[HECnet] VMS on AlphaServer 5000

[dave.g4ugm at gmail.com]

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 <owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE> On Behalf Of
Mark Curtis
Sent: 08 October 2020 13:05
To: 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

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.sonic.net/pipermail/hecnet-list/attachments/20201008/53a8c491/attachment-0001.html>