Specifications
Page 31Installation Instructions: Roadrunner 030 & 040 AM-1000 / AM-1200 Upgrade
12.2AM-174 to AM-985 X-bus Cabling Instructions
The AM-985 and AM-174 boards are linked together with two 34-pin cables, which you
were instructed to connect to the AM-985 board previously. One of the cables connects
the P2 connector on the AM-985 board to the J3 connector on the AM-174 board; the
other cable connects the P1 connector on the AM-985 board to the J2 connector on the
AM-174 board. Since you have already connected the two 34-pin cables to the AM-985
board, it is now simply a matter of routing the cables as shown on the previous figure
and connecting them to the AM-174 board.
When plugging in the two cables, make sure the embossed arrow (which indicates
pin-1) on the connectors align with the pin-1 indicators on both the AM-174 and AM-985
boards. The section dealing with circuit board configuration contains illustrations
indicating pin-1 locations for AM-985, AM-172, and AM-174 boards.
No power is conducted over either of the two 34-pin cables, so no damage will occur if
you accidentally reverse these cables. However, if the cables are not plugged in
correctly, the system will not boot or run self-test. If your computer does not boot after
doing the upgrade, double check your cable connections.
12.3Connecting the 50-Pin SCSI Interface Cable
If your AM-1000/1200 computer is currently using a SCSI disk drive, your existing 50-pin
SCSI interface cable does not have to be replaced. If you intend on using the
Roadrunner board’s SCSI port, simply take the 50-pin connector that would normally be
plugged into the SASI port on the AM-167 or AM-177 board and plug it into the J3
connector on the AM-172 board or the J1 connector on the AM-174 board. Make sure
the connection is made pin-1 to pin-1.
If as part of the Roadrunner upgrade you are replacing an ST-506 type disk drive with a
new SCSI disk drive, you will need to install a new SCSI interface cable. The
Roadrunner product installation kit includes a 50-pin SCSI interface (DWB-10201-00).
The cable has an extra 50-pin connector that will allow you to install an optional
magnetic tape SCSI peripheral, like the Tandberg SCSI tape drive shown in the next
figure.
You may already be using the same cable (DWB-10201-00) included in the Roadrunner
installation kit, if at some point in the past you installed a Tandberg 1/4" streaming tape
drive. However, in order to work with the Roadrunner hardware, this cable may need to
be re-routed as shown.
The following figure shows how the new cable is routed in configurations where the
Roadrunner board is mounted on top of the SCSI disk drive. First, connect the external
SCSI cable to the computer’s rear panel. The first 50-pin connector, located closest to
the rear panel connector, attaches to the SCSI disk drive; the second connector
attaches to an optional magnetic tape peripheral; the connector at the far end of the
cable attaches to the Roadrunner board. Note how the cable is routed so that the red
stripe aligns with pin-1 on the disk drive, tape drive, and Roadrunner board.
PDI-00172-10, Rev. A03