VAX 11/730 quickie

[Don North]

On 2/24/2016 3:43 AM, Mike Ross wrote:
> On Tue, Feb 23, 2016 at 4:26 AM, Mike Ross <tmfdmike at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Mon, Feb 22, 2016 at 10:14 AM, Mark J. Blair <nf6x at nf6x.net> wrote:
>>>> On Feb 21, 2016, at 23:09, Mike Ross <tmfdmike at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Actually I do have a Mac within easy range of the 730. Could you do me
>>>> a favour and throw a prebuilt OSX binary somewhere I can grab it? I
>>>> have flaky internet in the workshop and this Mac isn't set up with
>>>> Xcode or any other dev environment...
>>> https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/29876211/tu58em.zip
>> Thanks Mark... I played with this. I built a 3-wire cable; I'm sure I
>> have it wired right because traffic happens - and if I disconnect, or
>> switch Rx/Tx, it just sits there.... but this is as far as it gets:
>>
>> MikeUpstairs:~ Imac$ ./tu58 -s 38400 -p /dev/tty.usbserial -d -v -m -x
>> -r vax73058
>> info: unit 0 r    file 'vax73058'
>> info: tu58 tape emulator v1.4j (NF6X fork)
>> info: (C) 2005-2014 Don North <ak6dn at mindspring.com>, (C) 1984 Dan
>> Ts'o <Rockefeller University>
>> info: serial port /dev/tty.usbserial at 38400 baud
>> info: MRSP mode enabled (NOT fully tested - use with caution)
>> info: TU58 emulation start
>> info: R restart, S toggle send init, V toggle verbose, D toggle debug, Q quit
>> info: emulator started
>>
>> (I ctrl-c the VAX)
>>
>> info: flag=0x00 last=0x00
>> info: <NULL> seen
>> info: flag=0x00 last=0x00
>> info: <NULL> seen
>> info: flag=0x04 last=0x00
>> info: <INIT> seen
>> info: flag=0x04 last=0x04
>> info: <INIT> seen
>> info: <INIT><INIT> seen, sending <CONT>
>>
>> (?27 DEVICE ERROR on VAX)
>>
>> (I ctrl-c the VAX again)
>>
>> info: flag=0x00 last=0xFF
>> info: <NULL> seen
>> info: flag=0x00 last=0x00
>> info: <NULL> seen
>> info: flag=0x04 last=0x00
>> info: <INIT> seen
>> info: flag=0x04 last=0x04
>> info: <INIT> seen
>> info: <INIT><INIT> seen, sending <CONT>
>>
>> (?27 DEVICE ERROR on VAX)
>>
>> (repeat)
>>
>> Can you spot me being stupid? Does my command line look sane re.
>> various options?
>>
>> (I've trivially renamed the tape image file for faster typing
>> otherwise it's straight out of the box)
> Just for giggles I decided to try Bela Torok's Arduino-based emulator:
>
> http://www.torok.info/computing/pdp11/tu58/
>
> I whipped that up from bits tonight and got it working surprisingly
> quickly. But the VAX still doesn't want to play; from the behaviour
> and messages it's falling over at exactly the same place. The Arduino
> serial console displays:
>
> Continue after 2 INIT flags. online!
>
> And VAX shows the now-familiar ?27 DEVICE ERROR...
>
> Which looks a HELL of a lot like how tu58em is ending. So I don't
> think the problem is with tu58em...
>
> Is there anything I should be looking at on the VAX end here? Any
> configuration or cabling details that could be screwing things up
> before I drag the RS232 analyser out? I've tried changing the 'delay'
> parameter on the Arduino to various values between 0 and 255 to no
> avail - and I've tried a couple of different tape images in case I got
> a bad one...
>
> Mike
>
> http://www.corestore.org
> 'No greater love hath a man than he lay down his life for his brother.
> Not for millions, not for glory, not for fame.
> For one person, in the dark, where no one will ever know or see.'
>

Why are you using MRSP mode (-m switch)? Do you know that is absolutely required?