HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: pechter@ocpt.ccur.com (Bill Pechter)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec.micro
Subject: Re: Rainbow 100+
Date: 9 Dec 92 18:42:09 GMT
Organization: Concurrent Computer Corp.,Information Services

In article <1992Dec7.222607.3388@newstand.syr.edu> amichiel@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Allen J Michielsen) writes:
>In article <> choff@cs.wright.edu (Carl C. Hoff) writes:
>
>I am in the process of acquiring a retired Rainbow for a friend.  I see the
>manual and previous posters discuss a couple things.  First a Z-80 and a 8088/6
>processor. 

The Z80/8088 dual processor configuration is standard in ALL Rainbows.

>   Second, if you have the DEC DOS 2.11, with either a floppy or floppy/HD, 
>can many/most/some software from the IBM DOS world be used on it.  I understand
>that the video adapter is different, but if the software uses bios calls, it
>should work if the DOS emulation is at all well done.

Well, the disk format is different and the system bios's were different.
If you use standard MSDOS INT calls you should be ok.

>  I also have been told that the floppy drives are 180K density to the DEC DOS 
>2.11.  I thought the floppies were double sided, is this a limitation of the
>software or IBM compatability.
>

The drives are Single Sided 80 track 10 sector (400k per drive).

These can be written by AT's with high density drives with some public
domain software.

>   If there is the DEC DOS 2.11 version available, usually for free, and the
>system isn't compatible, why would anybody buy a dos 3.1 or code blue.  Do
>both of these require the factory 8088/6 option ? 

These make it much more IBM compatible.

>is the controller and needed stuff available, cheap, can some/many/all of the
>currently available st-412 drives be used with the system (albeit with limited
>capacity).

You can use any ST506 drive.  The controller, however is the harder thing to
find.

Bill

(not a real Rainbow guy - I used to work for DEC when they came out
and I am a Robin VT180 owner).


-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Bill Pechter, N2RDI           | The postman always pings twice.
        Concurrent Computer Corp.     | pechter@ocpt.ccur.com
        2 Crescent Place, Oceanport, NJ 07757 - Tel:908-870-4780
From: tom@afthree.as.arizona.edu (Thomas J. Trebisky)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec.micro
Subject: Re: Rainbow 100+
Date: 11 Dec 92 23:18:42 GMT
Organization: University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

bruce@ais.com (Bruce C. Wright) writes:
>lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) writes:
>> bruce@ais.com (Bruce C. Wright) writes:
>>>You can use most drives with an ST506 interface on the Rainbow.  So you
>>>can use an ST-225 as a 5 or 10MB drive, though I'd rather use it as a
>>>20MB drive :-).  The Rainbow does support that, although you do have to
>>>get one of the PD disk formatting programs for it like WUTIL (the standard
>>>DEC disk formatting program didn't support anything but DEC drives, and
>>>the ST-225 doesn't have the same geometry as any DEC drive).
>> 
>> Wrong; the ST-225 *is* the RD-31.  It is standard on DECmate III+ and often
>> found in DM II.
>
>I do not believe that the Rainbow ever officially supported that drive;
>certainly the standard DEC hard disk drive formmater did not know about
>it.  I didn't necessarily mean that the drive wasn't used in _some_ DEC
>machines, but it wasn't supported on the Rainbow and the Rainbow software
>knew _nothing_ about it.  You need third-party software in order to use it.
>I think the point was that by the time the ST-225 was out, DEC had already
>effectively given up on the Rainbow.

Charles is right.  The DEC formatting software can indeed format an
ST225 (whatever approx. 20M capacity drive they offer works, probably
the RD-31).  Anyway, I know because I did it long before I ever got my
hands on Wutil, though that would certainly work too.  As to whether an
RD-31 is actually a DEC relabelled St225, probably, but who knows!
I remember hearing that DEC wanted an astronomical price for their
relabelled drives, but that is another story.  And besides that, my
second hand ST225 didn't live long  :-(
--
	Tom Trebisky	ttrebisky@as.arizona.edu
...."There's no sense in being precise when you don't even
.... know what you're talking about." 
                       - John von Neumann  
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec
From: zrepachol@cc.curtin.edu.au
Subject: Re: DEC workstation user feedback
Organization: Curtin University of Technology
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1992 18:56:12 GMT

In article <Bz5MA5.6F2@news.iastate.edu>, john@iastate.edu (John Hascall) writes:
> przemek@rrdstrad.nist.gov (Przemek Klosowski) writes:
> }Here's my two pennies: I wish DEC did away with this righteous sticking to
> }the idea that ESC _must_ only  be the beginning of an escape sequence,
> }and added an ESC key to their keyboards. It is just silly NOT to have
> }a hardware escape key, while  providing multiple options in software to 
> }configure escape on either F11 or ~ or ...
> 

Yeah, nearly 10 years since the VT2xx crap, and its only a marginal frob better.
BTW, ring your friendly salek and try to get a set of right-minded keycaps to
put on the re-configured keyboard. It makes for some Xmas fun and frivolity. God
how I would like to stick it on the end of a mega-buck order and add 'partial
shipment not aceptable'.

~Paul

Xref: sparky comp.sys.dec:6553 comp.os.vms:19568
From: carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU (Carl J Lydick)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec,comp.os.vms
Subject: Re: Logicals
Date: 19 Dec 1992 12:52:28 GMT
Organization: HST Wide Field/Planetary Camera
Distribution: world
Reply-To: carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU
NNTP-Posting-Host: sol1.gps.caltech.edu

In article <1992Dec18.012954.288@rlgsc.com>, gezelter@rlgsc.com writes:
=In article <1992Dec17.122619.14@condor>, cfstmpab@logica.co.uk writes:
=> Could you tell me, is there a call/or approach to obtain the
=> text of a logical, a sort of 'lib$get_logical'?
=> 
=> Also we had a problem where we couldn't delete a logical from 
=> the group table at DCL but on a simple system service call, it
=> was cleared. 

You were probably trying to delete the logical at the wrong access mode.
There are three access mode at which the DEASSIGN command can work:
	USER_MODE:  Normally not a problem, because these go away automatically
		at image rundown;
	SUPERVISOR_MODE:  The default access mode;
	EXECUTIVE_MODE:  This is the mode at which the logical name was
		probably defined.  To delete the logical, you need to
		DEASSIGN/EXEC.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carl J Lydick | INTERnet: CARL@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU | NSI/HEPnet: SOL1::CARL

Disclaimer:  Hey, I understand VAXen and VMS.  That's what I get paid for.  My
understanding of astronomy is purely at the amateur level (or below).  So
unless what I'm saying is directly related to VAX/VMS, don't hold me or my
organization responsible for it.  If it IS related to VAX/VMS, you can try to
hold me responsible for it, but my organization had nothing to do with it.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec
From: shor@utkvx3.utk.edu (Shor, Andy)
Subject: Free BSD for uVax II
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: University of Tennessee Computing Center
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 21:07:00 GMT

The net2 source distribution appears to have support for the uVax II.  Has
anyone tried it?  How complete is it?  I didn't see any support for bitmapped
displays.  Who would know about it?

Andy Shor
shor@utkvx.utk.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec
From: osyjm@cs.montana.edu (Jaye Mathisen)
Subject: Re: X11R5 server for the HX graphics controller?
Organization: CS
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 17:34:44 GMT

In article <MCGRANT.92Dec17172132@rascals.stanford.edu> mcgrant@rascals.stanford.edu (Michael C. Grant) writes:
>
>How much longer am I going to have to wait for Xws to handle 
>the HX graphics card?

From my experience, Ultrix 4.2,4.2a, 4.2C, and now 4.3, Xws has handled
my dual HX card workstation with 0 problems from the start...

So I would assume your wait has been over for some time.
-- 
 Jaye Mathisen, COE Systems Manager                (406) 994-4780
 410 Roberts Hall,Dept. of Computer Science
 Montana State University,Bozeman MT 59717	osyjm@cs.montana.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec
Subject: Re: DEC workstation user feedback
From: don@zl2tnm.gen.nz (Don Stokes)
Date: 13 Dec 92 04:45:39 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: The Wolery

przemek@rrdstrad.nist.gov (Przemek Klosowski) writes:
> Well, I am not sure if you are serious or joking. If you are serious, 
> I would just say that I want my work done; my understanding of ANSI
> escape sequences is that it is a standard for commands sent TO THE 
> CHARACTER-BASED TERMINALS. The usurpation of ESC for keystrokes send
> _from_ my Xterm is just unreasonable. What would be a reason for it,
> besides an overwhelming desire to literally obey?
> 
> A standard is just that: a standard way of doing things. As far as I
> know, only DEC insists on interpreting the ANSI standard for display
> commands as prohibiting the existence of an ESC keyboard key.

The VT100 keycodes are something of a de facto standard.  These (usually)
start with an ESC and follow the ANSI sequences.

Treating ESC as a keystroke is asking for trouble.  If an application 
receives an ESC, it can either treat it as one character or as a lead
in to a multiple character sequence.  IT CANNOT DO BOTH.  Instead, we 
have disgusting kludges like waiting a period of time for a following 
character and calling it a sequence if we get it or a bare ESC if we
don't.  Every time vi gets this wrong I want to go and KILL the STUPID
BLOODY FOOL who did this, and get the bad genes off the planet.

Death to the bare ESC, once and for all!

--
Don Stokes, ZL2TNM (DS555)                        don@zl2tnm.gen.nz (home)
Network Manager, Computing Services Centre            don@vuw.ac.nz (work)
Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand              +64-4-495-5052
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec,comp.lang.perl
From: harlan@Physik.TU-Muenchen.DE (Magnus Harlander)
Subject: Perl on Alpha AXP
Organization: Leibniz-Rechenzentrum, Muenchen (Germany)
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 18:06:06 GMT

Hi,

FYI: Perl compiles and tests out of the box on a DEC Alpha AXP3000/500
with DEC-OSF/1.2

The machine made a very stable and solid impression.

\Magnus
--
Magnus V. Harlander                   harlan@physik.tu-muenchen.de   
GeNUA mbH and Physics Dep. TUM         Tel: +49 (89) 714 3083
D-8000 Munich                               +49 (89) 3209-2192
         -----> Happy hacking with OPERATOR Beer. <-----
From: carrato@mhinfo.UUCP (Tony Carrato)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec
Subject: Re: DEC Design Tools (CDD, DEC repository), are they any good ?
Date: 20 Dec 92 20:48:44 GMT
Reply-To: carrato@mhinfo.UUCP (Tony Carrato)
Organization: Mile-High Information Services, Inc.

In article <4204@wzv.win.tue.nl> rob@wzv.win.tue.nl (Rob J. Nauta) writes:
>My boss thinks buying DEC design tools like CDD (Common Data Dictionary
>and DEC repository) will solve his problems concerning database management.
>Is this true, what are your experiences ?
>

Rob, there is nothing wrong with the DEC tools.  However, they are almost
certain NOT to solve any database management problems.  They hold things
like definitions nicely but I'm guessing that isn't your problem.  If
you can offer some more specifics on what the problems to be solved are
perhaps someone can provide more appropriate suggestions.

Tony


-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tony Carrato				Mile-High Information Services, Inc.
carrato@mhinfo.com			(303) 721-0851
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: bob@reed.edu (Robert Ankeney)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec
Subject: uVAX->PC file transfer via DELQA?
Date: 16 Dec 92 23:07:18 GMT
Article-I.D.: reed.1992Dec16.230718.15696
Organization: Reed College, Portland, OR


     We have a MicroVax II with a DELQA running Ultrix 4.1.  I'd like
to be able to transfer files between my PC and the VAX using some kind
of Ethernet card and software on my PC.  Does anyone know of a cheap and
easy way to do this?
     Thanks,
     Robert
From: jg@crl.dec.com (Jim Gettys)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec
Subject: Re: Graphics Board Woes
Date: 11 Dec 92 18:23:16 GMT
Organization: DEC Cambridge Research Lab


In article <1992Dec11.174451.29724@dsg.cs.tcd.ie>, you write:
> 
> 
> 
> We're having a bad time trying to get  HX graphics boards working with
> our DECstation 5000/120 machines (The monitors are Model VR319 type).  
> We've suffered with the MX boards for ages, and after a very long
> wait got word that DEC had replacement HX boards for our four 5000s.
> 
> We run Ultrix V4.2 on the machines.  The X servers available in /usr/bin are: 
> Xtm, Xtm2d and Xws (for PXG, PX and MX & CX boards respectively, I 
> understand).
> 
> When the new board is put in, we get a message about PMAGB-BA that
> starts with a '?'. This doesn't look good for starters, particularaly as DEC 
> support were talking about a PMAGB-BB on the phone.  Vmunix is then loaded, 
> the "starting at 0x80030000" message is printed, and the console hangs.
> One interpretation is that the kernel hasn't got support for the new
> board built into it.  I built a kernel with the GENERIC config file and 
> booted with it, but the same thing happened again. 
> 
> There are so many questions:
> 
> (1) Do I have the right board ?  Written on the board itself is "PMAGB-B"
>     (there is no letter after the final "B").

Sounds like it.  The types are only distinguisable by how they are jumpered
and the frequency on a crystal to determine the monitor type.

> (2) Is it going to work with Ultrix V4.2 (or do I have to upgrade first ?
>     For filesystem reasons (AFS in fact), we haven't upgraded to 4.3.  Maybe 
>     we need 4.2A ?)

You need 4.2A or later (4.3 for example), as memory serves.

> (3) Have I even got the X server binary that is appropriate for this board ?
>     (I fear not).

No, you don't, if my memory is correct.


> (4) What kernel configuration options do I need for the new board ?
> 

Just appropriate "fb" device entries.

Note that fewer servers are needed in the future; the multiscreen support
allows the same server to support many display types.  It has taken a release
or two to qualify the combinatorial display permutations, so you have to
look at the release notes to figure out what server is for you.  In general,
after the transition is over you'll just have to configure your kernel for
the device type and a single server will run (on Alpha/OSF, there is only a single
server, and display types are (in principle at least) dynamically loadable).
				- Jim Gettys

-- 
Digital Equipment Corporation
Cambridge Research Laboratory
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec
From: blair@snogum.enet.dec.com (Blair Phillips - Digital)
Subject: Re: DEC Design Tools (CDD, DEC repository), are they any good ?
Reply-To: blair@snogum.enet.dec.com 
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 00:11:23 GMT


In article <4204@wzv.win.tue.nl>, rob@wzv.win.tue.nl (Rob J. Nauta) writes:
>
>My boss thinks buying DEC design tools like CDD (Common Data Dictionary
>and DEC repository) will solve his problems concerning database management.
>Is this true, what are your experiences ?
>
Buying tools never solves problems! However, the process you put in place to
solve the problems may be able to make good use of tools.

If used wisely, in a well designed process, CDD/Repositiory is a very valuable
tool.

First, some clarifications:

CDD/Repository is the first implementation of DEC's repository. They are not
separate products.

CDD/Administrator is a management tool for CDD/Repository. It is highly
desirable if you intend to do any extensions to the repository data models.

DECdesign is an analysis/design tool (like Cadre Teamwork or IDE) that uses 
CDD/Repository for an object store (on VMS), and can generate data definitions
for CDD/R.

Assumptions:
Operating system is OpenVMS
Database is Rdb/VMS
Programming is done in DEC 3gl languages or a 4gl that supports CDD.

CDD is very useful for managing the data definitions for an enterprise. It can
be used as the common definition store for Rdb and for most common 3gls. I have
used it from COBOL, FORTRAN, Pascal and C. Many of the popular 4gls (eg.Rally,
Powerhouse) can also work with CDD.

This is of particular value on very large projects, or where a large number of
projects share data definitions. One customer site I worked at had close to 100
applications sharing common definitions, and presented interesting coordination
problems. The ability to refer to data definitions in another repository is
very valuable in these cases. You can set up corporate, application and
developer level repositories and inherit definitions form one to another.

Managing the repositories on a large site is a problem in itself, and really
need to be sorted out before you invest the effort to populate the
repositories. If you have a large site, it would be worth getting an
experienced consultant to advise on this.

CDD/Plus V4 had some bad performance problems, and this alienated a lot of
users, particularly those who had moved form earlier versions without changing
their data dictionary structure or management. The performance in
CDD/Repository V5.x is much better, but the need for careful design is still
there.

CDD/Repository will not help at all with other dba problems such as logical and
physical design, database tuning, backup strategies etc. DECdesign and
RdbExpert can help with some of these problems.
--
----------
Blair Phillips					Blair@snogum.enet.dec.com
Digital Equipment Corp (Aust) P/L		Phone: (+61 6) 2754874
Canberra, Australia				FAX  : (+61 6) 2473654
{Any opinions expressed are my own, not those of Digital Equipment Corporation}

Xref: sparky comp.sys.dec:6493 comp.os.vms:19377 vmsnet.sysmgt:402
From: pbricker@rdth2 (Preston Bricker)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec,comp.os.vms,vmsnet.sysmgt
Subject: Re: What's wrong with standalone backup?
Date: 15 Dec 92 20:03:00 GMT
Organization: Dept. of Radiotherapy; Loyola Univ. Med Ctr
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <9675155@MVB.SAIC.COM>, Hoverson@Fwva.Saic.Com (Jeff Hoverson %%% SAIC %%% 619535-7043 %%%) writes...
>avk@hafnium.cchem.berkeley.edu (Tony Konashenok) writes:
>>I am trying to restore my system disk (RD53) from backup tape (TK50).
>>I boot standalone backup from TK50, it comes to "$" prompt, and I
>>enter
>>       backup/image/initialize/log _mua0:backup1.sav/save_set _dua0:
>>
>>(also tried it with fewer qualifiers).
>>It calibrates the tape (which is by that time loaded and ready),
>>probably finds the file backup1.sav, and says:
>>
>> ... Mount volume 1 in _SABKUP$MUA0: for reading
>>     Enter "YES" when ready:
>>
>>I enter YES - it does *nothing* and repeats the same request.
>>Entering YES doesn't help in any tape status (ready, just made ready,
>>not ready), and there seems to be no way to get out of this loop
>>except rebooting. If I initially load a wrong tape, BACKUP examines
>>it all, reports "no such file" and comes back to "$".
>>
>>What is wrong in my actions? If nothing, what is wrong with BACKUP ?
> 
>It *APPEARS* that you are entering the needed commands properly.  A couple of
>comments:
> 
>   o If you are using VMS V5.5 and have a slave printer connected to
>     your console, there is a known bug which manifests itself when
>     you respond to device mount questions.  If you enter `Y', the
>     system hangs and the characters "ES" are not echoed.
> 
>  o It is conceivable that the system is allocating space on your
>    system disk for the "new" files.  This can take a fair amount
>    of time on slower VAXen.  However, I would suspect you would
>    be able to verify this by watching the disk activity light on
>    the front of your RD53.  If you see it flickering occasionally,
>    this may be the case.
> 
>  o Also, you can NOT specify the command qualifier /NOASSIST when
>    using standalone BACKUP.
> 
>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
>  Jeff Hoverson                    |       (619)535-7043
>  SAIC                             |       Hoverson@Fwva.Saic.Com
>  10260 Campus Point Dr., MS D2    |       VAX/VMS System Manager
>  San Diego, CA  92121             |       But, I coulda' been ....
>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

A question!  Are the underscores before the drive names mandatory,
optional or erroneous?

pbricker@rdth2.rdth.luc.edu
From: jeh@cmkrnl.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec
Subject: Re: SCSI Turbochannel option on DEC3000/400
Date: 12 Dec 92 08:30:53 GMT
Organization: Kernel Mode Consulting, San Diego, CA

In article <AJC.92Dec10135230@thendara.pa.dec.com>, ajc@pa.dec.com 
(AJ Casamento) writes:
>   I'm afraid that the product literature may have confused you. It is true 
> that both the DEC3000/400 and the DEC3000/500 have two separate SCSI-2
> channels. However, in both cases one of the NCR53C94 chips is dedicated to
> the internal storage. On the DEC3000/500 the internal storage can be up to
> 6 devices (of which two can be removable media). On the DEC3000/400 the 
> internal storage can be up to 3 devices (of which one can be removable media).

... with the wiring and connectors supplied by DEC.  Is there any technical
reason why the "internal" SCSI chain can't be extended to the outside (as can
be done rather trivially on, for example, the dual-SCSI VAXstation 3100's) ? 

	--- Jamie Hanrahan, Kernel Mode Consulting, San Diego CA
Chair, Programming and Internals Working Group, U.S. DECUS VMS Systems SIG 
Internet:  jeh@cmkrnl.com, hanrahan@eisner.decus.org, or jeh@crash.cts.com
Uucp:  ...{crash,eisner,uunet}!cmkrnl!jeh
Xref: sparky comp.sys.dec:6465 comp.lang.perl:7399
From: stevel@Autodesk.COM (Steven W. Litras)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec,comp.lang.perl
Subject: Re: Perl on Alpha AXP
Date: 14 Dec 92 05:02:32 GMT
Followup-To: comp.sys.dec
Organization: Autodesk Inc., Sausalito CA, USA

iglesias@draco.acs.uci.edu (Mike Iglesias) writes:
::In article <harlan.724097166@Physik.TU-Muenchen.DE> harlan@Physik.TU-Muenchen.DE (Magnus Harlander) writes:
:: 
:: >FYI: Perl compiles and tests out of the box on a DEC Alpha AXP3000/500
:: >with DEC-OSF/1.2
:: 
	
	My favorite part about compiling perl on it was the "You're not 
	supposed to know about this system" message when running Configure.:)
:: 
:: >The machine made a very stable and solid impression.
:: 
:: Yes, it is a nice system.

	Especially the big heatsink.. :) All kidding aside, it is a nice
	system.

--
Steven W. Litras          /\     | "I used  to  think  that  only      /\
stevel@autodesk.com      //\\    | America's way  was right,  but     //\\
Autodesk, Inc.	        ///\\\   | now  the  holy   dollar  rules    ///\\\
(415)332-2344x2510     Autodesk  | everybody's life" -Queensryche   Autodesk
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec
From: payter@umbc4.umbc.edu (The Flying Dutchman)
Subject: Internal hard Drive for a DecStation 2100.
Organization: <Insert Commercial Here>
Distribution: dc
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 00:54:34 GMT

    Need (an) internal hard drive(s) for a DecStation 2100 to solidify a really
good deal I'd get on the machine.  All it has to do is work; any software on it
will be subsequently erased.  Muchas thanks.

    Later,

    Payter.

;-)
-- 
Payter Y. Versteegen       G * i  
5454 Harper's Farm Rd #C4  o * n  Live every day as if it were your last...
Columbia, MD 21044         S * t  One day, you're sure to be right.
payter@umbc4.umbc.edu      a * s