[HECnet] Oldest VAX/VMS for VAX-11/730 on HECNET

Wed Dec 8 17:26:23 PST 2021

Trying to boot VMS V3 on an 8600 will not work. That machine didn't 
exist yet back then. V4.something was when 8600 support was added.

(Possibly V4.7)

   Johnny

On 2021-12-09 01:14, Supratim Sanyal wrote:
> This was attempted with John Dundas' VMS 3.0 distribution towards the 
> end of March, 2020. The last email I have from
> Reindert is below.
> 
> It looks there is some decnet on the disk.
> Exec list gives phase-III router:
> 
> $ mc ncp
> NCP>show exec char
> 
> 
> Node Volatile Characteristics as of 21-MAR-2020 15:16:42
> 
> Executor node = 0
> 
> Identification           = DECnet-VAX V3.0,  VMS V3.0
> Management version       = V3.0.0
> Incoming timer           = 45
> Outgoing timer           = 45
> NSP version              = V3.2.0
> Maximum links            = 32
> Delay factor             = 64
> Delay weight             = 2
> Inactivity timer         = 60
> Retransmit factor        = 10
> Routing version          = V1.3.0
> Type                     = routing
> Routing timer            = 600
> Maximum address          = 1
> Maximum circuits         = 0
> Maximum cost             = 1023
> Maximum hops             = 31
> Maximum visits           = 63
> Maximum buffers          = 2
> Buffer size              = 1000
> Default access           = incoming and outgoing
> 
> So ..... playtime ....?
> 
> R.V.
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From:owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE  [mailto:owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE] On Behalf Of R. Voorhorst
> Sent: Saturday, 21 March, 2020 14:48
> To:hecnet at Update.UU.SE; 'Ray Jewhurst'<raywjewhurst at gmail.com>; 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'<cctalk at classiccmp.org>
> Cc: 'simh'<simH at trailing-edge.com>; 'John Dundas'<dundas at caltech.edu>
> Subject: RE: [HECnet] VAX/VMS 3.0 Distribution Available for Download --> boot on Vax8600/50
> 
> Boot on Vax8600:
> 
> HK0: 'F:\Shares\Distribution\VMS\Vms_30\VAXVMSV3.0-26APR1982\vmsv30.rk07' Contains ODS2 File system
> HK0: Volume Name: VAXVMSRL3    Format: DECFILE11B   Sectors In Volume: 53790
> sim> b hk0
> Loading boot code from internal vmb.exe
> 
> %SYSBOOT-W-ECO or microcode version less than minimum required for VMS.
> %SYSBOOT-E-Unable to locate file SYSLOA
> SC.EXE
> HALT instruction, PC: 0000325A (CLRQ R8)
> sim>
> 
> So some work to do or not (very well) possible.
> 
> So it will run on Vax11/780 the original workhorse from then.
> Somewhere a Decnet-3.0 around for Vms to make it complete?
> 
> Best regards,
> R.V.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From:owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE  [mailto:owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE] On Behalf Of Paul Birkel
> Sent: Saturday, 21 March, 2020 13:56
> To: 'Ray Jewhurst'<raywjewhurst at gmail.com>; 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'<cctalk at classiccmp.org>;hecnet at update.uu.se
> Cc: 'simh'<simH at trailing-edge.com>; 'John Dundas'<dundas at caltech.edu>
> Subject: RE: [HECnet] VAX/VMS 3.0 Distribution Available for Download
> 
> According to the Release Notes it works on the 11/750 and 11/730 as well.
> See: AA-D015D-TE
> https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_decvaxvms3leaseNotesV3.0May82_5458871/mode/2up
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Ray Jewhurst via cctalk
> Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2020 8:34 AM
> To:hecnet at update.uu.se
> Cc: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts; simh; John Dundas
> Subject: Re: [HECnet] VAX/VMS 3.0 Distribution Available for Download
> 
>  From 1982 I see. I know that this will run on the 780/785 but what about the other VAX-11s or the 8600? I am purely a simulator and have never used the real thing and I am not sure what years the models in question were released. Sorry if my questions seem ignorant.
> 
> Ray
> 
> On Sat, Mar 21, 2020, 8:08 AM Supratim Sanyal<supratim at riseup.net>  wrote:
> 
>> John Dundas' distribution of VAX/VMS version 3.0 (April 1982) can now
>> be downloaded from my Dropbox.
>>
>> The SYSTEM password is MANAGER.
>>
>> Note: Dropbox does not force you to create an account, if you look
>> carefully you will see a "Continue to view" link at the bottom of that
>> pop-up.
>>
>> Here's what it boots into:
>>
>>
>>     VAX/VMS Version V3.0 26-APR-1982 16:21
>>
>>
>> PLEASE ENTER DATE AND TIME (DD-MMM-YYYY  HH:MM) 21-MAR-2020 11:58
>> %JBC-I-NEWQUEUE, new queue file created %OPCOM, 21-MAR-2020
>> 11:58:34.51, logfile initialized by operator OPA0
>>           logfile is SYS$MANAGER:OPERATOR.LOG
>>     Login quotas - Interactive limit=64, Current interactive value=0
>>     SYSTEM       job terminated at 21-MAR-2020 11:58:39.91
>>
>> Username: SYSTEM
>> Password:
>>           Welcome to VAX/VMS version V3.0 $ $
>>
>> Grab it fromhttps://bit.ly/vaxvms30
>>
>> Regards,
>> Supratim
>>
>> --
>> Supratim Sanyal, W1XMT
>> 39.19151 N, 77.23432 W
>> QCOCAL::SANYAL via HECnet
>>
>>
> 
> On 12/8/21 7:00 PM, Tony Nicholson wrote:
>> On Thu, Dec 9, 2021 at 10:25 AM Mark J. Blair <nf6x at nf6x.net> wrote:
>>
>>     I'm trying to find the oldest VAX/VMS version which:
>>
>>     * Supports DECnet Phase IV over ethernet
>>     * Supports the VAX-11/730
>>     * I can get my hands on images of the OS installation and anything
>>     (licenses?) needed for DECnet Phase IV
>>
>> [snip]
>>
>>     I have not found any scans of the DECnet-VAX Software Installation
>>     Guide or the DECnet-VAX System Manager's Guide yet, and I don't
>>     know what needs to be done to install and/or configure DECnet in
>>     such an old VMS version. I see that stuff related to DECnet is
>>     present after installation, such as STARTNET.COM
>>     <http://STARTNET.COM> and NCP.EXE, but DECnet-VAX is referred to
>>     as an optional component which must be licensed separately. I
>>     gather from discussions elsewhere that there may be at least one
>>     critical file missing that serves as the "license" for DECnet-VAX?
>>
>>
>> The VAX/VMS DECnet license "key" for old versions (V4.7 and prior) 
>> came in the form of a saveset (on a TK50 or magtap) that you 
>> installed.  It did a binary patch on the NETACP.EXE image to enable 
>> things. There are separate versions for routing and end-node 
>> configurations.
>>
>> The thing that bothers me running old versions of VAX/VMS is the lack 
>> of Y2K updates.  You will probably need to boot with a date last 
>> century (subtract 28 years to get matching calendar days) to avoid 
>> some gotchas.  For VAX/VMS V3.0 there may have been some mandatory 
>> upgrade patches too.
>>
>> I have the VAX/VMS V4.7 mandatory patches and DECnet "key" for a 
>> routing node should you need them.
>>
>> Tony
>>
> -- 

-- 
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