DEC 3000/300X ("PELICAN+" )

 
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General Technical Information

HOSTNAME CASSIOPEIA
SYSTEM CPU DEC ALPHA "EV4" 21064 @175 MHz
CACHE (2nd, 1st D/I) 256 KB, 8 KB / 8 KB
RAM  256 MB (Max. 256 MB)
SYSTEM BUS WIDTH 64 bit
SCSI BUS 1 x SCSI-2 (10 MB/s) and a PMAZC-AA (Dual Channel SCSI-2 10 MB/s)
OPTION BUS 2 x Turbochannel slots @12.5 MHz
GRAPHICS Onboard 8-plane 1280x1024 @72Hz (similar to PMAGB-B) and PMAGD-AA 8-plane 1280x1024 @76Hz
HARD DISK DRIVE 1 GB 5400 RPM DEC RZ26
NETWORK 10 Mbps RJ45 (onboard ethernet) and ISDN
OS DEC OSF/1 V1.3A
YEAR 1993
SPEED 127 VAX MIPS
COMMENTS This machine will run older OSF/1 and OpenVMS very smoothly. It's a bit of a cost-down Alpha system, but I think it has a lot of personality, compared to the peecee-like Alphas.
PRICE '94 (basic configuration, 64 MB RAM, 1 GB SCSI disk, onboard graphics only) $10,500 (probably around $27,000 with 256MB RAM)

Bootlog Information


OSF boot - Tue Jun 29 19:37:08 EDT 1993

Loading vmunix ...
Current PAL Revision <0x10530>
Switching to OSF PALcode Succeeded
New PAL Revision <0x20123>
Loading into KSEG Address Space

Sizes:
text = 1677184
data = 381952
bss  = 411632
Starting at 0xfffffc0000232000

secondary cache was auto sized to 32 pages
Alpha boot: available memory from 0x712000 to 0xa000000
DEC OSF/1 V1.3A  (Rev. 112); Fri Jan 01 00:02:57 EET 1999
physical memory = 254.00 megabytes.
available memory = 237.89 megabytes.
using 975 buffers containing 7.61 megabytes of memory
tc0 at nexus
tcds0 at tc0 slot 4
asc0 at tcds0 slot 0
rz0 at asc0 bus 0 target 0 lun 0 (DEC     RZ26F    (C) DEC 1Q0A)
ln0: DEC LANCE Module Name: PMAD-BA
ln0 at tc0 slot 5
ln0: DEC LANCE Ethernet Interface, hardware address: 08:00:00:00:00:00
scc0 at tc0 slot 5
bba0 at tc0 slot 5
fb0 at tc0 slot 6
 1280X1024
tcds1 at tc0 slot 1
asc1 at tcds1 slot 0
asc2 at tcds1 slot 1
DEC3000 - M300 system
Firmware revision: 5.1
PALcode: OSF version 1.35
lvm0: configured.
lvm1: configured.

History and other comments

I got this machine in exchange for my SGI Challenge S, in October 2003. I wanted to trade in an older box because of the facts that this is a well equipped, top-of-the-line (of the 3000/300-family) DEC 3000 system in mint/nearly mint condition and I had no other TurboChannel Alpha systems at that time. Another thing adding value to this computer: the system came with a PMAZC-AA card. That's probably the best TurboChannel SCSI option card that was available for DECstations and DEC 3000 systems.

Out of curiosity I just had to try some really old version of DEC OSF/1, so I took my oldest one (at that time): V1.3A. It's running very fast on this system, and the look & feel is pretty much like good ol' ULTRIX. That version of OSF/1 didn't, however, support my PMAGD-AA, but no big deal, I just unplugged the card and used the onboard graphics, running just as well.

In late 2004 I upgraded RAM from the original 160 MB to the maximum, 256 MB. I took some SIMMs from my SGI Indigo2 and could verify that SGI SIMMs are fully compatible with DEC 3000 computers (that can take 72 pin SIMMs) and probably also compatible with some of the newer Alphas, if not all. The SGI SIMMs were 60ns Parity FPM SIMMs, while the original DEC SIMMs were the same but slightly slower, 70ns. This would probably mean that SGI Parity SIMMs work in DEC but not the other way around (if the higher speed is really used in SGI computers).

Despite my interest in this computer it was sold in February 2005, so it's no longer in my collection.

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Last updated:  28-1-2007