23 Oct
2001
23 Oct
'01
6:01 a.m.
Hi,
after my pretty good VAX treck last weekend (more details coming
up on my project web site at a later time) I finally have SDI disks.
I hooked one up last night and did all the checking as per the
RA9x manual (yes I have one plus many more, will scan those at
some time...) and it seems to be O.K. (even though it was pretty
messed up stored in a barn among lots of birds for many years).
Here is one para about where I am at and then I have some
specific questions for Geoff Roberts or Ragge or anyone who
has had experienced any luck with getting a 6000 up to operation.
I have bootable tape for Ultrix 4.1 and VMS 5.3 both TK50. None
of them work. I seem to have no luck with the TK70 and I have
no way finding out what's wrong. I tried to boot from that RA90
disk, even though I don't know what's on it. It has unit #0, so
I thought it might be a system disk. But that too failed with
some I/O error very early in the process. I also have a TU81+ and
VMS bootable tape on 9-track, maybe that's more reliable? Tonight's
project is to move the TU81+ into the basement and hook it up.
I'm afraid I'll get stuck there too and what then? Network
booting?
Here's some more detail and questions:
The TK50 boot proceeds for quite a while, although it never shows
any message on the console about where it is at before it halts
due to some unspecified error. However, about one or two minutes
into the tape running the system-panel's FAULT light comes on and
at the same time both yellow and green LEDs on the TKB70 board
extinguish. That's for about a second or two. Then the lights
go back to normal and the fault light turned off. Another 30
seconds to a minute tape streaming and the same light-spiel happens
again: fault on, TKB70 LEDs off, and back to normal. Now a shorter
time (like 10 seconds) of tape streaming and again. From now on that
repeats for about 4 or 5 more cycles and finally the system is
halted and console says: system halted due to previous error.
However, no error message is being printed. I have no idea where
I am in the process.
I have tried cleaning the TK70 read/write head of course. I have
tried a different copy of that Ultrix tape. It's always the same.
Is this bliking of fault and shutting off of both TBK70 LEDs
normal for media read errors or does it indicate something more
serious? How can I tell where in the process I am? Is there an
error flag somewhere in memory that I could EXAMINE to find out
what is wrong?
BTW: at first I had my CIBCA cards in and the boot process would
halt earlier: system would say "insufficient memory for CI" and
"10% or more of the memory is bad". Who is checking memory there?
I could not find anything in Ultrix 4.2 sources that would generate
such a message. And why would it anyway, because my system check
tells me that I have 512 MB of memory OK. Or does it speak of
10% of the CIBCA's internal memory?
Is there a boot flag that I could turn on that would cause the
loader etc. to be more verbose?
Has anyone tried booting Ultrix over the network? I am going to
try that but all I have is Ultrix on TK50 (that doesn't work)
and sources without any VAX running to compile them on. Is there
a cross compiler suite? I'd like to compile with the DEBUG
flag set.
Thanks for your suggestions,
-Gunther
--
Gunther_Schadow-------------------------------http://aurora.rg.iupui.edu
Regenstrief Institute for Health Care
1050 Wishard Blvd., Indianapolis IN 46202, Phone: (317) 630 7960
schadow(a)aurora.rg.iupui.edu------------------#include <usual/disclaimer>
23 Oct
23 Oct
1:49 p.m.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gunther Schadow" <gunther(a)aurora.regenstrief.org>
To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>rg>; <port-vax(a)netbsd.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2001 3:31 AM
Subject: first step getting VAX 6000-400 booted ...
Hi Gunther,
after my pretty good VAX treck last weekend (more
details coming
up on my project web site at a later time) I finally have SDI disks.
Yay!
I hooked one up last night and did all the checking as
per the
RA9x manual (yes I have one plus many more, will scan those at
some time...)
Ooh. Yes please. I have RA90/91 drives and no manual.
and it seems to be O.K. (even though it was pretty
messed up stored in a barn among lots of birds for many years).
This is going to be an interesting story I'm sure.
Here is one para about where I am at and then I have
some
specific questions for Geoff Roberts or Ragge or anyone who
has had experienced any luck with getting a 6000 up to operation.
I have bootable tape for Ultrix 4.1 and VMS 5.3 both TK50. None
of them work. I seem to have no luck with the TK70 and I have
no way finding out what's wrong. I tried to boot from that RA90
disk, even though I don't know what's on it. It has unit #0, so
I thought it might be a system disk. But that too failed with
some I/O error very early in the process.
Hmm, Unit 0 has an excellent chance of being a system disk, but possible it
was
initialised prior to being retired. What's the exact error msg (console dump
is good)
Tapes are probably sus. TK70's are the least reliable component of a 6000,
but are still pretty reliable compared to the TK50.
I also have a TU81+ and VMS bootable tape on 9-track,
maybe that's more
reliable?
Very likely, do you have the companion card for the TU81+ (KLESI-B) to go in
the Vax?
They TU81+ is not SDI, so it won't even plug in to the KDB50. If all else
fails I can probably whip
up a tape for you on ours.
Tonight's project is to move the TU81+ into the
basement and hook it up.
I'm afraid I'll get stuck there too and what then? Network
booting?
If you had a VMS box (almost anything will do) with ethernet you can MOP
boot from that, but you would
need to know exactly how to configure the host as a boot host. It's not real
hard, but it's not trivial either, you would
need the owners manual for the 6000 which ISTR you have, and know how to
configure the boot process to boot from
ethernet, and VMS books or a walkthru on setting up remote booting. Short
answer it's possible but painful.
Not very familiar with Ultrix though I gather it's also possible to mop boot
an ultrix box from a vms one, though I don't think it will do vice versa.
Here's some more detail and questions:
The TK50 boot proceeds for quite a while, although it
never shows
any message on the console about where it is at before it halts
due to some unspecified error. However, about one or two minutes
into the tape running the system-panel's FAULT light comes on and
at the same time both yellow and green LEDs on the TKB70 board
extinguish. That's for about a second or two. Then the lights
go back to normal and the fault light turned off. Another 30
seconds to a minute tape streaming and the same light-spiel happens
again: fault on, TKB70 LEDs off, and back to normal. Now a shorter
time (like 10 seconds) of tape streaming and again. From now on that
repeats for about 4 or 5 more cycles and finally the system is
halted and console says: system halted due to previous error.
However, no error message is being printed. I have no idea where
I am in the process.
sounds like media read failing.
I have tried cleaning the TK70 read/write head of
course. I have
tried a different copy of that Ultrix tape. It's always the same.
Only sure way to prove it is to get it to boot a different system, you would
need
a microvax or something with a TK50, if it boots that the TK70 is probably
faulty,
but it sounds more like crook media.
I'm assuming you have the boot configured correctly of course.
Is this bliking of fault and shutting off of both
TBK70 LEDs
normal for media read errors or does it indicate something more
serious? How can I tell where in the process I am? Is there an
error flag somewhere in memory that I could EXAMINE to find out
what is wrong?
I think the 6000 owners manual gives you some detail, otherwise you need a
TK70 manual or possibly even a TK50 one to tell you in more detail.
I'll dig out my manual on the 6000 and see what it says.
BTW: at first I had my CIBCA cards in and the boot
process would
halt earlier: system would say "insufficient memory for CI" and
"10% or more of the memory is bad". Who is checking memory there?
Different. Depends where in the boot process you are.
Sounds a bit like you may have faulty, or more likely, incompatible memory.
Do you have a HSC? If not the CIBCA's are a waste of address space.
I could not find anything in Ultrix 4.2 sources that
would generate
such a message. And why would it anyway, because my system check
tells me that I have 512 MB of memory OK. Or does it speak of
10% of the CIBCA's internal memory?
Does the POST correctly count and interleave the whole 512K?
No errors on the console? Complaints about interleaving etc?
Different versions of firmware, cpu serial no's etc etc?
A capture of the console output would be useful, from powerup to the failure
point.
As a suggestion, perhaps pull out additional cpus and ram and just leave
say, 64mb in there and see if that changes anything.
It would also be worth pulling and reseating all the cards a couple of
times,
I have seen the odd hard error from mis-seated cards.
Is there a boot flag that I could turn on that would
cause the
loader etc. to be more verbose?
I'll check the manual, I don't think so, perhaps a conversational boot would
be a help.
Has anyone tried booting Ultrix over the network? I am
going to
try that but all I have is Ultrix on TK50 (that doesn't work)
and sources without any VAX running to compile them on. Is there
a cross compiler suite? I'd like to compile with the DEBUG
flag set.
It can be done from a VMS box, I have something on that somewhere.
I believe I have an Ultrix grey wall somewhere, I'll dig it out.
Cheers
Geoff Roberts
Computer Systems Manager
Saint Mark's College
Port Pirie, South Australia
geoffrob(a)stmarks.pp.catholic.edu.au
ICQ 1970476
24 Oct
24 Oct
3:56 a.m.
Geoff Roberts wrote:
Instructions on how to write an Ultrix tape from VMS would
be cool. I'm sure I can get VMS up. What is the least
amount of knowledge that I need to get a VMS system up
in single user mode and try a couple of SDI accesses,
try reading a TK and writing to a TU?
Hmm, Unit 0 has an excellent chance of being a system
disk, but possible it
was
initialised prior to being retired. What's the exact error msg (console dump
is good)
I don't have the console dump on that, but the only error message
I recollect was:
?3 Device I/O Error (or something very similar.)
Would that be the appropriate response on an RA90 drive with
wiped-out media? My drive completed all tests, including the
spun-down and the spun-up tests (the latter includes disk
access tests.)
Tapes are probably sus. TK70's are the least
reliable component of a 6000,
but are still pretty reliable compared to the TK50.
yack!
I also have a
TU81+ and VMS bootable tape on 9-track, maybe that's more
reliable?
Very likely, do you have the companion card for the TU81+ (KLESI-B) to go in
the Vax?
They TU81+ is not SDI, so it won't even plug in to the KDB50. If all else
fails I can probably whip
up a tape for you on ours. Not very familiar with Ultrix though I gather it's
also possible to mop boot
an ultrix box from a vms one, though I don't think it will do vice versa.
It definitely is as the source code says. I'll use my FreeBSD
laptop as the boot host. Monitoring with tcpdump is a good way
of debugging network booting.
Attached below you'll find annotated console dumps from my
yesterday's attempts (thanks to xterm :-)
My comments are lines starting with "GS>"
GS> I have swapped in another TK70 drive (one that may be less worn)
GS> and now I turn on the machine:
#123456789 0123456789 0123456789 01234567#
F E D C B A 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 NODE #
A A . A M M M M P P P P P P
TYP
o o . + + + + + + + + + + +
STF
. . . . . . . . E E E E E B
BPD
. . . . . . . . + + + + + +
ETF
. . . . . . . . E E E E E B
BPD
. . . . . . . . . + . . + + + . XBI D
+
. . . . . . . . . + + . + . + . XBI E
+
. . . . A4 A3 A2 A1 . . . . . .
ILV
. . . . 128 128 128 128 . . . . . . 512
Mb
ROM0 = V4.00 ROM1 = V4.00 EEPROM = 2.03/4.02 SN = AG94408887
>> SHOW ALL
Type Rev
1+ KA64A (8082) 000D
2+ KA64A (8082) 000D
3+ KA64A (8082) 000D
4+ KA64A (8082) 000D
5+ KA64A (8082) 000D
6+ KA64A (8082) 000D
7+ MS65A (4001) 0084
8+ MS65A (4001) 0084
9+ MS65A (4001) 0084
A+ MS65A (4001) 0084
B+ KDM70 (0C22) 2811
D+ DWMBA/A (2001) 0002
E+ DWMBA/A (2001) 0002
XBI D
1+ DWMBA/B (2107) 000A
2+ KLESI-B (0103) 0006
3+ KDB50 (010E) 142C
6+ DEBNI (0118) 0400
XBI E
1+ DWMBA/B (2107) 000A
3+ DMB32 (0109) 0004
5+ CIBCA-B (0108) 41C2
6+ TBK70 (410B) 0307
Current Primary: 1
/NOENABLED-
/NOVECTOR_ENABLED-
/NOPRIMARY-
F E D C B A 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 NODE #
. . . . A4 A3 A2 A1 . . . . . .
ILV
. . . . 128 128 128 128 . . . . . . 512
Mb
/INTERLEAVE:DEFAULT
/SCOPE /SPEED: 9600 /BREAK
English
XMI:D BI:6 08-00-2B-34-A5-CA
DEFAULT /XMI:E /BI:6 CSA1
TAPE /XMI:E /BI:6 CSA1
ETH0 /XMI:D /BI:6 ET0
SHOW DSSI is not yet implemented
GS> Now I have loaded the VMS 6.1 stand alone backup TK70 and go:
>> BOOT /XMI:E /BI:6 CSA1
Initializing
system.
#123456789 0123456789 0123456789 01234567#
F E D C B A 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 NODE #
A A . A M M M M P P P P P P
TYP
o o . + + + + + + + + + + +
STF
. . . . . . . . E E E E E B
BPD
. . . . . . . . + + + + + +
ETF
. . . . . . . . E E E E E B
BPD
. . . . . . . . . + . . + + + . XBI D
+
. . . . . . . . . + + . + . + . XBI E
+
. . . . A4 A3 A2 A1 . . . . . .
ILV
. . . . 128 128 128 128 . . . . . . 512
Mb
ROM0 = V4.00 ROM1 = V4.00 EEPROM = 2.03/4.02 SN = AG94408887
Loading system software.
OpenVMS VAX Version V6.1 Major version id = 1 Minor version id =
0c
PLEASE ENTER DATE AND TIME (DD-MMM-YYYY HH:MM) 23-OCT-2001
Configuring devices . . .
%PAA0, Port Error Bit(s) Set - CNF/PMC/PSR 00000000/00000020/00008280
%PAA0, Port is Reinitializing ( 49 Retries Left). Check the Error Log.
GS> oops, what is %PAA0? Something is bad, but what?
GS> as you might expect, it gives above error message for each
GS> retry 48, 47, 46, ... will not show those here. But there
GS> is also other stuff, as if I'm already running multi-tasked.
Now configuring HSC, RF, and MSCP-served devices . . .
GS> and on with the %PAA0 reinitializations down to 24
%PAA0, Port is Reinitializing ( 24 Retries Left). Check the Error Log.
%PAA0, Port Error Bit(s) Set - CNF/PMC/PSR 00000000/00000020/00008280
Please check the names of the devices which have been configured,
to make sure that ALL remote devices which you intend to use have
been configured.
If any device does not show up, please take action now to make it
available.
GS> in a hurry I power up the RA90 hooked to the KDB50 and
spin it up
Available device MUC6: device type TK70
%PAA0, Port is Reinitializing ( 23 Retries Left). Check the Error Log.
%PAA0, Port Error Bit(s) Set - CNF/PMC/PSR 00000000/00000020/00008280
GS> ...
%PAA0, Port is Reinitializing ( 9 Retries Left). Check the Error Log.
%PAA0, Port Error Bit(s) Set - CNF/PMC/PSR 00000000/00000020/00008280
Enter "YES" when all needed devices are available:
%PAA0, Port is Reinitializing ( 8 Retries Left). Check the Error Log.
%PAA0, Port Error Bit(s) Set - CNF/PMC/PSR 00000000/00000020/00008280
Enter "YES" when all needed devices are available:
%PAA0, Port is Reinitializing ( 7 Retries Left). Check the Error Log.
%PAA0, Port Error Bit(s) Set - CNF/PMC/PSR 00000000/00000020/00008280
Enter "YES" when all needed devices are available:
%PAA0, Port is Reinitializing ( 6 Retries Left). Check the Error Log.
%PAA0, Port Error Bit(s) Set - CNF/PMC/PSR 00000000/00000020/00008280
Enter "YES" when all needed devices are available:
%PAA0, Port is Reinitializing ( 5 Retries Left). Check the Error Log.
%PAA0, Port Error Bit(s) Set - CNF/PMC/PSR 00000000/00000020/00008280
Enter "YES" when all needed devices are available:
%PAA0, Port is Reinitializing ( 4 Retries Left). Check the Error Log.
%PAA0, Port Error Bit(s) Set - CNF/PMC/PSR 00000000/00000020/00008280
Enter "YES" when all needed devices are available:
%PAA0, Port is Reinitializing ( 3 Retries Left). Check the Error Log.
%PAA0, Port Error Bit(s) Set - CNF/PMC/PSR 00000000/00000020/00008280
Enter "YES" when all needed devices are available:
%PAA0, Port is Reinitializing ( 2 Retries Left). Check the Error Log.
%PAA0, Port Error Bit(s) Set - CNF/PMC/PSR 00000000/00000020/00008280
Enter "YES" when all needed devices are available:
%PAA0, Port is Reinitializing ( 1 Retries Left). Check the Error Log.
%PAA0, Port Error Bit(s) Set - CNF/PMC/PSR 00000000/00000020/00008280
Enter "YES" when all needed devices are available:
%PAA0, Port is Reinitializing ( 0 Retries Left). Check the Error Log.
%PAA0, Port Error Bit(s) Set - CNF/PMC/PSR 00000000/00000020/00008280
Enter "YES" when all needed devices are available:
%PAA0, Port is going Offline.
Enter "YES" when all needed devices are available: yes
%BACKUP-I-IDENT, Stand-alone BACKUP V6.1; the date is 23-OCT-2001
00:03:52.13
$
GS> yea! a prompt! we made it. But what's next?
$ help
%CLI-W-IVVERB, unrecognized command verb - check validity and spelling
\HELP\
GS> ah I give up, I want to see Ultrix up, may be that new
GS> drive did it? Hit the reset button, system initializes
GS> same as above, swap in the Ultrix TK and go:
>> BOOT /XMI:E /BI:6 CSA1
Initializing
system.
#123456789 0123456789 0123456789 01234567#
F E D C B A 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 NODE #
A A . A M M M M P P P P P P
TYP
o o . + + + + + + + + + + +
STF
. . . . . . . . E E E E E B
BPD
. . . . . . . . + + + + + +
ETF
. . . . . . . . E E E E E B
BPD
. . . . . . . . . + . . + + + . XBI D
+
. . . . . . . . . + + . + . + . XBI E
+
. . . . A4 A3 A2 A1 . . . . . .
ILV
. . . . 128 128 128 128 . . . . . . 512
Mb
ROM0 = V4.00 ROM1 = V4.00 EEPROM = 2.03/4.02 SN = AG94408887
Loading system software.
%BOOT-F-Insufficient memory for CI
?06 Halt instruction executed in kernel mode.
PC = 0000040Fc
SAVPSL = 041F0600
ISP = 00000200
Bootstrap failed due to previous error.
>>
GS> this is that CI problem. Now I turn off machine again and
GS> remove CI cards. I do have HSC90s to go with it and I definitely
GS> want to run CI, but for now I'll start easy. So, power up
GS> again. Wait for one initialization again, then:
>> BOOT /XMI:E /BI:6 CSA1
Initializing
system.
#123456789 0123456789 0123456789 01234567#
F E D C B A 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 NODE #
A A . A M M M M P P P P P P
TYP
o o . + + + + + + + + + + +
STF
. . . . . . . . E E E E E B
BPD
. . . . . . . . + + + + + +
ETF
. . . . . . . . E E E E E B
BPD
. . . . . . . . . + . . + . + . XBI D
+
. . . . . . . . . + . . + + + . XBI E
+
. . . . A4 A3 A2 A1 . . . . . .
ILV
. . . . 128 128 128 128 . . . . . . 512
Mb
ROM0 = V4.00 ROM1 = V4.00 EEPROM = 2.03/4.02 SN = AG94408887
Loading system software.
?06 Halt instruction executed in kernel mode.
PC = 00280200c
SAVPSL = 041F0600
ISP = 00280000
Bootstrap failed due to previous error.
>>
GS> here ends my console dump.
If it weren't for the many heavy items I still have to
shuffle, disassemble, lift and reassemble, I could go mad
about the Ultrix folks who have neglected to put
some explanatory printf into the boot code before
the halt call. It could be so much easier if we knew what
the problem is.
thanks,
-Gunther
--
Gunther_Schadow-------------------------------http://aurora.rg.iupui.edu
Regenstrief Institute for Health Care
1050 Wishard Blvd., Indianapolis IN 46202, Phone: (317) 630 7960
schadow(a)aurora.rg.iupui.edu------------------#include <usual/disclaimer>
6:52 a.m.
At 08:56 AM 10/24/01, Gunther Schadow wrote:
I don't have the console dump on that, but the only
error message
I recollect was:
?3 Device I/O Error (or something very similar.)
Would that be the appropriate response on an RA90 drive with
wiped-out media? My drive completed all tests, including the
spun-down and the spun-up tests (the latter includes disk
access tests.)
Generally on MicroVAXen there is an error about NO SUCH FILE. Did you hear
the disk seek when you tried it?
--Chuck
8:11 a.m.
Chuck McManis wrote:
At 08:56 AM 10/24/01, Gunther Schadow wrote:
Among all the fanning and blowing and spinning, the disk
seek can be pretty faint. No, I did not hear the disk
seeking and it all went suspiciously quick. I may
not have proper connection between KDB50 and disk. The
disk shows both ports A and B enabled, and I'm connected
only to A. Is there any ordering of the 4 ports on the
KDB50 bulkhead that I need to know to get it right?
-Gunther
--
Gunther_Schadow-------------------------------http://aurora.rg.iupui.edu
Regenstrief Institute for Health Care
1050 Wishard Blvd., Indianapolis IN 46202, Phone: (317) 630 7960
schadow(a)aurora.rg.iupui.edu------------------#include <usual/disclaimer>
I don't have the console dump on that, but the
only error message
I recollect was:
?3 Device I/O Error (or something very similar.)
Would that be the appropriate response on an RA90 drive with
wiped-out media? My drive completed all tests, including the
spun-down and the spun-up tests (the latter includes disk
access tests.)
Generally on MicroVAXen there is an error about NO SUCH FILE. Did you hear
the disk seek when you tried it?
28 Oct
28 Oct
4:18 p.m.
New subject: TU81+ spooks (was: Re: first step getting VAX 6000-400 booted ...)
O.K. it would have been too good to be true. I got quite far with
my Ultrix, but then I got stuck with being unable to boot from
the TU81+ drive.
My VMS 5.4 does detect the TU81 just fine, calls it MUB0 and
allows me to mount it and write files to it. I think I have
now a bootable 9-track reel with at least the first 10
files of the Ultrix 4.1 bootable tape ready to go with all
blocksizes as required. It was fun writing!
But trying to boot this still brings up the old error:
>> SHOW ALL
...
XBI D
1+ DWMBA/B (2107) 000A
2+ KLESI-B (0103) 0006
...
>> BOOT /XMI:D /BI:2 /R5:1008 MU0
Initializing system.
...
Loading system software.
?06 Halt instruction executed in kernel mode.
PC = 200D7264
SAVPSL = 041F0600
ISP = 0003FBB8
?3D Error initializing I/O device
Bootstrap failed due to previous error.
>>
ans this goes all too fast certainly the tape never starts
moving before the error.
So I tried checking for the TU81's unit number (may be it's
MU1 or MU4 or MU213, who knows? First thing is when I power
up the TU81 it shows 000 on the front panel, but as soon
as it is initialized the display remains blank. So, perhaps
it has no unit number set at all?
The manual says in order to set the unit number you have to
go into TEST program 04. Which I did, TEST - STEP - STEP -
STEP - EXECUTE. But then it only says E77 and that's it.
This means, something is wrong, but what? The manual only
says to call DEC field service. I know the drive works
fine, the diagnostic test 01 has passed just fine and VMS
works happily with it. So, who knows about the TU81 and
how to set a unit number or make it bootable otherwise???
(PS: yes, I had the drive loaded and online when I tried
booting, did that offline mistake once before, but not here.)
thanks again for your excellent advice,
-Gunther
5:53 p.m.
New subject: TU81+ spooks (was: Re: first step getting VAX 6000-400 booted ...)
My VMS 5.4 does detect the TU81 just fine, calls it
MUB0 and
allows me to mount it and write files to it. I think I have
now a bootable 9-track reel with at least the first 10
files of the Ultrix 4.1 bootable tape ready to go with all
blocksizes as required. It was fun writing!
If you could write to the TU81 from VMS then the drive should
be working fine.
So I tried checking for the TU81's unit number
(may be it's
MU1 or MU4 or MU213, who knows? First thing is when I power
up the TU81 it shows 000 on the front panel, but as soon
as it is initialized the display remains blank. So, perhaps
it has no unit number set at all?
The drive is unit 0, since VMS sees it as MUB0.
--
Eric Dittman
dittman(a)dittman.net
Check out the DEC Enthusiasts Club at http://www.dittman.net/
5:58 p.m.
New subject: TU81+ spooks (was: Re: first step getting VAX 6000-400 booted ...)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gunther Schadow" <gunther(a)aurora.regenstrief.org>
Cc: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>rg>; <port-vax(a)netbsd.org>
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2001 4:48 PM
Subject: TU81+ spooks (was: Re: first step getting VAX 6000-400 booted ...)
Okay, that looks correct.
/R5:1008
This is sus.
According to my 6000-400 manual Table C-2
R5 Bit functions for Ultrix.
0
Forces ULTRIXBOOT to prompt the user for an image name
(Default is VMUNIX)
1
Boots the ULTRIX kernel imag in single-user mode.
3
Must be set and R4 must be 0
16
Must be set.
>> SHOW
ALL
...
XBI D
1+ DWMBA/B (2107) 000A
2+ KLESI-B (0103) 0006
...
>>> BOOT /XMI:D /BI:2 Initializing system.
...
Loading system software.
?06 Halt instruction executed in kernel mode.
PC = 200D7264
SAVPSL = 041F0600
ISP = 0003FBB8
?3D Error initializing I/O device
Bootstrap failed due to previous error.
This is an Ultrix tape? You have threaded and LOADED the tape right? And
the machine is online?
The BOT, ONLINE and LOGIC ON leds are lit?
The error basically means the device you are trying to access doesn't
respond or isn't there.
I think you have the device name wrong, just looking in book to try and see
what it should be.
It doesn't actually SAY you can boot from a TU81, but it doesn't say you
can't either.
>>
ans this goes all too fast certainly the tape never starts
moving before the error. So I tried checking for the TU81's unit number
(may be it's
MU1 or MU4 or MU213, who knows? First thing is when I power
up the TU81 it shows 000 on the front panel, but as soon
as it is initialized the display remains blank. So, perhaps
it has no unit number set at all?
I don't think it has one, mine shows under VMS as ENIGMA$MUA0
That certainly how mine behaves. Have you tried to boot from MUA0 instead
of MU0?
The TK70 is CSA1 so that could be it.
Not sure what else it could be off hand, will have a closer look at the boot
flags, might be something special needed for tape.
Never actually done a tape boot, boot flags look sus for ultrix though.
Cheers
Geoff Roberts
Computer Systems Manager
Saint Mark's College
Port Pirie, South Australia
geoffrob(a)stmarks.pp.catholic.edu.au
ICQ 1970476
29 Oct
29 Oct
4:11 a.m.
New subject: TU81+ spooks (was: Re: first step getting VAX 6000-400 booted ...)
This is an Ultrix tape? You have threaded and LOADED
the tape right? And
the machine is online?
The BOT, ONLINE and LOGIC ON leds are lit?
yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes :-)
The error basically means the device you are trying to
access doesn't
respond or isn't there.
yes, but why?
I think you have the device name wrong, just looking
in book to try and see
what it should be.
...
So I tried
checking for the TU81's unit number (may be it's
MU1 or MU4 or MU213, who knows? First thing is when I power
up the TU81 it shows 000 on the front panel, but as soon
as it is initialized the display remains blank. So, perhaps
it has no unit number set at all?
I don't think it has one, mine shows under VMS as ENIGMA$MUA0
That certainly how mine behaves. Have you tried to boot from MUA0 instead
of MU0?
The TK70 is CSA1 so that could be it. >> BOOT CSA1
works just fine, so does
>> BOOT /XMI:D /BI:6 CSA1
but when I dod
>> SET BOOT TAPE /XMI:D /BI:6 CSA1
>> BOOT TAPE
it barks to me with illegal boot specification after initializing.
But that's just an aside.]]]]
It doesn't actually SAY you can boot from a TU81,
but it doesn't say you
can't either.
Not sure what else it could be off hand, will have a
closer look at the boot
flags, might be something special needed for tape.
Never actually done a tape boot, boot flags look sus for ultrix though.
Yes, that would be the crucial question? Can you even boot from
TU81+. Given the rest of the orthogonal DEC design, I would be
highly surprized if one could not. Also, I'm pretty sure that
BSD used to be distributed on 9-track, bootable, presumably. But
I would appreciate a confirmation of this. If someone could test
copying a bootable TK to TU and then try TU booting?
Meanwhile I have a lead on the E77 that I get when I want to
set the TU unit number. So, this may be the cause of the
unresponsiveness at boot time.
Thanks,
-Gunther
--
Gunther Schadow, M.D., Ph.D. gschadow(a)regenstrief.org
Medical Information Scientist Regenstrief Institute for Health Care
Adjunct Assistant Professor Indiana University School of Medicine
tel:1(317)630-7960 http://aurora.regenstrief.org
8:57 a.m.
New subject: TU81+ spooks (was: Re: first step getting VAX 6000-400 booted ...)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gunther Schadow" <gunther(a)aurora.regenstrief.org>
To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>rg>; "Geoff Roberts"
<geoffrob(a)stmarks.pp.catholic.edu.au>
Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2001 4:41 AM
Subject: Re: TU81+ spooks (was: Re: first step getting VAX 6000-400 booted
...)
Ok.
Another Vaxism I guess. :^)
Ditto.
The BOT,
ONLINE and LOGIC ON leds are lit?
yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes :-) I did try MUB0 (because that's how VMS calls it
for me), but
that doesn't work. I just like VMS calls my disk DUA0 but to
boot from it I have to call it just DU0. So MU0 it should be.
The CSA1 is weird, because it's really MUC6 for VMS, and it
should be another MU.
I think it's something that is defined specifically as part of the console.
[[[[BTW: In fact the CSA1 is more like a named boot
specification
because
yes.
>> BOOT
CSA1
works just fine, so does
>> BOOT /XMI:D /BI:6 CSA1
but when I do
>> SET BOOT TAPE /XMI:D /BI:6 CSA1
>> BOOT TAPE
it barks to me with illegal boot specification after initializing.
But that's just an aside.]]]] It doesn't
actually SAY you can boot from a TU81, but it doesn't say you
can't either.
Yes, that would be the crucial question? Can you even boot from
TU81+. Given the rest of the orthogonal DEC design, I would be
highly surprized if one could not. Also, I'm pretty sure that
BSD used to be distributed on 9-track, bootable, presumably. But
I would appreciate a confirmation of this. If someone could test
copying a bootable TK to TU and then try TU booting?
Meanwhile I have a lead on the E77 that I get when I
want to
set the TU unit number.
Exactly HOW are you trying to set the unit number?
So, this may be the cause of the
unresponsiveness at boot time.
Hmm, possibly, I still suspect we are using the wrong device name to boot.
Some possibilities (off the top of my head)
MUA0 MUA1
MUB0 MUB1
MUC0 MUC1
Some of which you have already tried.
I can't find anything else useful in the manual for the 6000 at the moment.
Will look at some other sources.
Any of our resident DECsperts care to confirm that a 6000 can be booted from
TU81+/KLESI-B devices?
Geoff Roberts
Computer Systems Manager
Saint Mark's College
Port Pirie, South Australia
geoffrob(a)stmarks.pp.catholic.edu.au
ICQ 1970476
10:02 a.m.
New subject: TU81+ spooks (was: Re: first step getting VAX 6000-400 booted ...)
At 09:27 AM 10/30/2001 +1030, you wrote:
Hmm, possibly, I still suspect we are using the wrong
device name to boot.
Some possibilities (off the top of my head)
MUA0 MUA1
MUB0 MUB1
MUC0 MUC1
Some of which you have already tried.
I can't find anything else useful in the manual for the 6000 at the moment.
Will look at some other sources.
Any of our resident DECsperts care to confirm that a 6000 can be booted from
TU81+/KLESI-B devices?
Is it possible it's getting identified as an MT device (i.e. MTA0:)?
11:43 a.m.
New subject: TU81+ spooks (was: Re: first step getting VAX 6000-400 booted ...)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gordon Zaft" <zaft(a)azstarnet.com>
To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2001 10:32 AM
Subject: Re: TU81+ spooks (was: Re: first step getting VAX 6000-400 booted
...)
At 09:27 AM 10/30/2001 +1030, you wrote:
Is it possible it's getting identified as an MT device (i.e.
MTA0:)?
Worth a go, rings a vague bell somewhere. If I get a chance I'll try a test
boot on the one at work.
Cheers
Geoff Roberts
Computer Systems Manager
Saint Mark's College
Port Pirie, South Australia
geoffrob(a)stmarks.pp.catholic.edu.au
ICQ 1970476
9:26 a.m.
New subject: TU81+ spooks (was: Re: first step getting VAX 6000-400 booted ...)
Have you tried : BOOT /XMI:D ?BI:2 /R5:1008 MUB0
?
Regards,
Jeff
In <3BDCF4A4.6070404(a)aurora.regenstrief.org>rg>, on 10/29/01
at 01:18 AM, Gunther Schadow <gunther(a)aurora.regenstrief.org> said:
O.K. it would have been too good to be true. I got
quite far with my
Ultrix, but then I got stuck with being unable to boot from the TU81+
drive.
My VMS 5.4 does detect the TU81 just fine, calls it
MUB0 and allows me to
mount it and write files to it. I think I have
now a bootable 9-track reel with at least the first 10
files of the Ultrix 4.1 bootable tape ready to go with all
blocksizes as required. It was fun writing!
But trying to boot this still brings up the old error:
>> SHOW
ALL
...
XBI D
1+ DWMBA/B (2107) 000A
2+ KLESI-B (0103) 0006
...
>> BOOT /XMI:D /BI:2 /R5:1008 MU0
Initializing system.
...
Loading system software. ?06 Halt instruction executed in kernel mode.
PC = 200D7264
SAVPSL = 041F0600
ISP = 0003FBB8
?3D Error initializing I/O device
Bootstrap failed due to previous error.
>>>
ans this goes all too fast certainly the tape never
starts
moving before the error.
So I tried checking for the TU81's unit number (may
be it's
MU1 or MU4 or MU213, who knows? First thing is when I power
up the TU81 it shows 000 on the front panel, but as soon
as it is initialized the display remains blank. So, perhaps
it has no unit number set at all?
The manual says in order to set the unit number you
have to
go into TEST program 04. Which I did, TEST - STEP - STEP -
STEP - EXECUTE. But then it only says E77 and that's it.
This means, something is wrong, but what? The manual only
says to call DEC field service. I know the drive works
fine, the diagnostic test 01 has passed just fine and VMS
works happily with it. So, who knows about the TU81 and
how to set a unit number or make it bootable otherwise???
(PS: yes, I had the drive loaded and online when I
tried
booting, did that offline mistake once before, but not here.)
thanks again for your excellent advice,
-Gunther
--
-----------------------------------------------------------
Jeffrey S. Worley
Asheville, NC USA
828-6984887
UberTechnoid(a)Home.com
-----------------------------------------------------------
9:41 a.m.
New subject: TU81+ spooks (was: Re: first step getting VAX 6000-400 booted ...)
I may be just totally off here, but my Data General machine wants to boot
from an octal device code. Maybe instead of an
alphanum identifier there
is a numerical device code you could use?
For example, to boot my DG from it's 9track I would enter "B 62" from the
CCLI or "62L" from the 16bit cli - 62 being the octal code I jumped the
controller board to recognize.
Regards,
Jeff
--
-----------------------------------------------------------
Jeffrey S. Worley
Asheville, NC USA
828-6984887
UberTechnoid(a)Home.com
-----------------------------------------------------------
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