ND-100/CX Compact 3392.1669

A ND-100/CX Compact model 12 that I got from Pontus, a nice Swedish gentleman. The history of the system is quite interesting. According to Pontus: "I got it from a university which ran a big ND-500 to control a simulator for of a small Nuclear Reactor. The simulator was quite neat, complete with control room and everything. The software on the ND-500 had been ported to a GNU/Linux system. So the ND-500 was donated to a friend of mine and later made it's way to another collector in Sweden. The ND-100 was sitting next to the 500 and according to the donor had never been used for as long as he could remember. However, I suspect it is somehow related."

Subpages: SINTRAN III testing,

Hardware

Hardware in the machine is described in this section.

The card cage is accessible from the left side (when the machine is seen from the front). Two screws needs to be loosened, then the cover slides upwards and can be removed.

Cards

3033 ND100 CPU, Print: S, eco: V. Card switches: ALD: 13, Console: 7 (9600 bps)
3104 ND100 Mem. Man. II, Print: G, eco: N
empty
empty
3041 ST506 Disk Contr. Print: E, eco: K. Card switches: device number selection: 0 - the first 5.25 inch, 8 inch or 10 MB controller
3112 8" + 5 1/4" fl. + str., Print: B, eco: J
3009C Local I/O Bus, B-interface address 151X
empty
empty
empty
empty
3042 ND100 2 Mby RAM, Print: B, eco: C

Devices

floppy drive : 1.2 Mbytes, 5.25 inch, ND 149-116, Toshiba FDD 5801A0K 01 Rev. A. Serial no: A6412496
tape streamer : Tandberg TDC 3309 (TDC 3300 Series), ND 106270, ND 150-001442
hard drive : Micropolis 1325^[1], ST506, 69 / 86 Mbyte

Power Supply

Philips PE1049

Connectors

Labels

It has a "DEMO SIM" label in red DYMO tape on the top left of the front.

Origin

About where this system came from^[2]:

the first so-called Compact Simulators were build in Studsvik in the early 1980s.
...The old system used a so called minicomputer of the Nord 500/100 type, a two-CPU system with a size of about two large
refrigerators. A four meter long operator’s panel was connected to the Nord computer. An external computer terminal was used to communicate with the
Nord system. The system featured five large CRT colour screens, controlled from the Nord computer, via a display system based on a microprocessor and a
several graphical electronics cards under the panel.

about the software:

The present software is built around a condensate of the old Fortran code from the Nord system. All the main physical processes in the reactor simulation
uses the old code, modified in order to run on a GNU/Linux system on the x86 architecture. The Fortran modules are built into a framework of C-code,
handling the general control of the software, including timing, a graphical user interface, and a display system for the five LCD screen on the operator panel. A
dedicated kernel driver written in C that controls the communication between the parallel port of the PC and the external interface card is loaded into the
Linux kernel at system startup.
The Fortran modules responsible for the different parts of the reactor plant use a total of between 6500 and 7000 process parameters (variables and con-
stants). These are shared between the modules by a number of large COMMON-blocks defined in Fortran.

Operating system

The title of the system

BATCH NUMBER =  1
13.14.12     15 SEPTEMBER 1987
SINTRAN III - VSX / 500 K  ******** VÄLKOMMEN TILL DEMO SIMULATORN ********
STANDARD CONFIGURATION: C
GENERATION (WORK MODE NO.):  312B
REVISION (PATCH FILE NO.): 11400B
CPU TYPE: 102
CPU NUMBER: 3608
GENERATED: 13.14.00     15 SEPTEMBER 1987
SINTRAN III RUNNING -

PAGES FOR SWAPPING: 1357B

ND-100 PANEL CLOCK INCORRECT

1987.09.15  13:14:21 ** XROUT: xmsg  version L03 (87.11.26) started **

*** 13.14.40 TERMINAL 670:
***INFORMATIONS SIMULATORN ÄR NU FÄRDIG ATT ANVÄNDA ***

indicates that this is SINTRAN III for a ND-500. That is interesting.

History

2023

2023-10-18: with help from RHansen who has a MFM Emulator we proceeded to make an image of the hard drive in the machine. Partly successful at least - I can read filenames and extract files with the ndfs tool. Torfinn (talk) 16:03, 22 October 2023 (UTC)

2023-10-18: verified that there is no ethernet cabling or connector (neither AUI, bnc nor RJ45) in the machine. Perhaps it never had it. Torfinn (talk) 19:51, 19 October 2023 (UTC)

2023-09-30: To do - test with a floppy drive from another machine in this one (I think I ran this test, but the results are not documented here, so better re-run the test). Check if the s3-config program reports which ethernet card (if any) this SINTRAN was configured for. Torfinn (talk) 08:23, 30 September 2023 (UTC)

2016

2016-07-14: I took out the tape drive so I could photograph it. Labels on the drive reads: Tandberg TDC 3309 (TDC 3300 Series), ND 106270, ND 150-001442.
2016-07-12: I tested the floppy drive from this machine in the ND-110 Satellite (9883.21005) but it didn't work.
2016-07-11: floppy drive. I unscrewed the media bay, and took out the floppy drive. It is labeled ND 149-116 on the right side. On the left side is the manufacturer label. Toshiba FDD 5801A0K 01 Rev. A. Serial no: A6412496.

2011

2011-11-19: tape drive - I have some DC6150 tapes. I wonder if they would work in the TDC3309 tape drive. And if I could read them in a Wangtek 5150ES drive afterwards (under FreeBSD or Linux),

2011-11-10: system-test - ok, put the hard drive back into the machine again, connected it up, and powered on the machine. Nothing happened, so I pressed the "START" button. and now the RUNNING light turned on. Yes! After a while I got this on the console (transcribed):

BATCH NUMBER =  1
13.14.12     15 SEPTEMBER 1987
SINTRAN III - VSX / 500 K  ******** VÄLKOMMEN TILL DEMO SIMULATORN ********

Yes! It works!.More on the sintran page.

hard drive - trying to unstick the drive heads from the parking "bumper". This is based on a discussion on the cctech mailinglist. The steps should be as follows:

prepare: have necessary tools available: screwdriver, scissors, flashlight. Use some post-it paper as "isolator" for the bumper. Connect a power supply to the drive
unscrew the top cover (ten screws in total,six are partly covered by the label )
remove the top cover
locate heads and bumper
move the head assembly a bit, so it unsticks from the bumper
apply power
cut a piece of post-it to the right size
isolate the "goo" on the bumper with the paper
replace cover, fasten screws

Ok, I opened up the drive. It took a while before I figured out where the bumpers are; they are actually inside the motor of the head assembly. Look for the two slits on top of it; on both sides there are rubber "bumpers". Using my fingers to move the head assembly back and forth, I could hardly feel any resistance at all. But as soon as I placed a small paper strip between the head and the outside bumper, the head moved when the hard drive was powered (and before I did that, the head wouldn't move at all when the hard drive was powered up. Ran the hard drive for 4 minutes as a test.

2011-10-23: hard drive - first try: I put the hard drive in the refrigerator for 30 mins, the took it out, connected it to the machine again, and tried to start the machine five or six times. It didn't work, the hard drive still powers down after running for about a minute or two. Next try: the refrigerator for one hour. OK, after one hour, I took out the drive, connected it to the machine again, and tried to start the machine. No change in drive behavior - it still turns itself off after a short time. I tried more than ten starts of the machine - didn't help.

2011-10-21: hard drive - to prepare for hard drive testing, I rigged a ATX PSU (using ATX 2.2 pinout) so I could power it up manually. Tested with another hard drive I had laying about. Works flawlessly. I connected the Micropolis 1325 and started the PSU. The drive started spinning. After a while, it stopped the motor. Further testing shows that it always does this. Update: I found this thread. Doesn't sound good. More threads: here,

2011-10-10: hard drive - I disconnected the cables from the hard drive, and unscrewed the two screws that holds it, then slid out the "cage" that it sits in (good engineering).

serial number: 6082021623A. part number: 900525-01-5L.The drive draws 32W, and runs on +12 VDC and +5 VDC. On top of the drive the "Micropolis media defect table" is printed. Transcribed below:

ST506, 85MB    HDA # 337494
Hd    Cyl    BFIND    Hd    Cyl    BFIND    Hd    Cyl    BFIND    Hd    Cyl    BFIND    Hd    Cyl    BFIND
  0    290    1588 .    0    404    8053.     2    468    9670      4      3    6135      4     38    1878.
  4    740    2591 .    7    396    9868

CRC 0=4a23, 1=0000, 2=2dc3, 3=0000, 4=c15c, 5=0000, 6=0000, 7=30bc

That's all. I unscrewed the drive from its cage (four screws), took it out and examined it. I loosened the two screws that hold the upper circuit board (the other end is hinged) and lifted it up. This drive has part of the engine (flywheel?) outside, which made it easy to test if the drive spins freely - it does. I put the drive back together again, mounted in its cage, mounted the cage in the machine, connected all cables, and fired the machine up again. I noticed one thing: the little red light on the drive itself is on, and seems to be like that the whole time. I don't know what that means. I also tried a 20500& from the console, but it didn't do anything. I measured the voltage at the drive power connector (with the drive attached); +5V was spot on, while +12V was 11.61V (probably ok).

floppy drive, tape drive - I disconnected power and data connectors for the floppy drive, to check if they were corroded, but they looked fine. Still, floppy loading doesn't work. I also checked the connectors for the tape drive, and tape controller card; no corrosion there either. I have no tapes to test with, so it doesn't really matter.
2011-09-28: 3112 floppy + streamer controller: I took off the lid of the card cage so I could see the display (3 digits) on the controller. After a MCL, the diisplay shows "000" - which means "selftest passed - ok". If I try to load (1560&) from a floppy with no boostrap (a MS-DOS formatted floppy, for example), the console shows load-error: 50, but the display shows "53". If I try to load from a ND-format floppy (with bootstrap on it) the display shows "E3". The highest error number in the manual is 77. Interesting.; trying to boot from a floppy made from the image image15 on a FreeBSD machine. It behaves the same way as the first image: I enter 1560& on the console, the machine reads from the floppy, the "RUNNING" indicator turns on, and then nothing more.; from the manual ND-11.021.1 EN, page 3: "For "stand-alone" use, a new version of FLO-MON (FLOppy-MONitor-2010F or newer) must be dumped on the diskette."; ALD - the command I12/ from OPCOM tells me that the ALD is set to 20500, which is ST-506 "Winchester" disk controller 1, unit 0 (according to the System Supervisor Manual. SINTRAN disk name: DISC-74MB-1, unit 0.

#I12/020500

That's all.

2011-09-25: trying to boot from a floppy made with dd from the image Testdisk.raw on a FreeBSD machine: I enter 1560& on the console, the machine reads from the floppy, the "RUNNING" indicator turns on, and then nothing more. I wonder if I need to swap bytes while writing the image?; An image created with dd's conv=swab option ends up reading and reading endlessly from the floppy, without going out of OPCOM mode until it times out (seven minutes), and still the machine reads and reads from the floppy. I had to enter OPCOM mode again and press MCL to stop it.

2011-09-23: I set the console at 9600 bps, 7E1. First power up - the machine powers up, the panel starts, and the buttons STOP and START are lit. Pressing either of them gives no evidence that they are working. By holding the rightmost button down, and pressing the STOP button, the panel goes into advanced (OPCOM) mode. Pressing the MCL button gives a "#" on the console. The same does writing "MACL" + ENTER on the console (all caps only!). Pressing the LOAD button does nothing. If I write "&" on the console, nothing happens. If I write 1560& on the console, I get an error message after a while (LOAD-ERROR: 20), which is good since there is no floppy in the floppy drive and the door is open.; The Tandberg TDV 2200/9 terminal is working.; the machine was delivered to me by Pontus and helpers. The total delivery was

1 x ND-100/CX Compact machine, with power cable, serial cable (NOT current loop, don't know yet if it is rs-232 / V.24). The top of the front is labeled "DEMO SIM" with red Dymo tape. The key switch on the panel had broken plastic clips, and was delivered separately.
1 x unknown cable, which came with the machine
1 x display terminal Tandberg TDV 2200/9, serial no: 285727 (TDV 2200/9, Rev. Lev. 11 / 531301) with keyboard, but no power cable
1 x binder, containing
- a cheat card "ND-100 Instant instruction codes"
- a cheat card "ND100 Operator's Communication Instruction Survey"
- a document "Test Progran Description for ND-100 / ND-110"
- two pages containing a documentation index for "C-Dokumentation för F3-528"
- a Tandberg TDV 2200 Hardware Manual (October 1980, revision no. 0)