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I'm a fan of the mainframe world, I've always played with a mainframe emulated by Hercules, yesterday I had the opportunity to buy a used as400, I got all the cables and etc. Now I need to know how to access the mainframe with terminal...

This is the inputs that the as400 have: enter image description here enter image description here enter image description here

Alexandre
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  • I'm not sure exactly what the operating system is.... :(, I just know that it is not linux the operating system..... about the terminal, I want to use some windows/linux terminal... so, if I can connect using a TCP/IP or COM port, will be nice... but, for this, I need to know what exactly is this ports... – Alexandre Dec 04 '17 at 16:16
  • really, I know the question is comprehensive but, like I said, I've always used an emulated mainframe, I've never used the physical computer... – Alexandre Dec 04 '17 at 16:18
  • I was able to turn the system on and off successfully, I listen to the starting HD and etc... so, I believe you have accessed the correct ipl – Alexandre Dec 04 '17 at 16:29
  • I turned on the system, and changed the ipl from control panel.... I used the IPL mode B, to enter in production mode – Alexandre Dec 04 '17 at 16:33
  • To power on, I used the options: 02 B N – Alexandre Dec 04 '17 at 16:34
  • This doesn't really qualify as a PC. I'm wondering if Server Fault would be a better site for this. – fixer1234 Dec 05 '17 at 09:11
  • @fixer1234 Server Fault might be better, but nowhere in "What topics can I ask about" does it mention that this site is limited to PC's. It specifically says questions about computer hardware are acceptable, and how to connect a console to an AS/400 is very much a computer hardware question. – jmarkmurphy Aug 06 '18 at 15:00
  • @fixer1234 Of course due to the age of that model and the last version of the OS it supports, maybe Retrocomputing would be even better! – jmarkmurphy Aug 06 '18 at 15:03

1 Answers1

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Congratulations !

That connector left of J11, is a serial port connector. Connecting to an AS/400 w/o a monitor is similar to connecting to a Cisco device using the same terminal emulator like Hercules.

A decent 10 minute video on the process is at youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qPHXFzWtZI

I would highly recommend a decent Null Modem/USB adapter, I use this $20 StarTech from Amazon and it's always served me well: https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-USB-Serial-Adapter-Modem/dp/B008634VJY/

enter image description here

123456789123456789123456789
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    Thanks a lot, I'm really very happy for my purchase!! .... I have a cable that converts from this input circled in red ( https://i.imgur.com/ryXBXH1.jpg ), to serial, you know to tell me exactly what it is, I'm guessing this output can also be for the terminal? – Alexandre Dec 04 '17 at 16:55
  • The connector in that image is not a serial connection. You will want to use a USB to Serial cable instead. – Ramhound Dec 04 '17 at 17:09
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    @Alexandre -That second circled image in red is your TokenRing network adapter. TR CAN run on CAT3/5/6 Ethernet cables but it was as (un)common as Super VHS. I don't know if there is a method to connect your terminal emu via Token Ring. – 123456789123456789123456789 Dec 04 '17 at 23:25
  • I'm with a null modem cable now, but, when I connected to as400, nothing appers, you know if it's possible to be some internal video redirection ? ( maybe for the 2746 card... ) – Alexandre Dec 06 '17 at 01:34
  • Did you set your terminal emulator at 9600kbs, 8 bits, no parity and 1? – 123456789123456789123456789 Dec 06 '17 at 01:44
  • Yeap!... i tested with 3 different prograns to connect to serial port – Alexandre Dec 06 '17 at 01:51
  • And you watched and followed the YouTube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qPHXFzWtZI and followed his instructions, configure the COM port, set the BAUD rate? – 123456789123456789123456789 Dec 06 '17 at 01:54
  • or, maybe my null modem cable is faulty... I did a lot of tests, with different options – Alexandre Dec 06 '17 at 01:55
  • I forwarded a YT vid, I just asked again and you still didn't answer if you followed the i-n-s-t-r-u-c-t-i-o-n's in the video, he walks you through the installation of your Null modem cable, determining COM ports, setting baud rates, it's all significant. Here's some more homework on your behalf, try this emu http://tn5250j.sourceforge.net/ but at this moment I'm exhausted. Congrats on your AS/400, you're a real enterprise computer owner now. – 123456789123456789123456789 Dec 06 '17 at 01:59
  • Yes, I followed the instructions, several times !, to make sure I was doing it right! :) – Alexandre Dec 06 '17 at 02:01