HP 3000 Micro GX - Rare Artifact Now in My Collection. Needs the Community Help with Next Steps on HDD \ VOGONS

HP 3000 Micro GX - Rare Artifact Now in My Collection. Needs the Community Help with Next Steps on HDD

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First post, by bretwashere

Posted on 2024-08-30, 04:53

bretwashere Offline

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Posts: 9
Joined: 2021-08-22, 04:45

Hello,

I finally received an extremely rare system in private collections, a HP 3000 Micro GX from the region of South Africa (I live in the United States). More information of that system can be read here at the HP Museum website: http://www.hpmuseum.net/display_item.php?hw=656

Here are some photos I shot post unboxing, in amazing shape except for some tape residue:

And with the system turned on...

Here is my current issue. I belelive one of the EDSI Hard Drives had a head crash in shipping, or the melted rubber caused the head to adhere to the platter from the gravity of how the minicomputer was shipped, and the age of the full height drives. Here is the console output when I attempt to boot the machine, followed by a knock from the hard disk then a spin down:

1mainset microcode is NOT loaded
2Auto warmstart disabledWCS Boot failure:
3last system stop code (hex)=0000   Can't read sector zero from CS-80 device
4
5AR     - Re-attempt Auto Restart,      PA[nel] - Enter soft-panel,1-NORMAL
6COL[dstart],                           REL[oad],H for help->dis
7COO[lstart],                           RUN,
8DI[sc] - Start from Disc,              SP[eed],WCS Boot failure:
9DU[mp] [chan, dev],                    ST[art] [chan, dev[,{P[erm]   ]],  Can't 
10DW     - disable auto warmstart,                            C[hange]}
11EW     - enable auto warmstart,        TA[pe]  - Load from Tape,1-NORMAL
12L[oad] [chan, dev[,{P[erm]   ]],       TE[st],H for help->h
13                    C[hange]}          UPD[ate],
14NEW[system],                           WAR[mstart],
15
161-NORMAL
17H for help->
18
191-NORMAL
20H for help->col
21
22WCS Boot failure:
23  Can't read sector zero from CS-80 device
24
251-NORMAL
26H for help->coo
27
28WCS Boot failure:
29  Can't read sector zero from CS-80 device
30
311-NORMAL
32H for help->

This leads to my question: When I removed the hard drives, they look like MFM/RLL interfaced ST506 drives. I did some researching, and it appears that some savvy folks in the day did piggy back on MFM/RLL interfaces and hard drives, however, the controller was EDSI or SCSI. I am not quite sure how I should go about replacing it. Yes, the pinout on the hard drive does appear to be MFM, but do you think it could be as easy as plugging in a like drive into the controller and the controller will just do all the conversion? I have some pictures to show the faulty hard drive, the pinout and the controller for this "EDSI" hard drive:

The details on the top are the following:

Can anyone please point me in the right direction on where I should go next?

Sources: EDSI/SCSI using MFM/RLL drives with different controller: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ST506/ST ... velopments (https://storage.microsemi.com/en-us/support/_ … /acb/acb-4000a/)

Reply 1 of 5, by bretwashere

Posted on 2024-08-30, 15:24

bretwashere Offline

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Posts: 9
Joined: 2021-08-22, 04:45

All right, zero replies. I thought this community was a lot more involved for rare vntage computers. Am I missing something?

Reply 2 of 5, by Anonymous Coward

Posted on 2024-08-30, 15:38

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ESDI was a relatively rare and shortlived standard. I've come across an ESDI drive and controller exactly once in the last 34 years I've been into vintage PCs.
VCfed is a much better place to ask this kind of question. This forum is too PC centric, and most interest seems to be 486+.

BTW, that drive is one big mother f*cker!

"Will the highways on the internets become more few?" -Gee Dubya
V'Ger XT|Upgraded AT|Ultimate 386|Super VL/EISA 486|SMP VL/EISA Pentium

Reply 3 of 5, by bretwashere

Posted on 2024-08-30, 16:00

bretwashere Offline

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Rank: Newbie
Posts: 9
Joined: 2021-08-22, 04:45

Anonymous Coward wrote on 2024-08-30, 15:38:

ESDI was a relatively rare and shortlived standard. I've come across an ESDI drive and controller exactly once in the last 34 years I've been into vintage PCs.
VCfed is a much better place to ask this kind of question. This forum is too PC centric, and most interest seems to be 486+.

BTW, that drive is one big mother f*cker!

Thank you for leading me to the right place.

Yes, both hard drives fill up the entire bottom of the chassis 🤣

Reply 4 of 5, by VivienM

Posted on 2024-08-30, 16:12

VivienM Offline

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Posts: 1095
Joined: 2023-05-22, 03:16
Location: Toronto, ON

bretwashere wrote on 2024-08-30, 15:24:

All right, zero replies. I thought this community was a lot more involved for rare vntage computers. Am I missing something?

I think this community is primarily focused on vintage x86 boxes, especially those with gaming potential. I've seen the occasional thread about Macs, say, but there are other places with far, far, far more active of a vintage Mac scene.

I must admit that I had never heard of this thing, it seems like some kind of late minicomputer. Certainly I think there's a big retro following for Digital minicomputers (or at least, the fact that YouTube keeps suggesting videos about PDP-11s has led me to believe that there is... and it seems that storage/drive issues are one of the main things they have to deal with), there may be for these as well, so I would suggest you look for retro minicomputer-focused places and try asking there.

Reply 5 of 5, by bretwashere

Posted on 2024-08-30, 20:05

bretwashere Offline

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Rank: Newbie
Posts: 9
Joined: 2021-08-22, 04:45

VivienM wrote on 2024-08-30, 16:12:

bretwashere wrote on 2024-08-30, 15:24:

All right, zero replies. I thought this community was a lot more involved for rare vntage computers. Am I missing something?

I think this community is primarily focused on vintage x86 boxes, especially those with gaming potential. I've seen the occasional thread about Macs, say, but there are other places with far, far, far more active of a vintage Mac scene.

I must admit that I had never heard of this thing, it seems like some kind of late minicomputer. Certainly I think there's a big retro following for Digital minicomputers (or at least, the fact that YouTube keeps suggesting videos about PDP-11s has led me to believe that there is... and it seems that storage/drive issues are one of the main things they have to deal with), there may be for these as well, so I would suggest you look for retro minicomputer-focused places and try asking there.

I don't have much information about this system regarding its processor or RAM type, but as I am tearing it down, the parallels with the hardware layout of the Plexus or a Centurion is stunning. It has TTL logic emulation for CPU, MUX cards, the list goes on. I think VCF is my best place. Regardless, enjoy the photos and when my channel launches soon with this system, please take a look at ByteBack Nostalgia.

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