topic Re: Control-G characters on the VAX console in Operating System - OpenVMS

Control-G characters on the VAX console

rbeasley3 — Fri, 24 Nov 2023 03:50:21 GMT

I had a VAX 4000-90A replaced with another VAX 4000-90A this past Tuesday.

Server halts and reboots are done remotely via PolyCenter Console Manager, through a TELNET-based terminal server that has a console cable connected between one of its ports and the console port on the VAX.

Several control-G (^G) characters are now always showing on the console since the hardware was replaced. This makes it difficult to execute commands on the console, so I would like to get that fixed.

These strange ^G characters makes me suspicious that there is a speed/parity mis-match between the terminal server port and the console port. Is there a speed setting that can be made to the VAX console port of a VAX 4000-90 that can eliminate these garbase control-G characters?

Thanks in advance for any help I get!!

- Ron

Re: Control-G characters on the VAX console

Volker Halle — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 16:29:32 GMT

Ron,

console should be set to 9600 bd, 8 bits, no parity, 1 Stop bit. I don't think you can change this.

^G is the representation of the <BEL> character - something seems to be wrong.

Is this character being echoed, just if you type a character ? Or do those ^G's appear, if the line is idle ?

Check the port settings on the terminal server and make sure flow control is on.

Volker.

Re: Control-G characters on the VAX console

Steven Schweda — Fri, 24 Nov 2023 05:20:27 GMT

> I had a VAX 4000-90A replaced with another VAX 4000-90A [...]

Why? Is the old VAX dead, or can its settings be examined? (All my
VAX hardware is older than that.)

Was that the only hardware change? Is the software identical or
different?

> Several control-G (^G) characters are now always showing on the
> console [...]

I don't know what that means. "showing" _where_, when what happens?
Copy+paste is your friend. (Or, worst-case-desperation, a picture.)

> ^G is the representation of the <BEL> character [...]

Yup. But from your description it's not clear who is sending these
characters to whom. (Or when, or why.)

> [...] This makes it difficult to execute commands on the console,
> [...]

How, exactly, do these characters "make it difficult"?

> [...] PolyCenter Console Manager, [...]

I know nothing about it. Is it acting in place of an ordinary
terminal, or in addition to an ordinary terminal, or what?

> [...] through a TELNET-based terminal server that has a console cable
> connected between one of its ports and the console port on the VAX.

Same terminal server port/configuration as before?

Around here, I normally use a LAT terminal server for remote console
access (on various systems), but I wouldn't expect Telnet to introduce
any oddities except perhaps in some handshaking at the time the
connection is initially established.

With a normal terminal/emulator, I'd expect a received <BEL>
character to trigger a beep or a reverse-video flash; I wouldn't expect
it to display "^G". But I know nothing about any terminal/emulator
which might be involved here.

Re: Control-G characters on the VAX console

rbeasley3 — Sat, 02 Dec 2023 06:15:48 GMT

Hello, Volker.

I found that the terminal server port connected to the VAX had its "STOP BIT" setting set to "DYNAMIC" instead of "1". So when I changed that setting from "DYNAMIC" to "1", then those Control-G garbage characters went away. That was the only change I had to make to the port, and that worked!!

Thanks a lot!!

- Ron Beasley

Re: Control-G characters on the VAX console

Sunitha_Mod — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 06:35:48 GMT

Hello Ron,

That's awesome!

We are extremely glad to know you were able to find the solution and we appreciate you for keeping us posted.