From: jmayn...@phoenix.net (Jay Maynard)
Subject: Anyone done a 4000 port?
Date: 1998/03/31
Message-ID: <199803310615.AAA02895@virtual3.c-com.net>#1/1
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I was awarded a VAX 4000/300 in a government surplus auction today. I don't
know yet what it's equipped with, nor if it even has any disks built in,
though I do know it has a DLT drive of some sort. The thought of running
VMS on it has me screaming in horror. Has anyone done a port of NetBSD to
the 4000 series, or am I treading new ground?
--
Jay Maynard, EMT/P, K5ZC, PP-ASEL | Never ascribe to malice that which can
jmayn...@phoenix.net | adequately be explained by stupidity.
"I'm just a cute little thing...so don't cross me." -- Dot Warner
From: jmayn...@phoenix.net (Jay Maynard)
Subject: Unix geek with a VAX
Date: 1998/04/15
Message-ID: <MPG.f9dce15b81f21d698969b@news.c-com.net>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 344146055
NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1998 20:49:25 CST
Organization: Confederate Microsystems
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms,comp.sys.dec,comp.sys.vms,vmsnet.misc
I bought a VAX 4000/300 (according to the front of the box) at a NASA
surplus auction. I've been told it's worth more than the $85 I paid for it.
I haven't taken delivery of it yet (hope I don't bust a gut getting it home
tomorrow!), but I've been poking around the web looking for hardware docs,
in hopes of being able to figure out exactly what I have once I do get it
home. So far, though, the only docs I've been able to find on identifying
boards and such are for the PDP-11 and PDP-8. Since I wasn't able to get
the cover open (due to stuff piled in front of it) more than just enough to
see that there was a DLT-ish tape drive in the upper right corner, I dunno
if it'll even be safe to fire up.
Any got any pointers to some hardware docs? Any other useful info I need to
know?
I don't know which of these groups is appropriate for this query, so please
reply wherever you think it's appropriate.
--
Jay Maynard, EMT/P, K5ZC, PP-ASEL | Never ascribe to malice that which can
jmayn...@phoenix.net | adequately be explained by stupidity.
"I'm just a cute little thing...so don't cross me." -- Dot Warner
From: hoff...@xdelta.enet.dec.nospam (Hoff Hoffman)
Subject: Re: Unix geek with a VAX
Date: 1998/04/15
Message-ID: <6h2irs$ekl@usenet.pa.dec.com>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 344326585
References: <MPG.f9dce15b81f21d698969b@news.c-com.net>
Reply-To: hoff...@xdelta.zko.dec.nospam
Distribution: world
Organization: Digital Equipment Corp
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms,comp.sys.dec,comp.sys.vms,vmsnet.misc
In article <MPG.f9dce15b81f21d6989...@news.c-com.net>, jmayn...@phoenix.net
(Jay Maynard) writes:
:I bought a VAX 4000/300 (according to the front of the box) at a NASA
:surplus auction...
:...So far, though, the only docs I've been able to find on identifying
:boards and such are for the PDP-11 and PDP-8...
:Any got any pointers to some hardware docs? Any other useful info I need to
:know?
First, ask yourself if you want to run OpenVMS, ULTRIX, or some other
operating system on this hardware. (This choice will tend to dictate
which newsgroup(s) you will want to ask your questions in, and who has
the answers to your questions. And before you even think of posting
a "which is better?" question, please see the OpenVMS FAQ...)
Next, get a list of the "M" numbers off the various modules installed
in the system -- each DEC board typically has a code such as "M7036",
and from these codes, we can tell you what the board is. The code is
often stamped on the metal spine of the Q-bus card, but may also be
etched onto the card...
Starting points for information:
OpenVMS Website:
http://www.openvms.digital.com/
OpenVMS FAQ:
ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/Digital/dec-faq/vms
OpenVMS Hobbyist License:
http://www.montagar.com/
Previously-Asked Questions:
http://www.dejanews.com/
INFO-VAX Archives (see FAQ)
OpenVMS Freeware CD-ROM:
http://www.openvms.digital.com/openvms/freeware/cd.html
and other sites...
OpenVMS Documentation (subset):
http://www.openvms.digital.com:81/
-------------------------- pure personal opinion ---------------------------
Hoff (Stephen) Hoffman OpenVMS Engineering hoff...@xdelta.ZZenet.dec.com
note to those folks not contributing spam -- there is no ZZ in my address
From: Pinky and John Lao <dja...@wco.com>
Subject: Re: Unix geek with a VAX
Date: 1998/04/16
Message-ID: <35367B76.4B35970A@wco.com>#1/1
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FYI....only OpenVMS runs on a VAX 4000s. You don't have any other
choice. It's not an Alpha where you're install either: Unix, NT, and
OpenVMS.
dja...@wco.com
Hoff Hoffman wrote:
> In article <MPG.f9dce15b81f21d6989...@news.c-com.net>,
> jmayn...@phoenix.net (Jay Maynard) writes:
> :I bought a VAX 4000/300 (according to the front of the box) at a NASA
>
> :surplus auction...
> :...So far, though, the only docs I've been able to find on
> identifying
> :boards and such are for the PDP-11 and PDP-8...
> :Any got any pointers to some hardware docs? Any other useful info I
> need to
> :know?
>
> First, ask yourself if you want to run OpenVMS, ULTRIX, or some
> other
> operating system on this hardware. (This choice will tend to
> dictate
> which newsgroup(s) you will want to ask your questions in, and who
> has
> the answers to your questions. And before you even think of posting
>
> a "which is better?" question, please see the OpenVMS FAQ...)
>
> Next, get a list of the "M" numbers off the various modules
> installed
> in the system -- each DEC board typically has a code such as
> "M7036",
> and from these codes, we can tell you what the board is. The code
> is
> often stamped on the metal spine of the Q-bus card, but may also be
> etched onto the card...
>
> Starting points for information:
>
> OpenVMS Website:
> http://www.openvms.digital.com/
>
> OpenVMS FAQ:
> ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/Digital/dec-faq/vms
>
> OpenVMS Hobbyist License:
> http://www.montagar.com/
>
> Previously-Asked Questions:
> http://www.dejanews.com/
> INFO-VAX Archives (see FAQ)
>
> OpenVMS Freeware CD-ROM:
> http://www.openvms.digital.com/openvms/freeware/cd.html
> and other sites...
>
> OpenVMS Documentation (subset):
> http://www.openvms.digital.com:81/
>
> -------------------------- pure personal opinion
> ---------------------------
> Hoff (Stephen) Hoffman OpenVMS Engineering
> hoff...@xdelta.ZZenet.dec.com
> note to those folks not contributing spam -- there is no ZZ in my
> address
From: hoff...@xdelta.enet.dec.nospam (Hoff Hoffman)
Subject: Re: Unix geek with a VAX
Date: 1998/04/17
Message-ID: <6h7rfc$p74@usenet.pa.dec.com>#1/1
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Distribution: world
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<6h2irs$ekl@usenet.pa.dec.com> <35367B76.4B35970A@wco.com>
Organization: Digital Equipment Corp
Reply-To: hoff...@xdelta.zko.dec.nospam
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms,comp.sys.dec,comp.sys.vms,vmsnet.misc
In article <35367B76.4B359...@wco.com>, Pinky and John Lao <dja...@wco.com> writes:
:FYI....only OpenVMS runs on a VAX 4000s. You don't have any other
:choice. It's not an Alpha where you're install either: Unix, NT, and
:OpenVMS.
Many VAX systems also support the ULTRIX VAX operating system, as well
as various other operating systems. As a parallel to your statements
of support, realize that all of the older Alpha systems do not support
Windows NT -- Windows NT support requires an Alpha with a PCI and/or
EISA bus system.
However, you are correct in that the VAX 4000 series is apparently of
the vintage of the VAX server systems that do not have ULTRIX support.
(I've checked the SPD, and this system is one of those in the "gap".)
I would not, however, be at all surprised to find a UNIX or UNIX-like
operating system available for the VAX 4000. NetBSD? Linux? etc.
The original point I was attempting to make, however, still stands...
What operating system will you want to use on this VAX platform?
(The original posting was titled and was sufficiently cross-posted
as to make it hard to guess...)
-------------------------- pure personal opinion ---------------------------
Hoff (Stephen) Hoffman OpenVMS Engineering hoff...@xdelta.ZZenet.dec.com
note to those folks not contributing spam -- there is no ZZ in my address
From: Boris Gjenero <bgjen...@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca>
Subject: Re: Unix geek with a VAX
Date: 1998/04/17
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<6h7rfc$p74@usenet.pa.dec.com>
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Organization: The First Frontier
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Hoff Hoffman wrote:
> I would not, however, be at all surprised to find a UNIX or UNIX-like
> operating system available for the VAX 4000. NetBSD? Linux? etc.
NetBSD doesn't support the 4000 series yet and Linux doesn't support the
VAX yet. It still wouldn't surprise me if somewhere there was a 4000
running some variant of Unix, but good luck tracking it down and getting
a copy.
--
| Boris Gjenero <bgjen...@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca> |
| Home page: http://www.undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca/~bgjenero/ |
| "Luke, you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to |
| depend greatly on our own point of view." - Obi-Wan Kenobi, ROTJ |
From: jmayn...@phoenix.net (Jay Maynard)
Subject: Re: Unix geek with a VAX
Date: 1998/04/18
Message-ID: <MPG.fa2775a3cd8a94798969c@news.c-com.net>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 345374691
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<6h7rfc$p74@usenet.pa.dec.com> <3537823D.4D6AEBA1@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca>
Organization: Charter Communications
NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 09:40:31 CDT
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms,comp.sys.dec,comp.sys.vms,vmsnet.misc
In article <3537823D.4D6AE...@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca>,
bgjen...@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca says...
> NetBSD doesn't support the 4000 series yet and Linux doesn't support the
> VAX yet. It still wouldn't surprise me if somewhere there was a 4000
> running some variant of Unix, but good luck tracking it down and getting
> a copy.
I'd eventually like to run a Unix on it, but reckon I'll have to do the
port myself, starting with NetBSD. Until then, I'll learn VMS.
--
Jay Maynard, EMT/P, K5ZC, PP-ASEL | Never ascribe to malice that which can
jmayn...@phoenix.net | adequately be explained by stupidity.
"I'm just a cute little thing...so don't cross me." -- Dot Warner
From: jmayn...@phoenix.net (Jay Maynard)
Subject: VAX 4000/300 hardware questions
Date: 1998/04/18
Message-ID: <MPG.fa287147f62927598969e@news.c-com.net>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 345386886
Organization: Charter Communications
NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 10:48:01 CDT
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
I got the VAX home and plugged in, and running. (Who was the idiot who
chose a nonstandard power connector?...a Dremel tool worked wonders on a
spare power cord.) It has:
- KA670 CPU, which claims to be v3.4 on powerup
- MS670 memory board, 32 MB
- CXA16 serial mux
- DRV1W parallel port
- two Simpact ICP3222 intelligent communication processors
- three M9047 grant continuity cards in the remaining QBus slots
- RF31 disk
- TK70 tape
- VMS 6.1 installed, with C, FORTRAN, NAS-250, and Multinet PAKs
- no tea
It doesn't see the TK70, probably because there's no TQK70 for it. The data
cable plugs into nothing. It also doesn't see a CD-ROM plugged into what
appears to be a SCSI-I connector on the left end of the Qbus, right above
the (presumably) DSSI connector, and the cable from it plugs into the
backplane. I got the SYSTEM password changed with no problems. For some
reason, it's running UCX, even though Multinet is installed, but I got that
configured for my network.
At the moment, I need to get the TK70 running, and some sort of SCSI
connection, at a minimum. I'd also like to get some more disk space, since
the 15 MB currently free seems marginal at best. Finally, I have no
hardware docs at all, and have to guess at a lot of things.
Still, not a bad deal, for $85...
--
Jay Maynard, EMT/P, K5ZC, PP-ASEL | Never ascribe to malice that which can
jmayn...@phoenix.net | adequately be explained by stupidity.
"I'm just a cute little thing...so don't cross me." -- Dot Warner
From: t...@panix.com (Thor Lancelot Simon)
Subject: Re: Unix geek with a VAX
Date: 1998/04/19
Message-ID: <6he571$kcu@panix2.panix.com>#1/1
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<MPG.fa2775a3cd8a94798969c@news.c-com.net>
Reply-To: t...@rek.tjls.com
X-Newsposter: trn 4.0-test55 (26 Feb 97)
Organization: Panix
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms,comp.sys.dec,comp.sys.vms,vmsnet.misc
In article <MPG.fa2775a3cd8a947989...@news.c-com.net>,
Jay Maynard <jmayn...@phoenix.net> wrote:
>In article <3537823D.4D6AE...@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca>,
>bgjen...@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca says...
>> NetBSD doesn't support the 4000 series yet and Linux doesn't support the
>> VAX yet. It still wouldn't surprise me if somewhere there was a 4000
>> running some variant of Unix, but good luck tracking it down and getting
>> a copy.
>
>I'd eventually like to run a Unix on it, but reckon I'll have to do the
>port myself, starting with NetBSD. Until then, I'll learn VMS.
If you can find the documentation needed to get NetBSD to run on the 4000
(be aware that 4000 series VAXen had several fairly different processors;
the 4000/60 seems the first likely target), 3100/M8X, or really any NVAX
platform, I think you'll find that there are a few people already waiting
in line to help you out.
The 8650, AFAICT, is currently the fastest VAX we run on. Building a
NetBSD/VAX release consequently takes more than a week. This Is Not Fun.
Everyone involved with the VAX port would like to do something about it.
--
Thor Lancelot Simon t...@rek.tjls.com
"And where do all these highways go, now that we are free?"
From: jmayn...@phoenix.net (Jay Maynard)
Subject: VMS filesystem driver for Linux?
Date: 1998/04/22
Message-ID: <MPG.fa70e4ba3f2c0c59896a4@news.c-com.net>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 346502816
Organization: Charter Communications
NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 21 Apr 1998 21:13:32 CDT
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
I've been WWWing too much lately. I remember seeing mention of a VMS
filesystem driver for Linux on one of the many pages I've read over the
past few days; at the time, I didn't need it, but now I have some CDs (the
full VMS doc set from Sep 1996) that I need to read, and the only CD drives
I have that work are attached to Linux or NT. Where do I get the Linux
driver? I'm figuring on getting the files across to my VAX and using MGBOOK
to read them there...I hope.
--
Jay Maynard, EMT/P, K5ZC, PP-ASEL | Never ascribe to malice that which can
jmayn...@phoenix.net | adequately be explained by stupidity.
"I'm just a cute little thing...so don't cross me." -- Dot Warner