I am pleased to announce that we at LSSM have just gotten our VAX-11/780 up and running! Now we have to clean up the debugging and repair mess, clean up the cabling, arrange for a permanent system disk, etc, then we will declare it an "operational exhibit". Once that's done, it will be on HECnet whenever it's up and running. Of course all are welcome to come to LSSM in person and run the machine. (feel the rumble in the floor, etc) -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
Congratulations! Bob Roswell broswell@syssrc.com 410-771-5544 ext 4336 Computer Museum Highlights -----Original Message----- From: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic-bounces@lists.vcfed.org> On Behalf Of Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2025 10:54 PM To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> Cc: Dave McGuire <mcguire@neurotica.com> Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] LSSM VAX-11/780 success I am pleased to announce that we at LSSM have just gotten our VAX-11/780 up and running! Now we have to clean up the debugging and repair mess, clean up the cabling, arrange for a permanent system disk, etc, then we will declare it an "operational exhibit". Once that's done, it will be on HECnet whenever it's up and running. Of course all are welcome to come to LSSM in person and run the machine. (feel the rumble in the floor, etc) -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
Thank you Bob! It was an emotional thing for me personally as well. All my life I've been a "DEC guy"; I've had VAXen (sometimes big ones) at home since I was 20 years old, 36 years ago, almost as long as I've had PDP-8s and PDP-11s. My first "real" industry job was as an admin on a set of VAXen, one of which was an 11/750. But until yesterday, I had never been in the same room as a running 11/780. Checking off that bucket list item felt great. -Dave On 11/26/25 23:10, Bob Roswell via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Congratulations!
Bob Roswell broswell@syssrc.com 410-771-5544 ext 4336
Computer Museum Highlights
-----Original Message----- From: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic-bounces@lists.vcfed.org> On Behalf Of Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2025 10:54 PM To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> Cc: Dave McGuire <mcguire@neurotica.com> Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] LSSM VAX-11/780 success
I am pleased to announce that we at LSSM have just gotten our VAX-11/780 up and running!
Now we have to clean up the debugging and repair mess, clean up the cabling, arrange for a permanent system disk, etc, then we will declare it an "operational exhibit". Once that's done, it will be on HECnet whenever it's up and running.
Of course all are welcome to come to LSSM in person and run the machine. (feel the rumble in the floor, etc)
-Dave
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
Wow! I look forward to my next visit. Well done Dave and team Bill On Thu, Nov 27, 2025 at 8:40 AM Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Thank you Bob! It was an emotional thing for me personally as well. All my life I've been a "DEC guy"; I've had VAXen (sometimes big ones) at home since I was 20 years old, 36 years ago, almost as long as I've had PDP-8s and PDP-11s. My first "real" industry job was as an admin on a set of VAXen, one of which was an 11/750. But until yesterday, I had never been in the same room as a running 11/780. Checking off that bucket list item felt great.
-Dave
On 11/26/25 23:10, Bob Roswell via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Congratulations!
Bob Roswell broswell@syssrc.com 410-771-5544 ext 4336
Computer Museum Highlights
-----Original Message----- From: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic-bounces@lists.vcfed.org> On Behalf Of Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2025 10:54 PM To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> Cc: Dave McGuire <mcguire@neurotica.com> Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] LSSM VAX-11/780 success
I am pleased to announce that we at LSSM have just gotten our VAX-11/780 up and running!
Now we have to clean up the debugging and repair mess, clean up the cabling, arrange for a permanent system disk, etc, then we will declare it an "operational exhibit". Once that's done, it will be on HECnet whenever it's up and running.
Of course all are welcome to come to LSSM in person and run the machine. (feel the rumble in the floor, etc)
-Dave
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
Dave, Congrats, that's awesome! No small feat there. Thanks, Jonathan On Wednesday, November 26th, 2025 at 22:54, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
I am pleased to announce that we at LSSM have just gotten our VAX-11/780 up and running!
Now we have to clean up the debugging and repair mess, clean up the cabling, arrange for a permanent system disk, etc, then we will declare it an "operational exhibit". Once that's done, it will be on HECnet whenever it's up and running.
Of course all are welcome to come to LSSM in person and run the machine. (feel the rumble in the floor, etc)
-Dave
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
Thanks! Yeah this one took a lot of work from like six people over several years. The poor machine was a disaster that had quite a few hardware problems. But seeing those boot messages last night was the big reward! -Dave On 11/27/25 09:29, Jonathan Chapman via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Dave,
Congrats, that's awesome! No small feat there.
Thanks, Jonathan
On Wednesday, November 26th, 2025 at 22:54, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
I am pleased to announce that we at LSSM have just gotten our VAX-11/780 up and running!
Now we have to clean up the debugging and repair mess, clean up the cabling, arrange for a permanent system disk, etc, then we will declare it an "operational exhibit". Once that's done, it will be on HECnet whenever it's up and running.
Of course all are welcome to come to LSSM in person and run the machine. (feel the rumble in the floor, etc)
-Dave
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
Congrats, Dave! There’s a special place in my heart for VAXen, as the 11/785 was the first mini I used in college, outside of the IBM System 34 in high school. VMS and VT terminals were a pleasure to use in comparison. On Thu, Nov 27, 2025 at 09:59 Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Thanks! Yeah this one took a lot of work from like six people over several years. The poor machine was a disaster that had quite a few hardware problems. But seeing those boot messages last night was the big reward!
-Dave
On 11/27/25 09:29, Jonathan Chapman via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Dave,
Congrats, that's awesome! No small feat there.
Thanks, Jonathan
On Wednesday, November 26th, 2025 at 22:54, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
I am pleased to announce that we at LSSM have just gotten our VAX-11/780 up and running!
Now we have to clean up the debugging and repair mess, clean up the cabling, arrange for a permanent system disk, etc, then we will declare it an "operational exhibit". Once that's done, it will be on HECnet whenever it's up and running.
Of course all are welcome to come to LSSM in person and run the machine. (feel the rumble in the floor, etc)
-Dave
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
Well we've got both, more or less; the 785 is a slightly faster respin of the 780. (7.5MHz clock, rather than 5MHz) We have a few S/34s, one on the exhibit floor that runs great. You should definitely come out for a visit. -Dave On 11/27/25 14:02, Dean Notarnicola wrote:
Congrats, Dave! There’s a special place in my heart for VAXen, as the 11/785 was the first mini I used in college, outside of the IBM System 34 in high school. VMS and VT terminals were a pleasure to use in comparison.
On Thu, Nov 27, 2025 at 09:59 Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf- midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote:
Thanks! Yeah this one took a lot of work from like six people over several years. The poor machine was a disaster that had quite a few hardware problems. But seeing those boot messages last night was the big reward!
-Dave
On 11/27/25 09:29, Jonathan Chapman via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > Dave, > > Congrats, that's awesome! No small feat there. > > Thanks, > Jonathan > > On Wednesday, November 26th, 2025 at 22:54, Dave McGuire via vcf- midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf- midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote: > >> >> >> >> I am pleased to announce that we at LSSM have just gotten our >> VAX-11/780 up and running! >> >> Now we have to clean up the debugging and repair mess, clean up the >> cabling, arrange for a permanent system disk, etc, then we will declare >> it an "operational exhibit". Once that's done, it will be on HECnet >> whenever it's up and running. >> >> Of course all are welcome to come to LSSM in person and run the >> machine. (feel the rumble in the floor, etc) >> >> -Dave >> >> -- >> Dave McGuire, AK4HZ >> New Kensington, PA
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
Dave, Congratulations to you, and the six others involved in the restoration of that machine, on a successful system bring up! I greatly anticipate seeing it next time I'm in your neck of the woods. Thanks, Andrew Mattera
On Nov 27, 2025, at 20:44, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Well we've got both, more or less; the 785 is a slightly faster respin of the 780. (7.5MHz clock, rather than 5MHz) We have a few S/34s, one on the exhibit floor that runs great. You should definitely come out for a visit.
-Dave
On 11/27/25 14:02, Dean Notarnicola wrote: Congrats, Dave! There’s a special place in my heart for VAXen, as the 11/785 was the first mini I used in college, outside of the IBM System 34 in high school. VMS and VT terminals were a pleasure to use in comparison. On Thu, Nov 27, 2025 at 09:59 Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf- midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote: Thanks! Yeah this one took a lot of work from like six people over several years. The poor machine was a disaster that had quite a few hardware problems. But seeing those boot messages last night was the big reward! -Dave On 11/27/25 09:29, Jonathan Chapman via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > Dave, > > Congrats, that's awesome! No small feat there. > > Thanks, > Jonathan > > On Wednesday, November 26th, 2025 at 22:54, Dave McGuire via vcf- midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf- midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote: > >> >> >> >> I am pleased to announce that we at LSSM have just gotten our >> VAX-11/780 up and running! >> >> Now we have to clean up the debugging and repair mess, clean up the >> cabling, arrange for a permanent system disk, etc, then we will declare >> it an "operational exhibit". Once that's done, it will be on HECnet >> whenever it's up and running. >> >> Of course all are welcome to come to LSSM in person and run the >> machine. (feel the rumble in the floor, etc) >> >> -Dave >> >> -- >> Dave McGuire, AK4HZ >> New Kensington, PA -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
Thanks Andrew! You can run it the next time you visit. Remember I have those boxes here for you, let me know if you want me to ship them over. -Dave On 11/28/25 06:00, Andrew Mattera wrote:
Dave,
Congratulations to you, and the six others involved in the restoration of that machine, on a successful system bring up! I greatly anticipate seeing it next time I'm in your neck of the woods.
Thanks, Andrew Mattera
On Nov 27, 2025, at 20:44, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Well we've got both, more or less; the 785 is a slightly faster respin of the 780. (7.5MHz clock, rather than 5MHz) We have a few S/34s, one on the exhibit floor that runs great. You should definitely come out for a visit.
-Dave
On 11/27/25 14:02, Dean Notarnicola wrote: Congrats, Dave! There’s a special place in my heart for VAXen, as the 11/785 was the first mini I used in college, outside of the IBM System 34 in high school. VMS and VT terminals were a pleasure to use in comparison. On Thu, Nov 27, 2025 at 09:59 Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf- midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote: Thanks! Yeah this one took a lot of work from like six people over several years. The poor machine was a disaster that had quite a few hardware problems. But seeing those boot messages last night was the big reward! -Dave On 11/27/25 09:29, Jonathan Chapman via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > Dave, > > Congrats, that's awesome! No small feat there. > > Thanks, > Jonathan > > On Wednesday, November 26th, 2025 at 22:54, Dave McGuire via vcf- midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf- midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote: > >> >> >> >> I am pleased to announce that we at LSSM have just gotten our >> VAX-11/780 up and running! >> >> Now we have to clean up the debugging and repair mess, clean up the >> cabling, arrange for a permanent system disk, etc, then we will declare >> it an "operational exhibit". Once that's done, it will be on HECnet >> whenever it's up and running. >> >> Of course all are welcome to come to LSSM in person and run the >> machine. (feel the rumble in the floor, etc) >> >> -Dave >> >> -- >> Dave McGuire, AK4HZ >> New Kensington, PA -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
Dave, Looking forwards to it, will honestly be my first experience with any VAXen. I hope to make a trip out your way sometime in January. But you can go ahead and ship those boxes in the meantime. send me an email for my shipping address and we'll get this worked out. Thanks, Andrew Mattera
On Nov 29, 2025, at 09:57, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Thanks Andrew! You can run it the next time you visit.
Remember I have those boxes here for you, let me know if you want me to ship them over.
-Dave
On 11/28/25 06:00, Andrew Mattera wrote: Dave, Congratulations to you, and the six others involved in the restoration of that machine, on a successful system bring up! I greatly anticipate seeing it next time I'm in your neck of the woods. Thanks, Andrew Mattera
On Nov 27, 2025, at 20:44, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Well we've got both, more or less; the 785 is a slightly faster respin of the 780. (7.5MHz clock, rather than 5MHz) We have a few S/34s, one on the exhibit floor that runs great. You should definitely come out for a visit.
-Dave
On 11/27/25 14:02, Dean Notarnicola wrote: Congrats, Dave! There’s a special place in my heart for VAXen, as the 11/785 was the first mini I used in college, outside of the IBM System 34 in high school. VMS and VT terminals were a pleasure to use in comparison. On Thu, Nov 27, 2025 at 09:59 Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf- midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote: Thanks! Yeah this one took a lot of work from like six people over several years. The poor machine was a disaster that had quite a few hardware problems. But seeing those boot messages last night was the big reward! -Dave On 11/27/25 09:29, Jonathan Chapman via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > Dave, > > Congrats, that's awesome! No small feat there. > > Thanks, > Jonathan > > On Wednesday, November 26th, 2025 at 22:54, Dave McGuire via vcf- midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf- midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote: > >> >> >> >> I am pleased to announce that we at LSSM have just gotten our >> VAX-11/780 up and running! >> >> Now we have to clean up the debugging and repair mess, clean up the >> cabling, arrange for a permanent system disk, etc, then we will declare >> it an "operational exhibit". Once that's done, it will be on HECnet >> whenever it's up and running. >> >> Of course all are welcome to come to LSSM in person and run the >> machine. (feel the rumble in the floor, etc) >> >> -Dave >> >> -- >> Dave McGuire, AK4HZ >> New Kensington, PA -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
Hi Dmitry, thank you, and it's good to hear from you! Extenders for these machines aren't too bad. They are the same form-factor as Unibus boards except taller; you can cascade two hex extenders to make the boards accessible. -Dave On 11/27/25 20:30, Dmitry _ wrote:
Very nicely done, and really impressive work. This is why I was eyeing down a 18" Mitutoyo caliper for a little bit now. Making a prototyping extender for a machine like this would be an invaluable troubleshooting tool.
---------------- To: vcf-midatlantic (vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org); Cc: Dave McGuire (mcguire@neurotica.com); Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] LSSM VAX-11/780 success; 26.11.2025, 22:55, "Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic" <vcf- midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>:
I am pleased to announce that we at LSSM have just gotten our VAX-11/780 up and running!
Now we have to clean up the debugging and repair mess, clean up the cabling, arrange for a permanent system disk, etc, then we will declare it an "operational exhibit". Once that's done, it will be on HECnet whenever it's up and running.
Of course all are welcome to come to LSSM in person and run the machine. (feel the rumble in the floor, etc)
-Dave
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
Hi, I am trying to understand the disk layout for a NCR Deskmate CP/M system for a friend. The image file is 320k, 40 track, 2 head, 8 sector per track, 512 byte sectors. It appears the image file is laid out as side 0 then side 1 instead of the normal layout of Track 0, head 0 followed by Track 0, head 1. If I examine the image as used by the system, the directory starts at 6000h. If I sort the image file in track order so the side 0 is first followed by side 1, then the Directory starts at 3000h. I’m using STAT.COM as a test case for extraction since I have a known good copy to compare the extracted version. The directory lists Allocation blocks as 4d, 4e, and 4f. STAT.COM is 6,144 bytes using 8k on the disk on my PC. Three allocation blocks would support a 2k ALB size. Using 0x4D, STAT.COM should start at offset 29800h (77 * 2048 + 12288 = 169984 (29800h), ALB * ALB Size + Directory Start). No so lucky. I searched the binary image for the first few bytes in STAT.COM and found it at offset 1E800. Does anyone have a good understanding of the disk organization? Thanks, Darrell CPM_2-2-03_DISTRIBUTION_1.IMG CP/M DISK IMAGE === ======== === ==== ========= Usr FILE EXT SIZE FLAGS === ======== === ==== ========= 0 ASM COM 8.0 0 ASSIGN COM 2.0 0 BIOS SYS 5.0 R/O S 0 CONFIGUR COM 14.0 0 DDT COM 5.0 0 DUP COM 5.0 0 ED COM 7.0 0 FORMAT COM 6.0 0 LOAD COM 2.0 0 MOVCPM17 COM 11.0 0 PIP COM 8.0 0 STAT COM 6.0 0 SUBMIT COM 2.0 0 SYSGEN COM 2.0 0 XSUB COM 1.0 === ======== === ==== ========= Files 15, Total 84 K, Free 16 K, Disk Size 100 k Total Files 15, Total File Size 84 K
On 11/26/25 9:54 PM, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
I am pleased to announce that we at LSSM have just gotten our VAX-11/780 up and running!
Now we have to clean up the debugging and repair mess, clean up the cabling, arrange for a permanent system disk, etc, then we will declare it an "operational exhibit". Once that's done, it will be on HECnet whenever it's up and running.
Of course all are welcome to come to LSSM in person and run the machine. (feel the rumble in the floor, etc)
Congratulations! -- Eric Dittman
Nice job- Dave was this that hulking 780 that was at infoage for years? -andy
On Nov 26, 2025, at 10:54 PM, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
I am pleased to announce that we at LSSM have just gotten our VAX-11/780 up and running!
Now we have to clean up the debugging and repair mess, clean up the cabling, arrange for a permanent system disk, etc, then we will declare it an "operational exhibit". Once that's done, it will be on HECnet whenever it's up and running.
Of course all are welcome to come to LSSM in person and run the machine. (feel the rumble in the floor, etc)
-Dave
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
Thanks! No, and that was a 785, which came from here. -Dave On 11/30/25 11:03, Andrew Diller wrote:
Nice job- Dave was this that hulking 780 that was at infoage for years?
-andy
On Nov 26, 2025, at 10:54 PM, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
I am pleased to announce that we at LSSM have just gotten our VAX-11/780 up and running!
Now we have to clean up the debugging and repair mess, clean up the cabling, arrange for a permanent system disk, etc, then we will declare it an "operational exhibit". Once that's done, it will be on HECnet whenever it's up and running.
Of course all are welcome to come to LSSM in person and run the machine. (feel the rumble in the floor, etc)
-Dave
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
participants (10)
-
Andrew Diller -
Andrew Mattera -
Bill Degnan -
Bob Roswell -
Dave McGuire -
Dean Notarnicola -
Dmitry _ -
dpelan＠woh.rr.com -
Eric Dittman -
Jonathan Chapman