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)
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)
- 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 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.:
- BC21Q-xx: two straight MR
Usage yet unknown
- BC22Q-xx: one right-angle PS and one straight MR
Used to connect e.g.:
- BC29R-xx: one right-angle PS and one right-angle MR
Used to connect e.g.:
- BC29S-xx: one right-angle MR and one straight MR
Used to connect e.g.:
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)
Four new DSSI pictures:
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