[HECnet] Bringing up a MicroVAX 3100-80

Mon Mar 30 20:59:53 PDT 2020

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

On Mon, Mar 30, 2020, 11:53 PM John H. Reinhardt <
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
>
> >
> > On Mon, Mar 30, 2020, 11:34 PM John H. Reinhardt <
> johnhreinhardt at thereinhardts.org <mailto:johnhreinhardt at thereinhardts.org>>
> wrote:
> >
> >     On 3/30/2020 8:44 PM, Supratim Sanyal wrote:
> >     > On 3/30/20 6:14 PM, G. wrote:
> >     >
> >     >> On Mon, 30 Mar 2020 17:51:21 -0400, Supratim Sanyal wrote:
> >     >>
> >     >>> What is the recommended way to recover from "FILNOTCNTG" error?
> >     >> Boot the system in some other way (cluster satellite, CD-ROM,
> etc.) and
> >     >> check that SYSBOOT.EXE is contiguous:
> >     >>
> >     > I hooked up the RRD42, burnt the OVMS-7.3 ISO image on a CD-R, and
> tried to boot dka400, didn't work. The internet is flush with discussions
> about "special format" CD-ROM, ODS vs ISO, 2048 byte vs 512 byte blocks,
> etc.
> >     >
> >     > My MacBook refuses to brun the VMS 5.5-2H4 ISO from VAXHAVEN
> ("invalid disk image"). So basically I have to research and find a way to
> burn a CD-ROM in the necessary format that will boot the MicroVAX into DCL
> so that I can repair the CONTIGUOUS issue on DKA100.
> >     >
> >     > I am sure lots of people here have done this - any tips welcome
> while I am trolling the internet.
> >
> >     The file downloaded from HPE for OpenVMS V7.3 is a Backup saveset
> and can't be written directly to a CD to create a bootable disk. My disk
> image I got from an actual OpenVMS VAX V7.3 CD.  Assuming you have a disk
> image you can use then you can follow this. It's very simple on the Mac
> >
> >     1)  Navigate in Finder to the CD image file
> >
> >     2)  Right click on the file, should bring up a menu list and you
> choose 'Burn "xxxxxxx" to Disc...'
> >
> >     3)  In the dialog choose the slowest  burn speed. I don't have any
> proof, but I've always gotten better result with slower speeds. I typically
> chose the 4x speed.
> >
> >     4)  Choose "Verify" just for safety. I also choose "Eject on finish"
> since the Mac can't mount the OpenVMS CD file system anyway.
> >
> >     5)  Start the CD burn
> >
> >     The CD-R that I use are 700MB 80 minute ones.  The brand is
> Philips.  Not sure how much difference that makes. It's been along time
> since I did any testing. I have a large supply of the current ones so I
> haven't needed to shop in a few years.
> >
> >     Unless there is corruption in the disk image you use, that should be
> all you have to do.  Windows people have a little more, they usually need a
> special program but the Mac's CD burn program works just fine for OpenVMS
> images.
> >
> >     When writing the CD, you don't need to worry about the 512 vs 2048
> byte block problem.  That's only for the CD drive hooked to the VAX.  An
> RRD42 has the appropriate block size.  The only thing I don't know is if an
> RRD42 is too early of a drive to handle a CD-R or not.  My oldest DEC drive
> is an RRD43 in my InfoTower.  My MicroVAX 3100 has a Toshiba XM-5701A which
> is a RRD45 or RRD46 equivalent.  My InfoTower is not set up at the moment
> but the MicroVAX can read the burnt disk without problem.
> >
> >     So I just wrote a V7.3 CD from image and it worked okay.  I
> downloaded the V5.5-H4 image from VAXHaven and I get an "unrecognizable
> format" message from the Mac when selecting the "AG-PXL1A-RE.iso" to burn.
> I examined it in DiskImageMounter but it can't figure out the format
> either. It's possible the image is corrupted on the VAXHaven site. It's
> also possible that DEC used an internal format on the CD that the current
> software doesn't know about.  Some combination of ISO and Joliet, perhaps.
> So next I downloaded the OpenVMS VAX V6.1 image from VAXHaven
> (AG-PXKUC-RE.ISO) and it burned okay.  I can mount it in my MicroVAX and
> read the save sets off of it.
> >
> >     II have another copy of V5.5-2H4 that I got from www.winworldpc.com
> <http://www.winworldpc.com> at the hint of one of these message boards.
> Maybe Classic Comp.  But it gives the same "Could not burn "VMS 552h4
> VAX.iso". The disk image is invalid." error so I'm betting it's probably a
> copy of the VAXHaven image.  I got a V5.5-2 from there and I can burn
> that.  More and more I think the VAXHaven V5.5-2H4 image may be corrupted.
> >
> >
> >     --
> >     John H. Reinhardt
> >
>
> --
> John H. Reinhardt
>    PRRT&HS  #8909
>    C&O HS  #11530
>    N-Trak   #7566
>
>
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