HELP! DEC AXP Serial Console

Greetings. Life's tough without manuals. We'd appreciate some help with configuring an async terminal as console on a DEC 3000-M400 (and to remain on topic advice for the same on VAXStation 3100). After an exhaustive 'net search with little success researching cable data we empirically wired the following cable: MMJ-F,front view DB-25F Unix host DCE? DCE (multiport ctrlr)DTE ----- | 1 |----------dtr------------------ 20 dtr---------cd - 2 |----------td------------------- 2 td----------rd | 3 |----------td gnd---|----------- 7 sgnd--------gnd | 4 |----------rd gnd---| - 5 |----------rd ------------------ 3 rd----------td | 6 |----------dsr------------------ 6 cd----------dtr ----- |- 5 cts---------rts (pin nos are conjecture) |- 4 rts---------cts Setting the terminal for 9600,7,1,e produces a readable display during boot but commands entered to the firmware monitor and/or to SYSBOOT are invalid even though they echo properly. Only the single '?' or the letter 'c' function as intended. The system works properly when used with the attached keyboard/display (with the 'alternate console' switch in the other position). The terminal works properly as a login terminal under VMS (6.1 AXP) using this cable. Using other parity, framing, baud, etc. doesn't help. Also, the machine came without UCX (TCP/IP) and has no floppy or tape at the moment. We'd like to transfer some files over the serial cable (uuencoded or otherwise) and have tried 'COPY OPA1: FOO' which works except that an interrupt (^C) doesn't close the file. The proper procedure would be appreciated. Is there a terminal program bundled with VMS 6.1 (we couldn't find one)? We'd also appreciate advice regarding obtaining VMS documentation beyond the online help system and 'net faqs (I can't imagine becoming fluent in DCL or VMS otherwise) and hardware documentation for 3100 and AXP series machines (one would hope that microfiche or cd-rom versions exist by now).