RK11-C disk controller - Revision history

Jnc: /* External links */ Vonada's Maxim #12 at work on an RK11-C

2023-03-26T12:44:24Z

‎External links: Vonada's Maxim #12 at work on an RK11-C

Jnc: +img, redirs, etc

2022-04-04T16:49:43Z

+img, redirs, etc

Jnc: drive bus and RK05 compatibity

2021-12-12T21:31:15Z

drive bus and RK05 compatibity

Jnc: /* External links */ follow standard

2021-12-08T22:13:40Z

‎External links: follow standard

Jnc: /* Module count table */ +links

2021-04-06T12:38:06Z

‎Module count table: +links

Jnc: /* Module Utilization chart */ Pass-through connectors

2021-02-09T14:50:03Z

‎Module Utilization chart: Pass-through connectors

Jnc: /* Double Buffered RK11-C */ Bah, DEC docs give two different expansions

2021-02-09T12:47:41Z

‎Double Buffered RK11-C: Bah, DEC docs give two different expansions

Jnc: Fix URLS, correct reg name

2021-02-09T12:31:27Z

Fix URLS, correct reg name

Jnc: /* Double Buffered RK11-C */ ABUF can be fed from DSB also

2021-02-09T12:24:08Z

‎Double Buffered RK11-C: ABUF can be fed from DSB also

Jnc: /* Documentation */ + link to dbl buff eng drwngs

2020-12-02T04:38:36Z

‎Documentation: + link to dbl buff eng drwngs

@@ Line 222: / Line 222: @@
 * [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/unibus/RK11-C_schemFeb1971.pdf RK11-C moving head disk drive controller engineering drawings]
 * [http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/pdp11/dload/RK11-C-DB_EngrDrws_Dec72.pdf RK11-C-DB Double Buffer Disk Control Engineering Drawings]
 [[Category: UNIBUS Storage Controllers]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 The '''RK11-C''' is the earliest known version of the [[RK11 disk controller]]. (Nothing is known of the -A and -B, if they ever existed as products, although see [[RK11 disk controller#Early RK11 version|here]] for more about the RK11-C's predecessor). It is mostly [[program compatible]] with the replacement [[RK11 disk controller#RK11-D|RK11-D]].
 Although the drive interface is slightly different between the RK11-C and RK11-D, the RK11-C can handle both the earlier [[RK02/03 disk drive]]s, and the later [[RK05 disk drive|RK05s]] (the latter primarily intended for use with the RK11-D - see below).
-Like many of the earlier large [[device controller]]s for the [[PDP-11]], it was a large custom [[wire-wrap]]ped [[backplane]] which bolted into the front or back of a 19 inch rack, such as an [[H960]]; into it plugged about 40 small M-Series [[FLIP CHIP]]s.
+Like many of the earlier large [[device controller]]s for the [[PDP-11]], it was a large custom [[wire-wrap]]ped [[backplane]] which bolted into the front or back of a 19 inch rack, such as an [[H960 rack|H950]]; into it plugged about 40 small M-Series [[FLIP CHIP]]s.
 The backplane is wired for connection to a standard [[DEC indicator panel]], but no inlay for such has even been sighted, although the RK11-C Engineering Drawings allow one to work out exactly what such an inlay would have looked like. It does however appear than the hypothesized earlier version (above) did have such an indicator panel.
@@ Line 9: / Line 11: @@
 ==Drive buses and RK05 compatibility==
-The RK11-C has two different drive buses, each which can handle up to four of . (The buses are not independent - most lines are shared between the two; so only one can be active at a time.) The only lines not in common are the 'drive select' lines (A-D on bus 1 - slot 12 on the backplane, and E-F, H, J on bus 2 - slot 10). Each select line is assigned to one drive; to select that drive, the corresponding line is asserted.
+The RK11-C has two different drive buses, each which can handle up to four drives. (The buses are not independent - most lines are shared between the two; so only one can be active at a time.) The only lines not in common are the 'drive select' lines (A-D on bus 1 - slot 12 on the backplane, and E-F, H, J on bus 2 - slot 10). Each select line is assigned to one drive; to select that drive, the corresponding line is asserted.
 RK11-D's use a different, but upwardly compatible drive select mechanism, and RK05's can detect whether they are connected to an RK11-C or RK11-D, and respond appropriately.
@@ Line 17: / Line 19: @@
 [[Image:RK11-C-DB_DataPaths.jpg|295px|right|thumb|RK11-C-DB data paths (from the last page of the engineering drawings)]]
-There is also a rare variant of the RK11-C, the 'Double Buffer' RK11-C. It adds two 16-bit buffer registers (ABUF and BBUF), which are chained in an alternate data path to the RKDB buffer register from the two sources that can feed it (the UNIBUS and the DSB - Data <!-- DEC docs also give 'Disk SB' expansion -->Serial Buffer, where data to/from the disk is serialized).
+There is also a rare variant of the RK11-C, the 'Double Buffer' RK11-C. It adds two 16-bit buffer registers (ABUF and BBUF), which are chained in an alternate data path to the RKDB buffer register from the two sources that can feed it (the UNIBUS and the DSB - Data Serial Buffer<!-- DEC docs also give 'Disk SB' expansion -->, where data to/from the disk is serialized).
-The motivation is not explicitly known (no documentation other than the engineering drawings is now extant), but it likely prevented under-run/over-run errors when there was considerable competing UNIBUS [[DMA]] traffic.
+The motivation is not explicitly known (no documentation other than the engineering drawings is now extant), but it likely prevented under-run/over-run errors when there was considerable competing UNIBUS [[Direct Memory Access|DMA]] traffic.
 ===Engineering drawings===
@@ Line 221: / Line 223: @@
 * [http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/pdp11/dload/RK11-C-DB_EngrDrws_Dec72.pdf RK11-C-DB Double Buffer Disk Control Engineering Drawings]
-[[Category:UNIBUS Storage Controllers]]
+[[Category: UNIBUS Storage Controllers]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-The '''RK11-C''' is the earliest known version of the [[RK11 disk controller]]. (Nothing is known of the -A and -B, if they ever existed as products, although see [[RK11 disk controller#Early RK11 version|here]] for more about the RK11-C's predecessor.)
+The '''RK11-C''' is the earliest known version of the [[RK11 disk controller]]. (Nothing is known of the -A and -B, if they ever existed as products, although see [[RK11 disk controller#Early RK11 version|here]] for more about the RK11-C's predecessor). It is mostly [[program compatible]] with the replacement [[RK11 disk controller#RK11-D|RK11-D]].
-Like many of the earlier large peripheral controllers for the [[PDP-11]], it was a large custom [[wire-wrap]]ped [[backplane]] which bolted into the front or back of a 19 inch rack, such as an [[H960]]; into it plugged about 40 small M-Series [[FLIP CHIP]]s.
+Although the drive interface is slightly different between the RK11-C and RK11-D, the RK11-C can handle both the earlier [[RK02/03 disk drive]]s, and the later [[RK05 disk drive|RK05s]] (the latter primarily intended for use with the RK11-D - see below).
-The backplane is wired for connection to a standard [[DEC indicator panel]], but no inlay for such has even been sighted, although the RK11-C Engineering Drawings allow one to work out exactly what such an inlay would have looked like. It does however appear than the earlier version did have such an indicator panel.
+Like many of the earlier large [[device controller]]s for the [[PDP-11]], it was a large custom [[wire-wrap]]ped [[backplane]] which bolted into the front or back of a 19 inch rack, such as an [[H960]]; into it plugged about 40 small M-Series [[FLIP CHIP]]s.
 ==Double Buffered RK11-C==

@@ Line 207: / Line 207: @@
 In the ordinary RK11-C, slots C08 and D08 hold pass-through connectors, which allow [[KM11-A Maintenance Set]]s to be plugged in and used from the outside of the rack holding the RK11-C. A pair of [[Flexprint cable]]s connect them to the 'usual' KM11 locations, in slots A30 and B30.
-==Documentation==
+==External links==
-* [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/unibus/RK11-C_manual1971.pdf RK11-C manual, 1971]
+* [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/unibus/RK11-C_manual1971.pdf RK11-C moving head disk drive controller manual] (DEC-11-HRKA-D)
-* [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/unibus/RK11-C_schemFeb1971.pdf RK11-C schematics, February 1971]
+* [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/unibus/RK11-C_schemFeb1971.pdf RK11-C moving head disk drive controller engineering drawings]
-* [http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/pdp11/dload/RK11-C-DB_EngrDrws_Dec72.pdf RK11-C-DB Double Buffer Disk Control Engineering Drawings, December 1972]
+* [http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/pdp11/dload/RK11-C-DB_EngrDrws_Dec72.pdf RK11-C-DB Double Buffer Disk Control Engineering Drawings]
 [[Category:UNIBUS Storage Controllers]]

@@ Line 56: / Line 56: @@
 | M002 || 1 || 3 || 15 Loads
 |-
-| M105 || 1 || 1 || Address selector
+| M105 || 1 || 1 || [[M105 Address Selector|Address selector]]
 |-
 | M111 || 2 || 5 || Inverter
@@ Line 114: / Line 114: @@
 | M623 || 3 || 3 || Bus driver
 |-
-| M782 || 1 || 1 || Interrupt control
+| M782 || 1 || 1 || [[M782 Interrupt Control|Interrupt control]]
 |-
 | M784 || 3 || 3 || UNIBUS receivers

@@ Line 204: / Line 204: @@
 <br>
 = Cable to indicator panel
 ==Documentation==

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 ==Double Buffered RK11-C==
-[[Image:RK11-C-DB_DataPaths.jpg|295px|right|thumb|RK11-C-DB data paths]]
+[[Image:RK11-C-DB_DataPaths.jpg|295px|right|thumb|RK11-C-DB data paths (from the last page of the engineering drawings)]]
-There is also a rare variant of the RK11-C, the 'Double Buffer' RK11-C. It adds two 16-bit buffer registers (ABUF and BBUF), which are chained in an <!-- bi-directional --> alternate data path between the UNIBUS and RKDB buffer register.
+There is also a rare variant of the RK11-C, the 'Double Buffer' RK11-C. It adds two 16-bit buffer registers (ABUF and BBUF), which are chained in an alternate data path to the RKDB buffer register from the two sources that can feed it (the UNIBUS and the DSB - Data Shift Buffer, where data to/from the disk is serialized).
-The motivation is not explicitly known (no documentation other than the engineering drawings is now extant), but it likely prevented under-run <!-- /over-run --> errors when there was considerable competing UNIBUS [[DMA]] traffic.
+The motivation is not explicitly known (no documentation other than the engineering drawings is now extant), but it likely prevented under-run/over-run errors when there was considerable competing UNIBUS [[DMA]] traffic.
 ===Engineering drawings===
@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 * 24 - DSB/Bus -> ABuf Controls
-* 25 - ABuf/BBug Reg
+* 25 - ABuf/BBuf Reg
 * 26 - Interbuffer Transfer Control
 * 27 - Buffer Control

@@ Line 209: / Line 209: @@
 * [http://toresbe.dreamhosters.com/redirect.php?res=bitsavers&doc=dec/unibus/RK11-C_manual1971.pdf RK11-C manual, 1971]
 * [http://toresbe.dreamhosters.com/redirect.php?res=bitsavers&doc=dec/unibus/RK11-C_schemFeb1971.pdf RK11-C schematics, February 1971]
 [[Category:UNIBUS Storage Controllers]]