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MicroVAX II / Dilog SQ706a and NetBSD

U

User78

Experienced Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2015
Messages
69
Location
Germany
Hi all,

I have found the time, to play around with my "new" MVII (KA630 v1.3 with 2x4 MB Mem).

In the meantime, I have managed to enter the ROM of the SQ706a Controllers, to format disks, ... .

I have also found a SCSI CD-ROM Drive, which is working, and was able to boot NetBSD beginning from 2.x to 4.x.

In all Versions, I have no posibility to install the System, as NetBSD is not recognizig the Disk.
(Tested with 1gb Seagate SCSI and RZ23L)

I have no DEQNA, also no network, to do a remote installation.

Is there any other posibility, to get NetBSD on the System?

I have a TK50 drive. Has someone VMS Tapes or copies in europe, and is willing to sell?

Now also tried with NetBSD 1.6.2 and 2.0. Outcome always the same.

MV2_NetBSD_2.0.jpg

Have a nice Day
Ulrich
 
Last edited:
I have had similar issues when attempting to install NetBSD VAX when I have tried it in the past. It might be that the installation procedure only supports a limited set of known device sizes / geometries. I never investigated enough to get it working myself.
 
NetBSD VAX support goes all the way up to the current version (7.0.1,) and the requirements still list an effective minimum of 6MB for installation, so you could always try a later version, at least to get a base system up and running and then maybe try to roll back from there. But the install notes do note that not all third-party disk controllers are supported, so you may simply be out of luck on that front.
 
I have read the Installation notes before, and was happy to read, that NetBSD had support for MSCP.

Disks
- ...
- MSCP controller
- ...

So last try would be NetBSD 7.x to see if something happens.

Is there any other Unix which could be run in this setup?

Meanwhile I have tried Ultrix 4.5 and 4.2, but get always the following when booting from the CD.

?05 DBL ERR.
PC = 002820C6
Restarting system software.
Failure.
Loading system software.


Many Greetings
Ulrich
 
Hi gslick,

I will try this in the next time.

Will also search for a supported SCSI card, so that I can use NetBSD on the MVII.

Many Greetings
Ulrich
 
User78 said:
I will try this in the next time.

Will also search for a supported SCSI card, so that I can use NetBSD on the MVII.
Click to expand...

A few thoughts on your progress so far.

  1. As the NetBSD boots off the CDROM on this controller, NetBSD support should not be a problem.
  2. Verify the Controller and SCSI disk connection. If other SCSI disk drives don't show up during bootstrap its more likely that the configuration of the drives isn't mapped correctly to the NOVRAM. The initial bootstrap should show the devices RA0 (?) as in your QD33 example.
Get a report of the SCSI Unit mapping and check it against the SCSI ID jumpers on the drive. You can use the SCSI Direct Command to verify the controller is able to manage the SCSI drive.

Regards,
Jerry
 
So time is a real issue these days, so sorry for late answer.

I have some more details.

- System has two Dilog SCSI controller
- System has also one RQDX3 (but no attached device)
- Test SCSI Disk drive is an RZ23L with 120MB
- CD-ROM is an Teac CD-532S

The Dilog have the following SA

2000000ee
2000000f2

SCSI Disk is attached on ..00ee with id0 and lun0 and mapped as system device 0
CD-ROM is attached on ..00f2 with id0 and lun0 and mapped as system device 0

If I move the cd-rom to first controller it boots from cd, also on the second, so both Dilogs looks to be OK.
I can also format the Disk on both controller.
Termination is also on.

But in each case no OS recognize the disk drive. Tested: vms 5.2 till 5.5, Ultrix 4.2 till 4.5, NetBsd 1.6.x till 7.x, and OpenBSD

So could it be related to the still plugged in RQDX3? Is there maybe a default address, wehere the MVii searches for the Disk?

I have no spare Grant continuity Card, so I cannot remove the RQDX3 by now.

Lun mapping looks like this on both controller:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
DILOG On Board Configuration Menu IP/SA Address = 160354
Qbus Host Adapter - SCSI Disk Version: H2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

SCSI Unit Mapping - Host Adapter is at Node 07
-------------------

Setup # Host Unit Node / Logical Unit # (LUN)
01 00 00 00
02 No current setup
03 No current setup
04 No current setup
05 No current setup
06 No current setup
07 No current setup
08 No current setup

0 - Return to Configuration Menu 1 - Change Unit Mapping
2 - Change Host Adapter Node 3 - Save Unit Mapping in NOVRAM
4 - Restore Default Unit Mapping

Enter a selection:

Any aditional Hints? Or Questions?

Many Greetings
Ulrich
 
What boards do you currently have in the system? If this was my system I would start by simplifying things as much as possible and remove the RQDX3 controller and one of the Dilog SCSI controllers. Then connect both the SCSI CD-ROM and the SCSI disk to the single Dilog SCSI controller configured at the standard address of 17772150.

Without knowing what boards you currently have in the system and whether they are dual or quad wide my guess is that you could remove both the RQDX3 and one of the Dilog SCSI controllers even without any spare M9047 grant cards if you adjust the board configuration appropriately.

-Glen
 
User78 said:
So time is a real issue these days, so sorry for late answer.
Click to expand...
No worries

But in each case no OS recognize the disk drive. Tested: vms 5.2 till 5.5, Ultrix 4.2 till 4.5, NetBsd 1.6.x till 7.x, and OpenBSD
So could it be related to the still plugged in RQDX3? Is there maybe a default address, wehere the MVii searches for the Disk?
I have no spare Grant continuity Card, so I cannot remove the RQDX3 by now.
Lun mapping looks like this on both controller:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
DILOG On Board Configuration Menu IP/SA Address = 160354
Qbus Host Adapter - SCSI Disk Version: H2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCSI Unit Mapping - Host Adapter is at Node 07
-------------------
Setup # Host Unit Node / Logical Unit # (LUN)
01 00 00 00
....
Click to expand...
Good information. So you confirmed the controllers see the SCSI drive. Since you cannot pull out the RQDX3 lets make sure an OS see's all the controllers.

1) Using VMS (5.5) see how many MSCP disk controllers it sees. You should see three PU type devices.

$ show dev p​

​
Device Device Error​
Name Status Count​
PTA0: Online 1​
PUA0: Online 1​
PUB0: Online 1
​

$mcr sysgen​
SYSGEN> SH/UNI​

​

​
** UNIBUS map for nexus #0 on 6-OCT-2016 16:10:46.10 **​

​
Address 760100 (8143DC40) responds with value 4060 (hex)​
.....​

​
Address 760374 (8143DCFC) responds with value 0000 (hex)​
Address 760376 (8143DCFE) responds with value 0000 (hex)​

​
Address 772150 (8143F068) responds with value 0000 (hex)​
Address 772152 (8143F06A) responds with value 0000 (hex)​

​
2) IF it doesn't see the all the controllers, try
SYSGEN> AUTOCONFIGURE ALL/LOG​
LPA0​
PUA0​
DUA0​
PTA0​
MUA0​
XQA0​
TTA0 ,1,2,3​
PUB0​
DUB0​
SYSGEN>​
 
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