22 Oct
2004
22 Oct
'04
2:03 p.m.
Well, I finally have a true DEC bit of hardware in the form of a old DEC
Multia VX40. (166Mhz Alpha, 64MB RAM, 3.5" floppy, 1GB SCSI)
(Its almost properly on-topic from the dates I could find.)
I've cleaned out the dust/cigarette smoke, and bought myself a little
SCSI1->SCSI2 adapter so I can get the SCSI external. (As well as
another 32Mb of memory while I was at it. - it was cheap - and there
were empty SIMM slots)
The original 1GB IBM SCSI drive appears to have been the victim of true
sticktation. The drive started spinning after I whapped it a few times,
so I don't trust it.
I've got an 18G (Sun) external disk, and CD-ROM I can plug into it, and
the intention is to install OpenVMS Alpha 7.3-1 on the thing.
Anyone have an non-obvious words of wisdom before I start installing VMS
onto it?
(I gather getting VMS on a Multia isn't officially supported, and a bit
of a trick. )
Thanks,
David
22 Oct
22 Oct
5:24 p.m.
Well, I finally have a true DEC bit of hardware in the
form of a old DEC
Multia VX40. (166Mhz Alpha, 64MB RAM, 3.5" floppy, 1GB SCSI)
...
Anyone have an non-obvious words of wisdom before I start installing VMS
onto it?
(I gather getting VMS on a Multia isn't officially supported, and a bit
of a trick. )
VMS is not supported. There is a patch kit that allows you to install VMS, but
V7.2 was the last version the patch kit supported.
--
Eric Dittman
dittman(a)dittman.net
23 Oct
23 Oct
6:27 a.m.
On Fri, 22 Oct 2004, Eric Dittman wrote:
That I know.. I also found a link that implies the patch kit for 7.2 works
for 7.3 as well. (At least on this guy's hardware.)
http://www.cc.jyu.fi/~kujala/vms-in-axppci33.txt
If it turns out that I can't get 7.3-1 running, anyone know where I can
get ahold of a image of 7.2? (Its not like I can buy it from Montagar)
David
(I gather
getting VMS on a Multia isn't officially supported, and a bit
of a trick. )
VMS is not supported. There is a patch kit that allows you to install VMS, but
V7.2 was the last version the patch kit supported. --
Eric Dittman
dittman(a)dittman.net
6:35 a.m.
(I gather getting VMS on a Multia isn't officially
supported, and a bit
of a trick. )
VMS is not supported. There is a patch kit that allows you to install VMS, but
V7.2 was the last version the patch kit supported. If it turns out that I can't get 7.3-1 running,
anyone know where I can
get ahold of a image of 7.2? (Its not like I can buy it from Montagar)
You might want to think about buying an inexpensive Alpha that is supported,
like a DEC 3000 or an Alphastation 200. That way you won't have to use the
unsupported patch kit.
--
Eric Dittman
dittman(a)dittman.net
9:20 a.m.
Eric Dittman wrote:
Or grow old waiting on it to do something.
Doc
If it turns out
that I can't get 7.3-1 running, anyone know where I can
get ahold of a image of 7.2? (Its not like I can buy it from Montagar)
You might want to think about buying an inexpensive Alpha that is supported,
like a DEC 3000 or an Alphastation 200. That way you won't have to use the
unsupported patch kit. 
9:46 a.m.
On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 10:35:46 -0500 (CDT), Eric Dittman
<dittman(a)dittman.net> wrote:
That I know.. I also found a link that implies the patch kit for 7.2 works
for 7.3 as well. (At least on this guy's hardware.)
http://www.cc.jyu.fi/~kujala/vms-in-axppci33.txt
Interesting. The Multia is so slow that I ran 7.2 on mine only to see that it
worked.
How slow is it. I would of thought a 166 alpha would be a lot faster
then a vaxstation.
Dan
(I gather
getting VMS on a Multia isn't officially supported, and a bit
of a trick. )
VMS is not supported. There is a patch kit that allows you to install VMS, but
V7.2 was the last version the patch kit supported. 
9:56 a.m.
On Sat, 23 Oct 2004, Dan Williams wrote:
It can be, if it were a "real" Alpha system design.
The Multia,
although equipped with an Alpha processor, was designed to be as
cheap as possible, so its design omitted several important things
that are vital to optimum Alpha performance. My COBRA (DEC4000)
system, with one CPU taken out, is a HELL of a lot faster than
the Multia.
Still, it's a nice box. But running VMS on it is, um, painful.
You'll have a lot more fun with it running xBSD or Linux.
--f
Interesting.
The Multia is so slow that I ran 7.2 on mine only to see that it
worked.
How slow is it. I would of thought a 166 alpha would be a lot faster
then a vaxstation.
10:41 a.m.
On Sat, 2004-10-23 at 14:56, Fred N. van Kempen wrote:
On Sat, 23 Oct 2004, Dan Williams wrote:
Still, it's a nice box. But running VMS on it is, um, painful.
You'll have a lot more fun with it running xBSD or Linux.
The main reason I'm dinking w/ this is I need to unpack a couple of VMS
Alpha self extracting archives. I don't expect to be doing much of
anything with it, other than maybe clustering it w/ a SIMH'd VAX. (but
that's just for the geek factor.)
Eitherway, the Multia was a freebie, so the price is pretty right.
But at the moment, I'm having issues getting it to take firmware
updates.
I've reduced it down to trying the FSL, it boots from the floppy, reads
29 tracks (if my count is right.) then it goes to a black screen w/ a
cursor in the lower left. And there it sits. Maybe its sizing memory
or something, but I've left it sitting for several minutes, and haven't
seen it do anything.
Perhaps its bad..
David
--f
11:11 a.m.
On Sat, 2004-10-23 at 15:41, David Holland wrote:
But at the moment, I'm having issues getting it to
take firmware
updates.
I've reduced it down to trying the FSL, it boots from the floppy, reads
29 tracks (if my count is right.) then it goes to a black screen w/ a
cursor in the lower left. And there it sits. Maybe its sizing memory
or something, but I've left it sitting for several minutes, and haven't
seen it do anything.
Perhaps its bad..
Today's useless trivia..
It appears that a keyboard that works at the ARC console may or may not
necessarily work for the SRM console.
The symptoms being what appear to be hangs where you'd think you'd be
seing SRM console "stuff".
<sigh>
David
24 Oct
24 Oct
12:52 p.m.
As a close to the thread.. Yes, it is slow, but it does work.. Console
is slightly messed up, and isn't recognized by a 'set term /inq'
Eh, shrug, it should do what I need it to..
thanks all,
David
<snip>
uholld1@crusader:~> telnet 192.168.254.58
Trying 192.168.254.58...
Connected to 192.168.254.58.
Escape character is '^]'.
Welcome to OpenVMS (TM) Alpha Operating System, Version V7.3-1
Username: system
Password:
Welcome to OpenVMS (TM) Alpha Operating System, Version V7.3-1
Last interactive login on Sunday, 24-OCT-2004 17:23:41.58
Last non-interactive login on Sunday, 24-OCT-2004 17:37:50.20
$ show system
OpenVMS V7.3-1 on node KNIGHT 24-OCT-2004 17:45:38.83 Uptime 0
00:24:39
Pid Process Name State Pri I/O CPU Page flts
Pages
00000081 SWAPPER HIB 16 0 0 00:00:03.19
0 0
00000084 LANACP HIB 12 68 0 00:00:00.33
118 92
00000086 IPCACP HIB 10 9 0 00:00:00.19
33 44
00000087 ERRFMT HIB 8 64 0 00:00:00.35
112 90
00000089 OPCOM HIB 9 108 0 00:00:00.45
95 47
0000008A AUDIT_SERVER HIB 10 81 0 00:00:00.56
167 134
0000008B JOB_CONTROL HIB 8 128 0 00:00:00.35
44 68
0000008D SECURITY_SERVER HIB 10 73 0 00:00:05.90
427 297
0000008E ACME_SERVER HIB 9 125 0 00:00:01.29
607 349 M
00000096 SYSTEM LEF 8 11080 0 00:01:45.67
30859 84
000000B8 TCPIP$INETACP HIB 8 132 0 00:00:00.58
269 171
000000BA TCPIP$FTP_1 LEF 10 159 0 00:00:01.48
713 232 N
000000BD _TNA2: CUR 4 75 0 00:00:00.57
235 152
$ show cpu
System: KNIGHT, DEC AXPpci166 MT
CPU ownership sets:
Active 0
Configure 0
CPU state sets:
Potential 0
Autostart 0
Powered Down None
Failover None
23 Oct
23 Oct
10:30 a.m.
On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 19:46:59 +0100
Dan Williams <williams.dan(a)gmail.com> wrote:
How slow is it. I would of thought a 166 alpha would
be a lot faster
then a vaxstation.
A VAXstation 4000/96 (95?) may be faster then a Multia. The
Multia has
the chripeld down 21066 CPU chip. A 166 MHz EV4 Alpha is not fast at all
but with the limited memory interface of the 21066 it will be extra
slow. (Alphas need _lots_ of memory bandwith.) If you want an Alpha to
play with get a DEC 3000-600 or up or somthing in the range of an
AlphaStation 255. (Somthing with a 21064 or an early 21164 machine.)
By the way I have an AlphaServer 1000A 5/400 for sell / trade.
(Location: Kaiserslautern, Germany.)
--
tsch??,
Jochen
Homepage: http://www.unixag-kl.fh-kl.de/~jkunz/
7212
days inactive
7214
days old
10 comments
6 participants
participants (6)
-
dholland＠woh.rr.com -
dittman＠dittman.net -
doc＠mdrconsult.com -
jkunz＠unixag-kl.fh-kl.de -
waltje＠pdp11.nl -
williams.dan＠gmail.com