I'm not dumb, but I tend to forget things. Like, when I haven't used RSX-11 for a while, I sometimes have to get back to the manual to check "what was the exact command again?", "which file was it I need to edit?", "how did I do the upgrade last time?", and so on. And it's not even RSX-11 only, it happens with a lot of stuff. "Oh man, how did I do that the last time around, it can't have been more than a couple of months ago?!?". Only the totally useless trivia I seem to remember forever, the stuff I actually need...somewhat less. But at least I do remember that at one time I did know, and am able to rediscover it over and over again.
Of course it helps to write things down, and that is basically what this page is for, at least PDP-11 related. Or maybe I should broaden it a bit and make it "Retro computing" related, I don't know yet. So, in other words, here are some ramblings and notes to myself. Retro-hosted on the PiDP-11, of course!
Let's start with the chicken and the egg. I need to upload this page, but how do I do that? I could read my notes on my PDP-11 web site, but that page hasn't been uploaded yet because I forgot how to. Yeah... Well no, just kidding, I do know, and here's how:
RSX-11 is not UNIX, but it can still compile and run C programs (if the C compiler is installed). Assuming the filename is "FILE":
Here's a big one. RSX-11M-PLUS may be old, but some people still feel the love for this Operating System and are putting much effort in keeping RSX-11 relevant in the 21st century. Johnny Billquist in particular is owed much by the community in this regard, two of his achievements which make RSX-11 much more easy to use (everything is relative, of course) are the RPM Package Manager (totally unrelated to RedHat's RPM format) and the fully working TCP suite. Check out his PiDP-11 page and the PiDP-11 Forum.
Anyway, Johnny sometimes releases new RSX-11M-PLUS images which can be used to install it from scratch, or update an existing system with whilst keeping all settings intact. This writeup is merely a copy from his PiDP-11 page, plus some feedback I was able to give. Commands to enter are in bold here:
BRU - Starting Tape 1 on MU0: BRU - End of Tape 1 on MU0: BRU - Completed
Loading Executive data space Data space loading completed VMR -- *DIAG*-Installed tasks or commons may no longer fit in partition SET /TOP=SYSPAR:-* VMR -- *DIAG*-Loadable driver larger than 4K LOA TT: VMR -- *DIAG*-Installed tasks or commons may no longer fit in partition SET /TOP=DRVPAR:-* SECPOL 117734 00200400 01000000 SEC POOL SYSPAR 117670 01200400 00205400 MAIN 117624 01200400 00115300 RO COM !DIR11M! 117434 01315700 00005200 TASK [...LDR] 117230 01323100 00033300 TASK [MCR...] 117024 01356400 00010500 TASK [TKTN ] 116620 01367100 00003200 TASK [SHF...] 116414 01372300 00013500 TASK [RCT...] DRVPAR 116334 01406000 00147300 MAIN 116270 01406000 00006700 RO COM !TTEXT ! 116204 01414700 00020700 RO COM !TTCOM ! 116120 01435600 00035000 DRIVER (TT:) 115320 01472600 00003500 DRIVER (DL:) 115254 01476300 00005100 RO COM !PUCOM ! 114454 01503400 00014000 DRIVER (DU:) 114120 01517400 00011500 DRIVER (MU:) 113730 01531100 00000100 DRIVER (NL:) 113664 01531200 00017400 DRIVER (VF:) 113620 01550600 00000300 DRIVER (CO:) 113554 01551100 00002500 DRIVER (VT:) 113510 01553600 00001500 DRIVER (RD:) GEN 113444 01555300 15222500 MAIN ...LDR 12.01 117500 SYSPAR 248. 00005200 LB0:-00522631 FIXED TKTN 07.01 117070 SYSPAR 248. 00010500 LB0:-00554221 FIXED F11MSG 15.00 111240 GEN 200. 00006300 LB0:-00542504 MTAACP 17.00 110644 GEN 200. 00016200 LB0:-00547167 SHE... 06.01 110374 GEN 200. 00014500 LB0:-00552637 MCR... 08.00 117274 SYSPAR 160. 00033300 LB0:-00546144 FIXED F11ACP 07.00D 113230 GEN 149. 00041000 LB0:-00541223 ERRLOG 05.03 112670 GEN 148. 00056300 LB0:-00541070 PMT... 02.02 112230 GEN 148. 00007500 LB0:-00550100 COT... 02.04 111364 GEN 145. 00014300 LB0:-00535324 HRC... 05.00 110770 GEN 140. 00042500 LB0:-00543270 PMD... 07.05 110520 GEN 140. 00017600 LB0:-00550050 SYSLOG 04.04 111760 GEN 130. 00024500 LB0:-00553077 SHF... 07.01 116664 SYSPAR 105. 00003200 LB0:-00552656 FIXED RCT... 06.02 116460 SYSPAR 100. 00013500 LB0:-00550544 FIXED UML... 02.01 111634 GEN 100. 00023500 LB0:-00554262 FXR... 03.02 111114 GEN 100. 00003300 LB0:-00542476 BAP0 04.11 113014 GEN 80. 00050300 LB0:-00533001 QMG... 06.04 112104 GEN 75. 00037300 LB0:-00550503 LP0 07.04 112450 GEN 70. 00020300 LB0:-00545462 ACNT 06.10 111510 GEN 50. 00057300 LB0:-00532367 SHUTUP 04.04 110250 GEN 50. 00016500 LB0:-00552663 ...RMD 05.00 002042+ GEN 225. 00042000 LB0:-00550566 ...DCL 06.01 002016+ GEN 160. 00062500 LB0:-00535631 ...DMO 04.02 002020+ GEN 160. 00017400 LB0:-00536605 ...MCR 08.36 002034+ GEN 160. 00040300 LB0:-00546201 ...MOU 26.06 002036+ GEN 160. 00045600 LB0:-00547076 ...CA. 01.00 002072+ GEN 150. 00026200 LB0:-00553126 ...INS 17.00 002032+ GEN 100. 00053300 LB0:-00544155 ...SAV 11.00 002066+ GEN 100. 00070500 LB0:-00523100 ...UFD 07.03 002074+ GEN 100. 00023700 LB0:-00554234 ...VCP V04.10 002076+ GEN 90. 00020300 LB0:-00554431 ...ACS 04.00 002050+ GEN 70. 00006200 LB0:-00532622 ...ACC 05.00 002010+ GEN 65. 00032100 LB0:-00532130 ...SHA 06.01 002070+ GEN 65. 00032200 LB0:-00552464 ...AT. 10.0 002024+ GEN 64. 00056500 LB0:-00543541 ...INI 24.00 002026+ GEN 60. 00037300 LB0:-00544061 ...HOM 24.00 002030+ GEN 60. 00037300 LB0:-00544061 ...BRO 09.10 002012+ GEN 50. 00041600 LB0:-00533130 ...BYE 06.05 002014+ GEN 50. 00022000 LB0:-00533435 ...HEL 06.10 002022+ GEN 50. 00031600 LB0:-00542634 ...PIP 22.00 002040+ GEN 50. 00027500 LB0:-00547574 ...UNL 05.04 002044+ GEN 50. 00021500 LB0:-00554357 ...ACD 03.00 002046+ GEN 50. 00042600 LB0:-00532221 ...BOO 03.10 002052+ GEN 50. 00047300 LB0:-00532727 ...CON 05.00 002054+ GEN 50. 00135600 LB0:-00535122 ...ELI 04.04 002056+ GEN 50. 00032600 LB0:-00541033 ...LOA 05.03 002060+ GEN 50. 00040100 LB0:-00545265 ...MAG 03.00 002062+ GEN 50. 00037300 LB0:-00546102 ...PSW 03.03 002064+ GEN 50. 00017600 LB0:-00550166 YLA OFL CPA CSR=177560 VEC=60 PRI=5 YZA OFL CPA CSR=160100 VEC=300 PRI=5 DLA OFL CPA CSR=174400 VEC=160 PRI=5 DUA OFL CPA CSR=172150 VEC=154 PRI=5 MUA OFL CPA CSR=174500 VEC=260 PRI=5 VF0: OFL DRIVER VF1: OFL DRIVER CO0: OFL DRIVER TT0: YLA0: OFL DRIVER TT1: YZA0: OFL DRIVER TT2: YZA1: OFL DRIVER TT3: YZA2: OFL DRIVER TT4: YZA3: OFL DRIVER TT5: YZA4: OFL DRIVER TT6: YZA5: OFL DRIVER TT7: YZA6: OFL DRIVER TT10: YZA7: OFL DRIVER VT0: OFL DRIVER RD0: ONL DRIVER DL0: DLA0: OFL DRIVER DL1: DLA1: OFL DRIVER DL2: DLA2: OFL DRIVER DL3: DLA3: OFL DRIVER DU0: DUA0: OFL DRIVER DU1: DUA1: OFL DRIVER DU2: DUA2: OFL DRIVER DU3: DUA3: OFL DRIVER MU0: MUA0: OFL DRIVER NL0: OFL DRIVER POOL=1200:13280.:13280.:2004
XDT: 87
RSX-11M-PLUS V4.6 BL87
RSX-11M-PLUS V4.6 BL87 1920.KW System:"PIDP " >RED DU:=SY: >RED DU:=LB: >RED DU:=SP: >MOU DU0:"RSX11MPBL87" >@DU:[1,2]STARTUP >* Please enter time and date (HH:MM DD-MMM-YYYY) [S T:1M]:
>@ <EOF>
DMO -- System disk being dismounted DMO -- SYSTEM dismounted from DU0: *** Final dismount initiated *** 00:00:12 *** DU0: -- Dismount complete >
RSX-11M-PLUS V4.6 BL87 1920.KW System:"PIDP " >RED DU:=SY: >RED DU:=LB: >RED DU:=SP: >MOU DU0:"RSX11MPBL87" >@DU:[1,2]STARTUP >* Please enter time and date (HH:MM DD-MMM-YYYY) [S T:1M]:
Not RSX-11 related, but here's one I keep searching for over and over again, and it's so simple...: