ZXnet

Digital Celebris GL 6200 / Digital PC 5400

The Celebris GL 6200 was DECs higher-end PC offering in the mid 90s and the successor to the earlier Celebris line. It features a 180MHz or 200MHz Pentium PRO CPU, onboard Matrox Millenium 2MB video, DEC 21143 Ethernet, ESS1888 Audio, USB and optional SCSI. In September 1997 it was renamed to the Digital PC 5400 selling for US$2,088.

There was also a dual-processor variant of the Celebris GL, the Celebris GL 6200i². This model used a different though very similar motherboard with two CPU sockets installed rather than only one in the single processor model. The motherboard includes Matrox MGA Millennium graphics (2MB), something the Venturis GL variant of this motherboard lacks.

As is normal for the NLX form factor, all cables (power, IDE, FDD, front panel, etc) connect to the riser board, not the motherboard. This allows the motherboard to be easily replaced without having to disconnect anything. Slightly unusual is that the riser board in the Celebris GL also includes the ethernet and audio hardware, rather than the motherboard. For a pinout of the front panel connector on the riser board, see J15 pinout.

The 10base2 and 10baseT connectors live on a small breakout board that mounts to the rear of the case between the riser and PSU and plugs into the LAN connector on the riser. While the integrated DEC 21142 ethernet chip on the riser supports 100Mbps operation, this breakout board is 10Mbit only. To support 10/100 operation, a different breakout board appears to be required. While I have no particular information on this 10/100 board, presumably it lacks the 10base2 port and plugs into the IMII connector on the riser board, rather than the LAN connector.

The audio chip on the riser board is an ESS AudioDrive 1888F. The amplifier, Game/MIDI port, Wavetable connector, speaker and line in connectors all live on a separate board that mounts between the riser board and the PSU like the network breakout board. This plugs into the riser boards Audio connector.

The cases front audio does not connect to this audio break out board, but rather connects to the bottom part of the control panel connector.

Documentation & Drivers

• Drivers & Firmware Updates
• Documentation
• Product page (archive.org)
• Product announce press release (archive.org)

My Machine

I purchased my machine from Trademe in October 2005 for NZ$32 (incl. $22 shipping). After buying it I never really did a lot with it besides install Windows 2000. It came with a 2GB Quantum Fireball IDE hard disk, 96MB of RAM, an additional 2MB of video RAM, and a Pragmatic PCI modem.

Power Supply

As of 19 January 2024 everything was working except the CD-ROM drive after over 18 years in storage, though the hard disk had a little difficulty spinning up at first. When tested again 8 days later a MOSFET? in the power supply failed with a bang. When the PSU was removed a small chunk of it fell out (pictured). A nearby resistor looks to have been a little toasty so possibly the MOSFET failing was a symptom of a problem elsewhere. That means currently the machine is in need of a new Power Supply.

The original is a Lite-On PS-5151-1F (DEC part 30-47642-01) 145W with an ATX connector and the unusual dimensions of around 105mm wide, 71mm high, 155mm deep. This is a little bit larger than Mini-ITX/Flex-ATX, while being somewhat smaller in depth than TFX. A solution, if the original PSU can't be repaired, may be to mount a Flex-ATX PSU inside the case of the old PSU to retain the hard disk mounting bracket which attaches to power supply.

Compatible PSUs, if they could be found, likely include API-7521 (30-48944-01) seen in a Digital PC 3500.

Inventory Data

This is a subset of the hardware inventory record for this computer. It may be more up-to-date than the rest of this page.

* 2005/10/02: Purchased for $10 (plus $22 shipping) on Trademe
* 2005/10/11: Arrived. Had bad cigarette smoke contamination. Smelt awful when running.
* 2005/10/12: Last run before being put into storage. Windows was shutdown at 9:31pm.
* 2024/01/06: Retrieved from storage and tested. First powerup since 12 October 2005. 
  Cigarette smell largely gone. CD-ROM drive did not work, HDD eventually came to life
* 2024/01/19: Power supply died with a bang when turned on. Replacement required.
* 2025/01/10: Dismantled for cleaning and inventory
* 2025/01/11: Cleaned and reassembled for storage until a replacement PSU can be sourced.