System don't boot.

[Gilles Salvin]

I have a old VAX 4000/300 ; OS VMS 5.5-2.
The Vax Digital VT320 was out of order and replaced by a VT220.
I restarted the Vax , all initials tests were OK.
Everything is in Green.
>>>show dev ==> OK all devices seen
>>>boot DIA0
(BOOT/R5:0 DIA0)
2 ..
-SYSTEM$DIAO
1..0..
VAX/VMS Version V5.5-2 Maj id=1 Min id=0
Copyright ...
%STDRV-I-STARTUP ,VMS startup begun at Day Hour
and nothing more ....


Any clue ?

Thanks.

[Volker Halle]

Gilles,

your startup seems to hang...

Try a conversational minimum boot first:

>>> B/1
...
SYSBOOT> SET STARTUP_P1 "MIN"
SYSBOOT> C

This will skip auto-configuration of devices and everything in SYSTARTUP_V5.COM. Does it finish ? If so, you should be able to log in.

Volker.

[Gilles Salvin]

Volker,

It works , then I tried a reboot next and the reboot was also in MIN status.
How can I reconfigure the startup in nomal mode please ?
As the startup in MIN works , do you have any idea about what could not work in normal mode ?

Thank you for your help.

[Volker Halle]

Gilles,

if it works and you can login, you could manually execute some of the steps from the real startup:

$ SET CONTROL=Y
$ SET CONTROL=T
$ SET TERM/BROADCAST
$ MC SYSGEN IO AUTO ! to auto-configure devices
$ SHOW DEV ! are all expected devices visible
$ @SYS$MANAGER:SYSTARTUP_V5.com

If that hangs, type CTRL-T to see which image may be executing. Try to abort with CTRL-C or CTRL-Y

If necessary, trun on $ SET VERIFY and invoke the indivudal commands from SYSTARTUP_V5.COM

To reset to full startup, use

$ MC SYSGEN
SYSGEN> USE CURRENT
SYSGEN> SET STARTUP_P1 ""
SYSGEN> WRITE CURRENT
SYSGEN> EXIT

Volker.

[Gilles Salvin]

Volker,

$ SET CONTROL=Y
$ SET CONTROL=T
$ SET TERM/BROADCAST
$ MC SYSGEN IO AUTO => No IO in MC SYSGEN ?

If necessary, trun on $ SET VERIFY : How ?
and invoke the indivudal commands from SYSTARTUP_V5.COM

Thanks.

[Volker Halle]

Gilles,

sorry, on VAX it's $ MC SYSGEN AUTO ALL

First try to invoke @SYS$MANAGER:SYSTARTUP_V5.COM. If it hangs, try CTRL-T, then CTRL-Y to abort.

You need to find out, which command causes the startup to hang. You could try

$ SET VERIFY
$ @SYS$MANAGER:SYSTARTUP_V5.COM

Volker.

[Gilles Salvin]

Volker ,
MC SYSGEN AUTO ALL Hang ...
I'm desperate :o(

[Volker Halle · Accepted solution]

Gilles,

so there might be some hardware-related problem... Could you interrupt the SYSGEN image ?

Try $ MC SYSGEN AUTO ALL/LOG - this will output a message for each device configured. Then you may be able to guess, where the problem is.

Once you have a suspect, try MC SYSGEN AUTO ALL/EXCLUDE=(device-name)

Volker.

[Andy Bustamante]

Do you have a CD-Rom on this system? If you can boot from alternate media like a VMS distribution CD that will tell you if the system is functional.

If not, have you generated a stand alone backup kit on an alternate disk?

Andy

[Hoff]

Any recent changes to the hardware, or to the software? (I'd tend to guess not, as VAX boxes still running OpenVMS VAX V5.5-2 tend to be looked at only when the hardware breaks... And...)

There's probably a hardware problem lurking here.

A bad Q-bus board or an incorrectly-configured Q-bus can encounter this behavior.

If you're not comfortable with the Q-bus and with swapping hardware, it's likely time to call your preferred hardware service vendor.