Compaq AlphaServer DS20
The AlphaServer DS20 is the successor to the
AlphaServer 1200 using the same
pedestal enclosure. It supports dual EV6 CPUs at either 500MHz,
667MHz or 833MHz. Disk storage is housed in StorageWorks shelves
with one internal. Prices started in 1999 at US$19,900 for a
machine with 128MB RAM, one 500MHz CPU and one 4GB disk.
Contents
Graphical Console
The AlphaServer DS20 has integrated PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports,
but no integrated video. If you want to use a graphical console
(required for running Windows, optional for everything else),
you'll need to install a compatible PCI Video card if the machine
didn't come with one.
Unlike most non-x86 platforms with PCI slots (Sun, Mac, IBM, etc),
Alphas don't require special PCI video cards - they can
use regular off-the-shelf PC-compatible VGA cards. To achieve this
it runs the video cards VGA BIOS under an x86 emulator which also
provides enough of a PC BIOS for the VGA BIOS to run (it can also
run SCSI BIOS Option ROMs if needed).
Because the DS20 is running the VGA BIOS in an emulator without a
full PC BIOS present not all VGA cards are compatible. Anything
relying on x86 CPU instructions not implemented by the emulator,
or PC BIOS calls not provided won't work. Best to be conservative
when selecting a card - don't expect a GeForce FX 5700 to work
(not that I've tested one).
Older is probably better, otherwise pick something DEC shipped.
Perhaps a basic Trio64. DEC/Compaq shipped the ELSA GLoria
Synergy-8 (PBXGK-BB) in some machines. I've used a Cirrus Logic
GD54M30 (specifically a Prolink MVGA-CLM30P) with some success,
though it seemed to conflict with a KZPBA-CX (QLogic ISP1040B)
SCSI controller preventing AlphaBIOS from starting.
Whatever card you choose, you'll need drivers for the operating
system you plan to run. Finding OpenVMS, Digital UNIX or Alpha NT
drivers for any random card is unlikely. You'll probably want to
find a card that your target operating system knows about out of
the box.
This website has a table of cards compatible with Tru64 UNIX,
while
this one lists a few specific cards tested against Windows,
and the Windows NT 4.0 HCL
lists many more. These lists are far from exhaustive of course,
just a starting point. Its possible some cards on these lists may
in fact be incompatible simply due to different VGA BIOS revisions
being incompatible with the x86 CPU and BIOS emulation in the DS20s
firmware.
Serial Console
If you get nothing out of the VGA port except a blue screen when
you start up the machine, you'll need to use a serial terminal to
access the console firmware. Just hook up a terminal to the first
serial port, and you should eventually be greeted with the console
prompt. It is a regular PC-style pinout so no adapters are
required beyond a null-modem.
When using a terminal emulator, the correct communications settings
should be: 9600 baud, 8 bits, no parity, one stop bit (9600 baud, 8N1).
If you're using C-Kermit or Kermit 95, the commands would be:
set term type vt320 ; Kermit 95 only: emulate a VT320
set term remote latin1-iso
set carrier off
set port com1 ; or /dev/ttyUSB1, etc, on linux
set speed 9600
set parity none
set stop-bits 1
set flow none
connect
If the machine is configured to use a graphical console, you might
not get anything on the first serial port if a keyboard is plugged
in, even if the machine has no VGA card.
Remote Console
The DS20 is equipped with a remote management console which can be
accessed via either dial-up modem, terminal or terminal emulator
on the first serial port (the same one you'd use for the SRM
console).
By default, to access it with a terminal or terminal emulator, send
the RCM Escape sequence which is, by default, ^]^]rcm. If
you're using C-Kermit
for Windows as your terminal emulator with the default key
bindings you would do this by hitting Ctrl+] four times then typing
rcm (One Ctrl+] for the local escape, next Ctrl+] to send
an escape, repeated twice).
Commands
- halt
- Halts the server (same as pressing and releasing the halt button on the front of the machine)
- haltin
- Causes a halt assertion. Like pressing and holding the halt button.
- haltout
- Terminates the halt assertion started with haltin. Like releasing the halt button after holding it for some time.
- help or ?
- Supposedly lists the available commands but on my machine it does nothing
- poweroff
- Turns off power to the server. Same as if you pushed the power button on the front while its on.
- poweron
- Turns on power to the server. Same as if you pushed the power button on the front while its off.
- reset
- Resets the server. Same as if you pushed the reset button on the front of the machine.
- setesc
- Changes the escape sequence for invoking the RCM command mode
- status
- Displays system status and sensors
Example: status command
RCM>status
Firmware Rev: V2.0
Escape Sequence: ^]^]RCM
Remote Access: DISABLE
Alerts: DISABLE
Alert Pending: NO
Temp (C): 21.0
RCM Power Control: OFF
RCM Halt:
External Power: ON
Server Power: OFF
RCM>
Integrated Adaptec SCSI
The AlphaServer DS20 has an integrated Adaptec AIC-7895P two
channel SCSI adapter which, as you can see above,
isn't visible in the SRM console, and it's also hidden from
AlphaBIOS too. It also isn't mentioned in the QuickSpecs document,
DEC instead required you to order the machine
with enough PCI SCSI adapters to supply two SCSI ports (either one
dual port card, or two single port cards).
The Technical Summary does mention this SCSI controller,
with the note "Today only Windows NT can use the integrated SCSI
adapters".
The Windows NT installation section of the users guide
mentions the
integrated SCSI is unused and gives instructions for preventing
Windows setup from loading the driver. The OpenVMS Wizard
claims that the integrated SCSI is
not supported
by OpenVMS. Someone from the UNIX Software Group at Compaq
says there is some
problem with the integrated SCSI adapter. As they were only usable
by Windows NT (which had recently been abandoned by Compaq), the
integrated SCSI was just disabled/hidden from the SRM console.
In this usenet thread
someone else just claims it was a matter of drivers for OpenVMS and
Tru64 UNIX not being ready at the time the DS20 was launched.
Lack of drivers isn't a very clean explanation though. The AlphaServer
DS20E has the same integrated SCSI controller, and it apparently is
supported by SRM, Tru64 UNIX and OpenVMS there. Why was it left
disabled on the older DS20? Perhaps there really is some hardware
issue that was never resolved.
Integrated USB
While the system configuration
may fail to report the integrated Adaptec SCSI which is very much
present, it does mention a USB controller! Unfortunately
on my machine at least the USB port itself is not populated (image,
right). There aren't any other unpopulated components nearby, so
it's possible that the USB ports themselves are all that is
missing. I've seen at least
one photo
of a DS20 that does have the USB ports populated, while
many others still have the USB logo on the sticker but no hole is
stamped in the I/O shield and the connector unpopulated. My
machine doesn't have the cut-out in the sticker or the USB logo.
It's possible the USB was intended for Windows 2000, and when that
was canceled they stopped populating the USB connector as OpenVMS
and Tru64 didn't support USB at the time. Or perhaps there is some
hardware issue with it, like with the integrated SCSI. The closely
related AlphaPC 264DP and AlphaServer DS20E have the USB ports
populated and presumably functional but as they're newer any
hardware issues may have been resolved by the time they came out.
Integrated IDE
The AlphaServer DS20 also has Integrated IDE, though only one of the
controllers two channels is actually exposed with the connector over
by the Floppy connector. And unlike the SCSI
and USB, apparently this does work! I've not had reason to
try and use it for anything, but I've seen reports of other people
using it for CD-ROM drives. One usenet post suggests that
DMA isn't supported for the Cypress chip
used by the DS20 though, so probably best to stick with SCSI for
hard disks.
Firmware
The lastest SRM console firmware is v7.3-1 (~April 2007), and the latest
AlphaBIOS firmware is v5.71 (~June 2001). The AlphaServer DS20 is one of those
few machines that kept getting firmware updates right until the
very end, so the latest firmware is found on the final firmware
update CD: AG-RCFBX-BS — Alpha Systems Firmware Update 7.3, April 2007.
You can also
find the latest firmware and release notes on the firmware update site.
Older firmware versions can be found on firmware update CDs going
back to version 5.5, and firmware update release notes for previous
releases can be found here.
The
firmware history going back to v6.7 mostly seems to just cover
bug fixes and updated firmware for various options, so whether it is
worth upgrading the firmware on any given DS20 probably depends on
if any of the affected options are installed, if it has
onboard USB populated and working, if
onboard Adaptec SCSI is not disabled in
the currently installed firmware, and you don't want it to be
disabled, etc. Upgrading beyond SRM v5.4 may disable the
integrated Adaptec SCSI.
These sections from the Alpha Firmware Update Seminar may also be
of interest:
AlphaServer DS20/DS20E,
Updating the FailSafe Booter (FSB) on a Compaq AlphaServer DS20.
Windows NT Support
The AlphaServer DS20 was one of the last (the last?) machines
introduced with Windows NT support, with Compaq only supporting
Windows on the DS20 until 31 December 1999.
Only Windows NT 4.0 was ever supported by Compaq, but Windows 2000
should run too. When installing Windows NT 4.0 you need to supply
the most recent HAL
(Revision G).
For Service Packs, see Windows NT Updates.
Due to Compaq
killing Windows NT support,
they never supported NT4 SP6
on these machines despite them being one of the latest model at the time.
Digital UNIX/Tru64 UNIX Support
The AlphaServer DS20 was first supported by Digital UNIX 4.0E
(released November 1998), and was still supported as of Tru64
5.1B-6. If needed, Updates
for Digital UNIX and Tru64 UNIX are available.
My Machine
Is currently configured with two 500MHz EV6 CPUs and
2GB RAM making it my most powerful Alpha and only EV6 machine. I
got it on the 13th of June 2015 with a Compaq-branded DEC Rack,
two HSZ70 storage subsystems and a mountain of StorageWorks disk
bricks. About a year later got a pair of
AlphaServer 4100s from the same place. It
can be a little temperamental at times, sometimes refusing to
power on and other times seeming to work just fine.
Configuration
>>>show config
AlphaServer DS20 500 MHz
SRM Console: V7.2-1
PALcode: OpenVMS PALcode V1.98-79, Tru64 UNIX PALcode V1.92-74
Processors
CPU 0 Alpha EV6 pass 2.3 500 MHz SROM Revision: V1.82
Bcache size: 4 MB
CPU 1 Alpha EV6 pass 2.3 500 MHz SROM Revision: V1.82
Bcache size: 4 MB
Core Logic
Cchip DECchip 21272-CA Rev 2.1
Dchip DECchip 21272-DA Rev 2.0
Pchip 0 DECchip 21272-EA Rev 2.2
Pchip 1 DECchip 21272-EA Rev 2.2
TIG Rev 4.14
Arbiter Rev 2.10 (0x1)
MEMORY
Array # Size Base Addr
------- ---------- ---------
0 512 MB 000000000
1 512 MB 020000000
2 512 MB 040000000
3 512 MB 060000000
Total Bad Pages = 0
Total Good Memory = 2048 MBytes
PCI Hose 00
Bus 00 Slot 05/0: Cypress 82C693
Bridge to Bus 1, ISA
Bus 00 Slot 05/1: Cypress 82C693 IDE
dqa.0.0.105.0
Bus 00 Slot 05/2: Cypress 82C693 IDE
dqb.0.1.205.0
Bus 00 Slot 05/3: Cypress 82C693 USB
usba0.0.0.305.0
Bus 00 Slot 08: QLogic ISP10x0
pkd0.7.0.8.0 SCSI Bus ID 7
Bus 00 Slot 09: DE500-BA Network Controller
ewb0.0.0.9.0 08-00-2B-C3-A6-92
PCI Hose 01
Bus 00 Slot 07: DECchip 21152-AA
Bridge to Bus 2, PCI
Bus 00 Slot 08: NCR 53C895A
pkc0.7.0.8.1 SCSI Bus ID 7
Bus 02 Slot 00: NCR 53C875
pka0.7.0.2000.1 SCSI Bus ID 7
dka100.1.0.2000.1 RRD46
Bus 02 Slot 01: NCR 53C875
pkb0.7.0.2001.1 SCSI Bus ID 7
Bus 02 Slot 02: DE500-AA Network Controller
ewa0.0.0.2002.1 00-06-2B-00-AD-DB
ISA
Slot Device Name Type Enabled BaseAddr IRQ DMA
0
0 MOUSE Embedded Yes 60 12
1 KBD Embedded Yes 60 1
2 COM1 Embedded Yes 3f8 4
3 COM2 Embedded Yes 2f8 3
4 LPT1 Embedded Yes 3bc 7
5 FLOPPY Embedded Yes 3f0 6 2
Documentation
- Product Brief
- Technical Summary
- QuickSpecs
- Installation Guide - EK-AS140-IN.A01
- KN310 CPU Installation - EK-KN310-IN.B01
- Power Supply Installation - EK-H7899-IN.A01
- Internal StorageWorks Shelf Configuration Guide - EK-H8253-IN.A01
- Users Guide - EK-AS140-UG.A01
- Illustrated Parts Breakdown - EK-ADS20-IP.A01
- Service Manual - EK-AS140-SV.A01
- Systems Options Catalog
- AlphaServer DS20 Pedestal-Rackmount: V1.0, V1.1, V1.2
- AlphaServer DS20 Tru64 UNIX and OpenVMS: V1.3, V1.4, V1.5, V1.6
- AlphaServer DS20 Linux Ready: V1.0, V1.1, V1.2
- AlphaServer DS20 Pedestal-Rackmount Windows NT: V1.1, V1.2
- AlphaServer DS20 Windows NT: V1.3, V1.4, V1.6
See also
