Now that OS/8 is running on my 8/A, RL02 system, I
find I'm in
need of some more detailed help. Although I'm wading through the
900+ pages of the "OS/8 Handbook" (and the Device Extensions
document which at least addresses RL01's), I'm having a problem
adding device handlers as follows.
When I built the OS/8 image, it looks like I added only one RL02
partition (here is the current BUILD printout):
sim> bo rl
.SET SYS NOINIT
.RUN SYS BUILD
$PR
BAT : *BAT
KL8E: *TTY
LPSV: *LPT
RK05: *RKA0 *RKB0 *RKA1 *RKB1 RKA2 RKB2 RKA3 RKB3
RX02: *RXA0 *RXA1
TD8A: *DTA0 *DTA1
R2SY: *SYS *R20A
DSK=R2SY:R20A
$
Doing a DIR shows "118 Files in 2517 Blocks - 1515 Free Blocks",
or ~4000 total blocks on the disk, which is also consistent with
one RL02 partition (A=40%,B=40%,C=20%) of the total 10000 free
blocks.
The RKB0: Diagnostic Pack has several handlers including:
RL2SY.BH (which is what I am using), and also RL20.BH, RL21.BH,
and RL2E.BH (not sure what that one is).
But any attempt to LOAD RKB0:RL20.BH (for example) causes SIMH to
stop with a "HALT instruction, PC: 20100 (ISZ 122)" message. I
tried removing R2SY: entirely (after setting SYS to RKA0:) and
still it won't work when trying to install other RL handlers.
Also when reloading it will only allow n=1 (platter) which I
suppose is correct. This may be why I only have one partition. I
did this over a year ago and don't remember all the details.
ANY ideas how to install the next partitions (R20B and C)?
Also, since I am planning on adding a second RL02 drive, I will
need (I think) R21A, B, C to appear in the active list. Is it even
possible to add a second RL02 under OS/8?
The C partitions aren't really necessary and are slow. I doubt I
will ever get close to filling up even the A and B's (8 Mb per
pack)....
They way you talk about this makes it sound like you're thinking of RL01
drives here. Are you aware of the fact that the RL02 will appear as five
drives to OS/8?
RLnA to RLnE?
Apart from that, I can't help you at the moment. My PDP8 systems are all
offline, and have been for a couple of years now. Although I have a real
8/A with RL02 drives, which do work.
Too long for my memory to be fresh on this one. Build have always been a
bit magical... :-)
Johnny
--
Johnny Billquist || "I'm on a bus
|| on a psychedelic trip
email: bqt at softjar.se || Reading murder books
pdp is alive! || tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol