus Unix: http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/plexus/brochures/Plexus_SYS_5.2_Brochure_1985.pdf MFM emulator: https://www.pdp8online.com/mfm/mfm_old.shtml Fujitsu Hard Drive Brochure: https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_fujitsubro1984_2565589 Omti 5200 Manual: https://oldcomputers.dyndns.org/public/pub/roms/omti-5400/omti_5000_series_reference_aug85.pdf Adrian's Digital Basement Merch store: https://my-store-c82bd2-2.creator-spring.com/ Adrian's Digital Basement ][ (Second Channel) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbtwi4wK1YXd9AyV_4UcE6g Support the channel on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/adriansdigitalbasement My GitHub repository: https://github.com/misterblack1?tab=repositories -- Tools Deoxit D5: https://amzn.to/2VvOKy1 http://store.caig.com/s.nl/it.A/id.1602/.f O-Ring Pick Set: (I use these to lift chips off boards) https://amzn.to/3a9x54J Elenco Electronics LP-560 Logic Probe: https://amzn.to/2VrT5lW Hakko FR301 Desoldering Iron: https://amzn.to/2ye6xC0 Rigol DS1054Z Four Channel Oscilloscope: https://www.rigolna.com/products/digital-oscilloscopes/1000z/ Head Worn Magnifying Goggles / Dual Lens Flip-In Head Magnifier: https://amzn.to/3adRbuy TL866II Plus Chip Tester and EPROM programmer: (The MiniPro) https://amzn.to/2wG4tlP https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33000308958.html TS100 Soldering Iron: https://amzn.to/2K36dJ5 https://www.ebay.com/itm/TS100-65W-MINI-Digital-OLED-Programmable-Soldering-Iron-Anti-static-Structure/113382669853 EEVBlog 121GW Multimeter: https://www.eevblog.com/product/121gw/ DSLogic Basic Logic Analyzer: https://amzn.to/2RDSDQw https://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-Logic-DSLogic-Basic-Analyzer-16Ch-100MHz-4Ch-400MHz-Xilinx-Spartan-6-FPGA/202543965672 Magnetic Screw Holder: https://amzn.to/3b8LOhG https://www.harborfreight.com/4-inch-magnetic-parts-tray-90566.html Universal ZIP sockets: (clones, used on my ZIF-64 test machine) https://www.ebay.com/itm/14-16-18-20-24-28-32-40-pin-IC-Test-Universal-ZIF-Socket-Fs/303206721971 RetroTink 2X Upconverter: (to hook up something like a C64 to HDMI) http://www.retrotink.com/ Plato (Clone) Side Cutters: (order five) https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-2-5-10PCS-Micro-Scissor-125mm-PLATO-170-Electronics-Cutter-Side-Cutting-Pliers/163458746184 Heat Sinks: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32537183709.html Little squeezy bottles: (available elsewhere too) https://amzn.to/3b8LOOI --- Instructional videos My video on damage-free chip removal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQVjwPsVFd8 --- Music Intro music and other tracks by: Nathan Divino @itsnathandivino