PDP11 GUI Crash

[Activmaker]

Hi ,

Since the last Win10 update, PDP11 Gui crash at launch with an error message "ein aufruf einer betriebssystemfunktion ist fehlgeschlagen" , using google translate : "a call to an operating system function has failed " . It seems related to the Terminal window. Other windows can be opened but not the terminal.
Any idea to solve this ? I tried to remove and re install whithout any succes , is somebody have same issue ?

Thanks.

 

[Qbus]

Windows 10 sucks, my limited understanding is that unless you are running sixty-four-bit software it wont work. The more paranoid part of my personality sees this all as a plot to kill off all the older software that’s out there and force you to buy new software.
I keep several computers out in the shop for working with systems. I have a Windows XP system that has all the PDP-11 software including that GUI and being that system is just for working with older systems and is not on the internet have no issue. I also have an older 386 industrial system running DOS 5.0 with DOS shell and a ton of DOS utilities and things that won’t run in a Windows environment like Motorola programing software.
One of the advantages of the old XP system is that files that get downloaded on the Windows 7 system on my desk can be copied to a USB drive and carried over to the XP system, the XP box also has a 1.4 floppy drive so a file can go from the USB to the 1.4 floppy and then the floppy can go into the DOS workstation and can be transferred to 5 ¼ or paper tape via the com ports.
If your going to be playing with vintage system Windows is not your friend.

 

[daver2]

I am guessing that a new build of PDP11 GUI is going to be required. Either because Microsoft have 'retired' a function or that the parameters have changed.

I think you can get a bit more information on the error somehow (i.e. what function failed) - unless they have changed that as well.

I have deliberately stayed away from Windows 10 myself after seeing and hearing horror stories.

Sorry, it doesn't solve your problem. I will have a think how we extracted the error information from our Church presentation manager system when it had a crash following a Windows 10 'update'...

Dave

 

[DDS]

We had to roll my wife's desktop back to a restore point yesterday after Microsoft did an update. They're rumored to be shifting their focus away from Windows towards cloud based services. That's probably a good thing given the way they treat their Windows 10 users. People have been complaining about their light grey on white font being damn near illegibie since at least 2014. Microsoft simply doesn't care. Reminds me of an old Monty Python sketch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpAvcGcEc0k

 

[Activmaker]

Thanks for the answers. I don't like Win 10. Each update give more and more issues. Anyway, I made test on other ccomputer with Win 10 and last update, PDP11GUI works. So there is something wrong on the computer near the PDP. Not easy for me to swap these 2 computers . I have few solutions : install a virtual machine with an win XP on the actuel PC, or try to use an old computer having XP . I have one, but not sure it is always working.

Actually, I use PDPGUI to send binary program into PDP memory for testing purpose. Maybe there is an other program that can do the same ?

 

[Terry Kennedy]

Thanks for the answers. I don't like Win 10. Each update give more and more issues. Anyway, I made test on other ccomputer with Win 10 and last update, PDP11GUI works. So there is something wrong on the computer near the PDP.

It could just be a problem with the Windows installation - Windows was always susceptible to "Windows rot" as the system became more and more unreliable as time went on and updates and applications were installed. Windows 7 was probably the high point - I have systems here that have been running the same Windows install for > 10 years (I'm typing this on a system that had Windows 7 installed in 2010, for example).

Windows 10 is unlikely to achieve that same level of stability because it is a completely different operating system now than it was when it was released - each update brings major changes and disruptions. Windows 10 LTSC (1809) is quite good and doesn't suffer from changing reality. It will be supported until 2029. Unfortunately, Microsoft makes it really hard to buy that version - they claim it is for MRI machines, brewery process control computers, etc. It does have a Microsoft part number (KW4-00190) and if you can find a distributor willing to sell it to you (minimum quantity 5) it seems to be a fine operating system once it has been fixed to look and act like Windows 7. The next release of Windows 10 LTSC will only be supported until 2026 (cite) in an attempt to force more users to switch to "Windows as a [dis-]service". I'm writing a blog article on the subject which should be posted in a few days here if anyone is interested.

 

[Dare]

(lots of FUD in this thread...)

I don't have my PDP-11 connected right now, but a fresh install of PDP11GUI launches just fine on my system. Windows 10 Pro Version 2004, last updated ‎2/‎19/‎2021.

--Jay