- HECnet - lists @ Update

by bob＠jfcl.com

Still looking for things to do at home here, so I've set up another PDP-11 with RT11 this time. I have v5.7 up and running just fine, but I'd really like to network it and I can't find a copy of DECnet-RT anywhere. Can someone send me a pointer? BTW, was DECnet-RT ever upgraded to Phase IV or did it stop with III? Yes, I know there's a TCP/IP for RT11. I might actually end up using that instead, but I'd prefer to have it on HECnet if I can. Thanks, Bob

5 years, 3 months

15
52
0 0

Multinet links to VMS...

by bqt＠softjar.se

I\m currently experimenting with some new code for Multinet under RSX. Seems like VMS don\t really like me at the moment, so Multinet links between Mim and VMS systems might not be working well. PyDECnet is working fine. I'll try to get this working as soon as possible, but for VMS systems, expect there to be issues during today... Johnny -- Johnny Billquist || "I'm on a bus || on a psychedelic trip email: bqt at softjar.se || Reading murder books pdp is alive! || tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol

5 years, 3 months

4
4
0 0

VaxHaven CD-ROM image archive issue (and solution)

by gerry77＠mail.com

Hello everyone, some time ago I discovered that several images downloaded from the VaxHaven CD-ROM image archive appear to be corrupted. Actually they are not really corrupted: they just include not only sector data from the original media but also CD-ROM sector preambles and error-correcting codes which are usually skipped when dumping discs with e.g. the UNIX 'dd' command. In other words, CD-ROM raw sectors are made of a 16 byte preamble, a 2048 byte data area, and a 288 checksum (Reed-Solomon) for a total of 2352 bytes whereas audio CDs use the whole 2352 bytes in another way (channel frames). See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD-ROM for more information. Since I usually mount these disc images directly on VMS with the LD driver, I wanted to find a native way to "clean" them which would not require any additional software besides whatever is available on a standard VMS system. After downloading and unpacking some affected image, the first thing to do is to ensure that it has some sensible RMS attributes: $ SET FILE /ATTR=(RFM=FIX,LRL=2352,RAT=NONE) AG-Q2PLL-XE.ISO Then we will use the Sort/Merge utility to fix it. To do so we need a file to instruct the utility on how to manipulate data records both in input and output. Let's call it CDFIX.SRT and store it with the following lines: /FIELD=(NAME=HEAD, POSITION= 1, SIZE= 16) /FIELD=(NAME=BODY, POSITION= 17, SIZE=2048) /FIELD=(NAME=TAIL, POSITION=2065, SIZE= 288) /DATA=BODY Finally we could run the utility to extract the good portion from every record of the original image: $ MERGE /NOCHECK /STAT /SPEC=CDFIX AG-Q2PLL-XE.ISO AG-Q2PLL-XE_FIXED.ISO This is the result on a somewhat slow system. Note the input and output record length on the right column: OpenVMS Sort/Merge Statistics Records read: 304468 Input record length: 2352 Records sorted: 304468 Internal length: 6761 Records output: 304468 Output record length: 2048 Working set: 65536 Sort tree size: 0 Virtual memory: 416 Number of initial runs: 1 Direct I/O: 81792 Maximum merge order: 1 Buffered I/O: 8 Number of merge passes: 1 Page faults: 35 Work file alloc: 0 Elapsed time: 00:04:25.92 Elapsed CPU: 00:00:32.98 Anyway, a friend of mine provided me with a short Python program which achieves the same result: with open("AG-Q2PLL-XE.iso", "rb") as fr: with open("AG-Q2PLL-XE-fixed.iso", "wb") as fw: byte = 'somedata' while byte != "": _ = fr.read(16) byte = fr.read(2048) fw.write(byte) _ = fr.read(288) I didn't test any of the above with every image in the archive, but I suppose that the "corrupted" ones have all the same problem. HTH, :) G.

5 years, 3 months

3
2
0 0

RSX or RSTS

by bob＠jfcl.com

With all this social distancing and staying home, I've been dusting off old hardware and fixing it up. I just finished running diagnostics on a nice little PDP-11 system. It is a - PDP-11/53+ with 3.5Mb RAM in a BA123 KDA50 and 2xRA73 drives DELQA NI CXA16 16 line mux (DHV11 clone, more or less) TQK70 and TK70 (probably worthless - those things never work) SQ739 SCSI controller (does both MSCP and TMSCP!) I figure I'll use the SCSI for a CDROM and a tape drive, maybe an Exabyte. Don't really need more disk space with two RA73s already, and I'm sure the SDI is faster than the SCSI. So, the question is, what OS should I put on it? RSX or RSTS? It has to be something that can make good use of the hardware. No Unix, please - I've already got a nice 11/83 with 2.11bsd on it. Ideas? Bob

5 years, 3 months

15
79
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VAX/VMS 3.0 Distribution Available for Download --> boot on Vax8600/50

by R.Voorhorst＠swabhawat.com

Boot on Vax8600: HK0: 'F:\Shares\Distribution\VMS\Vms_30\VAXVMSV3.0-26APR1982\vmsv30.rk07' Contains ODS2 File system HK0: Volume Name: VAXVMSRL3 Format: DECFILE11B Sectors In Volume: 53790 sim> b hk0 Loading boot code from internal vmb.exe %SYSBOOT-W-ECO or microcode version less than minimum required for VMS. %SYSBOOT-E-Unable to locate file SYSLOA SC.EXE HALT instruction, PC: 0000325A (CLRQ R8) sim> So some work to do or not (very well) possible. So it will run on Vax11/780 the original workhorse from then. Somewhere a Decnet-3.0 around for Vms to make it complete? Best regards, R.V. -----Original Message----- From: owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE [mailto:owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE] On Behalf Of Paul Birkel Sent: Saturday, 21 March, 2020 13:56 To: 'Ray Jewhurst' <raywjewhurst at gmail.com>; 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts' <cctalk at classiccmp.org>; hecnet at update.uu.se Cc: 'simh' <simH at trailing-edge.com>; 'John Dundas' <dundas at caltech.edu> Subject: RE: [HECnet] VAX/VMS 3.0 Distribution Available for Download According to the Release Notes it works on the 11/750 and 11/730 as well. See: AA-D015D-TE https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_decvaxvms3leaseNotesV3.0May82_5458871… -----Original Message----- From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Ray Jewhurst via cctalk Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2020 8:34 AM To: hecnet at update.uu.se Cc: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts; simh; John Dundas Subject: Re: [HECnet] VAX/VMS 3.0 Distribution Available for Download >From 1982 I see. I know that this will run on the 780/785 but what about the other VAX-11s or the 8600? I am purely a simulator and have never used the real thing and I am not sure what years the models in question were released. Sorry if my questions seem ignorant. Ray On Sat, Mar 21, 2020, 8:08 AM Supratim Sanyal <supratim at riseup.net> wrote: > John Dundas' distribution of VAX/VMS version 3.0 (April 1982) can now > be downloaded from my Dropbox. > > The SYSTEM password is MANAGER. > > Note: Dropbox does not force you to create an account, if you look > carefully you will see a "Continue to view" link at the bottom of that > pop-up. > > Here's what it boots into: > > > VAX/VMS Version V3.0 26-APR-1982 16:21 > > > PLEASE ENTER DATE AND TIME (DD-MMM-YYYY HH:MM) 21-MAR-2020 11:58 > %JBC-I-NEWQUEUE, new queue file created %OPCOM, 21-MAR-2020 > 11:58:34.51, logfile initialized by operator OPA0 > logfile is SYS$MANAGER:OPERATOR.LOG > Login quotas - Interactive limit=64, Current interactive value=0 > SYSTEM job terminated at 21-MAR-2020 11:58:39.91 > > Username: SYSTEM > Password: > Welcome to VAX/VMS version V3.0 $ $ > > Grab it from https://bit.ly/vaxvms30 > > Regards, > Supratim > > -- > Supratim Sanyal, W1XMT > 39.19151 N, 77.23432 W > QCOCAL::SANYAL via HECnet > >

5 years, 3 months

2
1
0 0

VAX/VMS 3.0 Distribution Available for Download --> Decnet

by R.Voorhorst＠swabhawat.com

It looks there is some decnet on the disk. Exec list gives phase-III router: $ mc ncp NCP>show exec char Node Volatile Characteristics as of 21-MAR-2020 15:16:42 Executor node = 0 Identification = DECnet-VAX V3.0, VMS V3.0 Management version = V3.0.0 Incoming timer = 45 Outgoing timer = 45 NSP version = V3.2.0 Maximum links = 32 Delay factor = 64 Delay weight = 2 Inactivity timer = 60 Retransmit factor = 10 Routing version = V1.3.0 Type = routing Routing timer = 600 Maximum address = 1 Maximum circuits = 0 Maximum cost = 1023 Maximum hops = 31 Maximum visits = 63 Maximum buffers = 2 Buffer size = 1000 Default access = incoming and outgoing So ..... playtime ....? R.V. -----Original Message----- From: owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE [mailto:owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE] On Behalf Of R. Voorhorst Sent: Saturday, 21 March, 2020 14:48 To: hecnet at Update.UU.SE; 'Ray Jewhurst' <raywjewhurst at gmail.com>; 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts' <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Cc: 'simh' <simH at trailing-edge.com>; 'John Dundas' <dundas at caltech.edu> Subject: RE: [HECnet] VAX/VMS 3.0 Distribution Available for Download --> boot on Vax8600/50 Boot on Vax8600: HK0: 'F:\Shares\Distribution\VMS\Vms_30\VAXVMSV3.0-26APR1982\vmsv30.rk07' Contains ODS2 File system HK0: Volume Name: VAXVMSRL3 Format: DECFILE11B Sectors In Volume: 53790 sim> b hk0 Loading boot code from internal vmb.exe %SYSBOOT-W-ECO or microcode version less than minimum required for VMS. %SYSBOOT-E-Unable to locate file SYSLOA SC.EXE HALT instruction, PC: 0000325A (CLRQ R8) sim> So some work to do or not (very well) possible. So it will run on Vax11/780 the original workhorse from then. Somewhere a Decnet-3.0 around for Vms to make it complete? Best regards, R.V. -----Original Message----- From: owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE [mailto:owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE] On Behalf Of Paul Birkel Sent: Saturday, 21 March, 2020 13:56 To: 'Ray Jewhurst' <raywjewhurst at gmail.com>; 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts' <cctalk at classiccmp.org>; hecnet at update.uu.se Cc: 'simh' <simH at trailing-edge.com>; 'John Dundas' <dundas at caltech.edu> Subject: RE: [HECnet] VAX/VMS 3.0 Distribution Available for Download According to the Release Notes it works on the 11/750 and 11/730 as well. See: AA-D015D-TE https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_decvaxvms3leaseNotesV3.0May82_5458871… -----Original Message----- From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Ray Jewhurst via cctalk Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2020 8:34 AM To: hecnet at update.uu.se Cc: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts; simh; John Dundas Subject: Re: [HECnet] VAX/VMS 3.0 Distribution Available for Download >From 1982 I see. I know that this will run on the 780/785 but what about the other VAX-11s or the 8600? I am purely a simulator and have never used the real thing and I am not sure what years the models in question were released. Sorry if my questions seem ignorant. Ray On Sat, Mar 21, 2020, 8:08 AM Supratim Sanyal <supratim at riseup.net> wrote: > John Dundas' distribution of VAX/VMS version 3.0 (April 1982) can now > be downloaded from my Dropbox. > > The SYSTEM password is MANAGER. > > Note: Dropbox does not force you to create an account, if you look > carefully you will see a "Continue to view" link at the bottom of that > pop-up. > > Here's what it boots into: > > > VAX/VMS Version V3.0 26-APR-1982 16:21 > > > PLEASE ENTER DATE AND TIME (DD-MMM-YYYY HH:MM) 21-MAR-2020 11:58 > %JBC-I-NEWQUEUE, new queue file created %OPCOM, 21-MAR-2020 > 11:58:34.51, logfile initialized by operator OPA0 > logfile is SYS$MANAGER:OPERATOR.LOG > Login quotas - Interactive limit=64, Current interactive value=0 > SYSTEM job terminated at 21-MAR-2020 11:58:39.91 > > Username: SYSTEM > Password: > Welcome to VAX/VMS version V3.0 $ $ > > Grab it from https://bit.ly/vaxvms30 > > Regards, > Supratim > > -- > Supratim Sanyal, W1XMT > 39.19151 N, 77.23432 W > QCOCAL::SANYAL via HECnet > >

5 years, 3 months

1
0
0 0

VAX/VMS 3.0 Distribution Available for Download

by supratim＠riseup.net

John Dundas' distribution of VAX/VMS version 3.0 (April 1982) can now be downloaded from my Dropbox. The SYSTEM password is MANAGER. Note: Dropbox does not force you to create an account, if you look carefully you will see a "Continue to view" link at the bottom of that pop-up. Here's what it boots into: ? VAX/VMS Version V3.0 26-APR-1982 16:21 PLEASE ENTER DATE AND TIME (DD-MMM-YYYY? HH:MM) 21-MAR-2020 11:58 %JBC-I-NEWQUEUE, new queue file created %OPCOM, 21-MAR-2020 11:58:34.51, logfile initialized by operator OPA0 ??????? logfile is SYS$MANAGER:OPERATOR.LOG ? Login quotas - Interactive limit=64, Current interactive value=0 ? SYSTEM?????? job terminated at 21-MAR-2020 11:58:39.91 Username: SYSTEM Password: ??????? Welcome to VAX/VMS version V3.0 $ $ Grab it from https://bit.ly/vaxvms30 Regards, Supratim -- Supratim Sanyal, W1XMT 39.19151 N, 77.23432 W QCOCAL::SANYAL via HECnet

5 years, 3 months

4
4
0 0

TOPS-10 Fortran V11 patch decryption keys

by gerry77＠mail.com

Speaking about compilers... TOPS-10 (and TOPS-20) TSU patches were distributed in encrypted form, the idea being that only people having keys that were delivered with original product tapes could decrypt them. In fact TSU tapes contain almost complete versions of most licensed Digital products. Unfortunately, the tape image of the Fortran-10 V11 product tape available on both Trailing Edge and Bitsavers is truncated and lacks the saveset with the keys. It should be the 7th saveset, but the image ends after the 4th. Does anyone here have some idea about how to overcome this problem? Or, even better, does anyone know if there could be another copy of the same tape available somewhere? I've found that the Computer History Museum has a copy (https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102773759) and I wonder if it's the one from which the truncated image was sourced. The tape identifier is BB-D480G-SB. Alternatively I think it might be possible to build the TOPS-10 FORTRAN V11 compiler with the patched sources of the TOPS-20 compiler, in fact they should share almost everything except maybe OS interfaces like SCAN, WILD, COMND, and so on... Thoughts? :) G.

5 years, 3 months

2
1
0 0

long term paks

by bill.cu＠suddenlink.net

I just received an email from the HPE program. I guess they are going to have long term PAKs they are selling to hobbyists. So I guess I am out. There is someone named Jon you can get these from. I believe Jon Feldman. Bill

5 years, 3 months

12
26
0 0

C compiler for TOPS-10

by bob＠jfcl.com

I remember using a C compiler under TOPS-10, but that was far away and very long ago. Can anybody tell me if my memory is bad, or did that really exist? Was it a DEC product or a DECUS thing? Thanks Bob

5 years, 3 months

6
11
0 0

PyDECnet

by fsword007＠gmail.com

Folks, I googled PyDECnet but it came nothing as result. Where are PyDECnet and DECnet for Linux (for current kernel version)? Thanks, Tim

5 years, 3 months

6
12
0 0

Intermittent Connection with PyDECnet?

by nf6x＠nf6x.net

No, I'm not complaining about intermittent connectivity with PyDECnet; I'm asking if it's possible! I don't have persistent Internet connectivity or a fixed IP address at my just-barely-rural home. When my home network is connected to the Internet, it's tethered over my cell phone. And even then, my cell service is spotty. I could possibly resume using a separate hotspot at home rather than my regular cell phone, but even when I was doing that, my connectivity wasn't great. Cell service in my neighborhood isn't very good via either AT&T or Verizon, and wired connectivity is not available. Would any of the DECnet routing mechanisms supported by PyDECnet possibly be suitable for intermittent connection of my home network, with a small number of DECnet nodes, to HECnet? Or am I just going to have to remain a HECnet spectator until I manage to obtain better Internet connectivity? -- Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net> http://www.nf6x.net/

5 years, 3 months

14
97
0 0

DDCMP over serial lines in RSTS V10.1

by paulkoning＠comcast.net

I thought that I had sent a message to the list a few months ago showing the procedure to use the software DDCMP driver in RSTS V10.1. That's a standard feature, but undocumented and probably unsupported. It works well and interoperates with PyDECnet and with the DDCMP implementation in SIMH. Presumably it will talk to the software DDCMP in RSX, though I have not tried that. Attached are the instructions and the program mentioned. paul

5 years, 3 months

2
2
0 0

Map of HECnet locations

by bob＠jfcl.com

Has anybody done a map (an actual geographic map, not just a list) of HECnet locations? Bob

5 years, 4 months

8
13
0 0

HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist license program is closing

by djm＠wiz.net.au

Hi all, Just received the e-mail below. I've hunted around all the various Hobbyist locations and licensing pages and can't find any additional information. I've already replied back to ask what the impact of Hobbyist renewal licensing will be. I have no further information at this stage. Have others received this as well? Does anyone have any further knowledge on this? I can see a few people have forwarded/posted the same message on comp.os.vms. Cheers, Wiz!! From: OpenVMS Customer Lab [mailto:openvmscustomerlab at hpe.com] Sent: Saturday, 7 March 2020 3:13 PM Cc: OpenVMS Customer Lab Subject: OpenVMS Hobbyist Notification Dear HPE OpenVMS hobbyist, This is to inform you that HPE is concluding the HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist license program in alignment with the HPE OpenVMS support roadmap. If you wish to understand more details, please reach out to us at the earliest through the usual license renewal webpage. Thank you. HPE OpenVMS team

5 years, 4 months

13
30
0 0

US DST

by tommytimesharing＠gmail.com

The recent post about multi-threaded NNTP for VMS (whaaay cool) jogged my memory about something I had been wondering about.? This morning, a large number of clocks got switched ahead an hour in the United States.? Tops-20 did it 'relatively flawlessly' as it has done so since the early 1980's.? Back then, a lot of systems didn't.? None of our IBM systems did. A lot of that has changed nowadays with NTP clients; even if the base operating system doesn't support time change, an NTP client can address that.? So all my systems advanced appropriately, as did an old radio clock.? I'm not sure how *nix does it, but I don't remember Ultrix having the code on our 8650 (or 8700). Tops-20 will do the change whether or not a client exists as the code is in the monitor. At the time (1980's), I don't believe that VMS had internal code to do the time change and NTP did not exist as such (some network time services existed, but I don't remember whether there was a generally available VMS TCP/IP package; we didn't have it).? I would assume that this is handled now.? I hesitate to ask about RSX and RSTS, but I would assume that the C compiler for RSX (with Johnny's TCP/IP interface) could support an NTP port.? Anyway, the question is: how does VMS handle the time change? By 'relatively flawlessly', I mean Galaxy.? If you submit jobs with an /AFTER: switch, but use an elapsed time, you can get the wrong start time.? For example, in a daily batch job to do incremental saves, TODAY+2:00:00 means tomorrow morning at 2:00:00 AM, assuming the current job was started at 2:00:00.? However today, the job? started at 3:00:00 AM.? No big deal. However, this used to seriously mess up our operations, who started shift expecting requests for tape mounts. ? I looked at the issue awhile back in the 80's, but realized that the problem wasn't in Quasar because it is only dealing with internal date format.? The issue had to be fixed by putting some logic into the Exec to differentiate between a specified time and a calculated time.? As it wasn't immediately straightforward, I never got to it.? Maybe one of these days...

5 years, 4 months

7
19
0 0

The Straw...

by md.benson＠gmail.com

Hi, Well this is kinda sad but inevitable. I have been considering for some time surrendering my DEC/VMS systems to the community in some form or other for a while as they aren?t being used at all. The announcement from HPE that they are closing the Hobbyist programme and VSI?s reluctance/non-committal attitude to Hobbyists has pushed me towards Feeling like they aren?t worth hanging onto anymore. I am also at the stage where I may as well move on some other stuff that?s sitting gathering dust too. Thus I have the following machines that I will surrender to a good home. They are mostly collect-only from UK LN11 Postcode area: = VAXstation 4000/60 - Free. It was a freebie to me from Matt Burke and has matching keyboard and mouse, so I?m spreading the joy. - It?s in very clean and well kept condition. Can supply VGA compatible video cable. - Collect only. Sorry. It?s too fragile for me to pack and hip without taking out shares in a bubblewrap company = DEC Alpha PWS 600au - A reasonable monetary offer will take this, as a guide I?d say GBP50 but make offers I?m not going to ask a lot for it if you can collect it. - There s chance I, might be able to ship this as it?s not too fragile and is PC shaped so I have a box it might fit in. = HP zx6000 rack mount dual Itantium (2x 12GHz, 24GB RAM) - Again, reasonable offers around GBP50 will take this = IBM Intellistation 9111-285 POWER workstation - I love it but it\s hug and ornery and way too power hungry for my electric bill - It?s a single core somewhere in the 1.8GHZ ballpark from memory. Last I checked the PSU was fine. - It comes with a plethora of drive sleds, graphics cards (all IBM GXP cards that work in AIX) and probably some AIX Media. - Feel free to take it for free. The space is worth more to me than the computer at this stage! = A couple of Top Gun blue DEC SCSI StorageWorks boxes with sleds and drives and interface cards. One has a 40X Plextor CDROM in one of the big chunky bay adapters. All contact should be taken off-list unless the questions are relevant to other prospective takers. Thanks. ? Mark

5 years, 4 months

2
2
0 0

The Straw

by melehov＠sypp.ru

:( 09.03.2020 10:54, Mark Benson ?????: > Hi, > > The VAXstation, Alpha and zx 6000 are all claimed. > > Many thanks. > > ? > > Mark -- ??? ????????? ????????? ?? ?????? ??????????? Avast. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

5 years, 4 months

1
0
0 0

Re: The Straw

by md.benson＠gmail.com

Hi, The VAXstation, Alpha and zx 6000 are all claimed. Many thanks. ? Mark

5 years, 4 months

1
0
0 0

HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist license program is closing

by djm＠wiz.net.au

I've just received an update from the OpenVMS Customer lab: Here's the message from the OpenVMS team. The idea was that hobbyists would visit the site and renew their licenses, and in response, we would provide the final set of licenses, explaining the scenario: =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= As we approach the end of the HPE OpenVMS V8.4 standard support period, HPE plans to conclude the HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist license program. The HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist licenses we are issuing in 2020 will be the last set. Subsequently, HPE will not issue new HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist licenses. Attached is the final set of the HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist licenses. These final licenses are valid through December 31st, 2021. We hope that this additional validity period will enable users to plan for the future. Users who wish to avail of HPE OpenVMS long term licenses are encouraged to purchase permanent licenses at standard prices. You may contact [Fellman, Jon] <jon.fellman at hpe.com> for the same. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Cheers, Wiz!! From: owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE [mailto:owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE] On Behalf Of David Moylan Sent: Saturday, 7 March 2020 4:14 PM To: hecnet at Update.UU.SE Subject: [HECnet] HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist license program is closing Hi all, Just received the e-mail below. I've hunted around all the various Hobbyist locations and licensing pages and can't find any additional information. I've already replied back to ask what the impact of Hobbyist renewal licensing will be. I have no further information at this stage. Have others received this as well? Does anyone have any further knowledge on this? I can see a few people have forwarded/posted the same message on comp.os.vms. Cheers, Wiz!! From: OpenVMS Customer Lab [mailto:openvmscustomerlab at hpe.com] Sent: Saturday, 7 March 2020 3:13 PM Cc: OpenVMS Customer Lab Subject: OpenVMS Hobbyist Notification Dear HPE OpenVMS hobbyist, This is to inform you that HPE is concluding the HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist license program in alignment with the HPE OpenVMS support roadmap. If you wish to understand more details, please reach out to us at the earliest through the usual license renewal webpage. Thank you. HPE OpenVMS team

5 years, 4 months

13
19
0 0

RSX AME problems...

by bob＠jfcl.com

I know there are a lot of ex-DEC people here, so I thought I'd ask - Another HECnet user kindly gave me a copy of the RSX AME kit for VMS, v2.5. AFAIK that's the latest version, from around 1990, and I decided to install it on LEGATO (a simh VAX with OVMS 7.3). I dutifully read the release notes and followed all the directions about account quotas, global pages, etc. The installation went off without a hitch - no errors, and the IVP runs successfully. Great! The PDP-11 utilities work fine by themselves - MAC, TKB, etc. I can assemble and link a program with no problem. BUT, the MCR CLI doesn't work. Logging in or spawning a process with /CLI=MCR fails with %MCR-W-ACTIMAGE, error activating image MBX -CLI-E-IMAGEFNF, image file not found LEGATO$DUA0:[SYS0.SYSCOMMON.][001054]MBX.EXE; Poking around a bit, I find that the installation created a file called SYS$MANAGER:RSX$MCR_COMMANDS.CLD. (.CLD is the extension for VMS Command Definition files, which extend the DCL parse tables with new commands). And this file conveniently defines, along with several other things, an MBX command. Oddly there seems to be no mention of this file in the release notes and no reference to it in the KITINSTAL, but fine - maybe I'm supposed to use it. So, SET COMMAND SYS$MANAGER:RSX$MCR_COMMANDS and the "$MBX" gives %DCL-E-INVROUT, invalid routine specified in command tables - check .CLD file I'm starting to think that the RSX AME, or at least the MCR CLI, doesn't work on VMS7.3. Can anybody shed any more light on this? Bob

5 years, 4 months

1
0
0 0

HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist license program is closing

by wilson＠dbit.com

>From owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE Sat Mar 7 17:55:30 2020 >As far as I am aware, IAS was not included in the sale of PDP-11 >software from DEC to Mentec. That was my understanding too. I remember seeing it on a DEC price list after the Mentec transfer, as a class L license only (Q-bus, no Unibus), and for a crazy high price ($20K-$30K IIRC). Which kind of lent value to the rumor I'd heard at the time: that DEC withheld IAS from Mentec because there was some particular high-value customer still buying it, and DEC wasn't yet tired of taking their money. The single choice for the license made it sound like there was only one config still in play (i.e. whatever that customer used). >So I guess IAS is still fully under HPE control. But good luck finding >anyone in there who even knows about it... Yeah ... John Wilson D Bit

5 years, 4 months

1
0
0 0

HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist license program is closing

by djm＠wiz.net.au

> > From: owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE <owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE> On Behalf Of Johnny Billquist > > Sent: 07 March 2020 11:59 > > On 2020-03-07 08:12, Rob Jarratt wrote: > > > Yes, I have received it too. I think this is just corporate speak for > > > saying that they are closing the hobbyist licensing program, > > > presumably because they no longer support VMS. I think they should > > > officially release the PAK tool, or allow hobbyists to request > > > non-expiring licenses (although that wouldn't help new hobbyists). I also thought that as well. "we are shutting down - here's the keys". It would have been a nice gesture. It's not impossible that this could change. > > Well, it obviously also would not help VSI, who now "owns" VMS, if they were to > > release the PAK tool... This will never happen. I too worry that VSI will see hobbyists as a potential source of income. While in principal I don't have a problem with this concept, if they start charging they need to start offering something more. I first got into the DEC hobbyist scene back in 2009 - when we had to physically order CD's from Montagar. 11 years later and it's still the same code with yearly license keys being the only difference. The whole concept of the hobbyist program was to provide access to legacy code for legacy machines at no cost with no impact to DEC/COMPAQ/HPE. > > The one, potentially scary thing, is the question of licenses for VAX. > > VSI didn't, as far as I can remember, formally take over the VAX side of things, > > which could mean that VAX people might be left out in the cold no matter what > > VSI does. As has already been mentioned on the list - don't be concerned about this. If it comes to Christmas 2021 and neither the HPE or VSI people have come up with something that appeals to hobbyists, I guarantee you that Santa will leave you a nice PAK under the tree. Cheers, Wiz!!

5 years, 4 months

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Effects of Rogue Duplicate HECnet Node?

by nf6x＠nf6x.net

I had a shower thought that I'd like to run down in order to better understand how DECnet routing works. Ok, I wasn't actually in the shower. Let's say that my local DECnet is successfully hooked in to HECnet. For the sake of discussion, imagine I'm using PyDECnet to connect to my upstream node, and I don't have my own area number. That means that my PyDECnet node would be a level 1 router, right? Now, imagine that I inadvertently bring up a system on my local ethernet with an uncoordinated DECnet node ID. Perhaps I booted some random RL02 pack in my VAX without remembering to unplug the ethernet cable, or booted a random disk image in SIMH with it connected to the TAP device. Just to make things exciting, let's say that the system comes up with a node ID that properly exists elsewhere in HECnet. If the node ID happens to be in the same area that I'm properly in, does the adjacency detection find it and break things? What if it comes up with a node ID in a different area? Just how much trouble would this cause? -- Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net> http://www.nf6x.net/

5 years, 4 months

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MACRO-11 cross assembler for VMS

by bob＠jfcl.com

Does anybody know if there's a PDP-11 MACRO-11 cross assembler for VMS? I don't want to set up a whole PDP-11 simulation just to assemble one file J Bob

5 years, 4 months

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