Operating System for VAXstation 3100

[Oscar Anaut]

People, where can i get an operating system for a VAXstation 3100, why has just a tape device for boot.

Please my e-mail is oanaut@dts.cl and my fon is 05623971250.

Thanks at all

[Dean McGorrill]

Hi Oscar,
A quick check of golden eggs, shows
a rrd45 CD inside that box, has that been
removed? do you have other vaxen that you
can form a local area cluster with?

[Robert Gezelter]

Oscar,

You will need a bootable tape distribution of OpenVMS. As a starting point, you need to identify precisely which tape drive your system has (and, as a cross check, precisely the model number of the system).

The Model and serial numbers of the system should be on the rear side of the system unit. If you can get into the console monitor, the SHOW DEV command (a quick check of the web found an interesting writeup, with pictures on the 3100 at http://home.iae.nl/users/pb0aia/vax/vs3khw.html ). This writeup includes a link to a page with a list of commands for the console monitor.

Once you determine precisely which tape device you have, you have a variety of options, including:

- getting a distribution kit on that media
- creating a system image on another system and creating a backup tape and copy of standalone backup on that system

You will also need to obtain a set of licenses. For Hobbyist (non-commercial) use, there is essentially no charge. The OpenVMS Hobbyist WWW site is at http://www.openvmshobbyist.org

I hope that the above is helpful.

- Bob Gezelter, http://www.rlgsc.com

[Andy Bustamante]

You can also consider adding a CD drive to the VAXstation. See http://www.hoffmanlabs.com/vmsfaq/vmsfaq_026.html#cddvddev.

Andy

[Hoff]

I've posted introductory hardware information starting at http://64.223.189.234/node/6 -- this material is intended for new hobbyists and any users unfamiliar with VAX, Alpha and Integrity hardware.

A CD drive will make this installation far easier, and the VAXstation 3100 is capable of accepting an RRD-class drive. There have been some nice SCSI-based CD-R/RW recorders seen on eBay recently for less than US$50. With a SCSI CD, you can follow the standard installation directions.

A tape boot kit can be created (for specific bootable tapes), though likely only with the assistance of another OpenVMS site -- and particularly a site with a compatible tape drive. Tape boots are glacially slow, even when they work.

The installation alternative is an external SCSI disk device, and an external transfer of the media onto a SCSI disk. I'd pick this over trying a tape boot, but probably after a SCSI CD or CD-R/RW.

The other wrinkle here is the disk capability limit for all members of the VAXstation 3100. You need a system disk of 1.073 GB or less for this box. Data disks can be larger. Details on this -- the specific boot disk limit for this box, version-specific addressing limits, etc. -- are in the FAQ.

If you want to pursue this here, you'll want to post up the identification of the disk drive(s) in this box -- usually shown as an R-class disk model name something that is referred to as a DK-class device name -- and the tape drive -- usually a T-something tape model referred to as an MK-class device name. These can be seen with a SHOW CONFIG or SHOW SCSI command at the >>> prompt. You can potentially see several RZ and/or RRD disks; more than one DK-class device name shown.

Stephen Hoffman
HoffmanLabs LLC

[Bob Blunt]

Oscar, I don't remember seeing anyone ask one important question. What type tape drive do you have? Standard VMS and OpenVMS TAPE distribution from DEC/CPQ/HP came on:

9-Track tape
TK50

Anything else required a hand-made kit. Older versions of VMS intended for VAXstations also came on 5" floppies, and that installation could be, um, interesting. CD distribution started AROUND the late V4-ish release timeframe.

bob