Console problem

[356Porsche]

I have an Alpha 500 that was running Tru64 unix. I have converted it to Open VMS. When I boot up, it will not start windows and say's it dosen't know terminal type. How do I change the consol to identify terminal type and how do I make it permenant?

[Steven Schweda]

What is the graphics card? Does VMS support
it?

> [...] say's it dosen't know terminal type.

What were you doing when it said that, and
what was the actual error message?

[labadie_1]

Check at the console level
>>> show console
If you want to start Decwindows, it should be graphics, so if it is serial
>>> set console graphics
If you want to go back then,
>>> set console serial

[Hoff]

I don't have the answers -- and particularly not without having rather more detailed information on this configuration -- but I do know where you can look to figure this out yourself...

The new HoffmanLabs web site has a hobbyist keyword tag accessible by the tags and topics in the left navigation of the site, and one of the article topics associated with that tag is a list of the various graphics controllers that have been found to work with OpenVMS. You'll find other hobbyst articles and related introductory materials at the site. You'll also find the OpenVMS FAQ, and the FAQ in particular has a whole section on troubleshooting DECwindows and the DECwindows startup. Use the PDF or text version of the FAQ, as these are far easier to search.

To get there, start at www.hoffmanlabs.com, and link over to the new site from the main page.

Stephen Hoffman
HoffmanLabs

[Steven Schweda]

Based on practically no information, I'll
guess that an "Alpha 500" is actually a
Digital Personal Workstation 500a[u] with a
PBXGI-xx graphics card (Intergraph), which
Tru64 supported but VMS did not.

Further, I'll guess that the "dosen't know
terminal type" problem is that SET TERMINAL
/INQUIRE, or EDIT /TPU, or some other program
does not work on the "glass TTY" which is
probably all you have when DECwindows fails
to start (because of the unsupported graphics
card).

As usual, direct quotations (from the front
panel of the system to say what it is, or
from the program producting the error
message) will almost always be more helpful
than vague descriptions of these things.
Without actual facts, all you get is
guesswork of dubious value. Like this.