Talk:Digital Storage Systems Interconnect

Category

We do not (yet) have a Category:DEC Mass Storage (although we do have Category:DEC Storage Controllers, as a sub-category of Category:DEC Peripherals), which is why this is in Category:DEC Peripherals. If I were energetic, I would set such a category up (and move a few other things into it, like MSCP). Jnc (talk) 02:12, 17 July 2022 (CEST)

Yes, please! - Or shall I do it? Vaxorcist (talk) 11:21, 17 July 2022 (CEST)

Done. Jnc (talk) 18:01, 17 July 2022 (CEST)

Connector image needed

Anyone have anything with DSSI connectors (on either a cable, or a drive, etc) they can take some pictures of? I have some SDI cables, etc, so I will do the SDI ones. Jnc (talk) 16:53, 1 September 2023 (CEST)

My picture File:HSD10 front.jpg shows the HSD10 DSSI-to-SCSI Bus Adapter with the typical (a little fragile) DSSI connectors. I could provide pictures of a DSSI cable, a DSSI terminator, and the (different) connector of a DSSI drive as well - what do you want? Vaxorcist (talk) 18:03, 1 September 2023 (CEST)

Oh, good; I did not know that was there. I can crop that down to the connector(s), and use that for one; I guess it would be good to have an image of the connector on a cable, too. Thank you!

What is the "the (different) connector of a DSSI drive"? Jnc (talk) 20:03, 1 September 2023 (CEST)

I'll take a photo of a DSSI cable & connector tomorrow. You can see a drive DSSI conector in File:RF30_PCB_54-18247.jpg on the right side; looks like SCSI or the like. I'll take a frontal photo of that one as well. There might have been other drive DSSI conectors with newer disk drives - I'll have a look for that. Vaxorcist (talk) 20:10, 1 September 2023 (CEST)

Sorry I am slow to reply; there is too much going on here!

When you write of the "connector .. on the right side", do you mean the blue plastic IDC connector? (Well, it looks like an IDC connector, from what I can see of it.) Jnc (talk) 17:25, 4 September 2023 (CEST)

I've added a draft for the section "DSSI Connectors". Could you please position the pictures? I'm not at all good at that ... And again feel free to optimize! Vaxorcist (talk) 18:57, 2 September 2023 (CEST)

I will have a go at that. Looking at all the images you uploaded, it seems from File:DSSI Connectors.png that there are two styles of connectors: the one on the right in that diagram looks like an IDC connector, with round pins; the one of the left, there, has flat pins. The second type is what File:HSD10 front.jpg has, yes?

Do you have any of the long cables? EK-RF72D-UG-008 says "The DSSI bus is a 50-conductor cable. Inside an enclosure, the bus may be a flat ribbon cable or a round bundle of twisted pairs. Between enclosures, the bus is a shielded round cable approximately ½-inch in diameter." It is the latter I would like to get an image of - particularly the connectors. I would assume there are three different kinds of DSSI round cables - at least, in theory: round-pin (above) to round-pin, flat-pin (above) to flat-pin, and round-pin to flat-pin (for when one has to convert). Jnc (talk) 17:25, 4 September 2023 (CEST)

File:DSSI_PS_Connector_female_(Cable).jpg is the male PS connector end of a round cable with a Micro-Ribbon (MR) connector at the other end. Yes, there are three kinds of exterior DSSI cables as you guessed. I can upload a picture of the MR connector at the other end. I run a DSSI-based dual MicroVAX 3300 VAXcluster for fun. It uses a HSD10 DSSI-to-SCSI Bus Adapter to connect both VAXen to a couple of common SCSI disks. The HSD10 has got MR connectors, the MicroVAXen use Pin-Socket (PS) ones, so I have got two round DSSI cables that are PS-to-MR. I probably can supply the DEC order numbers for the three cable types. Vaxorcist (talk) 18:38, 4 September 2023 (CEST)

Ah, light is (finally) starting to dawn. So the 'round-pin' connectors are called Pin-Socket (PS) connectors, and the 'flat-pin' connectors are called Micro Ribbon (MR) connectors? I will add all that to the article.

Yes, an image of the MR connector on the cable would be really good to have. Also, the part numbers for the three kinds of cables.

I am back from my trip, so I will see about taking images of the SDI connectors and cables tomorrow, once I have recovered. Jnc (talk) 23:32, 5 September 2023 (CEST)

First: How to indent a whole block without repeating the ":"?

A single ':' indents just the line it starts. To indent a group of lines, you have to put a ':' on each line.

There are also 'blockquote' and 'pre' tags, but those put the indented text in a coloured block (like the pasted text image in the article here.

Note the ':*' (and combinations of more of each) work to indent lists.

I often don't keep indenting replies because at a certain point it gets silly - the text is indented so far. I just reset the indentation every so often. Jnc (talk) 01:06, 8 September 2023 (CEST)

You are perfectly right, but it is still a little more complicated as there are both types of connectors in either "straight" or "right-angle" variations.

Yes, but I think part of that is to keep lines out of the way, to keep things neat; and so they are less likely to get damaged. One can probably substitute one kind of 'PS-PS' cable for any other. Jnc (talk) 01:06, 8 September 2023 (CEST)

Up to now I found five different DEC DSSI cables ("-xx" is the cable length in feet):

• BC21M-09: two right-angle PS

Used to connect e.g.:

• VAX 4000 systems to R400X expanders
• VAX 4000 systems to VAX 4000 systems
• R400X expanders to R400X expanders /
• KFQSA to ...

• BC21Q-xx: two straight MR

Usage yet unknown

• BC22Q-xx: one right-angle PS and one straight MR

Used to connect e.g.:

• VAX 3000/4000 systems to TF857/SF100

• BC29R-xx: one right-angle PS and one right-angle MR

Used to connect e.g.:

• HSD05/HSD10/HSD30 array controller to DEC 4000 systems
• HSD05/HSD10/HSD30 array controller to VAX 3000/4000 systems or DEC 4000 Alpha systems

• BC29S-xx: one right-angle MR and one straight MR

Used to connect e.g.:

• HSD05/HSD10/HSD30 array controller to KFMSB adapter
• HSD05/HSD10/HSD30 array controller to VAX 6000/7000/1000 systems or DEC 7000/10000 Alpha

I myself don't have the right cables (concerning the "straight" or "right-angled" version) either; I would need two BC29R-xx cables. It works, but looks ugly and is a little delicate mechanically.Vaxorcist (talk) 17:57, 6 September 2023 (CEST)

OK, I will add then to the page. Thank you! Jnc (talk) 01:06, 8 September 2023 (CEST)

Four new DSSI pictures:

• File:BC22Q-09 Label.jpg
• File:DSSI PS Connector female (Cable)-2.jpg
• File:BC22Q-09 DSSI Cable.jpg
• File:DSSI MR Connector female (Cable).jpg

Vaxorcist (talk) 08:26, 7 September 2023 (CEST)