[vcf-midatlantic] Using simH to make a real bootable RSX11/M 3.2 RL02 disk

[Dave McGuire]

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