PDP-11/45 RSTS/E boot problem

[Fritz Mueller]

> On Dec 31, 2018, at 1:54 PM, Paul Koning <paulkoning at comcast.net> wrote:
> 
> The standard idle pattern is in the data lights.  I don't remember if the "fancy" pattern appeared in V7.0 or earlier, but in any case it's an undocumented SYSGEN option.  
> 
> In RSTS/E, the display register shows the system error count.  That's from I/O errors reported by the various drivers.
> 
> Do you have a second disk pack?  If so, you could use the DSKINT option in INIT to initialize a pack, with pattern tests.  That would show what the RSTS disk driver thinks of your RK05.
> 
> Something else you might try: when you start the system, don't enter line-feed for the quick start, but the START command.  That is a more verbose version which will display some additional messages.  If anything is getting disabled, it would show there.

Thanks, Paul — that’s a bunch of helpful info!

I have done some long-form starts, but no complaints are printed to the console.

I do have an additional as-yet-untried pack that I got in a recent eBay option.  I’ll give it an inspection and if its good to go I’ll give the pattern DSKINT a try.  I only have one RK05 drive working at the moment, but I suppose I can swap after issuing “DS” to the “Option:” prompt?

I’m also gearing up to throw the logic analyzer on the RK11 and see what sector(s) it is trying to read and what error/interrupt signaling may actually be happening.


Last, any more info on that fancy light sysgen option, for future reference in case I ever get on to a later version?

	cheers,
          --FritzM.