[HECnet] VMS on AlphaServer 5000

Sounds a bit like the non-existent difference between PA-RISC based HP9000 and HP3000, other than the latter being considerably more expensive than the former. From: owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE [mailto:owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE] On Behalf Of dave.g4ugm at gmail.com Sent: 08 October 2020 15:34 To: hecnet at Update.UU.SE Subject: RE: [HECnet] VMS on AlphaServer 5000 I forgot to say that I understand that for some Alpha servers it is possible to re-flash them with the VMS capable microcode, although I believe some had smaller memories and there were other restrictions designed to prevent this. The "Windows Only" Alpha boxes were a lot cheaper than the VMS capable boxes but I don't believe they were competitive..... Dave.. From: owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE<mailto:owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE> <owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE<mailto:owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE>> On Behalf Of Mark Curtis Sent: 08 October 2020 13:05 To: hecnet at Update.UU.SE<mailto:hecnet at Update.UU.SE> Subject: Re: [HECnet] VMS on AlphaServer 5000 Buy the motor cycle! (It's not a ex-Sophos server by any chance?) I used to have the VMS version, as it were, many moons again and I'm pretty sure it was a reflash (if that was even possible, think it was but not supported). I don't remember there being any hidden firmware mode from memory. I cannot remember exactly but I do remembering worrying about the NT vs VMS thing and coming to the conclusion that you had to make sure the box was one or the other rather than trying to fix. Mark On 08/10/2020 12:00, Keith Halewood wrote: Hi, I've trawled through HECnet emails for enlightenment around alpha systems running VMS and I believe I'm not repeating the question. So here goes. There's an DEC Alphaserver 5000 (white case) (EV56) floating a few miles away from where I live. It's running NT, so there's an AlphaBIOS. Is there a 'hidden' SRM in that machine and therefore is it able to run current (HPE at least) versions of VMS? I don't want to end up with a machine running NT - my life has enough horror in it already. I had a look on HP's FTP site at firmware updates and the Alphaserver 5000 isn't even mentioned, or at least not in plain text. I nearly bought a reasonably loaded Itanic RX2600 a few days ago but chickened out at the last minute. What I really should do is abandon all of this and buy a new motorbike. Keith