Subject: Vaxstation 2000 and VXT software, 4 plane color supported?

From: Soeren Gust <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat May 31 18:18:15 2003

Some time ago I got my hands on a Vaxstation 2000. I searched for some
Information about the machine and read somewhere that it should be possible
to run the VXT X terminal software on the VS 2000. The only version of the
VXT software I found was in VMS BACKUP format which I could not read. So I
put NetBSD on the machine, it runs disk-less from a PC with Linux.

Last week I searched again and found version 2.1 of the VXT software in tar
format, so I could finally try it. It works, but only in monochrome. If I
put my VS40X 4 plane color option board into the machine it seems to crash
when it has finished loading. Some pixels get randomly set and the machine
does not react on the break switch at the back. Is the color board
supported by the VXT software? Or is it a firmware issue? My board has
version 1.4, are there newer versions available? Or even older version?
Anybody want to swap firmware dumps?

The loading process via mop often takes several retries or even fails
completely, especially when loading the full VXT.SYS version. It seems to
work better if there is some load on the Linux server, perhaps the mop
daemon sends the data too fast. Has anybody else seen this effect? Is it
possible to use the VXTLDR.SYS to load the rest of the software via TCP/IP?
I know nearly nothing about DECNET and don't have any other DEC equipment
to run it on.

Another minor problem is that I don't have a real DEC mouse. I use a small
Atmel AT90S2313 micro-controller as protocol converter. It currently only
supports one mouse button and needs an Amiga mouse, but I plan to adapt it
to PS/2 mice. The information about the DEC mouse protocol I found leaves
some minor questions. How many packets per second does a real DEC mouse
send in stream mode? I chose to send 60 per second, as this was easy to
implement via the timer0 interrupt on the Atmel. What does a real DEC mouse
return as revision and manufacturer code? I return 0 for both but fear that
there may be some software which expects real data.

Soeren Gust

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From: Jochen Kunz <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun Jun 1 05:45:01 2003

On 2003.05.30 10:02 Soeren Gust wrote:

> Is the color board supported by the VXT software?
It shoud, as it is supportd in the VXT1300. (VXT1300 == VAXstation 3100 
without SCSI adapter) Maybe you have not enough RAM for color?

> Anybody want to swap firmware dumps?
IIRC I have version 2.somthing with the SCSI boot patches installed... 
But I doubt that the firmware is the problem. I have to look for the 
VXT software too. I have at least two different versions. 

> completely,
[...]
Maybe the Linux MOPd doesn't work proper? 

> Another minor problem is that I don't have a real DEC mouse.
It looks like you are from Germany? I think I have some extra VSxxx 
rodents. I can send you one if you want (to pay shipping).
-- 

tschüß,
           Jochen

Homepage: http://www.unixag-kl.fh-kl.de/~jkunz

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From: "Fred N. van Kempen" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun Jun 1 09:59:01 2003

On Fri, 30 May 2003, Soeren Gust wrote:

> Last week I searched again and found version 2.1 of
> the VXT software in tar format, so I could finally
> try it.
That is the most recent (final) version of VXT, as far
as I know.  It works on the VXT2000, 2000+, VT1300,
VAX 2000, and VAX 3100 series of machines, as long
as they have either monochrome graphics installed,
or a supported color option (4-plane, 8-plane GPX,
SPX, or SPX+ card).

The 2000 is tricky, in that its ROM implementation of
the MOP loader protocol is very picky about buffer
sizes during transfers, and since it has very space
to play with, transfers can fail, especially with
fast senders.

> It works, but only in monochrome.
Yup, it should.

> If I put my VS40X 4 plane color option board into the
> machine it seems to crash when it has finished loading.
Are you sure the board is OK?  I don't have a 4-plane in
my machine, but know for sure it should work.  Worst case,
get an 8plane GPX board (from an 3100) - they're availble,
dirt cheap and they work better :)

> version 1.4, are there newer versions available? Or even older version?
I believe mine is 1.7 or so, so this could be an issue.. if the ROM
does not initialize the card right, you might get into trouble. Also,
you need at least 8 or 12MB of RAM in the machine, as the entire MOP
image gets loaded (and then expanded) in memory.  It could well be
that your system crashes on memory limits while trying to decompress
the image and/or activating the color drivers.

If you need a reliable (even under Linux :) MOP server, let me know.

--fred

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From: "Fred N. van Kempen" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun Jun 1 10:23:00 2003

On Sun, 1 Jun 2003, Fred N. van Kempen wrote:

> as I know.
Hm.  That was supposed to be a direct reply, but, as per
usual, I keep forgetting the annoying cctalk reply
settings :)

--fred

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From: Ethan Dicks <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun Jun 1 21:57:00 2003

> If you need a reliable (even under Linux :) MOP server, let me know.

I need a MOP server for Solaris... no, really... I want to MOP-boot
my DECserver 300.

Thanks,

-ethan

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From: Soeren Gust <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri Jun 6 12:17:01 2003

> to play with, transfers can fail, especially with

If I put some load (cat /dev/urandom | gzip -9 >/dev/null) onto the sender
machine even the big VXT.SYS image gets loaded successfully every time
so far.

> my machine, but know for sure it should work.

I am not completely sure, but the console works and the board does not
show any errors in the TEST 0. The machine went through several hands
until it reached me, but the story says that it was running as X
terminal in its first life. It could be thrown out because of a defect.

> the image and/or activating the color drivers.

Could you perhaps dump the ROM and send it to me?  I do have 14MB RAM,
so thats not the problem.

> If you need a reliable (even under Linux :) MOP server, let me know.

Yes I am interested, can I download that somewhere?

Soeren

---

From: Soeren Gust <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri Jun 6 12:19:00 2003

> without SCSI adapter) Maybe you have not enough RAM for color?

I do have 14MB RAM, that should be enough.

> VXT software too. I have at least two different versions. 

The CPU firmware is 2.3 on my machine, 1.4 is the firmware version of the 
4 plane board according to TEST 50.

Soeren