I have a Personal Workstation 433au set up with two drives so I can boot either OpenVMS 8.3 or Debian Linux on it. Since the machine currently has no graphics adapter card, this requires another computer with terminal emulation software attached to the serial port of the Alpha with a null modem cable. That works but is a bit clumsy. I'd like to make the process easier if possible, but haven't found any advice on doing so.
Device dka0 contains OpenVMS, while dka1 contains Debian. It seems that I should be able to 'set os_type unix' or 'set os_type openvms' and then boot the appropriate device (the flags are zero for both) but this doesn't quite work. If Linux has been running and shutdown, returning to the >>> prompt, merely setting the os_type and rebooting to OpenVMS fails. It locks up somewhere after the OS banner is displayed, without giving a diagnostic message. It is apparently necessary to turn the power off after shutting down Debian, and then turn it back on to boot OpenVMS. The same problem doesn't occur when OpenVMS is shut down and Debian is booted after it. That works as expected.
Is there some way to tell SRM to reinitialize as from power-on, without actually cycling the power? I'm guessing that when Linux exits it leaves some register or variable with an inappropriate value...
well, not sure about Linux, but with booting VMS or Tru64, you need to pass different flags to bootstrap, usually "-fl 0,0" for VMS and "-fl a" for Tru64 (without that, it inits to single mode, which you have to log out from to continue). From the looks of it though, it seems that Linux kernel could mess up some internal machine state that prevents any other system from booting, normally the CPU is reinitialized from bootstrap. Try "init".
Linux uses the boot flags to select from a menu of configuration choices, with 0 normally being the default for the particular installation and sometimes the only choice that has been installed. So yes, 0 is a valid choice for Linux. The 'a' used with Tru64 causes an error with the Linux boot loader, forcing it to stop and present a menu of the available configurations. (Which is something I've taken advantage of before, but it's not a normal thing to do.)
I just tried 'init' and that does the trick. It's a brute force solution, but unless I can figure out exactly what the problem is, at least it's a solution. Thanks.
malmberg March 24 2018 Probably. More people hang out on the comp.os.vms newsgroup.
vaxpert March 23 2018 I have a PE42A and other Alpha system stuff for sale. I'm in So California. Any interest out there?
goodbyespy February 27 2018 To Prohorenko. Please, visit group OpenVMS in the ok.ru
peteherrera February 24 2018 How much does it cost to buy a complete OpenVMS hardcopy documentation set of the latest version
prohorenko February 17 2018 Please help to obtain the license on OpenVMS
malmberg December 12 2017 HPE only makes the most current version of OpenVMS Alpha / IA64 /VAX available to hobbyists. When I had access to the Alliance 1 program it was the same. No public downloads are allowed by HPE.
nmbonao December 08 2017 Is anybody knows OpenVMS 8.2 version downloadable version? or CD copy? Thank you very much
aarommes December 02 2017 Bitcoin and Blockchain enthusiasts ( plus distributed computing ) please connec / reply: http://www.openvmshobbyis t.com/forum/viewthread.ph p?forum_id=130&thread_id= 2991
malmberg September 10 2017 https://sourceforge.net/p /vms-ports/wiki/VMSInstal lation/ For the most part just use VMS 6.1 media instead of 7.3. But why run the older release?
DoeveR August 07 2017 Where can I find the write up on running VMS 6.1 using the simh emulator?
Bart March 20 2017 Happy to have found my password again!
peteherrera March 04 2017 It would be nice to be able to buy the lastest hardcopy full OpenVMS docset at a very reduced price through the Hobbyist program.
malmberg February 05 2017 Decus > Connect > Encompass<Country>
