Subject: VAXstation 4000/60 /90 question

From: "Zane H. Healy" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon Mar 3 22:37:59 2003

I've managed to find the pieces (or at least the most important, which is
one of my two RD54's) to do some performance testing on Doc's recent idea
of using a network disk instead of a local disk to get better performance
than a RQDX3/RD54 combo offers.

As a result I'm trying to get either a VAXstation 4000/60 or /90 setup so
that I can use it as the host.  In doing this I ran into a slight problem
with VAX/VMS V5.5-2, it doesn't like my 3rd party SCSI disks that I've got
in the /90.  Not a big problem as I've got some brand new (!) RZ25's that I
can put into one of the systems, and I want to put a RRD42 into one of them
as well.

Stupid question, how to I go about getting the cover off of the 5 1/4" bay,
and am I supposed to have another piece of plastic to go there?  If it
requires another piece of plastic (that I don't have), I'll just hook the
drive up internally long enough to do the install.

Now to decide which system gets a V5.5-2 install, I'll probably go with the
/90 as it's my fastest VAX, and will therefore be the best for building
software on.

			Zane

--
| Zane H. Healy                    | UNIX Systems Administrator |
| [email-masked] (primary)    | OpenVMS Enthusiast         |
|                                  | Classic Computer Collector |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
|     Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing,    |
|          PDP-10 Emulation and Zane's Computer Museum.         |
|                http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/               |

---

From: Doc Shipley <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon Mar 3 22:38:06 2003

> drive up internally long enough to do the install.

  There's a bezel that goes where the blank was.  If you don't have it,
there's a ~3/8" gap all around the CD-ROM drive.

  I just use an external CD-ROM drive.

	Doc

---

From: "r. 'bear' stricklin" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon Mar 3 22:38:52 2003

> can put into one of the systems, and I want to put a RRD42 into one of them

Are you sure it's the disks? I have VMS 5.5-2 and it would not install on
my /90 at all. I don't remember now how it behaved, but it definitely did
not work. Since I was using real RZ25s and an RRD46, there's no way it
could've been due to third-party drives.

Either Megan or Allison told me that 5.5-4 was the minimum for a /90. I
ended up having to get my hands on 7.1 media, which worked just fine.

Good luck.

ok
r.

---

From: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue Mar 4 02:44:39 2003

> Either Megan or Allison told me that 5.5-4 was the minimum for a /90.

This link:

http://h71000.www7.hp.com/openvms/supportchart.html

shows which version is required. For a 4000/90 it appears
to be 5.5-2HW (i.e. 5.5-2 plus a hardware patch).

---

From: "Zane H. Healy" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue Mar 4 12:42:00 2003

>Are you sure it's the disks?

Yes, BUT....

> I have VMS 5.5-2 and it would not install on

I think this is the other problem.  I was just getting ready to post asking
what the minimum version was.  I put a BA353 on the system with a RZ29 in
it.  I was able to restore VMS055.B from the V1 Hobbyist CD, but it won't
boot off of the RZ29, and I just realize that the V1 Hobbyist CD uses
V6.1's Standalone backup.

OK, I've got a solution, I just hooked the BA353 and external 4x CD-ROM up
to the VAXstation 4000-60 and the VAX/VMS V5.5 install is running :^)

I just hope the V1 Hobbyist CD has the necessary parts of VAX/VMS to use
DECnet and clustering (can anyone remember if that was part of the base
install for VAX/VMS).

For anyone wondering why on earth I'm trying to get such an old version of
VMS running, I want to cluster the system with a MicroVAX II and I don't
want to have to reload the RD54 (though I might have to in the long run).

			Zane

---

From: "Antonio Carlini" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue Mar 4 12:43:05 2003

>to be 5.5-2HW (i.e. 5.5-2 plus a hardware patch).

Except I think 5.5-2HW came out *before* 5.5-2. The
later "patch" was V5.5-2H4. A somewhat confusing time
for all, IIRC.

So 5.5-2 should be fine.

Note, however, that the reason given for loading this
old a version was cluster interoperability with the
other system's V5.5-2. V6.2 will in fact interoperate
with V5.5-2. It's not supported for anything other
than a migration - which means it will work fine for
you!

Antonio
 
-- 

---------------
Antonio Carlini             [email-masked]

---

From: no <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue Mar 4 12:46:18 2003

> drive up internally long enough to do the install.

That entire right front quarter panel can be slid (nudged) up and off
vertically. I'd recommend removal of the flip door first to avoid
damaging it (youll want to keep the original door as it has the unit
serial num sticker).

But then this is all moot if you don't have the correct panel to swap.
Went thru this swap  between my /60 and /90a a few weeks back due to
a thunderstorm that sent my /90a to VAXheaven.

-nick o
houston, tx

---

From: "Jeffrey S. Worley" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu Mar 6 12:59:01 2003

Don't bother trying to take the face off the machine.  The case was
designed by someone with a real sense of humor.

Regards,

Jeff

-----Original Message-----
From: [email-masked] [mailto:[email-masked]]
On Behalf Of Zane H. Healy
Sent: Monday, March 03, 2003 8:31 PM
To: [email-masked]
Subject: VAXstation 4000/60 /90 question

I've managed to find the pieces (or at least the most important, which
is
one of my two RD54's) to do some performance testing on Doc's recent
idea
of using a network disk instead of a local disk to get better
performance
than a RQDX3/RD54 combo offers.

As a result I'm trying to get either a VAXstation 4000/60 or /90 setup
so
that I can use it as the host.  In doing this I ran into a slight
problem
with VAX/VMS V5.5-2, it doesn't like my 3rd party SCSI disks that I've
got
in the /90.  Not a big problem as I've got some brand new (!) RZ25's
that I
can put into one of the systems, and I want to put a RRD42 into one of
them
as well.

Stupid question, how to I go about getting the cover off of the 5 1/4"
bay,
and am I supposed to have another piece of plastic to go there?  If it
requires another piece of plastic (that I don't have), I'll just hook
the
drive up internally long enough to do the install.

Now to decide which system gets a V5.5-2 install, I'll probably go with
the
/90 as it's my fastest VAX, and will therefore be the best for building
software on.

			Zane

---

From: "Stuart Johnson" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu Mar 6 12:59:50 2003

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeffrey S. Worley" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2003 10:35 PM
Subject: RE: VAXstation 4000/60 /90 question

> designed by someone with a real sense of humor.

I keep an external RRD40 or similar around just to solve problems like this.
It is very useful to be able to boot standalone backup using a CD. It also
greatly simplifies creating system disks for a new version of OpenVMS. All
of my Alpha's (except the Multia) have CDRom's built in, but only one of my
VAXstations (a 4000-60) has a CDRom.

I got an InfoServer 1000 (just the brick) a while back and will soon be
looking for several more RRD type drives to populate it with. When the
InfoServer is in service I will use it to boot systems for the purpose of
upgrades, etc. Infoservers are VERY handy gadgets.

Stuart Johnson