Not strictly on topic, since these are fairly new - but they were old enough to be thrown out at work, and I got them for L10 each. Both machines say Alphastation 200 4/100 on the front, and I think Model PB40H-CA on the back. One of them boots openVMS, for which I have no passwords (same old story...). This machine claims her name is Tracey. The other gets to the console prompt (>>>), and I haven't tried booting further. (This machine is in a graphics mode my monitor doesn't like. Time to get a better monitor...) Anyway, if I press ctrl-C when booting Tracey, I can get to the console prompt. SHOW CONFIG then tells me a bit about what's installed in her: SRM Console X3.9-1387 ARC Console 4.1-22 PALcode VMS X5.48-87 OSF X1.35-57 Serial ROM V4.6 Diag ROM V1.6 CPU DECchip 21064-2 at 100MHz pka0.7.0.6.0 SCSI 7 dka0.0.0.6.0 RZ26L (this is whence it boots, BTW) dka100.1.0.6.0 RZ28 mka400.4.0.6.0 TLZ07 (This is a tape drive on the SCSI bus. Presumably at address 4 - forgot to look when I had it in bits) With some random flag adjustments to the BOOT command, I got it into SYSBOOT, which has another load of useless things to SHOW and SET. This seems to be part of VMS, though. Can anyone tell me, off list if necessary: How do I break into OpenVMS from here? If I put in the floppy and CDROM drives from the other machine, will it recognise them automatically on boot, and if not, how do I tell it they're there? What OS are available, and whence do I obtain them? I found a FAQ somewhere at compaq.com about installing Linux on some models of Alphaserver - not mine, but could be helpful. Also, what are the various OS useful for? What are the HDDs? (How big, how easy to replace? They are both SCSI afaik) If I decide to stay with VMS, are there any good books on the subject? I have almost no VMS experience (enough to know that I have to PURGE my files from time to time to stop my disk filling up, but that's about it!) Philip. ********************************************************************** This message and any attachments are confidential and should only be read by those to whom they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact us, delete the message from your computer and destroy any copies. Any distribution or copying without our prior permission is prohibited. Internet communications are not always secure and therefore the PowerGen Group does not accept legal responsibility for this message. The recipient is responsible for verifying its authenticity before acting on the contents. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the PowerGen Group. Power Technology: Telephone +44 (0) 115 936 2000 Fax +44 (0) 115 936 2711 E-mail techinfo(a)powertech.co.uk www http://www.powertech.co.uk PowerGen UK plc Registered Office: 53 New Broad Street London EC2M 1SL Registered in England and Wales No: 2366970 **********************************************************************