20 Jun
2002
20 Jun
'02
5:17 a.m.
Francis Bell wrote:
I have some old DEC RL01 packs with PDP-11
diagnostic utilities - these are DEC originals:
AX-E380L-MC DLDP+DIAG#1 + DECX A1 SYSTEM A
AX-E441L-MC CZZLBLO DLDP+DIAG #2 + CPUTST + DECX B1 SYS B
They won't last forever, and I don't have any spare media
to back them up to, so I'd like to archive this software onto
my PC (for posterity - or perhaps to make available
to other hobbyists for use in the emulator, though I'm not
sure whether the Mentec license would cover this - it does say
"and associated utilities" however).
The question is, how can I get a copy of a pack as a
binary image onto the PC ? (to load in simh for example ?)
I have a working serial port, and I can run kermit OK on RT-11. However,
even if RT-11 will read the pack in DL1: (and I'm not
even sure of that), how can I persuade kermit
to take a copy of DL1: as an image ? I haven't found
a way of doing this. Simply doing "get DL1:"
doesn't seem to work.
Is there any kermit-like software out there that has
a PC client and can do a disk image transfer ?
Thanks in advance,
Jerome Fine replies:
THANK YOU!!
I doubt that Mentec has any jurisdiction over these RL01 media
since they seem to be the DEC XXDP diagnostics packs. The
XXDP programs don't seem to be covered by the Mentec license
since the are NOT a layered product under any of the operating
systems specified.
Since you run RT-11, if you copy the complete pack as a file
to another RL01 pack, that should do the trick for Kermit.
Depending on which version of RT-11 you are using, that will
be either easy or very easy, the latter being for V5.0x versions
of RT-11.
The first thing you need to do is to find out how many of the
10,125 blocks are actually being used on the packs and set
up a file of that size. The command:
DUMP/TERM DL1:/START:1234.
should allow you to find out where the XXDP files stop even
if you don't understand the file structure. Just look for all zeros
or a FORMAT pattern being repeated to the end of the media.
At that point (under V5.0x versions), create a file of the needed
size and MOUNT the file as a device. Then simply do a:
COPY/DEVICE DL1: LD0:
Since there is no point in sending all 10,125 blocks via Kermit,
that will also save a bit of time.
If you need more help, please ask.
I always follow the above procedure when saving any media
under RT-11 since there is no point in including blocks at the
end of the media which don't have any files - or if they do
have files, there is no actual data - especially if the blocks
are all zeros.
Sincerely yours,
Jerome Fine
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