OT: SNA was RE: Booting an IBM MP 3000 S/390 System

[Dave G4UGM]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of JP Hindin
> Sent: 06 August 2015 19:07
> To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
> <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
> Subject: RE: Booting an IBM MP 3000 S/390 System
> 
> 
> 
> On Thu, 6 Aug 2015, Dave G4UGM wrote:
> >> Booting an old CDC 6000-series machine meant mounting a "deadstart"
> >> tape, pushing the button just below the screens on the DD60, entering
> >> or editing the equipment status table, then going out for a smoke
> >> (not me) or a cup of coffee, while the system copied the deadstart tape
> to disk.
> >>   The next prompt was to enter the date and time.
> >>
> >> People are too impatient today.
> >>
> >> --Chuck
> >
> > Actually I remember booting an IBM4381 from cold after we shut it down
> over Christmas. Just pressing the Power button powered it up eventually,
> but I am pretty sure it took nearly an hour to get to the IPL prompt. So
it did
> disk drives, then tape drives, then other bits and bobs. But when it spun
up
> the disks it brought them up one at a time so the startup surges didn't
trip
> the main breaker. The same with the tape drives. Then  it loaded the
> microcode into all the controllers. Then it booted the OS. As we were
running
> VM this last bit took a few seconds (I think). I do know if VM crashed you
> screen logo frequently re-appeared before you had time to think.
> 
> Spinning off on this tangent, when I was learning how to fire up my Sun
E10k
> I didn't realise it took so ruddy long for the SSP and the E10k to speak
to each
> other.
> So I was constantly asking the SSP for the E10k's power status (to see if
they
> were communicating) and being told the SSP "wasn't the master".
> 
> I'd powered things up repeatedly and made all sorts of changes to the SSP
> config and just couldn't figure out what wasn't working. So one day I'm
> messing with it again and I'd walked over to the other side of the shop
for a
> manual and gotten distracted and maybe ten minuted passed and all of a
> sudden all of the blowers dropped RPM and evened out. The SSP and E10k
> had finally finished their secret masonic handshake and the SSP did the
> equivalent of "Hey, dude, it's not 7000 degrees in here, you can chillax
now".
> 
> "People are too impatient today" -- Chuck G
> 
> True enough. I just didn't know enough to know I should be patient.


Excuse me if this isn't Exactly right,  but I seem to recall some on in IBM
saying that Thomas Watson Jr got a phone call one day. It went...

TWJ: Thomas Watson here
CLR: Is that Thomas Watson Jnr.
TWJ: Yes
CLR: and you are the head of IBM
TWJ: Yes
CLR and you first name is Thomas
TWJ: yes
CLR: and you are the head of IBM
TWJ: yes
CLE: and you are in your office
TWJ: yes, but what do you want
CLR: Just thought I would show what it is like trying set up and SNA
session. Bye...

> 
>   - JP