KONTRON PSI 9068

[Walter Belgers]

Hi,

Sorry for typing in English, aber Deutsch ist leider nicht meine
Muttersprache.

I am in the posession of a KONTRON PSI 9068 system from the 1980s. Since
this was made in Germany, maybe somebody here knows more about. I got
the system in the neigborhood of Emden some 8 years ago (via eBay) but
at the time, could not get it to work. A few weeks ago, I bought
original KONTRON UNIX floppy disks (5.25") in Munich, and I spent some
more time on the KONTRON to see if I can get it to work again.

This system has a Z80 based board ("TCB/Z80") that acts as an I/O
processor. KONTRON UNIX is running from an 68000-based Sun1 board. Both
have a serial console connector. The Sun connector shows:

KONTRON PSI 9068 Monitor (Rev C/V2.1 ) - 0x200000 bytes of memory

b

Boot: dk(16,2)unix
Waiting for the IOP-Processor

The IOP-Processor is the Z80 board.

The IOP-Processor has a built-in debugger for which I found a manual
online. It seems to work as well, so all the hardware seems fine. But
the processor cannot boot from floppy. When trying the "TP" command in
the debugger to test the floppy drive, I only get DRIVE NOT READY.

The floppy is a 616kB TEAC FD-55FV-13-U drive, which works when I hook
it up to a greaseweasel. There's also an ST225 harddisk connected via an
Adaptec SCSI-MFM controller. The ST225 works (tested with an MFM reader)
but also cannot be seen by the I/O processor.

Does anybody have an idea on how to proceed from here or what the issue
might be?
- defective hardware on the IOP? but both floppy and HD do not work, so
it would mean at least 2 components are defective, but the rest of the
board works? not very likely
- bad connections? badly seated ICs I don't think, there's a lot of RAM
chips on there and the RAM seems to work
- dipswitches in the wrong position? I don't have a manual with
settings. I did move them all back and forth (carefully noting the
original position) in case there would be a bad contact there.

The full part number of the IOP board is TCP/Z802 1.2/B 5170073

Some pictures: https://gallery.belgers.com/gallery/index.php?/category/7

Cheers,
Walter.

[Matthias Meyser]

Hi

Service manual (in german) hope it helps.

https://oldcomputers.dyndns.org/public/pub/rechner/kontron/manuals/von_alfred/dokumentation/kontron_psi9xxx_1983_(600_sw).pdf

Hardware manual (dito)

https://www.progettosnaps.net/manuals/pdf/psi98.pdf

CU
Matthias

Post by Walter Belgers
Hi,
Sorry for typing in English, aber Deutsch ist leider nicht meine
Muttersprache.
I am in the posession of a KONTRON PSI 9068 system from the 1980s. Since
this was made in Germany, maybe somebody here knows more about. I got
the system in the neigborhood of Emden some 8 years ago (via eBay) but
at the time, could not get it to work. A few weeks ago, I bought
original KONTRON UNIX floppy disks (5.25") in Munich, and I spent some
more time on the KONTRON to see if I can get it to work again.
This system has a Z80 based board ("TCB/Z80") that acts as an I/O
processor. KONTRON UNIX is running from an 68000-based Sun1 board. Both
KONTRON PSI 9068 Monitor (Rev C/V2.1 ) - 0x200000 bytes of memory

b

Boot: dk(16,2)unix
Waiting for the IOP-Processor
The IOP-Processor is the Z80 board.
The IOP-Processor has a built-in debugger for which I found a manual
online. It seems to work as well, so all the hardware seems fine. But
the processor cannot boot from floppy. When trying the "TP" command in
the debugger to test the floppy drive, I only get DRIVE NOT READY.
The floppy is a 616kB TEAC FD-55FV-13-U drive, which works when I hook
it up to a greaseweasel. There's also an ST225 harddisk connected via an
Adaptec SCSI-MFM controller. The ST225 works (tested with an MFM reader)
but also cannot be seen by the I/O processor.
Does anybody have an idea on how to proceed from here or what the issue
might be?
- defective hardware on the IOP? but both floppy and HD do not work, so
it would mean at least 2 components are defective, but the rest of the
board works? not very likely
- bad connections? badly seated ICs I don't think, there's a lot of RAM
chips on there and the RAM seems to work
- dipswitches in the wrong position? I don't have a manual with
settings. I did move them all back and forth (carefully noting the
original position) in case there would be a bad contact there.
The full part number of the IOP board is TCP/Z802 1.2/B 5170073
Some pictures: https://gallery.belgers.com/gallery/index.php?/category/7
Cheers,
Walter.

[Walter Belgers]

Post by Matthias Meyser
Service manual (in german) hope it helps.
Hardware manual (dito)

Thanks Matthias. Unfortunately, the psi98.pdf manual only contains
parts A, B and C, where the TCB/Z80 description is in part D.
I have found other scans of the same document - also missing part C
(and G).

Regards,
Walter.