Yes, very quiet. I?m also starting to think about Retrochallenge. This time I think I might combine my ham radio hobby with my retro hobby. I?m going to try to get a VAX to connect to HECnet using DStar ID-1 radios that act as 128kbps ethernet bridges. From my reading, they are true bridges, so should be able to transport non-IP protocols. I suspect this is the first time anyone will have tried to deliver DECnet over DStar :)
Ian
> On Nov 14, 2015, at 10:13 AM, Mark Wickens <msw at hecnet.eu> wrote:
>
> It's very quiet - anyone up to anything interesting (on or off topic)?
>
> I'm starting to ramp up for Retrochallenge January 2015.
>
> I've bought an ESP8266 NodeMCU wifi board with a view to hooking up a Tandy Model 102 to the internet. It's effectively a serial->tcp/ip converter. Very cool and 10 quid delivered off eBay.
>
> I also created a character map for the Tandy 100/102/200 with a view to using it to convert Tandy-format files to Unicode, so I can write my Retrochallenge blog using the Tandy 200.
>
> http://wickensonline.co.uk/static/files/tandy/Tandy%20Model%20T%20Code%20to…
>
> Mark.
>
> --
>
> DECtec mailing list
> http://dectec.info
>
> To unsubscribe from this list see page at: http://dectec.info/mailman/listinfo/dectec_dectec.info
>
>
> ---
> Filter service subscribers can train this email as spam or not-spam here: http://my.email-as.net/spamham/cgi-bin/learn.pl?messageid=952F02F88AFB11E58…
Well, about two weeks since my last announcement, but I figured I should
do another one.
I've cut a new release of TCP/IP for RSX, and I encourage everyone to
update to this latest release.
A short list of changes since my last release:
Documentation:
. I've worked some on the documentation, and filled out some parts that
were previously TBD.
TCP:
. Performance improvements. In general, I've improved file transfer
performance by about 20% by tuning when TCP ACK messages as well as
window updates are sent. On links where packets are dropped from time to
time, the performance improvements can be significantly higher.
. Bugfix. Retry counter were incorrectly reset under some circumstances.
. Bugfix. TCP did not resend an ACK if the same data was received twice.
. Bugfix. TCP sockets could erronously be left in a closed state with
no task. However, looking at the socket, it looked like a task was
associated.
FTP:
. Size calculation for stream type files in RSX mode was done incorrectly.
Applications:
. I've included a precompiled version of PCL.TSK
As usual, the distribution is available from:
ftp://mim.update.uu.se/bqtcp.dsk
ftp://mim.update.uu.se/bqtcp.tap
ftp://ftp.update.uu.se/pub/pdp11/rsx/tcpip/tcpip.dsk
The documentation is also available through ftp on Mim, or also at
http://mim.update.uu.se/tcpipdoc
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
Hello,
My Vaxstation 4000-60 seems to be dead, probably due to a PSU problem (it does not power on). Does anyone know about options to find a replacement or to diagnose/fix it? (I just noticed it is dead, I have not even dissassembled it yet).
Jordi Guillaumes Pons
jguillaumes at me.com
HECnet: BITXOV::JGUILLAUMES
About four months since I last announced anything. There have been
various development since, and I figured I should encourage people who
are using BQTCP/IP for RSX to upgrade to the latest release.
A short list of changes:
TCP:
. Small bugfixes in various states.
. Bugfix in window handling. TCP reception could occasionally accept
data outside of window.
. Added ability to dynamically change transmit and receive buffer size.
. Bugfix. SYN packets could result in lost pool if sockets were closed
with outstanding SYN packets queued.
. Bugfix. If pool is full, system could crash on incoming connections.
FTP:
. Added SUMMARY, PROMPT, MGET and MPUT commands.
. Improved filename parsing and handling for mapping between local and
remote filenames.
. Bugfix. FTP would abort if a long file transfer took place, since the
command channel had a timeout.
. Much improved progress line for file transfers, including ETA and
delta between updates.
FTPD:
. Bugfix. If a file transfer was followed by an immediate close of the
connection, the file could be left in a locked state.
. Expanded time stamp information in directory listings to include seconds.
TELNET:
. Bugfix in telnet options processing.
TELNETD:
. Bugfix in telnet options processing.
IFCONFIG:
. Added commands for setting default and maximum allowed tcp transmit
and receive buffer sizes.
RMD:
. Added information on task page about UDP connections.
TRACERT:
. Added /NUMERIC switch
As usual, the distribution is available from:
ftp://mim.update.uu.se/bqtcp.dsk
ftp://mim.update.uu.se/bqtcp.tap
ftp://ftp.update.uu.se/pub/pdp11/rsx/tcpip/tcpip.dsk
The documentation is also available through ftp on Mim, or also at
http://mim.update.uu.se/tcpipdoc
I believe the state of the code is now good enough that I expect there
will be fewer updates to the basic networking drivers in the future. I
plan to find some new protocols to work on next, and also improve some
of the current clients and servers as the need arises.
(On a different note, Madame.Update.UU.SE is now a CNAME for
Mim.Update.UU.SE, making the naming of the machine consistent between
DECnet and TCP/IP, in case someone wonders why the name have changed...)
Johnny
"John H. Reinhardt" <johnhreinhardt at yahoo.com> writes:
>On 10/15/2015 1:48 PM, Ian McLaughlin wrote:
>> Hello all,
>>
>> I=E2=80=99m introducing someone new to the hobby - he=E2=80=99s just ac=
>quired a VAXstation 4000 VLC and will soon be needing a hobbyist license =
>to get going. It=E2=80=99s looking like the hobbyist program keeps moving=
> around - I=E2=80=99ve found what appears to be the current HP page for i=
>t, but they seem to be restricting licenses to only 3 recognized chapters=
> - Connect/Encompass, Internet Netherlands, and Interex.ch <http://intere=
>x.ch>. I=E2=80=99m either unable to understand the language, or the chap=
>ter wants real money for membership. Does anyone know how to get a membe=
>rship number that HP will accept that is free?
>>
>> Alternatively, without asking for anyone to break the law, I recall som=
>eone here has a method of generating a full set of keys (I have PAKGEN bu=
>t it would take me quite a while to generate all of them). If someone cou=
>ld point me in the right direction off-list, I=E2=80=99d appreciate it!
>>
>> Ian
>>
>
>Create an account on Eisner and it will generate a member number. Check S=
>teve Hoffman's site for details <http://labs.hoffmanlabs.com/node/1416>
>
>Alternativly, ssh to eisner.decus.org. log in with the username REGISTRA=
>TION and create an account. Then type HOBBYIST at the DCL prompt and it =
>will give you the info to get your license. List DECUSERVE as the partici=
>pating chapter.
>
>John H. Reinhardt
http://plato.ccsscorp.com/hobbyist_registration.php
--
VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)ORG
I speak to machines with the voice of humanity.
Hello all,
I?m introducing someone new to the hobby - he?s just acquired a VAXstation 4000 VLC and will soon be needing a hobbyist license to get going. It?s looking like the hobbyist program keeps moving around - I?ve found what appears to be the current HP page for it, but they seem to be restricting licenses to only 3 recognized chapters - Connect/Encompass, Internet Netherlands, and Interex.ch <http://interex.ch/>. I?m either unable to understand the language, or the chapter wants real money for membership. Does anyone know how to get a membership number that HP will accept that is free?
Alternatively, without asking for anyone to break the law, I recall someone here has a method of generating a full set of keys (I have PAKGEN but it would take me quite a while to generate all of them). If someone could point me in the right direction off-list, I?d appreciate it!
Ian
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
Some of you are aware that I've been pursuing a long-term project of
constructing a museum in the Pittsburgh area.
I am proud to announce that we have hit a major milestone: We have
set a date for the first public opening. The Large Scale Systems
Museum will open its doors to the public on Saturday, October 17th,
just under one month from now.
This is to be a one-day provisional opening coinciding with an event
here in town. We may decide to open the museum regularly on a sparse
schedule afterward, or it may wait awhile, depending on how things go
on the 17th. The renovation work is ongoing, so it won't be perfect,
but we think it'll be good. A great deal of progress has been made
here in the past several months.
Many of the Really Big Computers here will be running and
demonstrated on a rotation throughout the day.
The event in town is a large "block party" of sorts that will
encompass much of the downtown area. A few highlights:
- A fancy department store that was located on this block decades
ago will re-open in their old store location to show off vintage
wedding gowns, and some people who purchased their gowns there in the
past will bring them back to show them off.
- A local winery will set up a wine tasting.
- A soldering workshop.
- A makerspace pop-up.
- A beer garden!
- The standard fare of food vendors, live bands, etc.
There are two other "Big Deal" tie-ins that I'd like to announce:
Big Deal #1: Many of you will remember my fiancee Autumn, who sold
handmade vintage-computer-themed soaps at the most recent VCF-East.
Her company, Apothecary Soap Company, will be opening its first store,
here in town around the corner from our main building.
Big Deal #2: While the details aren't yet finalized, C/PMuseum in
downtown Pittsburgh, curated by Corey Little and Chris Little, will be
relocating many of its exhibits, including some vintage game consoles,
to a temporary exhibit space just a few buildings down from mine.
Since C/PMuseum's primary focus is on microcomputers and the Large
Scale Systems Museum's primary focus is on minicomputers and
mainframes, so together we'll have great coverage of a range of genres.
My building is at 924 4th Avenue, New Kensington, PA 15068, right in
the middle of the block party area. New Kensington is about ten
minutes' drive from the Allegheny Valley exit of the Pennsylvania
Turnpike, Exit 48. It's a very easy area to reach, and there are a
number of decent hotels nearby.
I wish to extend an invitation to all of you to attend this event.
It's on Saturday, October 17th, from noon to 8PM.
Please feel free to forward this message to anyone whom you think
might be interested.
Thanks,
-Dave
- --
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA
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For those with Multinet links to LEGATO, it now has a new IP -
75.54.216.98. However as always you don't need to remember the IP; you can
just do an nslookup on decnet.jfcl.com and that'll be the right answer.
Please update the link on your end.
It looks like the link to FRUGAL is already up - I'm not sure how Fred
managed that trick, but good for him!
Bob
Sorry to spam everyone but this is an opportunity somebody here might want.
I got a call this AM from a vendor that I have purchased used equipment
from in the past (he's local to me in Maynard MA). He remembered that I'm
a UNIX guy and called me. He has a client in Attleboro MA (who also has a
site somewhere in Mexico I believe) that has some instance of a Vax system
running some flavor of UNIX (from the description I think its Ultrix).
DECNet is supposed to be involved too some how. The Vax is having some
disk issues (he thinks is a data overflow - too full disk) and he needs a
SW guy to tell him what's going on.
Frankly, I've got too much on my plate at the moment. He asked me if I knew
anyone that could help him and I said -- well I'm a mailing list of old
systems hackers, one of them might be interested. To be honest, I don't
expect there is a lot of money in this job, but somebody here might find it
a way to make a few $s or maybe a deal for some used gear. I do not know
anything more, such as if you can do this remotely or you need to go to
Attleboro.
So, if anyone is interested, please send me a note off-list and I'll pass
on the contact info.
Clem
Hi,
I'm guessing I need compiler packages/installers/things for BASIC and
FORTRAN on RSX? Anyone have access to any suitable ones or can advise
which to use?
Thanks,
--
Mark @ DECtec.info
twitter.com/DECtecInfo
Hans Vlems <hvlems at zonnet.nl> writes:
>You may want to zip "-V" the LD-image
For that matter, he should ZIP "-V" the backup saveset.
Also, $ SET FILE/ATTRIBUTE= can be your friend when you need to setup fix up
the saveset's record format, record length and carriage control attributes.
For many years, I've received system dumps and backup savesets that customers
have munged by FTPing them and or by forwarding them via WEENDOZE. By using
$ SET FILE/ATTRIBUTE= on the file(s), I was able to make most of them useful;
save for those really munged by ftp ASCII mode.
--
VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)ORG
I speak to machines with the voice of humanity.
Sampsa Laine <sampsa at mac.com> writes:
>Guys,
>
>Can I FTP an LD image from one system to another without the usual =
>problems of transferring BCK images?
>
>The file is more or less just a stream of bytes, correct?
>
>sampsa
Be sure to set mode to image or binary first.
--
VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)ORG
I speak to machines with the voice of humanity.
Guys,
Can I FTP an LD image from one system to another without the usual problems of transferring BCK images?
The file is more or less just a stream of bytes, correct?
sampsa
Johnny Billquist <bqt at softjar.se> writes:
>On 2015-09-16 16:03, Sampsa Laine wrote:
>>
>> On 16 Sep 2015, at 15:01, Johnny Billquist <bqt at softjar.se> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> But this would also require that I have a separate network for this setup. We're talking about a machine that are on the internet today... On a well known, static ip address.
>>>
>>
>> Then you're unfortunately pretty out of luck unless - AFAIK VMS doesn't have anything like iptables to help you filter out the connections.
>
>Well, you are trying to suggest ways to prevent this from happening. And
>no, VMS do not have iptables, as far as I know.
>When you are looking for is essentially a way to block some ranges of
>addresses. That can be done in a router, or sometimes switch. Quite
>possible I'll look into that. But that don't answer my current question,
>how to fix the current state on the VMS system. And no, I do not
>consider "reboot" to be the solution. :-)
>
>> A really crappy solution would be to restart the IP stack every so often but there are of course issues with that as well..
>
>Yeah... No... Not going there.
>
At hospital typing on my tablet...
You are correct, no iptables... that's because it's VMS; not ewwwnix!
RTFM, and look for: ACCEPT NETS, ACCEPT HOSTS,REJECT NETS, REJECT HOSTS.
--
VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)ORG
I speak to machines with the voice of humanity.
Sampsa Laine <sampsa at mac.com> writes:
>On 16 Sep 2015, at 11:46, Brian Schenkenberger, VAXman- =
><system at TMESIS.COM> wrote:
>
>> Sampsa Laine <sampsa at mac.com> writes:
>>=20
>>> I'm running a batch job that is creating a large (82 GB) file and =3D
>>> monitoring the system with MONITOR DISK.
>>>=20
>>> The value I'm getting is 39 - what does this actually mean, what is =
>the =3D
>>> unit that is being monitored?
>>=20
>>=20
>> I'm assuming you did not specify /ITEM. =46rom the MONITOR HELP:
>>=20
>> When the /ITEM qualifier is omitted, the default is =
>/ITEM=3DOPERATION_RATE.
>> :
>> :
>> OPERATION_ Specifies that I/O operation rate statistics are
>> RATE displayed for each disk.
>>=20
>> What's you concern, if any?
>
>Yes, I did this but the operation rate does not give me an indication of =
>how many block/second are beyond read/written, or does it?
It's a performance metric that is maintained in/by VMS about the number of I/O
operations to the disks. Maintaining block counts would be more/only meaning-
ful on a per-disk basis. That's generally not something that's a performance
metric.
This is a very simple procedure to get you a block/second count. Put this in
a file (BLOCKS_PER_SECOND.COM, for example) and execute it with the disk name
in question. (ie. $ @BLOCKS_PER_SECOND DKA100)
$ 100$: BLOCKS_THEN = F$getdvi(P1,"FREEBLOCKS")
$ WAIT ::01
$ WRITE SYS$OUTPUT BLOCKS_THEN-F$getdvi(P1,"FREEBLOCKS") ! THEN - NOW
$ GOTO 100$
--
VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)ORG
I speak to machines with the voice of humanity.
Sampsa Laine <sampsa at mac.com> writes:
>You're probably under a Chinese/Russian robot attack, trying to =
>brute-force their way in.
>
>I've had this on occasion and am tempted to just drop all packets =
>originating from China..
I've gone even further here. I block all nets that originate APNIC.
>Not sure what the best way to do this is, I have a pretty simple =
>consumer level router (Draytek) so I guess I could use iptables or =
>something on Linux - however I'm not if that'll just affect the host I =
>run the iptables command on or the whole interface.
>
>Basically, I have one physical interface for 8 virtual machines and a =
>bunch of SIMH instances etc. If I could drop the packets at the =
>interface of the host machine it'd be ideal.
>
>Any iptables experts out there?
I use IPTABLES on one of the Lunix servers I run to add IP addresses which I
have determined to be those of botnet control systems (generally, systems the
Chinese et al are using).
/sbin/iptables -A INPUT -s $IP -p all -j DROP
--
VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)ORG
I speak to machines with the voice of humanity.
Johnny Billquist <bqt at softjar.se> writes:
>On 2015-09-16 13:34, Brian Schenkenberger, VAXman- wrote:
>> Sampsa Laine <sampsa at mac.com> writes:
>>
>>> On 16 Sep 2015, at 11:46, Brian Schenkenberger, VAXman- =
>>> <system at TMESIS.COM> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Sampsa Laine <sampsa at mac.com> writes:
>>>> =20
>>>>> I'm running a batch job that is creating a large (82 GB) file and =3D
>>>>> monitoring the system with MONITOR DISK.
>>>>> =20
>>>>> The value I'm getting is 39 - what does this actually mean, what is =
>>> the =3D
>>>>> unit that is being monitored?
>>>> =20
>>>> =20
>>>> I'm assuming you did not specify /ITEM. =46rom the MONITOR HELP:
>>>> =20
>>>> When the /ITEM qualifier is omitted, the default is =
>>> /ITEM=3DOPERATION_RATE.
>>>> :
>>>> :
>>>> OPERATION_ Specifies that I/O operation rate statistics are
>>>> RATE displayed for each disk.
>>>> =20
>>>> What's you concern, if any?
>>>
>>> Yes, I did this but the operation rate does not give me an indication of =
>>> how many block/second are beyond read/written, or does it?
>>
>> It's a performance metric that is maintained in/by VMS about the number of I/O
>> operations to the disks. Maintaining block counts would be more/only meaning-
>> ful on a per-disk basis. That's generally not something that's a performance
>> metric.
>>
>> This is a very simple procedure to get you a block/second count. Put this in
>> a file (BLOCKS_PER_SECOND.COM, for example) and execute it with the disk name
>> in question. (ie. $ @BLOCKS_PER_SECOND DKA100)
>>
>> $ 100$: BLOCKS_THEN = F$getdvi(P1,"FREEBLOCKS")
>> $ WAIT ::01
>> $ WRITE SYS$OUTPUT BLOCKS_THEN-F$getdvi(P1,"FREEBLOCKS") ! THEN - NOW
>> $ GOTO 100$
>
>Wouldn't that just show a delta of how many blocks have been allocated?
>That do not really correspond to I/O throughput.
>
>That said, what does the monitor operation_rate tell? Is it QIOs, disk
>blocks, disk requests, or something else?
Think $QIOs. There's also the queue length /ITEM. That would show the $QIOs
that are queued but have not yet been processed.
>If it would actually be disk blocks, then Sampsa can indeed deduce I/O
>rates from it, since we know the size of a disk block.
>However, QIOs can cover many disk blocks, and so can I/O requests.
Correct. It's overall disk statistics; not individual disk statistics.
>While I'm at it - a slightly different question. On a VMS system (VMS
>7.3 on a VAX), I now have like hundreds of telnet connections that are
>in a SUSP state. This have gone so far that I cannot establish any more
>connections to the system. I have no idea what people/probes/robots have
>been doing, but it seems TCP/IP or telnet daemon in VMS 7.3 have some
>issues.
Hmm. What version of TCPIP?
$ TCPIP SHOW VERSION
>But my first question is, how do I get rid of all these processes? Do I
>have to kill each one, giving the PID, or is there some better way of
>getting this unstuck?
Generally, process SUSPension is voluntary. Something had to tell the process
to SUSPend itself. If there was a process "idling", waiting for I/O activity,
it would generally wait in LEF (Local Event Flag) wait state.
Can you send me a "$ SHOW SYSTEM" output of this too? From there, we can look
to see why it's SUSpended (some SDA work will ensue). It very well may be an
issue that has already been addressed with TCP/IP (eg. some TCP/IP bug that's
placing processes into SUSPended state when the connection terminates). Are
these TELNET connection initiated via somebody TELNETting into the system? Or,
are these reverse telnet established sessions?
I need to dash out. My wife is having surgery in a week and I must take her
to hospital today for pre-surgery tests.
--
VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)ORG
I speak to machines with the voice of humanity.
Sampsa Laine <sampsa at mac.com> writes:
>Thanks, that's very useful.
It's very primitive. Feel free to modify it to your liking. However, keep in
mind that DCL is interpreted, so if you spend too much effort in making things
look pretty, you may wind up skewing things far from the 1 second periodicity.
--
VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)ORG
I speak to machines with the voice of humanity.
Sampsa Laine <sampsa at mac.com> writes:
>I'm running a batch job that is creating a large (82 GB) file and =
>monitoring the system with MONITOR DISK.
>
>The value I'm getting is 39 - what does this actually mean, what is the =
>unit that is being monitored?
I'm assuming you did not specify /ITEM. From the MONITOR HELP:
When the /ITEM qualifier is omitted, the default is /ITEM=OPERATION_RATE.
:
:
OPERATION_ Specifies that I/O operation rate statistics are
RATE displayed for each disk.
What's you concern, if any?
--
VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)ORG
I speak to machines with the voice of humanity.
I'm trying to submit the following batch file (RHELIST.COM):
--- SNIP ---
$! List contents of RHESUS backup
$backup/list RHESYS-2013-12-18.BCK/save
--- SNIP ---
When I run it using @RHELIST, everything is fine but when I try this:
submit/log=rhelist.txt rhelist.com
I get the following error:
Job RHELIST (queue SYS$BATCH, entry 159) started on SYS$BATCH
CHIMPY$
Job RHELIST (queue SYS$BATCH, entry 159) terminated with error status
Any ideas?
Hi
It seems a casualty of my big sortout/move of house is I've lost my
Tru64 5.1B-2 install CD. I had a full HP media kit but the OS CD is
missing, I either lent it to someone or lost it.
Does anyone have one up their sleeve I could grab an ISO from? I have a
PAK kit for it, but no install CD!
Thanks,
--
Mark @ DECtec.info
twitter.com/DECtecInfo
