Digging through old usenet posts for something completely unrelated,
I found a reference to the Prime code name "aphrodite", in the context
of inrush current:

From: Michael Haseler <int_log_...@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: PRIME 6450
Date: 2000/05/31

[...]

On the 9000's, it was 200 amps per phase for up to 3 cycles. I
doubt the 6000 was any less.

They had to modify the supplies to reduce this (the 1051 and
later supplies had a surge limiter), otherwise getting rid of the transformers on the aphrodite and improved aphrodite would have
dimmed the lights in the neighborhood when they were switched on!

[...]

Does anyone still paying attention know what hardware "aphrodite"
referred to? It doesn't make sense for it to be a 6000 family machine,
as those all have more traditional animal names. It doesn't make sense
as the name of a 5000 series machine, as those were CMOS and _lower_
draw, and we know the names of those too. It might make sense as a
newer power supply though.

TIA,

De

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On Friday, April 24, 2020 at 1:06:51 AM UTC-4, Dennis Boone wrote:

Digging through old usenet posts for something completely unrelated,
I found a reference to the Prime code name "aphrodite", in the context
of inrush current:

From: Michael Haseler <int_log_...@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: PRIME 6450
Date: 2000/05/31

[...]

On the 9000's, it was 200 amps per phase for up to 3 cycles. I
doubt the 6000 was any less.

They had to modify the supplies to reduce this (the 1051 and
later supplies had a surge limiter), otherwise getting rid of the transformers on the aphrodite and improved aphrodite would have
dimmed the lights in the neighborhood when they were switched on!

[...]

Does anyone still paying attention know what hardware "aphrodite"
referred to? It doesn't make sense for it to be a 6000 family machine,
as those all have more traditional animal names. It doesn't make sense
as the name of a 5000 series machine, as those were CMOS and _lower_
draw, and we know the names of those too. It might make sense as a
newer power supply though.

TIA,

De

This is just a wild guess since I've never heard the term aphrodite related to Prime, but would it make sense for it to mean a 9950 since that was Prime's first ECL machine? Seems like that is where they would have run into problems since it was a new
power technology for them.

In our building we had a 650 and a 400, networked with RingNet. We replaced both of those with a 9950 because the maintenance was cheaper. Prime maintenance was so expensive that most of our configuration decisions revolved around "how can we lower our
monthly maintenance bill?"

Before they could even install the 9950 we had to upgrade our building's electrical service to accommodate its 3-phase electrical demands, even though we already had rooftop AC to handle 2 floors, 2 computer room air handlers, 2 Primes, and an elevator
that was installed when the building was remodeled around 5 years earlier to be a computer center.

Switching on a 9950 was nothing like switching on a 400 or 650. With the older systems, when you flipped the switch, everything came instantly to life: lights, blowers, etc. On the 9950, when you flipped the power switch, it was more like starting a
chain reaction, where this little noise happened, then something else clicked, then a blower came on, then the 2nd cabinet came on, etc. With the older systems you had power switches in each cabinet that had to be manually turned on. With the 9950, as
I recall, they were all linked to the main cabinet power switch, I'm guessing so that they could be powered on in stages. You really did have the feeling you could brown-out the neighborhood when turning that beast on.

Jim

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This is just a wild guess since I've never heard the term aphrodite
related to Prime, but would it make sense for it to mean a 9950 since
that was Prime's first ECL machine? Seems like that is where they would have run into problems since it was a new power technology for them.

Most of the code names were animals. There are a few other types: Thor
for the LHC, the chipmunks, and maybe the Garfield/i'toons names for the never-shipped 55xx machines. So this one caught my eye.

The 9950 was a Fox or Camel (name changed during development), the 9955
a Wombat, the -II a Penguin. Since we know names for them, I think it
doesn't refer to them.

I think the 9950 would be about the time of the shift from the 1051
supplies to the 7778.

It might also make sense that the late machines where they jammed a
9955-II set into a small cabinet (4450, Pip, for example) needed a
different supply because of space and only having room for one.

Before they could even install the 9950 we had to upgrade our building's electrical service to accommodate its 3-phase electrical demands, even though we already had rooftop AC to handle 2 floors, 2 computer room air handlers, 2 Primes, and an elevator that was installed when the building
was remodeled around 5 years earlier to be a computer center.

A 9950 was 13,300 BTU/hr, and 5.3 kVA. ECL was _hot_.

With the older systems, when you flipped the switch, everything came instantly to life: lights, blowers, etc. On the 9950, when you flipped
the power switch, it was more like starting a chain reaction, where this little noise happened, then something else clicked, then a blower came
on, then the 2nd cabinet came on, etc.

Yes, the PDUs in the 4-digit machines all had the capability to stage
power to the chain of cabinets. There was a little 2- or 3-conductor
cable with a little molex connector that connected the PDUs of all the
cabinets together. Of course if you had freestanding disk, you still
had to power that by hand.

De

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On Friday, April 24, 2020 at 1:06:51 AM UTC-4, Dennis Boone wrote:

Digging through old usenet posts for something completely unrelated,
I found a reference to the Prime code name "aphrodite", in the context
of inrush current:

Aphrodite is a name I remember from Prime but it was not a 50 series CPU.
I think it was the codename for the power supply for one of the CPUs.

All but two 50 Series CPUs that ever shipped had code names of cats
- e.g. Fox , Leopard, Panther, Tiger, Jaguar and the cmos CPU was Bobcat.
The 2000 series was the Rabbit project.
I remember a Flamingo that didn't ship. But if I remember correctly
that was not a 50 series, it was a joint venture with Intel.
There was also a Lion project later on that didn't ship.
The other non-cat that shipped was the Stallion, a sort of "dual Bobcat".
It was a cmos dual processor on a single board - the 5370.
That was the last machine to ship from Prime.
The next set of CPUs in design were named after cartoon characters,
Garfield being one, and overall the project was called Toons.
That was the design being worked on Wed. July 22nd when they called
us all into the conference room and closed the place down.

It was mentioned the Fox changed to Camel, I don't remember a Camel,
but it is possible someone called the dual 750 (the 850) or dual 9950 a Camel. fyi- Terminals traditionally had code names of birds.

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Aphrodite is a name I remember from Prime but it was not a 50 series CPU.
I think it was the codename for the power supply for one of the CPUs.

Yes, a power supply would make sense. Do you remember which one?
Not the 1051, based on the quoted post. 7778? TLA10113?

All but two 50 Series CPUs that ever shipped had code names of cats

Well, animals. Other than the 'toons, most of the code names, and not
just cpus,seem to have been animals. Quite a few are cataloged here:

https://sysovl.info/reference_prime_drb_zoo.html

It was mentioned the Fox changed to Camel, I don't remember a Camel,
but it is possible someone called the dual 750 (the 850) or dual 9950
a Camel.

The name of the 9950 apparently changed during development. If you were
at Prime later, it was probably before your time.

fyi- Terminals traditionally had code names of birds.

Interesting. I suppose I didn't cotton to this because I only have the
name of the PST100.

De

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