I am pleased to report a complete success with my 8/A,VTserver via
11/23+,RL02,OS-8 conglomeration. I think it's the *only* time that
any project (with that many places for possible screwups) has
worked for me on the first try :)
As I had reported earlier, I managed to get *something* written
onto an RL02 pack using VTserver to talk to my 11/23+.
But when I put the pack in the 8/A's RL02, for some reason it
wouldn't go Ready initially. After powering down the system and
drive, removing the pack, reinserting, etc. then it did light the
Ready light. No weird noises either. That was a relief.
I had to do a little rewiring of the console port cable since I'd
previously set it up for RS232 and I wanted to use an "authentic"
ASR33 for the console with 20 ma current loop. I entered a short
test program to read the keyboard and echo to the printer. That
worked. So far so good, the 8/A is still alive after sitting for a
year or more.
Then I had to dig out the manual for the 8/A to figure out how to
boot it from an RL02... OK, the boot ROM takes care of the
addressing, just push the "BOOT" key. Not too hard :)
SO I did that - the RL02 gently clucked and the Ready light
flickered, and I heard one character print on the TTY across the
room. I rushed over and peered at the canary-yellow paper while
holding my breath (doing so helps 30 year old hardware and
software work better) and lo and behold... a single "."
Yee ha! I think it's up!
I hopefully typed "DIR" and hit the return - and there came the
directory of my disk image, just like on SIMH except with all the
noise and oily scent of a Teletype.
:) :) :)
-Charles