Eagle 450 Installation and Technical Manual
© 1998 ALPHA MICROSYSTEMS FIRST EDITION: October 1998 To re-order this document, request part number DSO-00216-00. FCC Notice This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment.
Table of Contents CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION THE EAGLE 450 DOCUMENTATION SET Graphic Conventions CHAPTER 2 - SPECIFICATIONS GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS REAR PANEL CONNECTIONS AM-138 CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT STORAGE AND BACKUP Fast-Wide SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) Bus Narrow SCSI Bus Hard Disk Drives Streaming Tape Drives Diskette Drive SERIAL I/O AM-318-10 Serial I/O Board PARALLEL I/O CHAPTER 3 - CONFIGURATION THE EAGLE 450 BACK PANEL SCSI CONFIGURATION SCSI Device Types Wide SCSI Configuration Rules Na
Page ii Table of Contents CHAPTER 4 - INSTALLATION 4-1 SITE REQUIREMENTS UNPACKING AND PREPARING THE EAGLE 450 Checking the AC Voltage Setting Recording the SSD Identification Number INITIAL SETUP AND TESTING MODIFYING THE CMOS SETTINGS Eagle 450 Initialization Routine CMOS Menu Options Saving the CMOS Settings Important Note MODIFYING THE INITIALIZATION FILE Defining the Parallel Port Defining Ports and Jobs AlphaTCP Setup Changing User Memory SCSI Dispatcher Options Setting Write Buffering Disabling S
Chapter 1 - Introduction This manual is for Alpha Microsystems dealers and technical personnel: people who will sell, install, and maintain Eagle 450 computers. It does not contain material which the average end-user needs to know, and, in general, does not need to be given to the end-user. This book makes some assumptions about you, the reader: • You are familiar with today’s computer terminology: you know what terms such as serial I/O, Ethernet, and disk cache mean.
Page 1-2 Chapter One Graphic Conventions Like other Alpha Micro documents, this manual uses some standard symbols and special typefaces to make our examples and explanations easier to read and understand: Symbol Description This means STOP!, and signals an important warning or restriction. Be sure to read the text next to this symbol carefully, as it could help you avoid serious problems. This marks a hint—a shortcut or an easier way to do something.
Chapter 2 - Specifications GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS Temperature/Humidity Temperature: 60° to 90° F (15.6° to 32.2° C); 10° C per hour maximum fluctuation; Humidity: 20% to 80%, non-condensing Power Requirements USA and Canada: 115 VAC (90 to 132 VAC), 47 to 63Hz International: 230 VAC (180 to 264 VAC), 47 to 63Hz Maximum AC Power Consumption AM-138 board: 5 amps at 115 volts or 2.
Page 2-2 Chapter Two REAR PANEL CONNECTIONS Serial Ports Eight standard, with full modem control and lightning protection Up to 32 possible using AM-318-10 serial I/O boards (see below) Also accepts AM-314 and AM-318-00 boards.
Specifications Page 2-3 STORAGE AND BACKUP Fast-Wide SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) Bus Physical interface 68-pin connector Maximum Bus Length Ten feet (three meters) Maximum Number of Devices Up to five internal; multiple external devices (eight feet of cable) possible using AM-441 Wide SCSI Bus Repeater Protocol Supported Full SCSI-1, SCSI-2 and Fast/Wide-SCSI supported, including support for connect and disconnect protocols Implementation Single host only; multiple host architecture no
Page 2-4 Chapter Two Streaming Tape Drives Physical Size 5.25” half-high Interface SCSI or Wide SCSI Data Capacity 150MB to 26GB Tape Cartridge See Eagle 450 Computer Owner’s Manual Tape Format See Eagle 450 Computer Owner’s Manual Soft Error Rate 1 x 10 Hard Error Rate 1 x 10 -8 -10 Diskette Drive Physical Size 3.5”, but requires 5.25” mounting bay Interface SCSI; AM-219 Floppy Controller is not used Data Capacity 1.44MB or 720KB depending on the format. Diskettes 3.
Specifications Page 2-5 SERIAL I/O Standard Eight ports, with flow control and lightning protection Characteristics All asynchronous serial communication ports configured for RS232. RS422 is not supported. Interface 8-wire RJ-45 jacks standard. For pin signals see Chapter 3. Supported Baud Rates 50, 75, 110, 134.5, 150, 300, 600, 1200, 1800, 2000, 2400, 3600, 4800, 7200, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600 Stop Bits 2 stop bits if 110 baud; 1 stop bit all others—default.
Page 2-6 Chapter Two PARALLEL I/O Number of Ports One Characteristics Centronics compatible Interface DB-25 Connector; for DB-25 connector signals, see Chapter 3 Cable length Parallel printer cable should not exceed six feet Eagle 450 Installation and Technical Manual, Rev.
Chapter 3 - Configuration This chapter discusses configuration rules, considerations, and procedures for the Eagle 450. It covers: • Back panel connectors • Wide and narrow SCSI configuration • Serial and parallel I/O, including cabling information • Networking • UPS status port THE EAGLE 450 BACK PANEL The illustration on the next page shows the Eagle 450 back panel, with the usable connectors labeled.
Page 3-2 Chapter Three 0 SCSI 115 NOTE: You can use either Ethernet port, but not both. EXTERNAL SCSI PORT Cover plate over PCI bus connectors. PCI bus devices not supported on first release. 10-BaseT ETHERNET PORT 15-PIN AUI ETHERNET PORT 25-PIN PARALLEL PORT 9-PIN UPS STATUS PORT 0 6 7 4 5 2 3 0 1 1 2 3 4 5 SERIAL I/O EXPANSION SLOTS 6 7 8 STANDARD SERIAL PORTS BOOT PORT Figure 3-1: Eagle 450 Back Panel Eagle 450 Installation and Technical Manual, Rev.
Configuration Page 3-3 SCSI CONFIGURATION The Eagle 450 offers two SCSI busses: Wide and narrow. The Wide SCSI bus offers higher performance when used with Wide SCSI-2 or Ultra SCSI drives. Using the proper adapters, you can attach both Wide and narrow devices—disk drives, tape drives, and SCSI diskette drives—to either the Wide or narrow bus. However, using narrow devices on the Wide bus may affect the performance of Wide drives on the bus. You can use only one of the two SCSI busses.
Page 3-4 Chapter Three The two cabling specifications which affect the total number of devices are: • The total length of the cable cannot exceed three meters (approximately 10 feet). • Each device must be at least one foot (approximately) from any other device. The standard internal Wide SCSI cable for the Eagle 450 ensures adequate space between internal devices. It allows up to five internal SCSI devices, plus the external connector.
Configuration Page 3-5 Wide Bus Termination When terminating the Wide SCSI bus, keep two things in mind: • All 16 lines of the bus must be terminated. • Termination must be active. If you have only internal SCSI devices, termination is simple: just make sure the external active terminator supplied with the Eagle 450 is installed properly.
Page 3-6 Chapter Three Narrow SCSI Termination In most cases, terminating the narrow SCSI bus is simple: plug the active narrow terminator (PRA00222-21) supplied with your computer into the external SCSI connector or, if you have one or more external devices, into the unused SCSI connector on the last device. The only exception to this is if you have an external Wide SCSI device as the last device on the narrow cable.
Configuration Page 3-7 If you do mix board types, you can put any supported I/O board in any expansion slot. However, be careful to use the correct port numbers when defining the ports in the initialization file, as discussed in Chapter 4. We do recommend placing any AM-314 boards after any other board(s) in the computer, but this is not required.
Page 3-8 Chapter Three All 8 ports on the AM-318-00 are contained in one 50-pin RJ-21 connector, using these pinouts: Port 0 Signal Receive data Request to send Transmit data Clear to send Signal ground 1 Receive Data Request to send Transmit data Clear to send Signal ground 2 Receive Data Request to send Transmit data Clear to send Signal ground 3 Receive Data Request to send Transmit data Clear to send Signal ground RXD RTS TXD NC CTS GND Pin # 26 1 27 2 28 3 Port 4 RXD RTS TXD NC CTS GND 29
Configuration Page 3-9 • PDB-00359-50—For configurations where the Eagle 450 ports are replacing an AM-355. The kit includes eight PRA-00243-04 cable assemblies. Each assembly has a four-foot parallel patch cord with an RJ-45 connector at one end and a modular female DB9 connector at the opposite end. You simply plug the RJ-45 connector into the Eagle 450 and the female DB9 into the male DB9 connector previously plugged into the AM-355 board.
Page 3-10 Chapter Three PDB-00359-50 Use this kit when replacing an AM-355 board with Eagle 450 ports. FOUR FOOT CABLE AM-90 BOARD SIGNAL FEMALE DB9 AM-355 PINOUTS SIGNAL WHT/BLU BLU/WHT 2 5 RXD RTS 3 6 WHT/ORG ORG/WHT 3 9 TXD DTR P3+ P3- 2 7 WHT/GRN GRN/WHT 4 7 CTS GND P4+ P4- 8 1 WHT/BRN BRN/WHT 8 1 DCD SHLD PAIR # RJ-45 RXD RTS P1+ P1- 5 4 TXD DTR P2+ P2- CTS GND DCD SHLD Figure 3-2: PDB-00359-50 External Cabling Kit Eagle 450 Installation and Technical Manual, Rev.
Configuration Page 3-11 PDB-00359-51 Use this kit to attach an Eagle 450 to an existing six-wire patch panel using a three-pair wiring system.
Page 3-12 Chapter Three PDB-00359-52 Use this kit to connect eight Eagle 450 ports to an eight-wire patch panel using a four-pair wiring system. This kit creates two extra eight-wire AM-355 type ports (ports 7 and 8), which have standard female DB9 connectors.
Configuration Page 3-13 PDB-00359-53 Use this kit to connect a modem to the Eagle 450 with full handshaking support.
Page 3-14 Chapter Three PDB-00359-55 Use this kit to connect a PC-AT style serial port to an Eagle 450 AM-90 port.
Configuration Page 3-15 For best reliability and printer performance, your parallel printer cable should be no longer than six feet. NETWORK CONFIGURATION The Eagle 450 includes as standard both an RJ-45 10BaseT and a 15-pin AUI Ethernet connector attached to the on-board Ethernet controller. You can use either connector to attach the Eagle 450 to your network, then use AlphaTCP for industry-standard TCP/IP networking on your LAN or the Internet. You cannot use both Ethernet ports at the same time.
Chapter 4 - Installation This chapter describes what you have to do to get the Eagle 450 up and running. It covers: • Site requirements and preparation • Unpacking and preparing the computer • Initial setup and testing • Setting CMOS options • Modifying the initialization file • Adding user names SITE REQUIREMENTS Like any other computer, the Eagle 450 requires an appropriate site.
Page 4-2 Chapter Four • Cabling: The RS-232 cables to any serial terminals and printers should generally not be longer than 50 feet, and, to avoid interference, should not be too near telephone cables or high-voltage lines. They also shouldn’t be in elevator shafts or cross walkways. Parallel printer cables normally should be six feet or shorter. External SCSI cables also have length restrictions, as discussed in Chapter 3.
Installation Page 4-3 INITIAL SETUP AND TESTING Before connecting the entire installation, it’s a good idea to test the main computer by itself and with only the operator terminal attached. So, follow this procedure: 1. Again, check the voltage switch on the back panel to make sure it’s set correctly. 2. Attach the operator terminal to serial port 0 on the back panel. See the back panel picture in Chapter 3 for the port location. By default, port 0 is set to an Alpha Micro terminal at 19.2K baud. 3.
Page 4-4 Chapter Four Eagle 450 Initialization Routine Before relying on the CMOS parameters, the AM-138 boot code checks the validity of the CMOS contents by verifying the parameter checksum. If the checksum verifies, the system front panel displays "C5" while it verifies CMOS, and boots using the current CMOS parameters. If you want to change the CMOS parameters, press ESC when the "C5" displays (you have approximately three seconds). This displays the CMOS configuration menu, as described below.
Installation Page 4-5 Primary Boot Device Type This is the type of device to boot from if the attempt to boot from the alternate device fails or no alternate device is selected. For the Eagle 450, this should always be set to SCSI Disk; do not select Flash. Primary Boot Device Unit # This sets which primary drive number to boot from. Valid unit numbers are 0-6 and 8-15 (only 0-6 when using the narrow SCSI bus).
Page 4-6 Chapter Four Display Console Boot Messages When set to Yes, this option displays status messages on the operator terminal during booting. These messages are equivalent to each of the front panel status codes normally displayed during booting, and are normally only needed if you cannot see the status display. Saving the CMOS Settings When you are finished making changes press ESC . A message will appear at the bottom of the screen asking if you wish to save any changes made.
Installation Page 4-7 3. Make all the necessary changes to TEST.INI. Save the file when exiting AlphaVUE by pressing the ESC key and typing F. Some of the common changes you’ll make are discussed below. 4. Make sure no one else is using the computer and use MONTST to insure TEST.INI works as expected: LOG OPR: ENTER MONTST TEST.INI ENTER 5. After you have successfully tested TEST.INI and you are satisfied with the results, copy it back to AMOS32.INI. Be careful not to rename the TEST.INI file too soon.
Page 4-8 Chapter Four :T ; JOBS 5 ; JOBALC JOB1 ; QUEUE 2000 ; TRMDEF TERM1,A31810=0:19200,ALPHA,200,200,200,EDITOR=15 ; PARITY ; Clear memory VER ; Unlock keyboard ; SCZDSP SCZ138.SYS/ET ; SCSI dispatcher ; DEVTBL DSK DEVTBL TRM,RES,MEM DEVTBL /STR0 ; Streaming tape device ; BITMAP DSK ; Paged bitmaps for AMOS 2.X ; ERSATZ ERSATZ.NEW MSGINI 20K ; SYSTEM SYSMSG.USA SYSTEM DCACHE.SYS/N/M 1M ; Enable disk read-caching SYSTEM DVR:DSK/N 100K 60 ; Enable disk write-caching SYSTEM CMDLIN.SYS SYSTEM SCNWLD.
Installation Page 4-9 3. To connect a printer to the parallel port, change the DEVICE statement in the printer initialization file to reference parallel port 0 (EGP0:). For example: DEVICE=EGP0: For information on printer initialization files and printer spoolers, see the System Operator's Guide. For cable pinouts for a parallel printer, see Chapter 3. Defining Ports and Jobs When the Eagle 450 leaves Alpha Micro, only the operator terminal is defined in the initialization file.
Page 4-10 Chapter Four • A31810 is the name of the interface driver (without the .IDV extension) for the circuit board the terminal is connected to. The ports on an Eagle 450 use these interface drivers: • A31810: The eight serial ports on the AM-138 system board • A31810: Ports on an AM-318-10 board • AM318: Ports on an AM-318-00 or -02 board • AM314: Ports on an AM-314 board • 1 is the number of the port the terminal is attached to.
Installation Page 4-11 AlphaTCP Setup If your Eagle 450 is connected to a network, the AlphaTCP networking software allows any network user—and any external user who has access to your network—to use the programs and files on the Eagle 450. To use AlphaTCP, which is included with AMOS on the Eagle 450, you must start various background “server” jobs to handle the network traffic and other tasks, and assign memory for use by people requesting a connection over the network.
Page 4-12 Chapter Four If you decide to change the amount of memory allocated to a job, or the memory pool, you can modify the system initialization file following the instructions below. Be very careful when changing memory allocations. If your Eagle 450 uses AlphaTCP networking, most of the memory could be used for AlphaTCP processes and users connected via the network. Allocating memory incorrectly could make it impossible for some or all network users to access the computer.
Installation Page 4-13 Switch Description /ET Enable tolerant active negation /EW /EW:{id#} Enable Wide SCSI negotiation for all devices Enable Wide SCSI negotiation for SCSI device ID# /NQ /NQ:{id#} Disable Command Queuing for all devices Disable Command Queuing for SCSI device ID# /NS /NS:{id#} Disable Synchronous Negotiation for all devices Disable Synchronous Negotiation for SCSI device ID# /NP Disable Parity Checking (Parity still generated) on all devices We recommend that all Eagle 450s
Page 4-14 Chapter Four Multiple Initialization Files The Eagle 450’s CMOS menu feature lets you easily change the initialization file the computer boots from. Because of this, we suggest you keep more than one initialization file ready for use. That way, if you run into a problem with one file, you can change the CMOS setting and reboot using a different file that you know is good.
Chapter 5 - Troubleshooting As with previous Alpha Micro models, we expect the great majority of Eagle 450 installations to go smoothly, and the computers to work properly and reliably. However, there will be instances where something doesn’t work correctly after installation, or problems arise sometime afterward.
Page 5-2 Chapter Five • If the configuration was recently changed (for example, you changed the files placed in system memory during booting), return the system to its previous configuration. • If you can, try to duplicate the problem conditions on another computer in your office. If you can create the same failure, you can then attempt to find and fix it without disrupting your customer’s daily routine or reconfiguring their computer.
Troubleshooting Page 5-3 Front Panel Status Code Description 9 Memory parity error was encountered. F During booting, memory is being cleared and sized. 10 An interface driver (.IDV) defined in a TRMDEF statement in the system initialization file was not found in account [1,6] on first logical of the boot device. 11 A terminal driver (.TDV) defined in a TRMDEF statement in the system initialization file was not found in account [1,6] on the boot device. 12 AMOS system initialization (.
Page 5-4 Chapter Five Front Panel Status Code Description 2F Bootup from the alternate boot device failed because of an invalid boot device selection. Access the CMOS setup routine by pressing Reset, then pressing the ESC key when the code "C5" appears on the front panel. Verify the device and unit number settings on the CMOS menu. 33 Initializing the primary boot device. If the boot stops at this point, it may indicate a hardware problem with the primary boot device.
Troubleshooting Page 5-5 Front Panel Status Code Description 46 UPS inverter is running and a low battery condition exists. Only 2 minutes of power remaining! System shutdown is imminent. 47 Not valid, system dead. 48 An internal fault has been detected in the UPS. 49 An internal fault has occurred in the UPS and it is in bypass. 4A - 4E Not valid. 4F UPS cable has been unplugged from UPS port. 88 Trying to execute an unimplemented SVCA (Monitor) call. 95 Logger CREATE error.
Page 5-6 Chapter Five Front Panel Status Code Description F2 Illegal instruction was encountered. F4 CHK instruction. F5 TRAPV instruction. F6 Privilege violation. F7 TRACE return. F8 Coprocessor protocol violation. F9 EM1111. FA FPCP branch or set on unordered condition, or FPCP inexact result, or FPCP divide by zero, or FPCP underflow, or FPCP operand error, or FPCP overflow, or FPCP signaling NAN, or FPCP unimplemented data type.
Appendix A - Read-Ahead and Write Buffering The AM-138 board uses a programmable RISC DMA controller for SCSI bus communications and for data transfer to and from the AM-138's SCSI bus. The Coldfire CPU is only involved with setup before and cleanup after a SCSI command is sent to a devicethe rest of the command, including data transfer, is handled by the RISC processor.
Page A-2 Appendix A FIXLOG ENTER FIXLOG.LIT Version x.x(xxx) 1. Change the number of logicals. 2. Create a sub-system driver. Enter choice: 2 ENTER Enter name of generic driver to be used: SCZ138 ENTER Enter number of logical units per physical unit: 10 Enter SCSI id (0-15): 0 ENTER Enter number of read-ahead blocks (0-7): 5 ENTER Enter new driver name: DSK ENTER New driver is now in memory. ENTER To save the driver you have created, type: SAVE DSK.
Read-ahead and Write Buffering Page A-3 Potential Pitfalls Obviously, there can be problems with write buffering, especially if the system either crashes or is powered off while writes are pending in the write buffer. If that happens, all pending writes are lost. Though this sounds like a major problem, it can also happen if write buffering is not enabled. However, write buffering increases the number of writes at risk.
Page A-4 Appendix A When specifying write buffering for a device, two files are placed into system memory: .DVR (loaded from disk) and .WRC (directly created in system memory), which are the driver and cache buffer. This is true for all SCSI disk devices except the DSK device. For the DSK device, the file DSK.DVR does not need to be created because it is already loaded into the system monitor. Therefore, for the DSK device, only the file DSK.WRC will be created in system memory.
Appendix B - Super I/O Super I/O is designed to significantly increase character output for all serial ports using the A31810.IDV or AM318.IDV driver. This includes all AM-318-xx board serial I/O ports, as well as the Eagle 450's eight on-board serial ports. The more terminals you have on your system performing character output, the more you will benefit from Super I/O. The AM-314 board does not support Super I/O.
Page B-2 Appendix B Once you have completed running the program that exhibits problems under Super I/O, you can reboot your computer using the standard system initialization command file, which will reactivate Super I/O. Disabling Super I/O on Individual Boards When your computer is processing your system initialization command file, it loads a copy of the A31810.IDV (or AM318.IDV) file when it encounters the first TRMDEF statement using it. This same copy of the .
Index 1 10BaseT (RJ45) Ethernet connector · 3-1 10BaseT (RJ-45) cabling pinouts · 3-15 A AC power consumption · 2-1 Active negation · 4-12 Adding user names · 4-14 AlphaTCP memory requirements · 4-11 setup · 4-11 Alternate boot device · 4-5 AM-138 ports port numbers · 4-10 AM-138 specifications · 2-2 AM138.LDV · 4-11 AM138.
Page 2 Index E L Electrical noise · 4-1 Enabling write buffering · A-3 Environment · 4-1 Ethernet port · 3-1 AUI · 3-1 cabling · 3-15 RJ-45 (10BaseT) · 3-1 External SCSI connector · 3-1 Line editor · 4-10 F Fast-Wide SCSI · See Wide SCSI FIXLOG enabling read-ahead · A-1 Floppy drive specifications · 2-4 Front panel status codes · 5-2 G Graphics conventions · 1-2 H Hard disk specifications · 2-3 Humidity · 2-1 I I/O specifications · 2-5 IDV · 4-10 INI file · See System initialization file Initial te
Index Problem solving · 5-1 R Read-ahead buffering · A-1 Repeater Wide SCSI (AM-441) · 3-4 S Saving CMOS settings · 4-6 SCSI and Wide SCSI devices · 3-5 bus length · 3-5 configuration · 3-3, 3-5 device types · 3-3 dispatcher · 4-12 number of devices · 3-5 termination · 3-6 SCSI connector external · 3-1 SCSI specifications · 2-3 SCZ138.
Page 4 U Unpacking · 4-2 UPS status port cabling · 3-15 User names · 4-14 V Voltage compatibility · 4-2 Index Wide SCSI and narrow devices · 3-4 bus length · 3-3 configuration · 3-3 enabling in dispatcher · 4-12 number of devices · 3-3 repeater (AM-441) · 3-4 specifications · 2-3 termination · 3-5 Write buffering · A-2, A-3 buffer size · A-3 enabling · A-3 flush period · A-3 W WAIT statement · 4-10 Eagle 450 Installation and Technical Manual, Rev.
