DEC AlphaStation 200 Mustang
 

I received a 200 4/233 "Mustang+" from a friend a few days ago.
This is my first 64-bit CPU and I am still undecided of what to do with it.
My first instinct is to turn it into a workstation, for this I decided on Debian 4.

0. The system is rather flaky... sometimes it gets as far as the SRM prompt, other times I get the DROM beeps and the screen turns off.

I got up to "Low memory mode [!] Load installer components from CD"
and was pondering "mdcfg: Configure MD devices", (MD = MiniDisk, Sony's ill-fated storage medium?) when the system locked up. The diagnostic LEDs, as seen from the rear of the case :

(*) (*) (*) ( ) (*) ( ) (*) ( )

This LED configuration is not listed in the technical manual, so I suspect the hardware is damaged.

Is there anything I could do to trace the fault?
Or is this AlphaStation a bin job?
(I would probably try to give it away, spare parts for DEC are pretty rare)


P.S.: Anyone know a forum for DEC Alpha users, please let me know.

You should be able to get technical documents at hp.com.

I haven't worked with Alphas in a few years but the situation that you describe would have prompted me to call field service, so I am guessing that you may have a useless machine.

You can recycle computers at hp.com. They would probably find some use for the parts. If not then they will find a responsible way to dispose of it. You may also have computer recycling centers near you.

Don't feel too bad. It's only 233 MHz anyway. It's probably not worth the electricity that it consumes.