[rescue] Mainframe on eBay

[r.stricklin]

On Sep 19, 2005, at 10:03 AM, Sridhar Ayengar wrote:

>> Hmm.  Will the PCI 390 processor work with AIX?  It'd probably be a
>> faster and more palatable option for my -140 than Linux + Hercules,
>> which is what it's currently running, assuming I can scratch one up.
>
> Yes, but I don't know if it's compatible with the -140.  It came in
> 7248-132's and F50's.  The only way to find out for sure is to try it.

It doesn't matter too much, so long as it has the appropriate  
complement of PCI slots and will run AIX 4.3. The bus limitations, as  
published by IBM, are in specific reference to the F50, but apply  
evenly across the range of RS/6000 models:

* On most PCI systems, especially CHRP bus systems like the F50, the  
P/390 and the AWSICE S/390 Channel Adapters MUST be plugged on the  
same bus. The reason for this limitation is that the CHRP bridge  
chips do not support peer-to-peer DMA transfers which is the  
mechanism by which the S/390 Channel Cards transfer data to and from  
the P/390's memory. The F50 has 3 PCI buses:

   Bus 3 (Secondary) - Slots 6P,7P,8P/I,9P/I (top)
   Bus 1 (Primary)   - Slots 3P,4P,5P        (middle)
   Bus 2 (Secondary) - Slots 1P,2P           (bottom)

* Bus 2 can not be used if you plan to run more than one S/390  
Channel Adapter.

* Although 'Bus 3' has four available PCI slots, only 1 P/390 and up  
to 2 S/390 Channel Cards can be plugged on this bus. Also, no other  
Artic 960 based card can share this bus in the fourth available slot  
when a P/390 and 2 S/390 Channels are plugged. The reason for this is  
that the total memory space allocated per bus is insufficient to  
satisfy the larger than normal requirements of the Artic 960 and P/ 
390 bus chip (ie. we run out of bus memory after plugging 3 of these  
type of adapters).

* Bus 3 also contains the only 2 shared PCI/ISA slots, so you may  
want to keep these free for ISA adapters such as the X.25 Co- 
processor for AWSX25, the Portmaster Card for AWSPBS, or any other  
ISA adapter.

* For best S/390 performance overall, use the primary bus (slots 3P,  
4P, and 5P) for the P/390 and optional S/390 Channel Adapters when  
possible.



I'm running a P/390 in an FPOS F40 because I can't find a reasonably  
priced F50 or 170 (preferred due to size) to replace it.

I'm not normally one to brag, but in this case I just have to do it  
one more time... http://www.typewritten.org/~bear/junk/p-yall.jpg

I have one more MCA P-390 not shown in that picture, as well as an  
MCA 370 parallel channel adapter (Huron), two MCA 390 parallel  
channel adapters, a PCI 390 parallel channel adapter, an MCA ESCON  
adapter, and a PCI ESCON adapter. I'm building up to sell a few of  
the processor cards off. Also, if anybody has a 7437 techincal  
workstation and needs the MCA bus card to attach it to the PS/2 8580  
host, I have a few extras (but sadly no 7437).

ok
bear