Searching for MAI Basic Four Information/Docs?

gatkinso asks: "My first job after leaving college was programming on an MAI Basic Four minicomputer (an MPx 8000). Even then I could tell that this was a hideous platform - and that was in comparision to the VAX that my college was running! Fast forward 11 years... and I am faced with such a beast again. This time I am converting a small businesses MAI system to a Linux based solution as opposed to actually maintaining the system. My problem is this: how to get the data from the MAI system to the PC? The MAI system does support ethernet, but this particular system doesn't have a NIC (or for that matter a driver for the nonexistant card). I can set up a serial connection, but the fastest rate I can achieve is 9600 baud. Tape is a solution.... but were are talking about 9 - 10GB of data.... and this will require close to 100 tapes! So what I am looking for is information about MAI Basic Four systems - where can I get hardware and software for such a beast? Also, documentation would be nice (I have a fairly complete set of documentation already, but more is always welcome)."

Comments

So it takes 100 tapes?

[bluGill]

You need 200 tapes of that data anyway! If this system hasn't had regular backups then shame on everyone, fix that problem before considering moving to anouther system. Backups are critical!

Buy 200 tapes, make 2 complete backups, move one offsite, and then think about how you will restore to linux.

Re:So it takes 100 tapes?

[gatkinso]

It is definately an interesting problem!

It is quite fun - the MAI system may suck wind comapred to even a low end PC - it "basically" (hee hee) is a hopped up TRS-80 that runs nothing but Busniess Basic.

Every file is a flat text file (with indexing on a defined substring). Primitive, but it works!

The problem is that if it breaks they are hosed. Not only that but it is slow.... one report on a file with around 35,000 records takes an hour to run. I ran the same report on a 386 33SX(!) in 15 minutes, and on a P5 233 in 3 and a few seconds.

Re:So it takes 100 tapes?

[JabberWokky]

As it is, the tape drive probaly not aligned properly for a decade and tapes produced on it are more than likely completely useless.

I'd agree - and to clarify to anyone who is thinking of little DSS DAT tapes, the tapes that run on this beastie are much more likely to be like those in Wargames or other older movies with big iron.

A friend of mine has a dozen spools of massive four inch wide tape, maybe three or so feet wide (I'm guessing on these dimensions). Each holds a tremendous amount of data - I can't remember if it was half a meg or something astronomical like 4 megs. They date back to the early 70s, I believe, possibly to the 60s.

If it's really a big deal, and you have deep pockets, outsource it. There are plenty of companies that can deal with such situations and do so in a very timely manner. There's even one company that is still processing punch cards... there was an article about them around Y2K. Otherwise, look for the fastest I/O port available (like the aformentioned printer) and emulate it (also like the aformentioned printer).

Good luck, and a link to a follow up on this in a future batch of quickies would be appreciated. Lotsa pictures, and maybe even some code! Some people would really enjoy the challenge of what you're getting paid to do.

--
Evan

Re:So it takes 100 tapes?

[duffbeer703]

Have you ever worked with archives? Or are you just a jackass sysadmin who has never tested a restore?

The chances of successfully restoring a 200-tape archive written by vintage hardware is down around 0% As it is, the tape drive probaly not aligned properly for a decade and tapes produced on it are more than likely completely useless.

Re:lots of serial ports and pluto.

[gatkinso]

This is an interesting link. Thanks!

Re:No hope

[gatkinso]

Nope. It will happen - just a matter of figuring out how (and how long it will take).

lots of serial ports and pluto.

[Zurk]

get Pluto from these guys : http://www.businessbasic.com/plutointro.htm (its like 1 grand) and you can do all the stuff you want to do including transfer data in parallel by multiplexing upto 19 serial ports at 9.6K each from the MAI to a PC.

Re:Just go with the Serial,

[hamjudo]

The machines have multiport serial cards. So divide your time estimate by 8 or 16 for the number of serial ports.

On the other hand, the numbers don't seem right. 9GB on a machine that old of that class? Maybe it was a really big Basic Four.

Could there be an order of magnitude on the disk size? If they are 9GBytes, that means the drives are relatively modern. Plug them into a less disgusting computer, and reverse engineer the file system.

I'm only somewhat joking. If the computer has a defragment command, it will simplify the on disk image for easier decoding.

What's the hardware interface on the disk drives? SMD (You're screwed unless you've a friend who collects obsolete minicomputers), SCSI (life is good), RLL, MFM, ATA/100(oops, wrong universe), etc... If it's from the early 1990's, there may be a similar vintage ISA disk interface for IBM PCs that is still findable on ebay.

Emulate a printer, or use all the serial ports

[hamjudo]

The classic technique is to have the Linux box pretend to be a printer. You'll need to write a program on the Basic4 to generate checksums, and check program on the Linux end.

If it's a serial printer, then you can use all of the serial ports in parallel. It will still takes weeks.

Re:Just go with the Serial,

[Quietust]

2 weeks?
9-10gb at 9600baud...
That'd be about 9000000 seconds...
which ends up at around 104 days. That's three and a half months.
Remember, baud == bits per second, not bytes per second; 9600 baud is about 1kb/second.

-- Sig (120 chars) --
Your friendly neighborhood mIRC scripter.

Just go with the Serial,

[Beowulf_Boy]

It will take you about 2 weeks, but its the simplest, least painful, and won't cost hardly anything.
Its what the business gets for staying with the hunk of Junk so long.