17 Nov
2010
17 Nov
'10
2:51 p.m.
I am trying to install Ultrix on to this machine and it is failing very
early in the process. It is failing at the stage of detecting the disks with
an "invalid block size" error.
I am using a CR-506 CD-ROM drive and the disks I have are RZ56 and RZ57. The
disks already have NetBSD installed and I intend to replace NetBSD on one of
the disks.
I am not sure if the error is referring to the CD-ROM (despite the fact that
it has already booted off the CD-ROM) or if perhaps it does not like
something about the way the hard disks are formatted. Or is it some other
problem? The system runs NetBSD just fine, so I don't think the disks are
faulty.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Rob
17 Nov
17 Nov
4:21 p.m.
On 17 November 2010 19:51, Rob Jarratt <robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com> wrote:
I am trying to install Ultrix on to this machine and
it is failing very
early in the process. It is failing at the stage of detecting the disks with
an "invalid block size" error.
From what I remember you need to re-disklabel the
drives with an a
(root), b (swap) and another free partition (g,h) for usr etc.
Data disks were normally the c partition (entire disk). I also
remember much fun with the bc command (basic calculator) to work out
my partition sizes and layout and disklabel -er to edit, something
like 32mb for a, RAM size * 1.5 for b and g or h being the rest of the
disk. After that the install was automatic. Also remember I've not
done this since 1996 or thereabouts :)
My NetBSD knowledge is limited to a single install on a VAX3100 a
looooong time ago.
--
adrian/witchy
Owner of Binary Dinosaurs, the UK's biggest home computer collection?
www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk
6:14 p.m.
On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 2:51 PM, Rob Jarratt
<robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com> wrote:
It is failing at the stage of detecting the
disks with
an "invalid block size" error.
I am using a CR-506 CD-ROM drive and the disks I have are RZ56 and RZ57.
Could this be an issue with the CD-ROM not supporting 512byte blocks?
I know that microVAXen need this to install VMS, perhaps this is true
with Ultrix also.
With some drives you have to set a jumper to force it to 512byte blocks.
-chuck
6:30 p.m.
On Wed, 17 Nov 2010, Charles Dickman wrote:
On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 2:51 PM, Rob Jarratt
<robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com> wrote:
failing that one can always use another harddrive and transfere the cd to
it with dd, then the vax will happy boot from that drive, used that for
installing ultrix 4.5 on my 3100.
--
Jacob Dahl Pind | telefisk.org | fidonet 2:230/38.8
It is failing at the stage of detecting the
disks with
an "invalid block size" error.
I am using a CR-506 CD-ROM drive and the disks I have are RZ56 and RZ57.
Could this be an issue with the CD-ROM not supporting 512byte blocks?
I know that microVAXen need this to install VMS, perhaps this is true
with Ultrix also.
With some drives you have to set a jumper to force it to 512byte blocks.
7:03 p.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org]
On Behalf Of rachael at telefisk.org
Sent: 17 November 2010 23:31
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
Subject: Re: Installing Ultrix 4.4 on a DECstation 5000 Model 240
On Wed, 17 Nov 2010, Charles Dickman wrote:
> On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 2:51 PM, Rob Jarratt
> <robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com> wrote:
>> It is failing at the stage of detecting the disks with an
>> "invalid block size" error.
>>
>> I am using a CR-506 CD-ROM drive and the disks I have are RZ56 and
RZ57.
Could this be an issue with the CD-ROM not supporting 512byte blocks?
I know that microVAXen need this to install VMS, perhaps this is true
with Ultrix also.
With some drives you have to set a jumper to force it to 512byte blocks.
failing that one can always use another harddrive and transfere the cd to
with dd, then the vax will happy boot from that drive,
used that for
installing
ultrix 4.5 on my 3100.
--
Jacob Dahl Pind | telefisk.org | fidonet 2:230/38.8
That is definitely worth a try. If I don't find another solution I will give
that a go. Thanks.
Regards
Rob
18 Nov
18 Nov
1:50 a.m.
On 11/17/10 3:30 PM, "rachael at telefisk.org" <rachael at telefisk.org>
wrote:
On Wed, 17 Nov 2010, Charles Dickman wrote:
1-ID1
2=ID2
3=ID4
4=Parity
5=SectorSize
6=Reserved
7=Term Power
Jumper 5 is what you want to check. I -think- it needs to be jumpered to
force 512 byte blocksize. However I could be incorrect, it has been a LONG
time since I've looked at a panasonic SCSI cd-rom drive.
On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 2:51 PM, Rob Jarratt
<robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com> wrote:
failing that one can always use another harddrive and transfere the cd to
it with dd, then the vax will happy boot from that drive, used that for
installing ultrix 4.5 on my 3100. It is failing at the stage of detecting the
disks with
an "invalid block size" error.
I am using a CR-506 CD-ROM drive and the disks I have are RZ56 and RZ57.
Could this be an issue with the CD-ROM not supporting 512byte blocks?
I know that microVAXen need this to install VMS, perhaps this is true
with Ultrix also.
With some drives you have to set a jumper to force it to 512byte blocks.
2:39 a.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org]
On Behalf Of Geoffrey Reed
Sent: 18 November 2010 06:50
To: cctalk
Subject: Re: Installing Ultrix 4.4 on a DECstation 5000 Model 240
On 11/17/10 3:30 PM, "rachael at telefisk.org" <rachael at telefisk.org>
wrote:
blocks.
On Wed, 17 Nov 2010, Charles Dickman wrote:
> On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 2:51 PM, Rob Jarratt
> <robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com> wrote:
>> It is failing at the stage of detecting the disks with an
>> "invalid block size" error.
>>
>> I am using a CR-506 CD-ROM drive and the disks I have are RZ56 and
RZ57.
>>
>> Could this be an issue with the CD-ROM not supporting 512byte blocks?
>> I know that microVAXen need this to install VMS, perhaps this is true
>> with Ultrix also.
>>
>> With some drives you have to set a jumper to force it to 512byte 512 byte blocksize. However I could be incorrect, it
has been a LONG time
since I've looked at a panasonic SCSI cd-rom drive.
Indeed the drive was already jumpered that way, I removed the jumper for
sector size and I could not even boot off the CD as a result. So the CD-ROM
is jumpered correctly.
Thanks
Rob
4:03 a.m.
On 11/17/2010 10:50 PM, Geoffrey Reed wrote:
On 11/17/10 3:30 PM, "rachael at
telefisk.org"<rachael at telefisk.org> wrote:
> On Wed, 17 Nov 2010, Charles Dickman wrote:
>
>> On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 2:51 PM, Rob Jarratt
>> <robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com> wrote:
>>> It is failing at the stage of detecting the disks with
>>> an "invalid block size" error.
>>>
>>> I am using a CR-506 CD-ROM drive and the disks I have are RZ56 and RZ57.
>> Could this be an issue with the CD-ROM not supporting 512byte blocks?
>> I know that microVAXen need this to install VMS, perhaps this is true
>> with Ultrix also.
>>
I tried to do basically the same install a few months ago. Got exactly
the same errors. Tried many different cdrom drives all I know for a fact
are 512b block. I tried different hard drives. Some DEC some not. All I
could figure was the ULTRIX image was bad (got off bittorrent), you
need CD drives that software switched from 512 to whatever it wants it
to be after the kernel loads, or you need certain hard drives.
I remember installing ultrix on lots of decstations in the 90's but, I
don't ever remember ever having this issue. I have forgot more than I
know though. If you got the ultrix image off bittorrent it may be the
image. It may be for a specific hardware platform. Otherwise all I can
figure is you need a hard drive out of a decstation. It may be picky
about drive model/firmware. I gave up on it.
5:16 a.m.
On 18 November 2010 09:03, leaknoil <leaknoil at gmail.com> wrote:
I tried to do basically the same install a few months
ago. Got exactly the
same errors. Tried many different cdrom drives all I know for a fact are
512b block. ?I tried different hard drives. Some DEC some not. All I could
figure was the ULTRIX image was bad (got off bittorrent), you need ?CD
drives that software switched from 512 to whatever it wants it to be after
the kernel loads, or you need certain hard drives.
Hm, I assumed Rod was using original Ultrix or UWS CDs. I can easily
do images of the ones I have if I can find them in the garage!
--
adrian/witchy
Owner of Binary Dinosaurs, the UK's biggest home computer collection?
www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk
17 Nov
17 Nov
6:39 p.m.
On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 6:14 PM, Charles Dickman <chd at chdickman.com> wrote:
On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 2:51 PM, Rob Jarratt
<robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com> wrote:
Some drives (like the older ones I have) use a jumper to force
512-bytes-per-block-mode at power-on, others _support_ 512-byte-mode,
but you have to send them a request to do so. Old SPARCstations don't
know to send the request; newer SPARCstations know how and can install
? ? ? It is failing at the stage of detecting the
disks with
an "invalid block size" error.
I am using a CR-506 CD-ROM drive and the disks I have are RZ56 and RZ57.
Could this be an issue with the CD-ROM not supporting 512byte blocks?
I know that microVAXen need this to install VMS, perhaps this is true
with Ultrix also.
With some drives you have to set a jumper to force it to 512byte blocks. from with either type of drive.
That having been said, I don't know which type the CR-506 is, but it
should be easy to establish.
-ethan
6:41 p.m.
It is something that crossed my mind and I have not checked. I think this
will have to be my next line of investigation.
Thanks
Rob
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org]
On Behalf Of Charles Dickman
Sent: 17 November 2010 23:15
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
Subject: Re: Installing Ultrix 4.4 on a DECstation 5000 Model 240
On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 2:51 PM, Rob Jarratt <robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com>
wrote:
Ultrix
It is failing at the stage of detecting the
disks with an
"invalid block size" error.
I am using a CR-506 CD-ROM drive and the disks I have are RZ56 and RZ57.
Could this be an issue with the CD-ROM not supporting 512byte blocks?
I know that microVAXen need this to install VMS, perhaps this is true with also.
With some drives you have to set a jumper to force it to 512byte blocks.
-chuck
6:57 p.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: Rob Jarratt [mailto:robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com]
Sent: 17 November 2010 23:42
To: 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'
Subject: RE: Installing Ultrix 4.4 on a DECstation 5000 Model 240
It is something that crossed my mind and I have not checked. I think this
will
have to be my next line of investigation.
Thanks
Rob
> -----Original Message-----
> From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org
> [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org]
> On Behalf Of Charles Dickman
> Sent: 17 November 2010 23:15
> To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
> Subject: Re: Installing Ultrix 4.4 on a DECstation 5000 Model 240
>
> On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 2:51 PM, Rob Jarratt
> <robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com>
> wrote:
> > It is failing at the stage of detecting the disks with an
> > "invalid block size" error.
> >
> > I am using a CR-506 CD-ROM drive and the disks I have are RZ56 and
RZ57.
>
> Could this be an issue with the CD-ROM not supporting 512byte blocks?
> I know that microVAXen need this to install VMS, perhaps this is true
> with Ultrix also.
>
> With some drives you have to set a jumper to force it to 512byte blocks.
>
> -chuck
I found the sector size jumper on the CD-ROM and took it off, that was
worse, it would not boot off the CD at all. So I can only conclude that the
jumper was right before and was already set to a 512-byte sector size. So I
think the conclusion is that the CD-ROM drive should be OK.
Regards
Rob
18 Nov
18 Nov
2:37 a.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org]
On Behalf Of Rob Jarratt
Sent: 17 November 2010 23:57
To: 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'
Subject: RE: Installing Ultrix 4.4 on a DECstation 5000 Model 240
blocks.
-----Original Message-----
From: Rob Jarratt [mailto:robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com]
Sent: 17 November 2010 23:42
To: 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'
Subject: RE: Installing Ultrix 4.4 on a DECstation 5000 Model 240
It is something that crossed my mind and I have not checked. I think
this
will
have to be my next line of investigation.
Thanks
Rob
> -----Original Message-----
> From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org
> [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org]
> On Behalf Of Charles Dickman
> Sent: 17 November 2010 23:15
> To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
> Subject: Re: Installing Ultrix 4.4 on a DECstation 5000 Model 240
>
> On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 2:51 PM, Rob Jarratt
> <robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com>
> wrote:
> > It is failing at the stage of detecting the disks with an
> > "invalid block size" error.
> >
> > I am using a CR-506 CD-ROM drive and the disks I have are RZ56 and
RZ57.
> >
> > Could this be an issue with the CD-ROM not supporting 512byte blocks?
> > I know that microVAXen need this to install VMS, perhaps this is
> > true with Ultrix also.
> >
> > With some drives you have to set a jumper to force it to 512byte >
> -chuck
I found the sector size jumper on the CD-ROM and took it off, that was would not boot off the CD at all. So I can only
conclude that the jumper
was
right before and was already set to a 512-byte sector
size. So I think the
conclusion is that the CD-ROM drive should be OK.
Regards
Rob
This got me wondering: is the sector size purely determined by the CD-ROM
drive reading the CD? Looking at Wikipedia would suggest that on the
physical disk the sectors are always 2048 bytes, which implies that the 512
sector size is something done by the reading device.
Regards
Rob
20 Nov
20 Nov
2:41 p.m.
> > > On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 2:51 PM, Rob
Jarratt
> > > <robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com>
> > > wrote:
> > > > It is failing at the stage of detecting the disks with an
> > > > "invalid block size" error.
> > > >
> > > > I am using a CR-506 CD-ROM drive and the disks I have are RZ56
> > > > and
> RZ57.
> > >
> > > Could this be an issue with the CD-ROM not supporting 512byte
blocks?
> > I
know that microVAXen need this to install VMS, perhaps this is
> > true with Ultrix also.
> >
> > With some drives you have to set a jumper to force it to 512byte
blocks.
>
> -chuck
I found the sector size jumper on the CD-ROM and took it off, that was would not boot off the CD at all. So I can only
conclude that the
jumper
was
right before and was already set to a 512-byte
sector size. So I think
the conclusion is that the CD-ROM drive should be OK.
Regards
Rob
This got me wondering: is the sector size purely determined by the CD-ROM
drive reading the CD? Looking at Wikipedia would suggest that on the disk the sectors are always 2048 bytes, which implies
that the 512 sector
size is
something done by the reading device.
Regards
Rob
I have discovered that I can install Ultrix on the DECstation 5000 Model 240
if I use an RRD43 drive. It failed to work with a Matsushita CR-506-B, a
Matsushita CR-508-B and a Sony CDU55S.
Regards
Rob
4944
days inactive
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13 comments
7 participants
participants (7)
-
binarydinosaurs＠gmail.com -
chd＠chdickman.com -
ethan.dicks＠gmail.com -
geoffr＠zipcon.net -
leaknoil＠gmail.com -
rachael＠telefisk.org -
robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com