[HECnet] Bringing up a MicroVAX 3100-80

Remote troubleshooting and system recovery at its absolute best, executed by a master. Also many lessons learned about things I have heard about but never really got into in a pure simulated environment. Thanks Steve. --- Supratim Sanyal, W1XMT 39.19151 N, 77.23432 W QCOCAL::SANYAL via HECnet <http://www.update.uu.se/~bqt/hecnet.html> On Mar 31, 2020, at 3:46 PM, Steve Davidson <steve at davidson.net <mailto:steve at davidson.net>> wrote: > I am happy to report that Supratim and I have managed to connect me > to his system, create a VAXcluster boot node on SimH, boot the system > into the cluster as a satellite and now running > ANALYZE/DISK/REPAIR/READ against the troubled disk. > > -Steve > > On Tue, 2020-03-31 at 10:00 -0400, Steve Davidson wrote: >> Supratim, >> >> If you can contact me offline I can probably walk you through any >> number of scenarios to deal with this. >> >> -Steve Davidson >> >> SF:iP1 >> >>> On Mar 31, 2020, at 01:00, Supratim Sanyal <supratim at riseup.net >>> <mailto:supratim at riseup.net>> wrote: >>> >>> ? On 3/31/20 12:25 AM, John H. Reinhardt wrote: >>>> On 3/30/2020 10:59 PM, Ray Jewhurst wrote: >>>>> I haven't tried burning but I used p7z through File Roller on a >>>>> Linux Mint system. I have only used it as an image on Simh. I am >>>>> not at my computer tonight but if you need it tomorrow I can get >>>>> you a checksum on the unzipped image. >>>>> >>>>> Ray >>>> >>>> >>>> Okay. Maybe it's a difference between Linux and macOOS.? I >>>> downloaded the file from WInWorldPC. The actual file came from >>>> someone named "Ricky" in Germany.? The file downloaded was "DEC >>>> VMS 5.5-2H4 (Jul 1993) [VAX] (ISO).7z"? I ran it through >>>> "TheUnarchiver" and it produced a folder with two files.? A txt >>>> file and "VMS 552h4 VAX.iso". I tried burning that ISO file but >>>> then I get the disk image is invalid error. >>>> >>>> I'll have to get a copy of SimH running on my Mac and see it it >>>> can read the ISO. >>>> >>> >>> Vaxhaven's AG-PXL1A-RE.iso is 236013792 bytes, Winworld's "VMS >>> 552h4 VAX.iso" is 205508764. Neither can be burnt by MacOS directly >>> from the GUI. The following command line results in a "raw" burn >>> (remove the -testburn switch to enable the laser). >>> >>> $ hdiutil burn -testburn -imagekey diskimage-class=CRawDiskImage >>> -speed 2 Downloads/DEC\ VMS\ 5.5-2H4\ \(Jul\ 1993\)\ \[VAX\]\ >>> \(ISO\)/VMS\ 552h4\ VAX.iso >>> >>> The Vaxhaven raw burn does not boot. I will try the Winworld >>> version next. BUT, just to make sure the RRD42 is not the problem, >>> here's a couple of questions about it: >>> >>> 1) I have connected the SCSI cable at the bottom and a terminator >>> at the top. Is this okay? >>> >>> 2) When I insert the caddie in (with the CD in the caddy), the >>> green light turns on for a few seconds and then turns off. Nothing >>> else happens. MicroVAX comes back to ">>>" prompt after a few >>> minutes, no other messages. Should I expect to hear some noises of >>> the plate at the bottom of the caddie moving sideways to expose the >>> CD to the laser, etc? >>> >>> Also, even if I get to a point where I boot into standalone backup, >>> how am I to fix the problem with DKA100's contiguity issue? >>> >>> The previous owner said he had actual PAKs that he could not find, >>> but are loaded in the LMF databse. I would very much like to at >>> least be able to copy the LMF and am averse to reinstalling a fresh >>> copy of VMS on DKA100 (everyobdy here will understand exactly why >>> this is super-important now). >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>>>> >>>>> On Mon, Mar 30, 2020, 11:53 PM John H. Reinhardt >>>>> <johnhreinhardt at thereinhardts.org >>>>> <mailto:johnhreinhardt at thereinhardts.org>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> ??? On 3/30/2020 10:46 PM, Ray Jewhurst wrote: >>>>> ??? > I have tried both the VAXHaven and WinWorldPC copies of >>>>> 5.5-2H4 and I tend to agree that the VAXHaven one is corrupted >>>>> (at least it's never worked for me). But the WinWorldPC copy >>>>> works great. Also, corrupt is the MicroVMS 4.7 TK50 image on >>>>> VAXHaven. >>>>> ??? > >>>>> ??? > Ray >>>>> >>>>> ??? The file I got from WinWorldPC came as a ".7z" archive.? and >>>>> I unpacked it with "TheUnarchiver".? Does that match what you >>>>> did? The file I get from that always gets the "Could not burn >>>>> "VMS 552h4 VAX.iso". The disk image is invalid." error from the >>>>> Mac disk burn software. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> ??? Did you do something differently? >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> ??? Thanks. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> ??? John H. Reinhardt >>>>> >>>> >>> -- >>> Supratim Sanyal, W1XMT >>> 39.19151 N, 77.23432 W >>> QCOCAL::SANYAL via HECnet