[LispM] Help/Suggestions on reviving a Symbolics 3630...

[Josh Dersch]

Hi all --

I'm looking for any suggestions for reviving a dead 3630 I have in my 
possession.  The machine worked fabulously up until just about a year 
ago -- it spontaneously reset while I was using it and never came up again.

The current symptoms are:  When the machine is turned on, everything 
powers up as you'd expect.  After approximately 5 seconds, the Run and 
Fault lights come on, only to go out again after another second or two.  
This process repeats indefinitely.  During this time, the Console just 
displays the usual noise that it displays when it's not getting a video 
signal.  (I've checked the console cable and the internal wiring from 
the bulkhead to the Console SLB and everything seems ok on that end.)

Thus far I haven't done much to it (I'm not much of a hardware hacker, 
so there's not much I feel qualified to do :)) -- I've carefully removed 
each card and inspected them for any obvious dead components, but I 
haven't found anything suspect.  The voltages from the power supply seem 
OK, though I haven't tested it for ripple.

So I'm looking for any suggestions you guys might have.  I realize I 
could bite the bullet and ship this off to David Schmidt, but I'd like 
to avoid that if possible, since shipping one of these cross country is 
not cheap and I don't want to risk the machine getting broken (well, 
more broken, as the case may be) in transit.

Optimally I'd like to find someone with a compatible machine or extra 
working boards who wouldn't mind helping me narrow down the problem by 
swapping boards -- if there's anyone on this list within reasonable (4 
hours or so) driving distance of Seattle, WA who can help me out, please 
let me know.

Thanks!
Josh