Using simH to make a real bootable RSX11/M 3.2 RL02 disk
Now that I have my PDP 11/40 running with twin RL02's I have been having fun with it by using simH to make disks and then porting them to an actual disk using PDPGUI program. Here's a good example, if you're looking to run RSX11/M on a PDP 11, I worked through a way to get it onto an RL02 drive. Version 3.2 will run on any PDP 11 with 64K, even 11/20. http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=668 I skimmed the web for a week, plus got some ideas and suggestions from simH users. The hard part was to find a way to get an operating system only found on RL01 drives to an actual RL02 drive. Most people believe RSX11/M is better than RT-11 I don't know yet, I was more interested in the process of making disks using simH. There is a lot of potential to do disk and tape operations with simH that would be impractical with actual hardware as very few of us have the real things. I would love to run UNIX 6, but I have a bad extended instruction set card (EIS M7238) so I have to wait for that to get fixed before I can run UNIX :-( Bill
On 02/06/2017 10:30 PM, william degnan via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Now that I have my PDP 11/40 running with twin RL02's I have been having fun with it by using simH to make disks and then porting them to an actual disk using PDPGUI program. Here's a good example, if you're looking to run RSX11/M on a PDP 11, I worked through a way to get it onto an RL02 drive. Version 3.2 will run on any PDP 11 with 64K, even 11/20.
http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=668
I skimmed the web for a week, plus got some ideas and suggestions from simH users. The hard part was to find a way to get an operating system only found on RL01 drives to an actual RL02 drive. Most people believe RSX11/M is better than RT-11 I don't know yet, I was more interested in the process of making disks using simH. There is a lot of potential to do disk and tape operations with simH that would be impractical with actual hardware as very few of us have the real things.
Very cool. But, crap, I wish I'd known you were noodling so hard to figure that out. I've had that workflow set up for years; I could have saved you a lot of research time and effort. I generate bootable images under simh, then FTP them over to a MicroVAX-II running VMS set up as a media transfer station for RL packs. The same process works for RA series disks; there's a KDA50 controller in that same MicroVAX-II system. As for RSX11 vs. RT11...that depends on who you ask, and, of course, what your application is. RT11 is fairly boring; it doesn't really do much. RSX11 is very much a "kitchen sink" OS, extremely powerful. But that power doesn't come for free; there's some overhead, while RT11 is very slim. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
Very cool. But, crap, I wish I'd known you were noodling so hard to figure that out.
That's OK good learning experience.
I've had that workflow set up for years; I could have saved you a lot of research time and effort. I generate bootable images under simh, then FTP them over to a MicroVAX-II running VMS set up as a media transfer station for RL packs.
<snip> That's a good thought, to use a VAX as a tweener system bridge given there are rl controllers available for them, a lot faster than bot banging through PDPGUI via serial port, a full rl02 takes three hours almost.
As for RSX11 vs. RT11...that depends on who you ask, and, of course,
what your application is. RT11 is fairly boring; it doesn't really do much. RSX11 is very much a "kitchen sink" OS, extremely powerful. But that power doesn't come for free; there's some overhead, while RT11 is very slim.
I have many paper docs for RSX11/M and its programming languages that I can use. For RT11 I have only the pocket guide. So for me the advantage of one over the other is easier access to documentation. I like the physical manuals over PDFs. Another consideration is... what OS would have been in use originally on an Industrial/11 from 74-76 period with a lot of MASBUS controllers? I'd like to explore what would have been done with this machine, maybe start a paper mill or something. B
On Feb 6, 2017, at 22:30, william degnan via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote:
I skimmed the web for a week, plus got some ideas and suggestions from simH users. The hard part was to find a way to get an operating system only found on RL01 drives to an actual RL02 drive. Most people believe RSX11/M is better than RT-11 I don't know yet, I was more interested in the process of making disks using simH. There is a lot of potential to do disk and tape operations with simH that would be impractical with actual hardware as very few of us have the real things.
"Better" is very subjective and depends on your use case. RT-11 is much lighter weight, but much less sophisticated. Think DOS vs. UNIX; DOS is a simple, single-user shell on top of the hardware, while UNIX is a grown-up OS with multiple users, processes, services, etc. but with higher overhead and a steeper learning curve. It's all a matter of what you want to use it for. - Dave
participants (3)
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Dave McGuire -
David Riley -
william degnan