still aetios anyway
I received this MSI PDT II yesterday, but it has no EPROM so it refuses to start. It is in otherwise excellent condition.
I want to figure out how it works. Does ANYONE on fedi have any idea? Please boost.
Dec 30, 2022 at 6:29pmWeb
Show threadstill aetios anywayDec 30, 2022
Tagging @foone since googling brought up one of their tweets, not surprised
Show threadDarla Donna v2.2Jan 1, 2023
@aetios Back in the day, I used similar devices. There should be a db-25 female serial port on the bottom (I think I see it in the picture). If it's working & powered up, it should let you send RS-232 messages as the DTE end likely at baud rates about 110/300. If you are connecting to a computer's serial port (also DTE) you'll need a null modem adapter. Hopefully it'll support xon/xoff flow control, but If it's too early, you may have to support full hardware flow control in a DTE/DCE/DTE link.
Show threadstill aetios anywayJan 1, 2023
@DarlaDonna The problem i'm encountering is, that it turns off because there is no EPROM inserted. My own guess is that this EPROM contains some sort of data schema for the device to know what fields to save... but just a guess.
Show threadstill aetios anywayJan 1, 2023
@DarlaDonna Thanks for your insight though!
Show threadDarla Donna v2.2Jan 1, 2023
@aetios You might want to try a blank EPROM, it might be for saving data, and hopefully not configs.
Show threadDarla Donna v2.2Jan 1, 2023

@aetios That all said, the missing EPROM chip is beyond me. I'd recommend finding a second with the chip and copying it. At the age of these devices, it just might be a mildly corroded power contact. and the components should be checked step by step to see if it's actually powering on internally.

Good luck. Those were fun. Much easier that carrying around a huge VT-52 terminal when debugging things.

Show threadWilliam D. JonesJan 1, 2023
@aetios cc: @brouhaha... any ideas?
Show threadBrian CampbellJan 1, 2023
@aetios Besides boosting, you might want to try tagging with #retrocomputing #electronics to reach anyone who follows those tags and might be able to help you out with an EPROM or manual.