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Installing OpenVMS on a VAXstation 4000 VLC

R

robdaemon

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Joined
Jun 7, 2018
Messages
24
Hi there,

I just got a VAXstation 4000 VLC, and I'm having a little trouble installing OpenVMS on it:

Code: 
%SYSBOOT-I-SYSBOOT Mapping the SYSDUMP.DMP on the System Disk
%SYSBOOT-W-SYSBOOT Can not map SYSDUMP.DMP on the System Disk
%SYSBOOT-W-SYSBOOT Can not map PAGEFILE.SYS on the System Disk
   OpenVMS (TM) VAX Version X7G7 Major version id = 1 Minor version id = 0
%WBM-I-WBMINFO Write Bitmap has successfully completed initialization.
PLEASE ENTER DATE AND TIME (DD-MMM-YYYY  HH:MM)  23-MAR-2020 12:10

Configuring devices . . .

Available device  DKA0:                            device type SEAGATE ST318418N
Available device  DKA300:                          device type MATSHITA CD-ROM C
%BACKUP-I-IDENT, Stand-alone BACKUP T7.2; the date is 23-MAR-2020 12:10:53.36
$ BACKUP/IMAGE/VERIFY DKA300:VMS073.B/SAVE_SET DKA0:
%SYSTEM-I-MOUNTVER, SABKUP$DKA300: is offline.  Mount verification in progress.

It can boot from the external SCSI CD-ROM I have, but when I start the BACKUP command, it seems to think that the CD-ROM is offline. I'm using an AppleCD 300e drive, because that's the only SCSI CD-ROM I had around.

Is it something about this particular drive, or is there some sort of diagnostics I can do? I used VMS (as a user) ages ago, but I was never an "admin" on a VAX before now. I've checked the install manuals and I can't find anything relevant.
 
It's been a while since I did this on my 4000/60, but there's a couple gotchas when using consumer SCSI CD-ROMs with old workstation hardware. I think the AppleCD 300e is capable of handling CD-R media, at least if I'm recalling correctly and the Apple CD-ROM drive I used for years was a 300e. Probably what you're running up against here, though, is the requirement most old workstations have that the CD-ROM drive present itself as a standard 512-bytes-per-sector device, rather than the oddball ~2K-ish sector size native to the media. I don't recall if the 300e has a jumper you can set for this, but since I ended up having to just buy a newer IBM SCSI CD-ROM drive for the purpose, I'm going to guess probably not. Worth checking, though.
 
commodorejohn said:
I don't recall if the 300e has a jumper you can set for this, but since I ended up having to just buy a newer IBM SCSI CD-ROM drive for the purpose, I'm going to guess probably not. Worth checking, though.
Click to expand...

Okay, thanks! It looks like the 300e doesn't have a jumper for that. I tried my Plextor 12/4/32 SCSI drive also, which does have a "block" jumper but the same error happens with it set or not set, it just happens during the initial device scan when booting off the backup disc instead of when you call BACKUP/IMAGE/VERIFY.

I'll see if I can track down an actual DEC CD-ROM drive from this era, I suppose!
 
Okay, solved this thanks to the pointers I got in replies here -

I took a SCSI2SD v5 device, and set it to SCSI ID 1, emulating a CD-ROM with a 512 byte sector size, and put the ISO on the SD card.

Everything booted and worked! Thanks for the help!

Code: 
>>> show dev

  VMS/VMB      ADDR      DEVTYPE    NUMBYTES     RM/FX    WP    DEVNAM      REV
  -------      ----      -------    --------     -----    --    ------      ---
  ESA0         08-00-2B-2C-F2-7F
  DKA0         A/0/0     DISK         2.74GB      FX            ST31841     0003
  DKA100       A/1/0     RODISK     734.00MB      RM      WP                 4.2
 ..HostID..    A/6       INITR

>>> boot dka100


-DKA100
%SYSBOOT-I-SYSBOOT Mapping the SYSDUMP.DMP on the System Disk
%SYSBOOT-W-SYSBOOT Can not map SYSDUMP.DMP on the System Disk
%SYSBOOT-W-SYSBOOT Can not map PAGEFILE.SYS on the System Disk
   OpenVMS (TM) VAX Version X7G7 Major version id = 1 Minor version id = 0
%WBM-I-WBMINFO Write Bitmap has successfully completed initialization.
PLEASE ENTER DATE AND TIME (DD-MMM-YYYY  HH:MM)  23-MAR-2020 16:51

Configuring devices . . .

Available device  DKA0:                            device type SEAGATE ST318418N
Available device  DKA100:                          device type  codesrc SCSI2SD
%BACKUP-I-IDENT, Stand-alone BACKUP T7.2; the date is 23-MAR-2020 16:51:49.98
$ BACKUP/IMAGE/VERIFY DKA100:VMS073.B/SAVE_SET DKA0:
%BACKUP-I-STARTVERIFY, starting verification pass
%BACKUP-I-PROCDONE, operation completed.  Processing finished at 23-MAR-2020 16:54:40.37
If you do not want to perform another standalone BACKUP operation,
use the console to halt the system.

If you do want to perform another standalone BACKUP operation,
ensure the standalone application volume is online and ready.
Enter "YES" to continue:
 
So you were able to complete the install and boot VMS from the hard drive?

What VMS version does it report when booted? I've been trying to install 7.3 on my 4000/60 and get the same device offline/mount verification error, but in my case it's usually reported on the destination hard drive (DKA100) rather than the CD-ROM.

This system already has 7.2 and NetBSD 9.0 running nicely on it.
 
Replying to my own post: I do see that you installed 7.3:

$ BACKUP/IMAGE/VERIFY DKA100:VMS073.B/SAVE_SET DKA0:

I'm wondering if, in the similar vein as your compatibility issue with your SCSI CD, I might have trouble with my SCSI HD.

I have Quantum Harpoon 2.25 GB 2275W wide SCSI drives with wide-narrow adapters.
 
macnoob said:
So you were able to complete the install and boot VMS from the hard drive?
Click to expand...

Yes, once I got a proper sector size drive, it booted.

It reports this version at startup:

Code: 
OpenVMS (TM) VAX Version X7G7 Major version id = 1 Minor version id = 0

This is from the OpenVMS 7.3 image I downloaded from HPE's Hobbyist FTP site.

One note, I did replace the internal 125 mb hard drive with an 18 GB Seagate Cheetah SCSI drive I had here.

Next step, sitting down and getting Compaq TCP/IP working.
 
robdaemon said:
I tried my Plextor 12/4/32 SCSI drive also, which does have a "block" jumper but the same error happens with it set or not set, it just happens during the initial device scan when booting off the backup disc instead of when you call BACKUP/IMAGE/VERIFY.
Click to expand...

I've never had any issues using Plextor SCSI CD-ROM drives for OpenVMS installation, although now that I think about it, most of the time it has probably been with VAX systems with Q-Bus SCSI controllers. Maybe with the VAX 3100 desktop systems I that I have I have always used real DEC RRD4x SCSI CD-ROM drives.
 
macnoob said:
I'm wondering if, in the similar vein as your compatibility issue with your SCSI CD, I might have trouble with my SCSI HD.

I have Quantum Harpoon 2.25 GB 2275W wide SCSI drives with wide-narrow adapters.
Click to expand...


Maybe. My drive is a SCSI 50-pin drive. I did get an error about it not being able to make a filesystem originally, so I did a low level format on the drive.
 
Hmmm. I DID get that same error trying again with a Quantum LP540S (50 pin SCSI). I booted full VMS from the CD and used INIT DKA100. Then that error did not appear and I was able to proceed with the install.

The install did not complete due to verify errors.

Can you share what command you used to perform the low level SCSI format? I'll give that a try.

BTW my SCSI CD is SONY CDU415. It seems to work well with a variety of vintage systems - I didn't have to do anything special to make it work with the Vaxstation.
 
macnoob said:
Can you share what command you used to perform the low level SCSI format? I'll give that a try.
Click to expand...

You do it at the firmware prompt before booting OpenVMS.

Code: 
TEST/UTIL SCSI 0

Select LUN 0, then OK to confirm.

this assumes your hard drive in on SCSI ID 0.

Note: this took three days on my machine!
 
So, I did try the console SCSI utility. I found documentation in the service manual as follows. The only hard drive test is #3, the hard disk erase. It took an hour or so to run on my LP540S.

And, still no luck with VMS install - it was able to install the boot files with no errors, but after the first boot to install the save sets, it died again with

%SYSTEM-I-MOUNTVER, DKA100: is offline. Mount verification in progress. [DKA100 is my destination LP540S]

I really do think I have some trouble somewhere on the scsi bus, something slightly misconfigured. Strange part is NetBSD installed and runs correctly. Possibly it doesn't stress the scsi bus as much as a VMS install does.


Example 2–10 SCSI Utilities Sample Session
>>> T/UT 10 ! Type in this command (or T/UT SCSI)
1 - SCSI-flp_key ! Floppy key utility.
2 - SCSI-tp_key ! Tape key utility.
3 - SCSI-hd_dis_eras ! Hard disk erase.
4 - SCSI-flp_fmt ! Floppy formatter.
SCSI_util>>> 3 ! Type in utility number
SCSI_id(0-7)>>> 5 ! Type in SCSI device ID
SCSI_lun(0-7)>>> 0 ! Type SCSI logical unit
number (always 0).
SCSI HD_DSK_ERAS_UTIL
DKA500 OK ? ok ! Confirm the action.
############# ! Progress banner on ERASE
and FORMAT only.
SCSI_util_succ ! Utility finished.
 
Replying to my post again -

Got it working!

I removed the other drive from the bus (DKA0 Quantum 2.25gb wide scsi). SCSI bus now has only the LP540S, TZK10 tape, and external Sony CD drive.

VMS 7.3 install ran perfectly with no disk errors.

I did not find any errors in configuration (extra terminators etc) but the Quantum drives do run with a scsi-wide/50 pin adapter.

Head scratcher yet. Thanks for the hints.
 
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