7 Nov
1997
7 Nov
'97
11:29 a.m.
WHat kind of floppies does an RD-53 (? Is that it?) expect?
I've dropped in 360s and 1.2Ms, but all it does when I tell it format is
pull the head in and out, in and out, like bad sector error. It this like
RX02s where they need some wierd format before they work?
BTW, I tried imaging the harddisk already, but my XT doesn't like the
drive for some reason. These are just standard MFM drives, right?
7 Nov
7 Nov
11:46 a.m.
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12:39 p.m.
On Fri, 7 Nov 1997, Tim Shoppa wrote:
I'm going to make a guess that you're talking about DEC RX33 (5.25"
half-height drives) or DEC RX50 drives (two 5.25" drives in a full-height
5.25" form factor) hooked to a RQDX3 controller. If you can specify
that you're talking about one or the other, you'll get more specific
answers :-)
It's RX50. Sorry.
Um, what is the "it" you are telling to do the format? RT-11? VMS?
RSX-11? What's the command you're issuing? What error message are
you getting?
RSX-11. This machine appears to have been a graphics workstation, but it
has 8 serial ports, so I'm not sure. It has a thingie called USE that
lets you do other stuff, like read DOS floppies (Haven't tried that yet).
Help says if I say "USE FORMAT" it formats disks. I drop in a disk, say
"USE FORMAT" and it asks for a device and goes. It says "Checking bad
blocks", and starts grinding away.
A RQDX3 is incapable of formatting RX50 floppies, but it is capable
of formatting RX33's. RX33's have the same format as PC-clone 1.2 Meg
"high-density" floppies. RX50's can be bought from DEC (1-800-DIGITAL)
or you can format high-quality double-density media on a PC-clone HD
drive (or a DEC Rainbow...) Note that you cannot reliably use HD media
in a RX50; you need DD media.
Okay! PUTR does that! And I have a copy! (Somewhere around here...)
Yeah, they're standard MFM drives, but the formatting on them isn't compatible
with most PC-clone hard disk controllers. If you tell us what operating
system you want to do a backup from, and what removable media devices
you have on your PDP-11, I'm sure we can find some way for you to back
up your RD53.
The XT runs DOS. IBM dos 3.3, to be exact. I was gonna use Norton
DIskedit, and make an image of the harddisk and save it on the Novell
server.
1:34 p.m.
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1:46 p.m.
New subject: Okay, now what?
Now I can format and use RX50s. (PUTR makes them, I have a bunch of SSDD
disks) and I can mount them. How do I transfer RSX-11 from them so as to
boot it with another diskless 11/83 and build a bootable harddisk? I am
putting in an ST-251. The /83 was cannabalized, and I'm rebuilding it for
a discounted price (The owner will let me have it cheaper if I fix it up).
It needs an OS, it ran RSX-11, but the heads crashed upon delivery (You
can hear stuff bouncing around inside the drive). Do, I'll need to boot
from floppies, Format the 251, transfer the system to
it, and there.
How do I tell PIP (Or whatever I should use) to make a bootable
disk?
3:02 p.m.
New subject: Okay, now what?
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4:29 p.m.
New subject: Okay, now what?
On Fri, 7 Nov 1997, Tim Shoppa wrote:
Far easier than doing this on floppy is to do it on
magtape. Is this
an option at all? I would prefer not to tell you that you'll have
to back up your hard disk using hundreds of 5.25" floppies...
Hmm... Not really. I have a drive, but no controller. Maybe with TU58s?
I have one of those, in the nice tabletop box...
It would be nice to have a minimal system on floppies, though...
Then I could get a copy to the emulator...
Making a bootable RX50 floppy is something I have no
experience at.
I know how to use VMR to make bootable magtapes, though (hint, hint.)
If you don't have access to a magtape drive, do you have a way for
putting both hard drives on the same machine?
Maybe, there's two ports... DO I just plug in the second drive in the
port 2 plugs?
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