14 Mar
2007
14 Mar
'07
9:40 a.m.
On 3/14/07, Jochen Kunz <jkunz at unixag-kl.fh-kl.de> wrote:
On Sat, 10 Mar 2007 00:32:59 -0500
"Ethan Dicks" <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> wrote:
Right. The project as I remember it had two components - patched ROMs
to boot, then a patched(/new?) VMS driver for once the system got far
enough to need a driver.
It's why I think the cycle has to be to bring up VMS on a VS2000 with
an RD disk, then add in the SCSI-aware driver (PDDRIVER? PKDRIVER?),
_then_ copy it all over to a SCSI disk, _then_ worry about booting to
the SCSI disk. You could put the ROMs in first, but it won't bypass
the driver step. You'll still need a running system.
One could do all the work on a MicroVAX II, say, but unless you have
an SDI disk or a VAXcluster, or some other sort of boot volume, the
most common way to boot a MicroVAX I or II was from an RD disk anyway,
so you'd have the same sort of size issues as you would in a VS2000.
It would also be easier doing this from a VAX that already has a SCSI
interface, but at the time I was fiddling with this, it wasn't
feasible. Now, newer VAXstations aren't current technology, so they
shouldn't be fetching several thousand apiece, and are most likely
cheaper than a Qbus SCSI card (which would be another avenue).
Did anyone on the list ever get that uVAX2000
SCSI mod working?
We applied that hack to a VS2k at a geek meeting some years back.
It
kind of booted VMS. But VMS crashed during boot as it had no suitable
disk drivers for the VS2k SCSI. Later I tried to boot NetBSD on my
modified VS2k. It didn't work as the NetBSD boot loader doesn't
understand the VS2k SCSI hardware. At least it got as far as loading the
boot loader.
Interesting. I've never heard of anyone trying to bring up any flavor
of UNIX via the onboard 5380 on a VS2000; only VMS. Theoretically,
one could make it work, but I doubt anyone has put forth the effort
(and perhaps never may).
Good to hear from someone who really did fiddle with it. Thanks for replying.
-ethan