ND-5000 hardware: cabinets and boards¶
What box each ND-5000 model came in, how big the box is, and which printed circuit boards (PCBs) were inside. Only what the manuals in this repo say; anything weaker is marked.
Built from: the ND-5000 Hardware Description ND-05.020, the ND-5000 Hardware
Maintenance ND-05.017, the ES Model C maintenance manual ND-830102, the ND-5000 product
sheets in ../Product-Info/, the sales document ND-SID001, ND's own PCB index by way of
../../SINTRAN/ND5000/ND5000-FAMILY-MODELS-REFERENCE.md, and the dimension tables in
../../Hardware/ND-PHYSICAL-MODELS.md. Full list in section 7.
Sibling document: ND500-HW.md. What the metal actually looks like, cage by cage, with image briefs: cabinets/.
1. Three cabinet generations¶
| Generation | Cabinets | Years | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | Large cabinet | 1987 | ND-05.020 and ND-05.017 |
| Compact series | ND-5000 Compact (models A0-A4, A10-A14, B) | from Nov 1987 | ND-05.017; Product News Nov 1987 via ndwiki |
| ES (Extended Server) | Model S (satellite), Model C (compact), Model L (large) | 1988 on | ND-198, ND-5230 sheets; ND-830102; ND-895560 |
The ES Model C "replaces the current ND-5000 Compacts" and Model L is the large cabinet. The Rallar machines (ND-5830, ND-5850, ND-5950) appear only in ES model codes S11, C11, L11 and L12-L14.
2. The large cabinet¶
Same shell as the ND-500 cabinet. The sales document says it plainly: "The ND-5000 system cabinet is identical to an ND-500 cabinet, except for the card racks."
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Height x width x depth | 1.60 x 0.60 x 0.95 m | ND-5700/5800/5900 sheet |
| Same, planning manual 1987 | 169 x 60 x 95 cm | ND-13.028 via Hardware/ND-PHYSICAL-MODELS.md |
| Weight | max 250 kg (180-250) | both |
| Power | 2500 W standard, 3200 W max, 230 V 50 Hz, 25 A slow | ND-5700 sheet; planning manual says 2200 W |
Contents, top to bottom (ND-05.020 figure 2): top fan units, power units (ND Multipower Supply, plug-in from the rear), fan unit, plug panel, bus bar (ground, 5 V, 12 V, 5 V standby), slimline streamer 40 or 60 MB, 5 1/4 inch floppy 1.2 MB, operator panel with Telefix adapter and display panel, MFbus card rack with the SAMSON CPU, ND-110 card rack, fan unit, AC distribution.
Racks (ND-SID001 section 2.4): one CPU and memory rack of 24 positions, 4 of them per ND-5000 CPU; one ND-100 rack of 20 positions. Up to 300 MB shared memory in the cabinet, 512 MB with an expansion cabinet; 13 free I/O slots (14 on ES Model L).
MFbus card rack, new type (ND-05.020 table 2, ND-05.017 table 4)¶
| Pos | Card |
|---|---|
| 1 | MFbus controller, PCB 5465 or 5454 |
| 2 | MFbus port, PCB 5155 (port for the ND-100; same card as the MPM-5 port) |
| 3-4 | ports or memory by choice |
| 5-8 | ND-5000 CPU 4 (optional) |
| 9 | ports or memory |
| 10-13 | ND-5000 CPU 3 (optional) |
| 14 | ports or memory |
| 15-18 | ND-5000 CPU 2 (optional) |
| 19 | ports or memory |
| 20-23 | ND-5000 CPU 1: type 1 uses 20-21, type 2 uses 20-22, type 3 uses 20-23 |
| 24 |
Positions freed by absent CPUs take memory or ports. MFB dynamic RAM cards are the MPM-5 dynamic RAM cards.
MFbus card rack, first version (ND-05.017 table 3)¶
26 positions. CPU at 6-7 (type 1), 6-8 (type 2), 6-9 (type 3); positions 1-5 free, "earlier used for ND-570 floating-point unit cards"; MFB dynamic RAM at 8-11 (masters cannot go there, the controller has only 15 request lines); MFbus controller 5465 at position 26.
ES Model L (ND 5230 / 5430 / 5500 / 5700 / 5800 / 5902-5904) is this cabinet with an ND-120 or ND-120/CX front end.
3. The Compact cabinet¶
Same shell as the ND-100 Compact, with two backplanes inside.
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Height x width x depth | 69 x 54 x 76 cm | ND-13.028 planning manual 1987 via Hardware/ND-PHYSICAL-MODELS.md |
| Weight | 100 kg (ND-100 Compact: 78 kg) | same |
| Power | 1250 W, 16 A slow; DC110 supply: 5 V/120 A, 12 V/15 A, 5 V/7 A standby | same; ND-05.017 section 1.3 |
Contents (ND-05.020 figure 3): power and signal distribution, extra plug panel for 3 free positions, slimline streamer 40 or 60 MB, 5 1/4 inch floppy 1.2 MB, display panel, power supply with battery backup, operator panel with Telefix adapter, up to four fixed disks of 74 or 150 MB, fan unit with 10 fans, bus bar, backwiring with 3 or 4 positions for ND-500 size cards including the SAMSON CPU and 12 positions for ND-110 size cards.
Compact card rack, 20-position double-bus backwiring (ND-05.017 tables 5 and 6)¶
| Pos | First version (A0-A4, B) | New type (A10-A14, B) |
|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | ND-5000 CPU type 1 | same |
| 1-3 | ND-5000 CPU type 2 | same |
| 3 | (MFB dynamic RAM, if type 1) | same |
| 4 | MFB dynamic RAM 4, 8 or 16 MB | same |
| 5 | Double Bus Controller (PCB 5464) | same |
| 6 | ND-110/CX CPU | ND-110 CPU |
| 7 | Tracer / memory | Tracer / memory / Ethernet / (Token ring) |
| 8-9 | HDLC / Megalink / memory | HDLC / Megalink / memory / Ethernet / (Token ring) |
| 10-12 | 8-terminal / PIOC / memory | same |
| 13 | ST506 disk controller / Triangel / memory / free | Floppy and SCSI controller |
| 14 | Floppy-SCSI / free / memory | free |
| 15-17 | free | free |
| 18-20 | plugboards 1-3 | plugboards 1-3 |
Only CPU types 1 and 2 appear in the Compact tables, so the Compact was sold as ND-5200, 5400, 5500 and 5700 Compact. Models: A0 = one 60 MB disk (ND-5200 only), A1-A4 = one to four 125 MB disks, B = external disks with a controller.
4. The ES Model C cabinet¶
"It has the same cabinet as the previous version, except for the front cover. The interior, however, is completely new." One large card crate with the backwiring (PCB 5812) in the middle; cards and devices plug in from front and rear, so the cabinet is almost cable-free (ND-830102 chapters 1 and 2).
| Side | Positions |
|---|---|
| Front | 9 ND-100 cards; 5 MF bus cards; streamer, floppy and up to five 310 MB SCSI disks (models C1-C5) |
| Rear | plugboards; 4 positions for the ND-5000 CPU; DC 500 power supply (512030); fan tray |
Available with every CPU type including type 3, so ND-5200 to ND-5800 ES Model C (and ND-5830/5850 ES Model C11 per ND-895560). Front end ND-120 (5200/5400/5500) or ND-120/CX (5700/5800). Key boards from its parts list: Double Bus Controller PCB 5464 (324244), MOS memory 4 MB PCB 5462 (350160), ND-120 CPU PCB 3202 with 2/4/6 MB (350112/350110/350108), SCSI and floppy interface PCB 3201 (350001), system plugboard PCB 5259, MFB console/Octobus plugboard PCB 5234, 8-terminal plugboard PCB 5261, tracer converter PCB 5257. External size is not restated in the manual; it is the Compact shell above.
5. The ES Model S cabinet¶
Its maintenance manual (ND-830103) is not in this repo, but its assembly drawings are: Book 2 chapter 20, "ND-5000 Satellite/Technostation", read sheet by sheet and written up in cabinets/ND-5000-SATELLITE-TECHNOSTATION.md.
It is a narrow, deep tower on four castors, width to height to depth about 1 : 2.4 : 3.4. One backwiring board stands vertically across the width in the middle of the length (PCB 5810 Satellite, PCB 5811 Technostation), with card-edge connectors on both faces, so the box is a two-sided crate: front-half cards plug rearwards, rear-half cards plug forwards. Four axial fans lie in the floor in two slide-in trays. The Technostation adds two ND-100 size positions per half at 21.7 mm and 20.3 mm pitch; the Satellite adds a 6-slot rail in the rear half instead. Power supply DC 500, plug board 1 PCB 1888, plug carrier 1 PCB 1889 with four connector windows, and on the Satellite plug board 2 PCB 1890 and plug carrier 2 PCB 1891 with five more.
Still unknown: the outer dimensions and the ND-5000 slot count. Not one sheet in Book 2 chapter 20 carries an overall size.
From the product sheets: ND-198 gives up to 32 users, up to 620 MB internal disk and a 155 MB streamer as standard, offered as ND-5200 ES and ND-5400 ES Model S. ND-895560 lists platform kit ND 111195 "for ND-5000 ES Satellite" and Model S11 for ND-5400, 5500, 5700, 5700-II and 5830.
5b. The crates, and how they link¶
A crate is a set of PCBs on one shared backplane. The three ND-5000 cabinet generations differ mostly in how many crates there are and what joins them.
The crate types¶
| Crate / backplane | Positions | Card size | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| MFbus (Multifunction Bus) rack | 24 (new type) or 26 (first version) | ND-500 | Large cabinet. Holds the ND-5000 CPU(s), MFbus controller, MFbus ports and MFB dynamic RAM. Follow-up to the MPM-5 crate; ports and RAM cards are the MPM-5 ones. |
| ND-100 rack | 20 | ND-100 | Large cabinet. ND-110/120 front end, its local memory and I/O controllers. |
| Compact double-bus backwiring | 20 = 5 ND-500 size + 12 ND-110 size + 3 plugboards | mixed | ND-5000 Compact. Two buses on one backwiring: MFbus in positions 1-5, ND-110 bus in 6-17. |
| ES Model C card crate | front: 9 ND-100 + 5 MF bus + drive bays; rear: 4 ND-5000 CPU positions + plugboards + power supply | mixed | ES Model C. One crate, backwiring in the middle, cards from both sides. |
| Expansion rack | not tabled in the repo | "I/O and memory expansion cabinet"; the system has one I/O DMA channel and can take up to three. |
How the crates are linked¶
| Link | From | To | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front end to shared memory (large cabinet) | Multifunction Bus Line Driver on the ND-110/120 side (octobus controller gate array + differential line transceivers) | MFbus port PCB 5155 in the MFbus rack, position 2 | Differential cable. The ND-120 reaches MFbus memory "via ports"; the ND-5000 CPU is on the MFbus directly through the MPCC channel interface on its mother board. |
| Front end to shared memory (Compact, ES Model C) | ND-110/120 bus | MFbus | Double Bus Controller PCB 5464 in position 5 (Compact) / MF bus position 8 area (ES C) bridges the two buses on the same backwiring. No cable. |
| Command and status between the processors | ACCP module on the ND-5000 CPU (octobus controller + MC68000) | ND-120 via the line driver; also DMA controllers | The octobus, a serial message bus. Each ND-5000 CPU is an octobus station (708, 718, 728, 738). It replaces the ND-500's 3022/5015 register pair. Mailboxes live in shared MFbus memory; the octobus only says "there is something in the mailbox". |
| DMA devices | Their controller | shared memory | Either through the same memory channel as the ND-120 or through their own MFbus port. |
| Extra CPUs (ND-5900) | CPU 2-4 in MFbus positions 15, 10, 5 | same MFbus | Same backplane; a "Samson console print" sits behind each extra CPU. |
| Expansion cabinet | MFbus ports | expansion rack | Up to three I/O DMA channels; memory up to 512 MB total. |
Which crates sit in which cabinet:
| Cabinet | Crates |
|---|---|
| Large (ND-5200 to ND-5900, ES Model L) | MFbus rack + ND-100 rack, joined by line driver to port 5155 and by the octobus |
| Compact (A/B models) | one double-bus backwiring, joined internally by the Double Bus Controller |
| ES Model C | one card crate, joined internally by the Double Bus Controller |
| ES Model S | not documented in the repo |
6. The boards¶
6.1 The Samson CPU assembly (types 1, 2, 3)¶
One ND-500 size mother board with one to three layers of "baby" modules stacked on
it. Part numbers from ND-05.020 section 1.7.1; PCB numbers from ND's PCB index (via
SINTRAN/ND5000/ND5000-FAMILY-MODELS-REFERENCE.md part 7, one grade below a manual).
| Part | PCB | Module | Type 1 | Type 2 | Type 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 324602 | 5502 | MB mother board | x | x | |
| 324603 | 5503 | MB mother board, 58xx | x | ||
| 324701 | 5601 | MMS instruction/data memory management | x | x | x |
| 324702 | 5602 | ACCP access processor (MC68000 + octobus controller) | x | x | x |
| 324704 | 5604 | ALU arithmetic logical unit | x | x | x |
| 324707 | 5607 | CS control store 16K | x | x | x |
| 324708 | 5608 | IDA instruction/data address controller | x | x | |
| 324718 | 5618 | IDA, type 3 variant | x | ||
| 324709 | 5609 | MIC microinstruction controller | x | x | x |
| 324710 | 5610 | CACHE instruction/data cache | x | ||
| 324717 | 5617 | CACHE, type 3 variant | x | ||
| 324715 | 5615 | AAP additional arithmetic processor | x | x | |
| 324714 | 5614 | IDAC I-level data address controller ("booster") | x |
Layers: type 1 = MB + one layer (ALU, IDA, MMS, CS, MIC, ACCP), two rack positions. Type 2 = MB + CACHE and ALU + AAP, IDA, MMS, CS, MIC, ACCP, three positions. Type 3 = MB 5503 + CACHE 5617 and ALU + AAP, IDA 5618, MMS, CS, MIC, ACCP + IDAC, four positions. Types 1 and 2 share the mother board and modules; type 1 simply has the cache and AAP removed, so floating point runs in microcode. Type 3 has its own mother board, cache and IDA module plus the IDAC.
Basic CPU part numbers: 320001 type I, 320002 type II, 320003 type III. CPU ND numbers: 110249 (5200), 110248 (5400), 110247 (5500), 110218 (5700), 110171 (5800/5900).
6.2 Which model is which (ND-05.020 table 4)¶
| System | CPU type | CPU model | Caches enabled | Master clock | Front end (ND-05.020) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ND-5200 | 1 | 2 | none | 70 ns | ND-110 |
| ND-5400 | 2 | 4 | instruction, Smart IfGo | 156 ns | ND-110/CX |
| ND-5500 | 2 | 5 | + data | 156 ns | ND-110/CX |
| ND-5700 | 2 | 7 | + address | 70 ns | ND-120/CX 2 MB |
| ND-5800 | 3 | 8 | + WICO | 70 ns | ND-120/CX 4 MB |
| ND-5900 mod. 2/3/4 | 3, two to four of them | 8 | as 5800 | 70 ns | ND-120/CX 4 MB |
ND-05.017 tables 1 and 2 give ND-120 for the 5400 and 5500 instead of ND-110/CX, and the 1988 ES sheet gives ND-120 for 5200-5500. The manuals disagree; both are quoted. The model number is set in the MF backplane EEPROM (SET-CPU-MODEL), so an upgrade 5200 to 5400 to 5500 to 5700 to 5800 is a CPU swap where the type changes plus a model setting and a new microprogram (ND-05.017 chapter 2).
Multi-CPU ND-5900: two to four type 3 CPUs at rack positions 20, 15, 10, 5, a "Samson console print" behind each extra CPU, octobus station numbers 708, 718, 728, 738.
6.3 The Rallar CPU (type 4: ND-5830, ND-5850, ND-5950)¶
No Rallar hardware manual is held. From ND's PCB index only:
| Part | PCB | Module |
|---|---|---|
| 320026 / 320027 / 320028 / 320034 / 320035 | 6201 | N-5000 Basic CPU IV, 25 MHz 16 MB / 45 MHz 16 MB / 45 MHz 8 MB / 45 MHz 32 MB / 45 MHz 64 MB |
| 350401 | 6201 | Rallar mother board |
| 350402 | 6202 | Rallar 8 MB local memory |
| 350403 | 6203 | Rallar CPU |
| 350404 | 6204 | Rallar ICA |
| 350405 | 6205 | Rallar DCA |
| 350406 | 6206 | Rallar RAAP (Rallar Additional Arithmetic Processor) |
| 350412 | 6212 | Rallar CPU |
Gate arrays KUSK and GAMP (plus DSB on the arithmetic module) are named by ndwiki and the sintran.com catalogue, not by an ND manual. Rallar carries its own local memory on the CPU assembly; it goes into the same S11 / C11 / L11 cabinets as Samson.
6.4 Bus and front-end boards¶
| Board | PCB | Where | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| MFbus controller | 5465 or 5454 | large cabinet rack pos 1 (or 26, first version) | ND-05.020 table 2, ND-05.017 table 3 |
| Double Bus Controller | 5464 (324244) | Compact and ES Model C, pos 5 | ND-05.017 table 5, ND-830102 appendix A |
| MFbus port (ND-100 port) | 5155, same as the MPM-5 twin port | large cabinet pos 2 | ND-05.020 table 2, ND-05.017 |
| MFB dynamic RAM | same cards as MPM-5 dynamic RAM; 4, 8 or 16 MB in the Compact | ND-05.017 | |
| MOS memory 4 MB | 5462 (350160) | ES Model C | ND-830102 appendix A |
| Multifunction Bus Line Driver | not numbered in the manual | octobus link between MFbus, ND-120 and DMA controllers | ND-05.020 section 1.8 |
| ND-120 CPU 2/4/6 MB | 3202 (350112 / 350110 / 350108) | ES Model C and L | ND-830102 appendix A |
| SCSI and floppy interface | 3201 (350001) | ES Model C | same |
| ND-110, ND-110/CX CPU | see the ND-100 line | Compact first version, large cabinet 5200-5500 | ND-05.017 |
The ND-5000 talks to the ND-110/120 over the octobus (serial message bus) plus shared MFbus memory; there is no PCB 3022 / 5015 pair as on the ND-500.
Updating tools for setting the CPU model: 350156 "Double Bus Contr. updating tool" (Compact), 350157 "MF Bus Controller updating tool" (large cabinet).
7. Sources¶
../../Reference-Manuals/500/ND-05.020.01 EN ND-5000 Hardware Description.md- chapter 1: models (table 1), cabinets (figures 2, 3), racks (tables 2, 3), CPU types (section 1.7.1, table 4), octobus (section 1.8)../../Reference-Manuals/500/ND-05.017.01 EN ND-5000 HARDWARE MAINTENANCE.md- chapter 1: tables 1-6, power supplies; chapter 2: upgrades and SET-CPU-MODEL../../Reference-Manuals/500/ND-830102.1B EN ND-5000 ES Model C Hardware Maint. Manual-Sintran.md- ES Model C cabinet, card crate (section 2.1.5), appendix A part numbers../Product-Info/ND-5700-B1-EN.md(ND-5700/5800/5900, dimensions),ND-5230-A1-EN.md(ES Model L),ND-198-1-EN.md(ES series, Model S)../Sales-Info/ND-SID001-A1-EN.md- section 2.4 physical layout, structure lists../Installation-Description/ND-895560-2-EN.md- ES model codes S11 / C11 / L11-L14 incl. Rallar../../Hardware/ND-PHYSICAL-MODELS.md- the 1987 planning-manual dimension table../../SINTRAN/ND5000/ND5000-FAMILY-MODELS-REFERENCE.md- PCB index (part 7), Rallar findings../../History/sources/ndwiki-nd-5000-family.md- ndwiki "ND-5000 family", Wayback snapshot 4 Oct 2022 (secondary: card layers, KUSK/GAMP, upgrade steps, octobus station numbers)