• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

Floppy drives for an 11/73 with an RQDX3.

I got my posts crossed, but it is still a valid question though...

MAP tells you how much memory you have and what is in the I/O space.

You can also change the boot so that DU0 can be a different controller and logical unit number. I think this comes under the LIST option - but I am working from memory here with no documentation to hand.

Dave
 
About booting from an image with interleaving - my mistake. The image was intended to be loaded on Pro computers - that is, from DZ floppy device. I set up new bootloader - for DU - and the process went :)
 
I thought it was a virgin distribution kit for Pro, but during the set up process I've got this error :)
Code: 
      I.n.s.t.a.l.l.a.t.i.o.n.  E.r.r.o.r.
      ........................  ..........



  Error : Installation diskette contains invalid volume ID.

  If you cannot immediately identify and correct the error,
  please call the HOTLINE number on your instruction sheet
  for assistance.
@ <EOF>

.
I'll try to figure it out later. Perhaps the program is really checks - is it loaded on the Pro :)
 
I've call :) VERY long beeps :)

Understood. The setup looks at the boot device and the floppy label. That is, this distribution kit is for the Pro and the DZ boot device :)
 
Okay, I checked my jumpers, and they are as @Hunta has said - nothing is jumpered EXCEPT S1. I also used the FF.CFG supplied, nothing has changed.

I'm booting from DU0, and I'm getting the start message, but then it crashes out.

I can run a LIST and get:
Code: 
Device  Unit 
name    numbers Source   Device type 

 DU     0-255   CPU ROM  RD51, RD52, RX50, RC25, RA80, RA81, RA60
 DL     0-3     CPU ROM  RL01, RL02
 DX     0-1     CPU ROM  RX01
 DY     0-1     CPU ROM  RX02
 DD     0-1     CPU ROM  TU58
 DK     0-7     CPU ROM  RK05
 MU     0-255   CPU ROM  TK50, TU81
 MS     0-3     CPU ROM  TK25, TS05
 XH     0-1     CPU ROM  DECNET DEQNA
 NU     0-15    CPU ROM  DECNET DUV11
 NE     0-15    CPU ROM  DECNET DLV11-E
 NF     0-15    CPU ROM  DECNET DLV11-F

Commands are Help, Boot, List, Setup, Map and Test.
Type a command then press the RETURN key:

Other possibilities in the EEPROM setup - nothing here is clicking "hey try that!" though :(
Code: 
List/change the switch boot selections in the Setup table

Switches 2,3,4  on   on   off   = A
Switches 2,3,4  on   off  on    = DL0
Switches 2,3,4  on   off  off   = MS0
Switches 2,3,4  off  on   on    = MU0
Switches 2,3,4  off  on   off   = E
Switches 2,3,4  off  off  on    = blank

and

Code: 
List/change parameters in the Setup table

    A - Enable Halt on break             0=No,   1=Yes  = 0
    B - Disable User friendly format     0=No,   1=Yes  = 1
    C - ANSI Video terminal (1)          0=No,   1=Yes  = 1
    D - Power up  0=Dialog, (1)=Automatic, 2=ODT, 3=24  = 1
    E - Restart   0=Dialog, (1)=Automatic, 2=ODT, 3=24  = 1
    F - Ignore battery                   0=No,   1=Yes  = 0
    G - PMG 0-(7) 1=.4us, 2=.8, 3=1.6, 4=3.2,...7=25.6  = 7
    H - Disable clock CSR                0=No,   1=Yes  = 0
    I - Force clock interrupts           0=No,   1=Yes  = 1
    J - Clock  0=Power supply, 1=50Hz, 2=60Hz, 3=800Hz  = 0
    K - Enable ECC test (1)              0=No,   1=Yes  = 0
    L - Disable long memory test         0=No,   1=Yes  = 0
    M - Disable ROM 0=No, 1=Dis 165, 2=Dis 173, 3=Both  = 0
    N - Enable trap on Halt              0=No,   1=Yes  = 0
    O - Allow alternate boot block       0=No,   1=Yes  = 0
    P - Disable Setup mode               0=No,   1=Yes  = 0
    Q - Disable all testing              0=No,   1=Yes  = 0

I'd start throwing energy at getting the TU58 emulator working, but that seems to not be the problem. :(
 
I tried to change the firmware for Gotek to support other DEC floppy drive formats as well. In short, only RX50 and RX33 options work, others treats as RX50 or RX33. And when you try to slip an image of 2.88MB in size, RQDX3 generally freezes. I looked at the source codes of the RQDX3 firmware - there is support for only formats RX50 and RX33.

I will try to continue experiments with the CQD-420 controller.
 
I tried with CQD-420. In short - then Gotek is seen as RX23 and in no way - as RX26. And it works fine with images only if they are 1.44Mb. Experiments will continue...
 
@czunit you wouldn't happen to have images in TU58 format would you? I'm trying to use the TU58fs toolkit from https://github.com/j-hoppe/tu58fs but I'm getting things like the images are in the wrong format...
Code: 
shevett@surfboard:~/src/tu58fs/bin-ubuntu-x64$ ./tu58fs -xxdp --unpack ~/tmp/DISK0029.img ./disk29.dir RX50
Error while parsing commandline option:
No <devicetype>
Syntax:  -up   | --unpack <filename> <dirname> <devicetype>
          Read a binary disk/tape image, and extract files into directory
          Read files from a directory and pack into binary disk/tape image
          <device_type> can specify a different device geometry for the image,
          allowed: TU58,RP0456,RK035,RL01,RL02,RK067,RM03,RS034,TU56,RX01,RX02

Now, having said that, I THINK I have the emulator up and wired and ready with a blank disk:
Code: 
shevett@surfboard:~/src/tu58fs/bin-ubuntu-x64$ ./tu58fs --port /dev/ttyUSB0 -b 38400 -d 0 c 11XXDP.DSK
[18:30:12 info]  Unit 0: zero'd new tape on '11XXDP.DSK'
[18:30:12 info]  Unit 0 read/write fmt=none size=256KB=512 blocks, img file="11XXDP.DSK"
[18:30:12 info]  Using serial port /dev/ttyUSB0 at 38400 baud with 8N1 format.
[18:30:12 info]  TU58 emulation start
[18:30:12 info]  R restart, S toggle send init, V toggle verbose, D toggle debug, Q quit
[18:30:12 info]  emulator started
[18:30:20 info]  verbosity set to ON; debug OFF

That's all fine and dandy, however the /11 is not seeing the DLV11J:
Code: 
Trying DD0

Message 14
Non existent controller, address 17776500

Here's where i start sounding like I don't know what I'm doing. My understanding is that's the base address for most DLV11J's, so that's fine, and it maps each channel 0,1,2,3 after that. Fine. What I'm having a hard time with is understanding how to map the jumpers in the lower right here to that address to make sure it's actually there. This machine came to me with 2 DLV11J's, and a DHV11. I've pulled the DHV11 and the other DLV.

1682290353588.jpeg
The only other thing I can think of us bus ordering. My understanding is that Qbus uses a 'serpentine' layout. Looking from the top of the cage, CPU goes in the top slot, sockets A-B-C-D. Next board in slot 2 is memory (also all positions). Then I have my RQDX3 in positions A-B, and I put the DLV11J in positions C-D, right next to it. That should be fine, right?

So the long and the short of it is I don't know how to brain-map the jumpers on the controller to the octal address on the board. I'm reading https://archive.org/details/DLV11-J_Configuration_Guide_M8043/mode/2up which is helping me understand what all the jumpers are, but I'm not sure if this card is addressed properly :(

We have a repair workshop coming up at InfoAge in June. Anyone wanna meet me there and go "YOU BOZO. That goes there, that goes there, and THAT goes there. NOW try it!"
 
The only other thing I can think of us bus ordering. My understanding is that Qbus uses a 'serpentine' layout. Looking from the top of the cage, CPU goes in the top slot, sockets A-B-C-D. Next board in slot 2 is memory (also all positions). Then I have my RQDX3 in positions A-B, and I put the DLV11J in positions C-D, right next to it. That should be fine, right?
Click to expand...
Wait - if it's a proper 11/73, then it has a n H9278 backplane. The first three slots of this are Q22/CD. Only from slot 4 on is it Q/Q. So you've got the DLV11J in the wrong place - put it in A-B of slot 4, leaving slot 3 C-D empty.
 
Steve Toner said:
Wait - if it's a proper 11/73, then it has a n H9278 backplane. The first three slots of this are Q22/CD. Only from slot 4 on is it Q/Q. So you've got the DLV11J in the wrong place - put it in A-B of slot 4, leaving slot 3 C-D empty.
Click to expand...
Okay, that solved one problem. The bootstrap sees the DLV11J, and if I do a BOOT DD0 it no longer says controller error.

I think I have tu58fs set up with one of the images @AK6DN sent along (thank you! - I'm using the 11XXDP.DSK disk image which I -think- will work for the 11/73, no? I didn't see anything specific to the /73 in your directory.... )

I think i've narrowed down that the board is set to 600 baud (we can fix that later), when I do a BOOT DD0, i'm absolutely getting information to the emulator, but I can't seem to quite get the parameters right - I'm seeing:
Code: 
$ ./tu58fs --port /dev/ttyUSB0 -b 600 -xxdp -d 0 r 11XXDP.DSK
[23:58:49 info]  Unit 0   readonly fmt=XXDP size=256KB=512 blocks, img file="11XXDP.DSK"
[23:58:49 info]  Using serial port /dev/ttyUSB0 at 600 baud with 8N1 format.
[23:58:49 info]  TU58 emulation start
[23:58:49 info]  R restart, S toggle send init, V toggle verbose, D toggle debug, Q quit
[23:58:49 info]  emulator started
[23:58:51 info]  verbosity set to ON; debug OFF
[23:58:52 info]  verbosity set to ON; debug ON
....[23:58:52 info]  unit 0 sync
..............................[23:58:55 info]  unit 0 sync
..............................[23:58:58 info]  unit 0 sync
........[23:58:59 info]  flag=0x00 last=0x00
[23:58:59 info]  <NULL> seen
[23:58:59 info]  flag=0x00 last=0x00
[23:58:59 info]  <NULL> seen
[23:58:59 info]  flag=0x04 last=0x00
[23:58:59 info]  <INIT> seen
[23:58:59 info]  flag=0x04 last=0x04
[23:58:59 info]  <INIT> seen
[23:58:59 info]  <INIT><INIT> seen, sending <CONT>
[23:58:59 info]  flag=0x00 last=0xFF
[23:58:59 info]  <NULL> seen
[23:58:59 info]  flag=0x00 last=0x00
[23:58:59 info]  <NULL> seen
[23:58:59 info]  flag=0x04 last=0x00
[23:58:59 info]  <INIT> seen
[23:58:59 info]  flag=0x08 last=0x04
[23:58:59 info]  <BOOT> seen
[23:58:59 info]  boot     unit=0 blk=0x0000 cnt=0x0200
[23:58:59 ERROR]  boot serial write error unit 0, expected 512, received 64
[23:59:02 info]  unit 0 sync
[23:59:05 info]  unit 0 sync
[23:59:08 info]  unit 0 sync
[23:59:11 info]  unit 0 sync
[23:59:14 info]  unit 0 sync
[23:59:17 info]  TU58 emulation end

It's that ERROR line that puzzles me. It looks like it's getting the boot command (YAY) but there's a mismatch in what it's expecting vs what's being provided. Any ideas?
 
Code: 
$ ./tu58fs --port /dev/ttyUSB0 -b 600 -xxdp -d 0 r 11XXDP.DSK
[23:58:49 info]  Unit 0   readonly fmt=XXDP size=256KB=512 blocks, img file="11XXDP.DSK"
[23:58:49 info]  Using serial port /dev/ttyUSB0 at 600 baud with 8N1 format.

600 baud? Really? Or did you mean to use 9600 baud?

The error messages it is spewing <INIT> seen and <NULL> seen typically occur with a baud rate or data size (7b vs 8b) mismatch. TU58 protocol requires 8b mode.

On my 11/34 I use a DL11-W that has been modified to run at 115.2K (replaced the UART chip and bypassed some of the reference clock divider logic).
Same for my 11/44, 115.2K.
At those rates using the TU58 emulator is sort of reasonable.
At 9600 it is doable, albeit kind of slow.
I cannot even fathom using it at 600 baud.

And for the other question, any of the PDP-11 directory XXDP .dsk files should boot and run on any UNIBUS or QBUS PDP-11.
The different 1134_n.DSK, 1144_n.DSK, etc refer to the collection of processor-specific diagnostics on the disk.
Any one of those .DSK images should run on any PDP-11 that exists. XXDP is a very simple low level, non-interrupt driven, polling monitor.
 
Last edited:
AK6DN said:
600 baud? Really? Or did you mean to use 9600 baud?
Click to expand...

Well I'd obviouisly much rather use 38400, but IIRC the speed is set via jumpers on the DLV, which I don't want to muck with yet. I want to get something working first, then I can make it better.

I'll try some of the other images.
 
Hunta said:
It seems that I managed to get Gotek to work with RQDX3. Some experiments more.
Click to expand...
Hi, what did you do exactly to boot from the gotek device?

Which kind of jumper settings?
How the RQDX3 is configured?
What kind of floppy images from which source you are using?

TB
 
Cable - straight, firmware 3.39
This config file is an example from distribution version 3.39, in which I changed exactly two lines - interface = ibmpc and host = dec
Only jumpers S0 are installed on one of the two and S1 on the other. I can take a photo, but it will take some time...
RQDX3 configuration - default
Floppy image is selfmaded - there is nothing complicated about this
 
Just an update because this is driving me bananas. Pulled out the system again last night, because I had an inkling I had set the serial params wrong. Turns out I had - Channel 0 was set to 8O1 (that's odd parity on 8 bits), and I was running with 8N1. Unfortunately, it has made no difference in the boot sequence. I'm still getting

Code: 
[23:58:59 ERROR]  boot serial write error unit 0, expected 512, received 64

I'm now begining to wonder if the disk images I'm using are corrupted or wrong. I'm using tmu58fs (thank you @AK6DN !), with this command line:
Code: 
./tu58fs -p /dev/ttyUSB1 -b 38400 -f 8O1 -xxdp -d 0 r ./11XXDP.DSK

I see 'Unit 1 readonly fmt=XXDP size=256KB=512 blocks, img file="./11XXDP.DSK"

Is there a way to check this disk to make sure it's correct? I've tried RT11 images as well (using -rt11) but I still get the same error.

One possibility I can think of - is it possible my DLV11J is misaddressed? if the address or CSR is wrong, I shoudln't see ANY activity when I run the emulator and try to boot it, right? I do get "CONTROLLER ERROR" or "NO BOOT MEDIA" (or whatever the message is) if I don't have tu58fs running - so SOMETHING is happening.

Very frustrating experience :(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top