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Booting RSX11M 4.6 on a KDF11-BE

MattisLind

MattisLind

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I am about to test my paper tape reader / punch adapter with a real operating system rather than just using the REV11 absolute loader loading in the BASIC tape. I found This article by Jordi Guillaumes Pons to follow which was very helpful since I have never sysgened an RSX11 system (I have only used P/OS many years ago).

After this I had an image which booted fine in SIMH. Now try the real thing. Transferred it to a SCSI hard disk and the tried to boot it. At least something happened:

zMhuVZg.png


But when booted, there were no prompt and the RUN light went out. But it didn't halt and got itself into ODT. Pressing any key made the RUN light to light up for a moment and then go off. If I pressed Ctrl-C I got the MCR> prompt. Pressing Ctrl-Z shoved a "^Z". Entering some command and then press "DELETE" echoed back like it sent backspace to the terminal (now the terminal program is printing . for non printable characters, but there is a hex view that show this).

Pressing the HALT switch causes the ODT printout. It halts at 004430.

The system includes a CPU board, a DLV11-F, an Viking QD0 SCSI board and a 256 kByte memory board. The backplane is a 4 slot 18 bit backplane in a BA11-M box.

So what is going on? Why is it the run light out? And then lights up when pressing a key? Is there some hardware configuration problem that could cause this? Since the same config runs OK in SIMH that would be my guess.
I think I have set up the CPU board correctly, for example jumpers W1 and W2 are in do have DMA ack and Interrupt ack pass in the CD slot. What diagnostics is a good idea to run now to find a the problem. As far as I understand the BOOT ROM is supposed to run some diagnostics already, including the CPU and memory, right?

Any help highly appreciated!
 
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This is BTW the boot in SIMH:

Code: 
Arbetsrumsdatorn-2:BIN mattis_lind$ ./pdp11

PDP-11 simulator V3.9-0
PDP-11/23 with 128 kwords of memory

sim> b rq0

DEVICE MS000: NOT IN CONFIGURATION

  RSX-11M V4.6 BL56   128.K MAPPED
>RED DU:=SY:
>RED DU:=LB:
>MOU DU:RSXM56
>@DU:[1,2]STARTUP
>* PLEASE ENTER TIME AND DATE (HR:MN DD-MMM-YY) [S]: 
>TIM 
00:02:24 29-APR-74
>* ENTER LINE WIDTH OF THIS TERMINAL [D D:132.]: 
>SET /BUF=TI:132.
>ACS SY:/BLKS=1024.
>;
>; This system startup command file (LB:[1,2]STARTUP.CMD) contains a
>; template of commands to initialize the queue print spooler and queue
>; LP0:, initialize the error logger, initialize the DCL CLI, and install
>; the RMS Library and Utilities.  As is these commands are commented out
>; and are not executed.  To include these commands as part of the
>; startup procedure, edit the file to remove the period and semi-colon
>; (.;) comment delimiter from the beginning of each line.  These
>; commands may be useful for initializing the various facilities for
>; your installation or else they may provide a model with which to
>; tailor initialization commands for your particular installation. 
>;
>@ <EOF>
>
>
 
Hi All;
I got Simh to work the other night, and Now it doesn't..
Does AnyOne have SimH Experience ??
Here is its listing --

PDP-11 simulator V3.9-0
PDP-11/45 with 128 kwords of memory

Listening on port 11023 (socket 256)
Modem control activated
Auto disconnect activated
sim> attach ts0 rsx11m46.tpc
Format error
sim>

Why am I getting a format Error ?? Am I doing my Attach Wrong ?? Where can I find out "How" to do an attach or other commands ?? I found the Simh information.. Which still Doesn't help me any, it still shows a "Format Error" ..

PDP-11 simulator V3.9-0
PDP-11/45 with 128 kwords of memory

Listening on port 11023 (socket 256)
Modem control activated
Auto disconnect activated
sim> attach ts0 rsx11m46.tpc
Format error
sim> show ts0 format
TPC format
sim> attach -f ts0 rsx11m46.tpc
Too few arguments
sim> attach -f ts0 tpc rsx11m46.tpc
Format error
sim>

Do I need to Put everything in "Caps" ??
And I don't know if it related, but I can't open my pdp11.ini file.. I have to go to the pdp11.ini file and tell it what to use to open it.. Then I get the above..

THANK YOU Marty
 
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Marty,
I think ROE's suggestion to fix your format problem will work. I tried to reproduce your error with Simh V3.9-0 and the rsx11m46.tpc file but did not find the errors you encountered. If your problem persists you might also consider downloading rsxm70.dsk which is a RSX11M V4.8 disk distribution. It is easier to complete a SYSGEN from a disk distribution since you can boot a baseline RSX system directly.

Matlock
 
Hi All;
Thank You, Roe, and Matlock for Your answers..
I got it to work, now.. Without doing the 'enable ts0' ..
I am thinking that for some reason, it had not Read in the pdp11.ini file correctly..
Which has the 'enable ts0' already in the text, but it would not do all of the script..
I can't say, why, but if I have trouble again, I at least now know what to do..
Matlock, where do I find "" rsxm70.dsk "" , the person listing the procedure says that alot of the files are corrupt ?? And I don't want to be chasing my own tail, finding out that the file I am working with is Corrupt..
I have found out when its right and when it's not..

PDP-11 simulator V3.9-0
PDP-11/45 with 128 kwords of memory

RP: creating new file
Overwrite last track? [N] y
Listening on port 11023 (socket 256)
Modem control activated
Auto disconnect activated
LPT: creating new file
sim>

When it Displays ""RP: creating new file
Overwrite last track? [N] ""
Then I know its correct, when it doesn't it won't work..
THANK YOU Marty
 
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Hi All;
I have RSX11M, Running on Simh..
I am about to do Part 3, Copying the 'Help' files..
After that, I can see If I need to do or use part 4..
After that, Can anyone Tell me "How" to make a bootable Paper Tape of RSX11M file that I have using RSX11M ?? It would need to be for an "Un-Mapped System" .. I am guessing that I would need to Regen..

Here is my Next problem --

sim> b rp

RSX-11M V4.6 BL56 124.K MAPPED

>SET /UIC=[200,1]
>PIP /NV=[1,2]INTRO.ULB,INTROFIL.CMD
MCR -- Task not in system
>

Do I need something to invoke MCR ??

THANK YOU Marty
 
Last edited:
Marty said:
Hi All;
I have RSX11M, Running on Simh..
I am about to do Part 3, Copying the 'Help' files..
After that, I can see If I need to do or use part 4..
After that, Can anyone Tell me "How" to make a bootable Paper Tape of RSX11M file that I have using RSX11M ?? It would need to be for an "Un-Mapped System" .. I am guessing that I would need to Regen..

Here is my Next problem --

sim> b rp

RSX-11M V4.6 BL56 124.K MAPPED

>SET /UIC=[200,1]
>PIP /NV=[1,2]INTRO.ULB,INTROFIL.CMD
MCR -- Task not in system

In this baseline system PIP is not installed yet, to fix:

>INS [1,54]PIP


Do I need something to invoke MCR ??

THANK YOU Marty
Click to expand...

Marty,
See above for answer on PIP. Other utilities may also need to be installed and in RSX11M they are located in [1,54] on your question about a paper tape version of RSX11M, I don't think that would be possible. The smallest disk that works well is an RL02. RSX11S can run disk less for real time tasks but needs an RSX11M system to act as a host to download an image on a network boot.

Good Luck,
Matlock
 
Marty said:
Hi All;
Thank You, Roe, and Matlock for Your answers..
I got it to work, now.. Without doing the 'enable ts0' ..
I am thinking that for some reason, it had not Read in the pdp11.ini file correctly..
Which has the 'enable ts0' already in the text, but it would not do all of the script..
I can't say, why, but if I have trouble again, I at least now know what to do..
Matlock, where do I find "" rsxm70.dsk "" , the person listing the procedure says that alot of the files are corrupt ?? And I don't want to be chasing my own tail, finding out that the file I am working with is Corrupt..
I have found out when its right and when it's not..

PDP-11 simulator V3.9-0
PDP-11/45 with 128 kwords of memory

RP: creating new file
Overwrite last track? [N] y
Listening on port 11023 (socket 256)
Modem control activated
Auto disconnect activated
LPT: creating new file
sim>

When it Displays ""RP: creating new file
Overwrite last track? [N] ""
Then I know its correct, when it doesn't it won't work..
THANK YOU Marty
Click to expand...

Marty,
You can find a copy of rsxm70.dsk at ftp://ftp.trailing-edge.com/pub/rsx_dists/ It is in a .bz2 compressed file but I down loaded it this morning and the image booted fine. It looks like you already past needing this but in case anyone else is looking for the last RSX11M version it is there. Also, in that directory is the last RSX11M+ version both of which are Y2K compatible. The M+ will need a PDP-11 with I/D space.

Good Luck,
Matlock
 
Hi All;
Matlock, Thank You for the Link..

"" Do I need something to invoke MCR ?? "" I don't know.. I am just following the Script for part 3 of installing RSX11M and when I do I get the error, that I copied and posted in the previous Posting..

"" In this baseline system PIP is not installed yet, to fix:

>INS [1,54]PIP "" Thank You for the fix..

THANK YOU Marty
 
Marty said:
Hi All;
Matlock, Thank You for the Link..

"" Do I need something to invoke MCR ?? "" I don't know.. I am just following the Script for part 3 of installing RSX11M and when I do I get the error, that I copied and posted in the previous Posting..

"" In this baseline system PIP is not installed yet, to fix:

>INS [1,54]PIP "" Thank You for the fix..

THANK YOU Marty
Click to expand...

Hi Marty,
I had similar problems when doing the first sysgen. I think that I missed some step in part 2. When I did everything the second time I was more careful and then it worked. If I try to remember the missing step I think it was "SAV /WB".
The problem with the description is that there are some steps that should be in bold that are not in bold. Check that you enter all commands, both bold and non bold.
 
Hi All;
Mattislind, Thank You for Your Response..
I did do "" "SAV /WB". "" , in fact, I did it twice, maybe the second time wiped out something from the first time..
Yea, I need and should do it again, if for nothing else, practice..
And that also confirms, that I am on the correct path..

THANK YOU Marty
 
Marty said:
Hi All;
Mattislind, Thank You for Your Response..
I did do "" "SAV /WB". "" , in fact, I did it twice, maybe the second time wiped out something from the first time..
Yea, I need and should do it again, if for nothing else, practice..
And that also confirms, that I am on the correct path..

THANK YOU Marty
Click to expand...

Marty,
Perhaps a bit of explanation might demystify the final steps of SYSGEN. The SYSGEN process creates [1,54]RSX11M.TSK with the Task Builder TKB. From that task image a bootable system image must be created. This involves using PIP to create the system image file:

>PIP [1,54]RSX11M.SYS/CO/NV/BL:1024.=[1,54]RSX11M.TSK

then a task called VMR (Virtual MCR) can make MCR based changes to the disk image file. A number of these commands are in a command file called SYSVMR.CMD so the step

VMR @SYSVMR.CMD

makes those changes to RSX11M.SYS so that it is bootable. Now

BOO [1,54]RSX11M.SYS

Boots the new system, but as the system is loaded into memory it needs to be SAVed back into the image file. You can do this without the /WB to test if RSX is running ok. If you determine it looks good the you need to reboot the system with the command above then execute SAV /WB to save the system into the image file AND write the disk boot block to point to the RSX11M.SYS file.

I hope this makes sense. I'm sure that there are others here that could explain this better than I but I suspect the two SAV /WB commands were part of your problem. The great thing about working with Simh is that a SYSGEN takes less than 5 minutes, back on PDP-11/23 computers it was basically an all niter. We'd answer all the questions then set an alarm clock and take a nap.

Matlock
 
Matlock said:
I hope this makes sense. I'm sure that there are others here that could explain this better than I but I suspect the two SAV /WB commands were part of your problem.
Click to expand...

I think you explained it pretty well. The only thing I would add is that the system that has been VMR'ed and is ready to BOOt is a "virgin system", and after it is SAV/WB'ed it isn't anymore. IIRC there were a few places in the documentation or release notes (or sources?) that refer to a virgin system, and this is what it means.
 
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