microvax 3100/40 console cable poetry-minihowto (also valid for VAXStation 3100 ! :) ----------------------------------------------- how to connect a microvax 3100-40 to a pc using a self-made console cable; keywords: microvax, 3100-40, 3100, console, cable, pinout, scheme, schematic, diagram, construction, pain, terror, hate, vampire, sadness, l3chuck, maharishi, vaxstation, horror, holocaust, hitler, antani. looking it at the back, you can see these things: | | | MicroVAX 3100-40 14 | | on | | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 | | MMJ MMJ MMJ DB25 but SW sl 4led 4led AUI SW2 BNC mainpw | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------' 1 - mmj connector, serial port for system console 2,3 - mmj serial ports 4 - cannon male db25, it seem a serial port - printer? 5 - a button - reset ? halt ? 6 - a switch in position DOWN 7 - a single LED 8,9 - 4 + 4 leds, diagnostic purpose 10 - aui ethernet connector, for a transceiver; a female cannon. 11 - switch to select ethernet aui or bnc; position it to the choosed connector. 12 - bnc ethernet connector 13 - main power cord 14 - ON/OFF switch :) ---- and looking at the back of VAXStation 3100, you can see: | VAXStation 3100 PWR SW | CONN on | printer/ | monitor console PWR | db15 cannon mmj mmj sw 8 led CONN | -- --- -- ------------------------------------------------------' well. to connect a serial terminal to the microvax, as a console, you have to connect to the port 1, that horrible MMJ. To connect a serial terminal to the VAXStation 3100, you must connect to the printer/console mmj connector; it's identified by a printer :) here's the pinout, it's the same for the 2 vaxes : Looking the mmj connector at the back of the vax: _____________ | 1 2 3 4 5 6 | ---------. . --- Posit# Description Corresponding RS232 1 Data terminal ready 20 2 Transmit (+) 2 3 Transmit (-) ---\___ 7 4 Receive (-) ---/ 5 Receive (+) 3 6 Data set ready 6 NOTE about rj11 and mmj connectors: here is a mmj: -------------------- | O O O O O O | | | | ____ | ------------| |-- |____| <--- CLIP that hold the plug in the socket but a normal RJ11 connector look like this one: -------------------- | O O O O O O | | | | ____ | -------| |------- |____| <--- rj11: the CLIP is centered! :) so, a way to hack a RJ11 connector consist in cutting out the clip and the clip support, so the rj11 can be plugged into the MMJ connector. but we had difficult finding a RJ11 connector, and other difficults crimping the cable "by hand". SO, WE CHOOSED THE HARD WAY: creating a STANDARD CANNON DB25 MALE SERIAL CONSOLE CONNECTOR on the VAX, by SOLDERING the serial cables directly on the VAX MOTHERBOARD :)))))) looking at the solder side of the VAX motherboard, under the 3 mmj connectors, here's the hack: just solder 6 wires under the connector, and voila'! you can connect those wires on your favourite connector (i choosed a male DB25 to have a "standard" serial port) the numeration of the pin respect the mmj numeration printed above. (this scheme apply to the microvax 3100; for the vaxstation, just locate the mmj console connector: the pinout is exactly the same! :) mmj console mmj mmj --------------------------------------------------------- -- -- -- | | o o o o o o o o o | 2 4 6 ... | o o o o o o o o o | 1 3 5 | | so, here's the SOLDERED VAX MMJ to male DB25 CANNON ADAPTER scheme: (this adapter was TESTED for MicroVAX 3100-40 and VAXServer 3100) on the motherboard DB25 MALE CANNON DTR 1 ----------. .-------------- 2 TX TX 2 -----------)----------' .---------- 3 RX TX GND 3 --. | .--------' RX GND 4 ---+-------)----(-----. .---------- 6 DSR RX 5 -----------)----' ---(----------- 7 GND DSR 6 -----------)--------------' '-------------------------- 20 DTR description of the adapter: from mmj to cannon: 1 to 20, 2 to 2, 3 and 4 together to 7, 5 to 3, 6 to 6. SO, we have the console connector on a new db25 connector of the vax :) the cable to connect the vax to a pc serial port, assuming to use a laptop pc as a vax console, is this: (this cable was TESTED for MicroVAX 3100-40 and VAXServer 3100) VAX DB25 HACKED CONNECTOR 9 PIN SERIAL PORT TX 2 --------------------------------------------- 2 RX RX 3 --------------------------------------------- 3 TX DSR 6 --------------------------------------------- 4 DTR GND 7 --------------------------------------------- 5 GND DTR 20 --------------------------------------------- 6 DSR (NOTE: you have tojumper together .-- 7 RTS RTS and CTS !!!) --------------> '-- 8 CTS connectors to use: db25 female cannon db9 female cannon here's the console cable!!!!! to use the vax, just connect the cable to your laptop, and use a terminal program like minicom, setting 9600,n,8,1 parameters; disabling hardware handshake and enabling software handshake (XON/XOFF) sometimes help. :) - asbesto 22/1/2004 poetry hacklab palazzolo acreide http://poetry.freaknet.org