[geeks] Free: Alphaserver 4100

[Jonathan C. Patschke]

I have here a lovely blue pedestal Alphaserver 4100 with four EV56
processors running at 466MHz, 3 (so, N+1 redundant) power supplies,
768MB memory, a Mylex RAID card, a good-enough video card, and some
number of 18GB disks in its two BA356(?) disk shelves.  It runs VMS,
Windows NT, and FreeBSD[0] wickedly fast and just plain looks cool.

I also want it gone.  Now.

Now, you might ask, "why would this reasonable fellow want to kick such
a nice 64-bit computer to the curb?"  Well, I'll tell you:  AXP doesn't
like me, and at about 0500 this morning, I came to the realization that
the feeling is mutual.

You see, I've had six or seven Alphas in my life.  All were purchased or
rescued in working condition.  None of them has worked properly for me
for any real length of time.  Some of these have gone off to other folks
and worked just as well as they did for the people who had them before
me.  Others not, in any case, I don't want to risk my reputation by
accepting cash for this system.

This particular machine was mostly working when I powered it down a few
months ago.  It had a cache error on CPU #3, but fixing that was only a
question of putting it under enough of a load under VMS (as opposed to
FreeBSD, whose AXP diagnostic routines I don't trust) to verify that the
error was actually on CPU #3.  However, this morning I needed to fire it
up to try some Fibre Channel stuff that I was assured "just works" under
VMS, and this computer started spewing machine check exceptions.

Fsck you very much, Alpha.  I have VAXen for my VMS fix.

You may either pick it up in 78621, or I'll deliver it within an hour's
drive on the weekend (or some evening, if you're near Austin) for some
token amount of cash or "cool stuff".

If you're not familiar with this system, it's packaged in a very
sexy-looking "gunmetal blue" enclosure the same width and depth as a 19"
rack, but slightly shorter than a typical desk.  In this configuration,
I'd guess it weighs about 140 pounds, but has very good casters.


[0] Probably Linux, also, but my last experience with MILO cured me of
     wanting to try Linux on AXP ever again.
-- 
Jonathan Patschke ) "When they turn the pages of history, when these
Elgin, TX        (   days have passed long ago, will they read of us
USA               )  with sadness for the seeds that we let grow?
-                (               --Neil Peart, "A Farewell to Kings"