Is The M9312 Boot Module Essential?

[Bill Degnan]

You need some way to initialize the system to the peripheral that contains
the.OS media.  The m9312 is a general purpose co ntroller for that
purpose.  There are roms that install on the 9312 for almost any drive
hardware.  When you get a system that comes with an M9312, it will have the
appropriate peripheral Rom and console ROM installed from the factory.  The
M9312 also had a console ROM monitor to allow a person to attach a terminal
to enter bootstrap commands.

But yes the *function* provided by the m9312 is necessary.

Alternatively you can key in the bootstrap that tells your system how to
boot your OS and communicate with your boot device.

The m9312 is less useful without at least a console ROM

Where are you located?  Maybe someone nearby has in you could borrow just
to see what you need.
Bill.

On Sat, Feb 19, 2022, 2:12 AM Rob Jarratt via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
wrote:

> I have a PDP-11/24. I have never got very far with it because of power
> supply problems which I am hopeful will be resolved soon. Looking at the
> technical manual, it describes an M9312 bootstrap/terminator module. The
> machine did not come with one of these.
>
>
>
> I am not sure how the machine could have been useful without it. It did
> work
> briefly before the PSU failed and I remember getting a console prompt. So,
> is the M9312 essential to ever get this machine to boot up an operating
> system?
>
>
>
> Thanks
>
>
>
> Rob
>
>