I finally got my first fully operational Alpha Micro back operational again. For those new to these systems, they run a DEC-inspired real memory operating system called AMOS, turning up as turnkey business systems in blue-collar fields like party stores and dispatchers, but also law and medical offices, and churches. What's particularly notable about them technically is that most of them are 68K based, but run the 68K little-endian by swapping address lines for compatibility with their earlier WD-16 architecture.
In the 1990s Alpha Micro tried to modernize the platform with the Eagle family, using 68030, 68040 and later ColdFire CPUs, plus Ethernet, faster SCSI and loads of serial ports. Near as I can tell, the ColdFire Eagle 450 was the first ColdFire server ever built. And yes, an Alpha Micro can serve a website with Ethernet and AlphaTCP. It's served ampm.floodgap.com for years, and that particular machine is the Eagle 300 that's the subject here, with a 40MHz 68EC030.
Unfortunately a ZuluSCSI upgrade went bad when I unwittingly didn't reconnect the boards properly, and I had to run everything off my 25MHz MCF5102 ColdFire Eagle until "spare parts" arrived ... which turned out to be a 68040 Eagle and the new fastest machine in my collection. Meanwhile, the E300 spontaneously resurrected itself in storage, so the upgrade got finished, and then I retrofitted everything else. Enjoy the photos, the benchmarks, the panic, and a brief memorial for one of the system's creators who died last year.
oldvcr.blogspot.com
In the 1990s Alpha Micro tried to modernize the platform with the Eagle family, using 68030, 68040 and later ColdFire CPUs, plus Ethernet, faster SCSI and loads of serial ports. Near as I can tell, the ColdFire Eagle 450 was the first ColdFire server ever built. And yes, an Alpha Micro can serve a website with Ethernet and AlphaTCP. It's served ampm.floodgap.com for years, and that particular machine is the Eagle 300 that's the subject here, with a 40MHz 68EC030.
Unfortunately a ZuluSCSI upgrade went bad when I unwittingly didn't reconnect the boards properly, and I had to run everything off my 25MHz MCF5102 ColdFire Eagle until "spare parts" arrived ... which turned out to be a 68040 Eagle and the new fastest machine in my collection. Meanwhile, the E300 spontaneously resurrected itself in storage, so the upgrade got finished, and then I retrofitted everything else. Enjoy the photos, the benchmarks, the panic, and a brief memorial for one of the system's creators who died last year.
Refurb weekend II: Alpha Micro Eagle 300 and friends
This Refurb Weekend is a sequel in two ways. Six years ago I fixed the power supply and case fan in my 68EC030-based Alpha Microsystems Ea...
oldvcr.blogspot.com