Is The M9312 Boot Module Essential?

[Rob Jarratt]

I am in the UK (Manchester). I suspect there are some people I know who would be able to lend me one.

 

The bit I am confused about is that I got a console prompt with just the CPU (M7133) and Unibus Map Module (M7134) installed. Presumably I could type in a bootstrap program from there?

 

Regards

 

Rob

 

From: Bill Degnan <billdegnan at gmail.com> 
Sent: 19 February 2022 08:29
To: rob at jarratt.me.uk; Rob Jarratt <robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com>; General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Subject: Re: Is The M9312 Boot Module Essential?

 

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 <mailto: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