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Considering the idea of saving up for a DECstation PMAX

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  Considering the idea of saving up for a DECstation PMAX TronNerd82 <tronnerd82@aol.com> - 2025-03-30 01:24 +0000
    Re: Considering the idea of saving up for a DECstation PMAX John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2025-03-31 07:54 -0700
    Re: Considering the idea of saving up for a DECstation PMAX Dave McGuire <mcguire@lssmuseum.org> - 2025-04-21 22:06 -0400

#4278 — Considering the idea of saving up for a DECstation PMAX

I think it'd be fun to pick up an old PMAX DECstation 3100 and try to
get it working (though anything DEC put out was built like a tank, so I
probably wouldn't have much of any work to do) and try getting a modern
operating system on it like NetBSD, perhaps even try porting Slackware
to it.

The whole idea is nothing particularly outstanding, but I think old DEC
hardware is super cool. Would it be a worthwhile endeavor??

-- 
I didn't choose the Slackware life. Oh wait, that's a big fat lie. But the Slackware life also chose me :)

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#4279

On Sun, 30 Mar 2025 01:24:46 -0000 (UTC)
TronNerd82 <tronnerd82@aol.com> wrote:

> I think it'd be fun to pick up an old PMAX DECstation 3100 and try to
> get it working (though anything DEC put out was built like a tank, so
> I probably wouldn't have much of any work to do) and try getting a
> modern operating system on it like NetBSD, perhaps even try porting
> Slackware to it.
> 
> The whole idea is nothing particularly outstanding, but I think old
> DEC hardware is super cool. Would it be a worthwhile endeavor??

Probably doable! It's a good few versions back by now, but I got NetBSD
(5, I think...?) running on a MicroVAX 3100/90 without too much trouble.
(Did have to do some finagling to split a usable install across 4x400MB
hard disks, but nothing worse than creative use of symlinks.) Not zippy,
but actually usable; the MIPS systems would probably do a bit better.

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#4280

On 3/29/25 21:24, TronNerd82 wrote:
> I think it'd be fun to pick up an old PMAX DECstation 3100 and try to
> get it working (though anything DEC put out was built like a tank, so I
> probably wouldn't have much of any work to do) and try getting a modern
> operating system on it like NetBSD, perhaps even try porting Slackware
> to it.
> 
> The whole idea is nothing particularly outstanding, but I think old DEC
> hardware is super cool. Would it be a worthwhile endeavor??

   I think so.  I've done a lot with those machines over the years; in 
the 1990s I ran DNS servers, mail servers, etc on them both at home and 
at work.  They're great little machines.

   At LSSM we have quite a few of them, though none are yet on exhibit. 
Sometime this summer we'll put a 3100 and probably a 5000/260 on the 
exhibit floor, in multi-boot configurations with  Ultrix and NetBSD.

   I say go for it.  They really are nice little machines.  Beware of 
dried-out or leaky capacitors in the power supply.

            -Dave

-- 
Dave McGuire, President/Curator
Large Scale Systems Museum
New Kensington, PA

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