Re: Imaging RX02 disks for simh (was: Re: MU-BASIC V2 and RT-11 V03B distribution disks.)

[Jerome H. Fine]

>Brian Walenz wrote:


How the heck do you copy an RX02 disk for use in simh?

I've been trying to transfer RX02 images between simh and a real PDP11
(that has only two RX02's, console, and ethernet).  So far, I've only
attempted sending an RX02 image from the PDP to simh, but simh fails to
read it: "?DIR-F-Invalid directory".  Even after adding 13*512 bytes to the
start for the missing track, I still get invalid directory.
 


In order to verify how an arbitrary container file is handled under SimH, I
attempted to run V3.9-0 under Win98SE.  I doubt that the actual Windows
operating system makes a difference, but just in case.

I was able to boot RT-11 using an MSCP device for which:
ATTACH  RX0:  FRXBAR.DSK
ATTACH  RQ0:  FRQBAR.DSK
BOOT  RQ0:
When I arrived in RT-11 after having booted on FRQBAR.DSK,
performing the RT-11 command:
DUMP/TERM  DX0:/ONLY:0
provided all zeros in the dump output of block zero.
Further, when I attempted to use RY0: which I assume is the
device name for RX02 images, all the attempts were rejected.

On the other hand, when I used Ersatz-11,
MOUNT  DU0:  FRQBAR.DSK /RO
MOUNT  DX0:  FRXBAR.DSK /RO
BOOT  DU0:
when I arrived in RT-11 after having booted on FRQBAR.DSK,
performing the RT-11 command:
DUMP/TERM  DX0:/ONLY:0
the expected values were displayed in the dump output of block zero.
Further, when I attempted to use DY0: which is the device name
under Ersatz-11 for RX02 images, everything worked as expected.
More to the point, I was also able to:
MOUNT  DU1: FRXBAR.DSK /RO   (Ersatz-11 allows access to
using both DU: and DY: emulation at the same time when the access
is READ  ONLY), and determine that  both DU1: and DY0: were
identical when I used BINCOM to compare both RT-11 devices.
All 988 blocks of both DU1: and DY0: could be read and were
found to be the same.  Obviously, that was expected since the
same container file was used in each MOUNT command.  But
the fact that Ersatz-11 is able to access FRXBAR.DSK and
SimH is not able to do so is what is so confusing.

One minor point that seems worth while to mention is that the
Ersatz-11 emulation for the DY: (DEC  RX02 device) also
supports DSDD media which have 1976 blocks and with
a suitable floppy drive and controller support double-sided,
double density operation, or what DEC intended to be the
RX03 floppy drive.  While it seems that DEC never sold
such the RX03 hardware, there was code in V04.00 of
RT-11 to make the attempt to support double-sided media
as a SYSGEN option.   Unfortunately, the code that was
released with V04.00 of RT-11 was not quite correct.  By
V05.00 of RT-11, the code to support double-sided operation
had been removed.  However, at the very least, an RX03
floppy drive was produced and sold by DSD (Data Systems
Design) and sold as the DSD 880/30.  Again unfortunately,
the controller supported only 18-bit hardware addresses
which required an enhancement of the DYX.SYS device
driver to support all 4 MB of memory for user buffers.
I have mentioned this enhancement a few times, but there
seems to be zero interest.

Since I don't have access to the SimH manuals at the moment, I
don't know what I am doing that is incorrect.  But since I have
never attempted to use SimH before with either RX01 or RX02
images, there might be other problems.

I hope that the above information helps.

I would appreciate any information in respect of using the TCP/IP hardware
and software to access a Qbus PDP-11 via ethernet, and especially from
a system running RT-11 and / or TSX-Plus under both SimH and Ersatz-11.


My process is to COPY/DEVICE/FILES DY1:/START:0/END:330 DY0:BLOCK1.DAT,
then FTP that off the PDP, delete the file, and do the remaining two thirds
of the disk.  Once all are transferred, "cat *DAT > floppy.dsk".
 


The RT-11 commands are correct.  Why SimH has difficulty is
not understood.


I can transfer RX50 images using the same recipe, though I haven't tried
sending an RX50 image created on simh back to the PDP.

For what it's worth, I'm having the same problem with Alan Baldwin's TCP/IP
disk images from http://shop-pdp.net/rthtml/tcpip.htm.  simh can't read the
individual DSK images, but could read the *.PKG with the disks inside, and
from that, I could (RT-11) MOUNT each disk to a logical device.
 


I recognize some of the details of what you are doing, but I have no
idea of the actual hardware and software that you are using.  I would
like to use TCP/IP to move files backs and forth under RT-11, but I
don't know what hardware is needed, especially if there are to be
transfers between RT-11 running under SimH or Ersatz-11.  I do
have a router between two of my Windows systems, so that part is
already working.  But I am quite sure that the speeds between the
Windows systems and the PDP-11 don't match at all.

Of late, I have found that working on the RT-11 Symbolic Debugger,
SDHX.SYS to be specific under a Mapped RT-11 Monitor to be
sufficient challenge to keep me busy.  Version Y01.16 has a few
bugs which 

Re: I want a front panel for my lsi 11 w/switches and lights

[Paul Anderson]

Which box?

On Sun, Mar 6, 2016 at 5:02 PM,  wrote:

> I want a front panel  for  my lsi 11  w/switches and  lights!  Ed#
> _www.smecc.org_ (http://www.smecc.org)
>

Re: Usenet News Servers

[John Robertson]

On 03/06/2016 6:49 AM, Dave G4UGM wrote:

I think Thunderbird will allow import from the old Netscape mail client.

Dave


I access Giganews via Thunderbird (OSX) - works very well...

The downside is it costs about $8/month, but that is a very small 
business expense. Upside is Giganews goes back quite a ways...2003 for 
rec.humour.funny for example.


John :-#)#



-Original Message-
From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Jerome H.
Fine
Sent: 06 March 2016 14:27
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts

Subject: Re: Usenet News Servers

  >On Saturday, March 5th, 2016 at 12:53:22 +, Robert Jarratt wrote:


My ISP appears to have stopped updating the newsgroups it hosts.

What news servers do people round here recommend?


I have a question about access to newsgroups.  Which currently available
browser is able to access a newsgroups server?  Currently, I am using
Netscape 7.2 under Windows 98SE.  If I upgrade to Windows 10, I probably
won't find anything from Microsoft which will support reasonable access to
newsgroups.  Is there a link to a site which has an application that

supports

access to newsgroups in a manner similar to how Netscape 7.2 provides
access.  BEST would be a browser that also supports access to e-mail in

the

same manner as Netscape 7.2 and which also allows me to copy all of the
archived 100,000 e-mails and posts which I have acquired over the last 15
years.  It is only about 300 MB, so the size is not a factor.

I know someone will probably recall the same question a while ago, but the
answer given then was not sufficient to make the switch.  At least a link

to

the site which has the files to be downloaded would be needed since just
the name of the application does not seem to help me.




-

When I registered 8 years ago, I received the following reply copied

below.

There is no charge for the service.  I have found that about 99% of the

posts

which appear at eternal-september also appear at sunsite.  Mainly, I use
sunsite to check that I am receiving all the posts which have been made to
other servers in addition to having a second source just in case one of

the

servers has crashed or disappears.

The e-mail to sign up was sent to:
news-sig...@sunsite.dk

The other e-mail address that I used to inquire about an acceptable
newsgroup which was not yet carried (alt.sys.pdp11 -  but is now) was:
st...@sunsite.dk

The information should be sufficient to inquire and register.

Note that retention is short for some newsgroups, probably only a few days
while for others the retention can be over a year.  So checking the posts

on

at least a daily basis is recommended until you determine the retention
period.




--

Dear "e-mail address"

You have been registered at the dotsrc.org usenet server.

To be able to read and post articles, you will have to tell your news

client,

that it must perform authentication.

If you forget your username/password, then just register again.

There is no need to remove your registration - your registration will be
removed when it has not been used for 3 months.

More information can be found at:

   http://dotsrc.org/usenet/

Your username is: "e-mail address"
Your password is: "six character password"
Your newsserver is: news.sunsite.dk

IMPORTANT: October 15th 2005 a new access policy was introduced, in order
to make the main focus of the usenet service consistent with our remaining
policy and focus. For further info please see
http://dotsrc.org/usenet/accesschange/

Please remark, that the username and password is for your personal usage
only!

Upon any abuse, your account will be terminated immediately.

Best regards,
Dotsrc.org News Administrator
st...@dotsrc.org

I want a front panel for my lsi 11 w/switches and lights

[COURYHOUSE]

I want a front panel  for  my lsi 11  w/switches and  lights!  Ed#  
_www.smecc.org_ (http://www.smecc.org)  

Re: Imaging RX02 disks for simh (was: Re: MU-BASIC V2 and RT-11 V03B distribution disks.)

[Glen Slick]

On Sun, Mar 6, 2016 at 2:17 PM, Brian Walenz  wrote:
>
>
> http://www.dbit.com/putr/putr.asm has the following:
>
> ;
> ; RX01 interleave routine.
> ;
> ; bplogical device rec
> ; chcylinder (0-75.)
> ; cllogical sector (0-25.)
> ;
> ; On return:
> ; chcylinder (1-76.)
> ; clsector (1-26.)
> ;
> ; From RT-11 V04 DY.MAC:
> ;
> ; ISEC=(ISEC-1)*2
> ; IF(ISEC.GE.26) ISEC=ISEC-25
> ; ISEC=MOD(ISEC+ITRK*6,26)+1
> ; ITRK=ITRK+1
> ;
>

There is also yet another implementation of this in the 2.11BSD source
code file src\sys\pdpstand\rx.c

/*
 * rxfactr -- calculates the physical sector and physical
 * track on the disk for a given logical sector.
 * call:
 * rxfactr(logical_sector,_sector,_track);
 * the logical sector number (0 - 2001) is converted
 * to a physical sector number (1 - 26) and a physical
 * track number (0 - 76).
 * the logical sectors specify physical sectors that
 * are interleaved with a factor of 2. thus the sectors
 * are read in the following order for increasing
 * logical sector numbers (1,3, ... 23,25,2,4, ... 24,26)
 * There is also a 6 sector slew between tracks.
 * Logical sectors start at track 1, sector 1; go to
 * track 76 and then to track 0.  Thus, for example, unix block number
 * 498 starts at track 0, sector 25 and runs thru track 0, sector 2
 * (or 6 depending on density).
 */
static
rxfactr(sectr, psectr, ptrck)
register int sectr;
int *psectr, *ptrck;
{
register int p1, p2;

p1 = sectr / 26;
p2 = sectr % 26;
/* 2 to 1 interleave */
p2 = (2 * p2 + (p2 >= 13 ?  1 : 0)) % 26;
/* 6 sector per track slew */
*psectr = 1 + (p2 + 6 * p1) % 26;
if (++p1 >= 77)
p1 = 0;
*ptrck = p1;
}

DEC TU81 - "Logic Off" permanently illuminated-

[Ulrich Tagge]

Hi All,

maybe someone can help me to bring my TU81 back to life again.

I have checked the following, before turning on:

- All capacitors on the Mail Power Supply and the one below the vacuum 
pump are fine

> OK
- Voltages check
> OK
- Fuses
> The Fuse for the diagnostics power connector was burned: changed

Problem is, that the "Logic Off" is constantly illuminated, after 
turning on.


I had a look into the Tx81 Pathfinder documentation, and checked the 
following.


- Check if Blower is running
> OK
- Disconnecting all DC connectors
> Same result

Pathfinder tells me changing the power supply.

I hear only an relay clicking when turning on the Power Supply, also, 
when nothing is connected, in this time the "Logic Off" light blinks one 
time.


I think, that the power supply checks itself that the voltages are OK, 
and that this fails.


Any hints or tips?

Many Greetings
Ulrich

Re: Imaging RX02 disks for simh (was: Re: MU-BASIC V2 and RT-11 V03B distribution disks.)

[Brian Walenz]

On Sun, Mar 6, 2016 at 5:06 PM, Don North  wrote:


> From the SIMH pdp11 RX driver (pdp11_rx.c) the disk size is computed as
> follows,
> and the byte offset into the file is computed by CALC_DA(trk,sec) given
> the PHYSICAL
> track (0..76) and sector (1..26) addresses used in accessing the
> controller.
>
> So the SIMH disk image should be 77*26*128 = 256,256 bytes for an RX01
> format.
> RX02 format is same number of tracks and sectors, but has 256 byte sectors.
>
> So if you image an RX disk using logical operating system 512B blocks
> there are
> 494 of them (76*26*128/512 = 494) numbered 0..493. Track 0 is skipped in
> the
> filesystem (block 0 is at track=1 sector=1) for legacy compatibility
> reasons (with IBM).
>
> However, since the SIMH file is in physical track/sector order, if you
> read the disk image
> using logical device blocks, you have to know how the driver interleaves
> logical blocks
> onto physical track/sectors, as you must de-interleave to build the SIMH
> file.
>
> Or else you must run a program on the PDP-11 side that reads the RX drive
> as physical
> tracks and sectors, not using file system access commands.
>
> It's not pretty, but if you think about it enough it is the only way for
> SIMH to simulate the
> RX/RY devices and be operating system agnostic.
>
> Don
>
> From PDP11/pdp11_rx.c:
>
> #define RX_NUMTR77  /* tracks/disk */
> #define RX_NUMSC26  /* sectors/track */
> #define RX_NUMBY128 /* bytes/sector */
> #define RX_SIZE (RX_NUMTR * RX_NUMSC * RX_NUMBY) /* bytes/disk */
>
> #define CALC_DA(t,s) (((t) * RX_NUMSC) + ((s) - 1)) * RX_NUMBY
>


http://www.dbit.com/putr/putr.asm has the following:

;
; RX01 interleave routine.
;
; bplogical device rec
; chcylinder (0-75.)
; cllogical sector (0-25.)
;
; On return:
; chcylinder (1-76.)
; clsector (1-26.)
;
; From RT-11 V04 DY.MAC:
;
; ISEC=(ISEC-1)*2
; IF(ISEC.GE.26) ISEC=ISEC-25
; ISEC=MOD(ISEC+ITRK*6,26)+1
; ITRK=ITRK+1
;

(and then some assembly code to implement that)

I didn't try anything based on this.  I was confused about "ISEC-1".
Assuming sectors started at zero, this gave a negative result.  Plus, I was
wrong about the sector size.

Thanks!  This seems like enough hints to figure it out.

b

Re: Imaging RX02 disks for simh (was: Re: MU-BASIC V2 and RT-11 V03B distribution disks.)

[Don North]

On 3/6/2016 8:56 AM, Brian Walenz wrote:

How the heck do you copy an RX02 disk for use in simh?

I've been trying to transfer RX02 images between simh and a real PDP11
(that has only two RX02's, console, and ethernet).  So far, I've only
attempted sending an RX02 image from the PDP to simh, but simh fails to
read it: "?DIR-F-Invalid directory".  Even after adding 13*512 bytes to the
start for the missing track, I still get invalid directory.

My process is to COPY/DEVICE/FILES DY1:/START:0/END:330 DY0:BLOCK1.DAT,
then FTP that off the PDP, delete the file, and do the remaining two thirds
of the disk.  Once all are transferred, "cat *DAT > floppy.dsk".

I can transfer RX50 images using the same recipe, though I haven't tried
sending an RX50 image created on simh back to the PDP.

For what it's worth, I'm having the same problem with Alan Baldwin's TCP/IP
disk images from http://shop-pdp.net/rthtml/tcpip.htm.  simh can't read the
individual DSK images, but could read the *.PKG with the disks inside, and
from that, I could (RT-11) MOUNT each disk to a logical device.

b


From the SIMH pdp11 RX driver (pdp11_rx.c) the disk size is computed as follows,
and the byte offset into the file is computed by CALC_DA(trk,sec) given the 
PHYSICAL
track (0..76) and sector (1..26) addresses used in accessing the controller.

So the SIMH disk image should be 77*26*128 = 256,256 bytes for an RX01 format.
RX02 format is same number of tracks and sectors, but has 256 byte sectors.

So if you image an RX disk using logical operating system 512B blocks there are
494 of them (76*26*128/512 = 494) numbered 0..493. Track 0 is skipped in the
filesystem (block 0 is at track=1 sector=1) for legacy compatibility reasons 
(with IBM).


However, since the SIMH file is in physical track/sector order, if you read the 
disk image
using logical device blocks, you have to know how the driver interleaves logical 
blocks

onto physical track/sectors, as you must de-interleave to build the SIMH file.

Or else you must run a program on the PDP-11 side that reads the RX drive as 
physical

tracks and sectors, not using file system access commands.

It's not pretty, but if you think about it enough it is the only way for SIMH to 
simulate the

RX/RY devices and be operating system agnostic.

Don

From PDP11/pdp11_rx.c:

#define RX_NUMTR77  /* tracks/disk */
#define RX_NUMSC26  /* sectors/track */
#define RX_NUMBY128 /* bytes/sector */
#define RX_SIZE (RX_NUMTR * RX_NUMSC * RX_NUMBY) /* bytes/disk */

#define CALC_DA(t,s) (((t) * RX_NUMSC) + ((s) - 1)) * RX_NUMBY

Re: Imaging RX02 disks for simh (was: Re: MU-BASIC V2 and RT-11 V03B distribution disks.)

[Brian Walenz]

On Sun, Mar 6, 2016 at 3:33 PM, Mattis Lind  wrote:

>
> Did you have problems with my RAW files as well? Which? I tested a few of
> them right now and they seemed to work fine.
>

Nope, no problems.  That was what triggered this...that someone else could
do it.

I jury rigged an RX50, and managed to get an image across that way.  My end
goal is to dump an RD52, but, sadly, I still am unable to access the disk.
Not even a blip on the activity light.  *Sigh*  Back to reading manuals, I
guess.

Thanks to everyone for confirming I'm not insane, a moron, or both.

b

Re: Imaging RX02 disks for simh (was: Re: MU-BASIC V2 and RT-11 V03B distribution disks.)

[Jerome H. Fine]

>Brian Walenz wrote:


How the heck do you copy an RX02 disk for use in simh?

I've been trying to transfer RX02 images between simh and a real PDP11
(that has only two RX02's, console, and ethernet).  So far, I've only
attempted sending an RX02 image from the PDP to simh, but simh fails to
read it: "?DIR-F-Invalid directory".  Even after adding 13*512 bytes to the
start for the missing track, I still get invalid directory.

My process is to COPY/DEVICE/FILES DY1:/START:0/END:330 DY0:BLOCK1.DAT,
then FTP that off the PDP, delete the file, and do the remaining two thirds
of the disk.  Once all are transferred, "cat *DAT > floppy.dsk".

I can transfer RX50 images using the same recipe, though I haven't tried
sending an RX50 image created on simh back to the PDP.

For what it's worth, I'm having the same problem with Alan Baldwin's TCP/IP
disk images from http://shop-pdp.net/rthtml/tcpip.htm.  simh can't read the
individual DSK images, but could read the *.PKG with the disks inside, and
from that, I could (RT-11) MOUNT each disk to a logical device.

b



On Thu, Jan 28, 2016 at 11:50 AM, Mattis Lind  wrote:



I found some 8 inch floppies with distribution kits for MU-BASIC V2 and
RT-11 V03B. I imaged those and put them here
http://www.datormuseum.se/documentation-software/rx01-and-rx02-floppy-disks
if anyone is interested in playing with MU-BASIC. There are both RAW disk
images and to be used in SimH and like and also DMK/IMD files.

The system that floppies came with is this little (
http://www.datormuseum.se/computers/digital-equipment-corporation/pdp1103-l
)
system once used at Scania in Södertälje.


Check

RE: SeaMonkey - Re: Usenet News Servers

[Dave Wade]

SeaMonkey is essentially the same code as in Thunderbird/Firefox. Personally
I prefer to keep browser and mail/news separate. Pretty sure it will import
from the old Netscape Communicator. 

> -Original Message-
> From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Jerome H.
> Fine
> Sent: 06 March 2016 16:07
> To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
> 
> Subject: Re: SeaMonkey - Re: Usenet News Servers
> 
>  >Toby Thain wrote:
> 
> > >On 2016-03-06 9:27 AM, Jerome H. Fine wrote:
> >
> >> I have a question about access to newsgroups.  Which currently
> >> available browser is able to access a newsgroups server?  Currently,
> >> I am using Netscape 7.2 under Windows 98SE.  If I upgrade to Windows
> >> 10, I probably won't find anything from Microsoft which will support
> >> reasonable access to newsgroups.  Is there a link to a site which has
> >> an application that supports access to newsgroups in a manner similar
> >> to how Netscape 7.2 provides access.  BEST would be a browser that
> >> also supports access to e-mail in the same manner as Netscape 7.2 and
> >> which also allows me to copy all of the archived 100,000 e-mails and
> >> posts which I have acquired over the last 15 years.  It is only about
> >> 300 MB, so the size is not a factor.
> >
> > Probably the closest thing (and actually a descendant) would be
> > SeaMonkey?
> > http://www.seamonkey-project.org/
> 
> This link certainly looks like an excellent start.  Does SeaMonkey have
the
> ability to work under the 64-bit Windows 10 operating system?
> 
> Any idea as to how the 100,000 old e-mails and posts from newsgroups
> would be copied over?

Re: Imaging RX02 disks for simh (was: Re: MU-BASIC V2 and RT-11 V03B distribution disks.)

[Mattis Lind]

2016-03-06 17:56 GMT+01:00 Brian Walenz :

> How the heck do you copy an RX02 disk for use in simh?
>
> I've been trying to transfer RX02 images between simh and a real PDP11
> (that has only two RX02's, console, and ethernet).  So far, I've only
> attempted sending an RX02 image from the PDP to simh, but simh fails to
> read it: "?DIR-F-Invalid directory".  Even after adding 13*512 bytes to the
> start for the missing track, I still get invalid directory.
>

I used a regular PC running DOS and then a catweasel card to produce the
DMK file. Then I extracted the raw disk image from the DMK file. The files
produced are 512512 bytes.


>
> My process is to COPY/DEVICE/FILES DY1:/START:0/END:330 DY0:BLOCK1.DAT,
> then FTP that off the PDP, delete the file, and do the remaining two thirds
> of the disk.  Once all are transferred, "cat *DAT > floppy.dsk".
>
> I can transfer RX50 images using the same recipe, though I haven't tried
> sending an RX50 image created on simh back to the PDP.
>
> For what it's worth, I'm having the same problem with Alan Baldwin's TCP/IP
> disk images from http://shop-pdp.net/rthtml/tcpip.htm.  simh can't read
> the
> individual DSK images, but could read the *.PKG with the disks inside, and
> from that, I could (RT-11) MOUNT each disk to a logical device.
>

Did you have problems with my RAW files as well? Which? I tested a few of
them right now and they seemed to work fine.


> b
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 28, 2016 at 11:50 AM, Mattis Lind 
> wrote:
>
> > I found some 8 inch floppies with distribution kits for MU-BASIC V2 and
> > RT-11 V03B. I imaged those and put them here
> >
> http://www.datormuseum.se/documentation-software/rx01-and-rx02-floppy-disks
> > if anyone is interested in playing with MU-BASIC. There are both RAW disk
> > images and to be used in SimH and like and also DMK/IMD files.
> >
> > The system that floppies came with is this little (
> >
> http://www.datormuseum.se/computers/digital-equipment-corporation/pdp1103-l
> > )
> > system once used at Scania in Södertälje.
> >
>

Re: Imaging RX02 disks for simh (was: Re: MU-BASIC V2 and RT-11 V03B distribution disks.)

[Glen Slick]

On Sun, Mar 6, 2016 at 10:33 AM, Mark J. Blair  wrote:
> I have managed to munge RX02 disk images into a format that SIMH understands 
> a year or so ago. Unfortunately, I didn't keep notes about how I did it, and 
> now I've forgotten what I did, possibly using some throw-away code that I've 
> since thrown away. Or maybe I dumped the disks to image files on an emulated 
> TU58 on my real PDP-11, and then wrote the image files to new simh RX02 disk 
> images under RT11 in simh. Actually, that sounds like what I might have done. 
> It's a clumsy way to do things, though. I'd like to learn how simh expects 
> its RX02 image files to be arranged so that I can write a utility to 
> translate between them and other formats.
>

I have also gone through that exercise in the past and wrote some
simple code to shuffle disk sectors around between and input RX02
image files and and output RX02 image files to account for the sector
interleave and track to track skew factors. I still have the code I
wrote to do that, but I'd have to take a look at it again to figure
out how I was using it.

-Glen

Re: Imaging RX02 disks for simh (was: Re: MU-BASIC V2 and RT-11 V03B distribution disks.)

[Mark J. Blair]

I have managed to munge RX02 disk images into a format that SIMH understands a 
year or so ago. Unfortunately, I didn't keep notes about how I did it, and now 
I've forgotten what I did, possibly using some throw-away code that I've since 
thrown away. Or maybe I dumped the disks to image files on an emulated TU58 on 
my real PDP-11, and then wrote the image files to new simh RX02 disk images 
under RT11 in simh. Actually, that sounds like what I might have done. It's a 
clumsy way to do things, though. I'd like to learn how simh expects its RX02 
image files to be arranged so that I can write a utility to translate between 
them and other formats.


-- 
Mark J. Blair, NF6X 
http://www.nf6x.net/

Dumping Images of my VAX-11/730's Drives?

[Mark J. Blair]

This thread is a parallel discussion to a VCF thread that I started last night:
http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?51653-Dumping-Images-of-my-VAX-11-730-s-Drives

With today being cold and rainy, it seems like a good excuse to turn on my 
VAX-11/730. I can boot either VMS 5.2 off the RL02 or OpenVMS 7.3 off the R80, 
if I recall the version numbers correctly. Several months have passed since the 
last time I worked on the machine. In my last session I began trying to bring 
up TCP/IP networking, without success.

I want to get raw images of the system's drives off the machine and onto my 
modern systems. I can think of several approaches, and still more approaches 
have already been suggested in that VCF thread. I have a number of questions, 
and I'm also keeping my eyes open for hardware that might help me out. I'm not 
presently talking to eBay, so that limits my options.

First of all, if I manage to get TCP/IP networking up and running today, is 
there some way under VMS for me to dump raw disk blocks over the network to one 
of my UNIX-like systems? Alternately, if I manage to cobble together a Linux 
box running an older DECNET-aware distribution and bring up DECNET on the VAX, 
would that give me a way to dump raw disk blocks to a file on it across the 
network? I'm still quite clumsy under VMS. One of these network-based 
approaches seem like the only options that I would have any chance of achieving 
today, assuming that the networking hardware on my 11/730 is even in working 
order.

I don't think I have the patience to dump an R80 drive across an async serial 
port, but if I did have the patience, is there some way to accomplish this 
under a stock VMS 5.2/7.3 installation? Ditto for the RL02 and 9-track tapes.

I have a couple of broken Kennedy 9610 9-track drives in my pile. One has a 
SCSI interface, so I might be able to interface it to one of my newer machines 
that have both SCSI and a way to talk to my modern machines, such as my Sun 
Ultra 60 or my Amiga 3000. Both drives have hub motor drive problems that need 
to be diagnosed and repaired, though. This might end up being part of my best 
data path from the VAX to modern machines, but it'll take some time and work.

I can think of a few possible approaches if somebody here has suitable hardware 
for sale or trade:

* With an MSCP-emulating UNIBUS SCSI card, I might be able to hang a SCSI2SD 
off my VAX. These seem to be expensive and hard to find, though. I see a UC17 
on eBay for $949 OBO. That's a lot more than I'm presently willing to spend, 
and I'm not on speaking terms with eBay/PayPal right now anyway. I do hope to 
find a suitable UNIBUS SCSI adapter at a good price, both for possible use in 
the VAX and for eventual use in my long-term PDP-11/44 project.

* With an M8061 RLV12 card, I might be able to borrow the VAX's RL02 and dump 
packs on my little PDP-11 half-rack. I already have a QBUS SCSI card for it 
that I procured a while back. I also have four more RL02 drives out in the pile 
in the barn for eventual use, but I'd initially borrow the known-working RL02 
drive from the VAX, which also happens to be in the same room as my little 
PDP-11. I don't think I already have an RLV12, but I'll dig through my QBUS 
cards again today to see if I have one I've forgotten about.

* With some sort of Pertec tape adapter for one of my newer computers, I might 
be able to borrow the TU80 drive from my VAX (I think it has a Pertec 
interface; not positive yet) and use it to read/write tapes. It could also 
eventually get used with one of the Kennedy drives, but the TU80 already works. 
I might be able to use a PCI card in the Sun Ultra 60 if Solaris 8 can talk to 
it. Or an MCA card in a PS/2 65 that I recently acquired, running OS/2 Warp 
Connect 4, also assuming I can get suitable software. Or a SCSI to Pertec 
interface connected to the Ultra 60 or my Amiga 3000. Or even an ISA card in my 
crusty 386 clone running DOS 6.22. It would be ultimately nice to connect a 
9-track to one of my modern Macs, but I don't expect that to be easy.

* It was suggested that I might be able to cluster the 11/730 with a MicroVAX, 
and then transfer data onto some SCSI device on the MicroVAX such as a SCSI2SD. 
I think I'd need to find a fairly turnkey MicroVAX, though, to avoid a bring-up 
problem that's even bigger than the data transfer problem I'm trying to solve.



-- 
Mark J. Blair, NF6X 
http://www.nf6x.net/

Imaging RX02 disks for simh (was: Re: MU-BASIC V2 and RT-11 V03B distribution disks.)

[Brian Walenz]

How the heck do you copy an RX02 disk for use in simh?

I've been trying to transfer RX02 images between simh and a real PDP11
(that has only two RX02's, console, and ethernet).  So far, I've only
attempted sending an RX02 image from the PDP to simh, but simh fails to
read it: "?DIR-F-Invalid directory".  Even after adding 13*512 bytes to the
start for the missing track, I still get invalid directory.

My process is to COPY/DEVICE/FILES DY1:/START:0/END:330 DY0:BLOCK1.DAT,
then FTP that off the PDP, delete the file, and do the remaining two thirds
of the disk.  Once all are transferred, "cat *DAT > floppy.dsk".

I can transfer RX50 images using the same recipe, though I haven't tried
sending an RX50 image created on simh back to the PDP.

For what it's worth, I'm having the same problem with Alan Baldwin's TCP/IP
disk images from http://shop-pdp.net/rthtml/tcpip.htm.  simh can't read the
individual DSK images, but could read the *.PKG with the disks inside, and
from that, I could (RT-11) MOUNT each disk to a logical device.

b


On Thu, Jan 28, 2016 at 11:50 AM, Mattis Lind  wrote:

> I found some 8 inch floppies with distribution kits for MU-BASIC V2 and
> RT-11 V03B. I imaged those and put them here
> http://www.datormuseum.se/documentation-software/rx01-and-rx02-floppy-disks
> if anyone is interested in playing with MU-BASIC. There are both RAW disk
> images and to be used in SimH and like and also DMK/IMD files.
>
> The system that floppies came with is this little (
> http://www.datormuseum.se/computers/digital-equipment-corporation/pdp1103-l
> )
> system once used at Scania in Södertälje.
>

Re: SeaMonkey - Re: Usenet News Servers

[Jerome H. Fine]

>Toby Thain wrote:


>On 2016-03-06 9:27 AM, Jerome H. Fine wrote:


I have a question about access to newsgroups.  Which currently available
browser is able to access a newsgroups server?  Currently, I am using
Netscape 7.2 under Windows 98SE.  If I upgrade to Windows 10,
I probably won't find anything from Microsoft which will support 
reasonable

access to newsgroups.  Is there a link to a site which has an
application that
supports access to newsgroups in a manner similar to how Netscape 7.2
provides access.  BEST would be a browser that also supports access
to e-mail in the same manner as Netscape 7.2 and which also allows me
to copy all of the archived 100,000 e-mails and posts which I have
acquired over the last 15 years.  It is only about 300 MB, so the size
is not a factor. 


Probably the closest thing (and actually a descendant) would be 
SeaMonkey?

http://www.seamonkey-project.org/


This link certainly looks like an excellent start.  Does SeaMonkey
have the ability to work under the 64-bit Windows 10 operating
system?

Any idea as to how the 100,000 old e-mails and posts from newsgroups
would be copied over?

SeaMonkey - Re: Usenet News Servers

[Toby Thain]

On 2016-03-06 9:27 AM, Jerome H. Fine wrote:

 >On Saturday, March 5th, 2016 at 12:53:22 +, Robert Jarratt wrote:


My ISP appears to have stopped updating the newsgroups it hosts.

What news servers do people round here recommend?


I have a question about access to newsgroups.  Which currently available
browser is able to access a newsgroups server?  Currently, I am using
Netscape 7.2 under Windows 98SE.  If I upgrade to Windows 10,
I probably won't find anything from Microsoft which will support reasonable
access to newsgroups.  Is there a link to a site which has an
application that
supports access to newsgroups in a manner similar to how Netscape 7.2
provides access.  BEST would be a browser that also supports access
to e-mail in the same manner as Netscape 7.2 and which also allows me
to copy all of the archived 100,000 e-mails and posts which I have
acquired over the last 15 years.  It is only about 300 MB, so the size
is not a factor.


Probably the closest thing (and actually a descendant) would be SeaMonkey?
http://www.seamonkey-project.org/

--Toby




I know someone will probably recall the same question a while ago, but
the answer given then was not sufficient to make the switch.  At least
a link to the site which has the files to be downloaded would be needed
since just the name of the application does not seem to help me.

-
...

Re: Usenet News Servers

[Dale H. Cook]

At 09:27 AM 3/6/2016, Jerome H. Fine wrote:

>I have a question about access to newsgroups.

I have never used a browser for Usenet - I have always used Forte Agent, a 
Usenet client:

http://www.forteinc.com/main/homepage.php 

RE: Usenet News Servers

[Dave G4UGM]

I think Thunderbird will allow import from the old Netscape mail client.

Dave

> -Original Message-
> From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Jerome H.
> Fine
> Sent: 06 March 2016 14:27
> To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
> 
> Subject: Re: Usenet News Servers
> 
>  >On Saturday, March 5th, 2016 at 12:53:22 +, Robert Jarratt wrote:
> 
> >My ISP appears to have stopped updating the newsgroups it hosts.
> >
> >What news servers do people round here recommend?
> >
> I have a question about access to newsgroups.  Which currently available
> browser is able to access a newsgroups server?  Currently, I am using
> Netscape 7.2 under Windows 98SE.  If I upgrade to Windows 10, I probably
> won't find anything from Microsoft which will support reasonable access to
> newsgroups.  Is there a link to a site which has an application that
supports
> access to newsgroups in a manner similar to how Netscape 7.2 provides
> access.  BEST would be a browser that also supports access to e-mail in
the
> same manner as Netscape 7.2 and which also allows me to copy all of the
> archived 100,000 e-mails and posts which I have acquired over the last 15
> years.  It is only about 300 MB, so the size is not a factor.
> 
> I know someone will probably recall the same question a while ago, but the
> answer given then was not sufficient to make the switch.  At least a link
to
> the site which has the files to be downloaded would be needed since just
> the name of the application does not seem to help me.
> 
>

-
> 
> When I registered 8 years ago, I received the following reply copied
below.
> There is no charge for the service.  I have found that about 99% of the
posts
> which appear at eternal-september also appear at sunsite.  Mainly, I use
> sunsite to check that I am receiving all the posts which have been made to
> other servers in addition to having a second source just in case one of
the
> servers has crashed or disappears.
> 
> The e-mail to sign up was sent to:
> news-sig...@sunsite.dk
> 
> The other e-mail address that I used to inquire about an acceptable
> newsgroup which was not yet carried (alt.sys.pdp11 -  but is now) was:
> st...@sunsite.dk
> 
> The information should be sufficient to inquire and register.
> 
> Note that retention is short for some newsgroups, probably only a few days
> while for others the retention can be over a year.  So checking the posts
on
> at least a daily basis is recommended until you determine the retention
> period.
> 
>

--
> Dear "e-mail address"
> 
> You have been registered at the dotsrc.org usenet server.
> 
> To be able to read and post articles, you will have to tell your news
client,
> that it must perform authentication.
> 
> If you forget your username/password, then just register again.
> 
> There is no need to remove your registration - your registration will be
> removed when it has not been used for 3 months.
> 
> More information can be found at:
> 
>   http://dotsrc.org/usenet/
> 
> Your username is: "e-mail address"
> Your password is: "six character password"
> Your newsserver is: news.sunsite.dk
> 
> IMPORTANT: October 15th 2005 a new access policy was introduced, in order
> to make the main focus of the usenet service consistent with our remaining
> policy and focus. For further info please see
> http://dotsrc.org/usenet/accesschange/
> 
> Please remark, that the username and password is for your personal usage
> only!
> 
> Upon any abuse, your account will be terminated immediately.
> 
> Best regards,
> Dotsrc.org News Administrator
> st...@dotsrc.org
> 
> 

Re: Usenet News Servers

[Jerome H. Fine]

>On Saturday, March 5th, 2016 at 12:53:22 +, Robert Jarratt wrote:


My ISP appears to have stopped updating the newsgroups it hosts.

What news servers do people round here recommend?


I have a question about access to newsgroups.  Which currently available
browser is able to access a newsgroups server?  Currently, I am using
Netscape 7.2 under Windows 98SE.  If I upgrade to Windows 10,
I probably won't find anything from Microsoft which will support reasonable
access to newsgroups.  Is there a link to a site which has an 
application that

supports access to newsgroups in a manner similar to how Netscape 7.2
provides access.  BEST would be a browser that also supports access
to e-mail in the same manner as Netscape 7.2 and which also allows me
to copy all of the archived 100,000 e-mails and posts which I have
acquired over the last 15 years.  It is only about 300 MB, so the size
is not a factor.

I know someone will probably recall the same question a while ago, but
the answer given then was not sufficient to make the switch.  At least
a link to the site which has the files to be downloaded would be needed
since just the name of the application does not seem to help me.

-

When I registered 8 years ago, I received the following reply copied below.
There is no charge for the service.  I have found that about 99% of the 
posts
which appear at eternal-september also appear at sunsite.  Mainly, I use 
sunsite
to check that I am receiving all the posts which have been made to other 
servers
in addition to having a second source just in case one of the servers 
has crashed

or disappears.

The e-mail to sign up was sent to:
news-sig...@sunsite.dk

The other e-mail address that I used to inquire about an acceptable 
newsgroup

which was not yet carried (alt.sys.pdp11 -  but is now) was:
st...@sunsite.dk

The information should be sufficient to inquire and register.

Note that retention is short for some newsgroups, probably only a few 
days while
for others the retention can be over a year.  So checking the posts on 
at least a

daily basis is recommended until you determine the retention period.

--
Dear "e-mail address"

You have been registered at the dotsrc.org usenet server.

To be able to read and post articles, you will have to tell your 
news client, that it must perform authentication. 


If you forget your username/password, then just register again.

There is no need to remove your registration - your registration
will be removed when it has not been used for 3 months.

More information can be found at:

 http://dotsrc.org/usenet/

Your username is: "e-mail address"
Your password is: "six character password"
Your newsserver is: news.sunsite.dk

IMPORTANT: October 15th 2005 a new access policy was introduced, 
in order to make the main focus of the usenet service consistent 
with our remaining policy and focus. For further info please see 
http://dotsrc.org/usenet/accesschange/  

Please remark, that the username and password is for your personal 
usage only!


Upon any abuse, your account will be terminated immediately.

Best regards,
Dotsrc.org News Administrator
st...@dotsrc.org

R: Big-Board II & Micro Cornucopia User Group Disks

[Enrico Lazzerini]

Ciao at all, i'm from Italy. 
I'm not much present cause other interests.

Anyway on my website www.vintagesbc.it you can find info on Ferguson
Bigboards I and II. 
Exactly my Ferguson Bigboards I is more properly a clone of the original one
that I bought from a little LTD in Italy on 1983.
Instead my Ferguson Bigboards II is that i bought some years ago from
Germany. This last has a VAR Bios from Twente Digita installed instead of
the original BIOS so its OS is a ZCPR system. 
I saved via IMD images all dischettes included boot dischettes

Here on FBB1
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en=it=en=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.v
intagesbc.it%2F%3Fpage_id%3D128%26gt

Here on FBII
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en=it=en=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.v
intagesbc.it%2F%3Fpage_id%3D262%26gt

I also have many issues of microcornucpia magazine and all them digital
scanned ones. 

I'm look instead for all possible Ferguson user's dischette 

So let me know if you need help

Best

Enrico Lazzerini - PISA (ITALY)