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Installing BASIC on Open VMS 5.5 |
Carduelis
Member
Posts: 1
Joined: 04.04.16 |
| Posted on November 21 2019 06:52 |
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I have just acquired a Microvax 4000.90. All seems well with it however I have no programming languages installed. I have joined the Hobbyist Programme and now have access to ZIP files for several compilers. Great!
My machine doesn't have a CD drive and I haven't been able to directly FTP them from the hobbyist site although I can download them onto a PC and then transfer to the VAX via my local network. Unfortunately this version of VMS doesn't seem to recognise ZIP files.
If I unzip on the PC the extracted files lose their attributes when I transfer them to the VAX . I found a command file 'Fixsaveset' but this uses the 'SET FILES /Attribute' command which again doesn't exist on my VAX.
I would be very grateful for any advice. |
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RE: Installing BASIC on Open VMS 5.5 |
Bruce Claremont
Member
Posts: 623
Joined: 07.01.10 |
| Posted on November 22 2019 03:14 |
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Hunt around for OpenVMS Freeware. The Freeware collection includes a VMS compatible zip utility. |
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RE: Installing BASIC on Open VMS 5.5 |
abrsvc
Member
Posts: 108
Joined: 12.03.10 |
| Posted on November 23 2019 05:18 |
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I believe that you can use the convert utility to "fix" the files. The set file/attr command just changes the attributes without creating another file. The convert will create a new file, but it should be usable. Create the FDL required by analyzing an existing backup saveset. |
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| Author |
RE: Installing BASIC on Open VMS 5.5 |
malmberg
Moderator
Posts: 530
Joined: 15.04.08 |
| Posted on December 05 2019 03:26 |
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A common reason for VMS not recognizing .ZIP files is that the files were FTP transferred at some point in ASCII mode instead of BINARY mode. Which means that the transferred file is corrupt beyond recognition.
VMS has no support for ZIP files built in. You have to use a port of the UNZIP utility.
While you can find early freeware CD distributions with a UNZIP built for VMS 5.5, it will be an ancient version and may not grok zip files made with newer versions. But that is probably your fastest option and will probably work.
I would strongly recommend setting up a SimH /VAX instance with OpenVMS 7.3 and the current unzip utilities available from the sourceforge VMS-PORTS or GNV projects.
Setup the SimH/VAX system as a LAVC boot node. You can then boot your MicroVAX as a diskless cluster node. This will allow you to use the SimH VAX to do any unzipping that you need, and it can mount the disks of the real MicroVAX to transfer files, or to even copy over a CD-ROM image to upgrade the VAX.
The lifetime of the SCSI and IDE disks is limited, and any device on the used market is just as likely to fail as the drives in the box you have.
Setting up a SimH/VAX cluster means that you can run your physical VAX with new disk volumes up to 1 TB in size with VAX/VMS 7.3. |
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RE: Installing BASIC on Open VMS 5.5 |
malmberg
Moderator
Posts: 530
Joined: 15.04.08 |
| Posted on December 05 2019 03:30 |
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If you have acquired a used system that has a previous non-hobby version of VMS on it, you probably want to make sure that you have a copy any existing license keys (non-expiriing).
The license issue (or something like that) will display on the console the license keys in a format that they can be re-entered. As I recall, this disables the keys, but they can be re-enabled.
But for hobbyist use, run with the HPE issued hobbyist keys. |
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