0 INFO-VAX	Mon, 19 Feb 2001	Volume 2001 : Issue 99      Contents:  Re: 1.2 GHz Alpha Microprocessor# Re: Classic VMS Games - restoration  Compaq wins APAC re-bid . Dead AlphaStation 200 4/100 or memory troubles& Re: Future outlook for OpenVMS admins?& Re: Future outlook for OpenVMS admins?& RE: Future outlook for OpenVMS admins?& Help with Storageworks / DWZZB / BA353 Re: History of VAX releases  Re: History of VAX releases $ Re: Multitasking via telnet sessions
 Re: newbie% RE: VMS dropped as client OS by Eurex  Re: Win NT on AlphaServer 1200A   F ----------------------------------------------------------------------  % Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2001 15:17:39 -0500 - From: JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@videotron.ca> ) Subject: Re: 1.2 GHz Alpha Microprocessor , Message-ID: <3A902DE3.792526C1@videotron.ca>   > "Nikita V. Belenki" wrote: > > " > > by the way, where do all these7 > > factory-test-failed CPUs go? May I pick up some? ;)   K From what I was told, chips that fail a 1.5ghz test would then be tested at M 833 mhz, and if they work are sold as that (of not, they are tested as slower  chips etc etc).    ------------------------------   Date: 18 Feb 2001 21:25:04 GMT3 From: gartmann@immunbio.mpg.de (Christoph Gartmann) , Subject: Re: Classic VMS Games - restoration/ Message-ID: <96pejg$sv$1@n.ruf.uni-freiburg.de>   \ In article <ehlt8t8qstcj6db7urcfp73riq891fjv7c@4ax.com>, Beyonder <beyonder@vrx.net> writes: [...] ? >So suggestions, comments, requests, and lots of help, would be 
 >appreciated.  > D >I'm going to build a new URL for all this, http://nexus.vrx.net/vms= >and stuff everything under there. so trek7 will get moved to ? >http://nexus.vrx.net/vms/trek7 castle will be similarly moved.  > @ >I'll throw Spacewar and conquest up as soon as I can get to it.  K Long ago I converted Sokoban to VMS (for VAX and Alpha). All ASCII, so let   me know if you need it.    Regards,    Christoph Gartmann   H -- --------------------------------------------------------------------+H | Max-Planck-Institut fuer      Phone   : +49-761-5108-464   Fax: -452 |H | Immunbiologie                                                        |H | Postfach 1169                 Internet: gartmann@immunbio.mpg.de     |H | D-79011  Freiburg, FRG                                               |H +--------- http://www.immunbio.mpg.de/home/english/menue.html ---------+   ------------------------------    Date: 19 Feb 2001 00:16:06 -0500+ From: young_r@encompasserve.org (Rob Young)   Subject: Compaq wins APAC re-bid3 Message-ID: <Fve24xZP3jJw@eisner.encompasserve.org>   A 	A little history.  Sun's APAC systems failed acceptance testing:   1 http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/1/14475.html   1 Sun's Oz super computer goes horribly pear shaped  By: John Lettice Posted: 03/11/2000 at 19:17 GMT   K A terse note at the site of APAC, the outfit running Australia's bid "to be H recognised as an 'advanced computing' country," reveals something deeplyM embarrasing for one of the industry's most prominent pushers of gigafloppery. L It says: "The initial configuration of the APAC peak computing system failedL acceptance tests in September 2000, so the process of acquiring a system hasI been restarted. It's hoped there will be a system available by the second  quarter of 2001."    	On re-bid, Compaq won:   : http://www.apac.edu.au/communication_media/media_releases/) Web%20press%20release%2014%20Feb%2001.pdf    Editor's Summary  O Compaq Computer Australia and the Australian Partnership for Advanced Computing  (APAC) today announced:   H o	An alliance to supply a world class supercomputer to the APAC National
 	Facility;< o	Using Compaq's industry leading AlphaServer SC series, theG 	supercomputer will attract local and international research in various ) 	scientific and engineering applications; H o	The Compaq solution will be in the top 60 of the world's most powerful 	computing systems; F o	As the largest supercomputer available to Australian researchers andG 	industry, it will be used to conduct innovative large-scale scientific  	and engineering research.   ...   M The initial system will be operational in April 2001, and implementation will  be complete in October 2001.   ---   E 	Not bad... raise them to 60 from 133.  Someone really ought to point > 	out to the Top500 list maintainers that the Sun APAC entry is 	rather "stale" (dated?):   # http://www.top500.org/list/2000/11/    				Rob    ------------------------------  # Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 04:02:26 GMT / From: atlas@world.std.com (Alexander R Svirsky) 7 Subject: Dead AlphaStation 200 4/100 or memory troubles & Message-ID: <G8zKK3.251@world.std.com>  J Looks like I've got a dead AlphaStation 200 4/100, but before I give up on' it, I need some troubleshooting advice.   D The unit was purchased today and was without RAM and HD.  It has theI standard floppy, CDROM and sound card.  The CPU is present.  Unit has the G DEC video card.  The little network card is missing.  The HD bracket is 0 missing.  It has likely been stripped for parts.  A I have added 64MB RAM, known good and borrowed from another Alpha F system.  For now, there is no HD.  A PCXAL keyboard, mouse and monitor have been connected.  F This motherboard has 8 SIMM sockets instead of the 6 I would expect toI find in an AS200.  Other jumper and socket positions also do not match my E other AS200 4/166 or documentation diagrams.  Manufacture date is May  1995.   H Without RAM installed, or with RAM improperly installed when powered up,C the beep code 1-3-3 is sounded indicating that 2MB RAM could not be F found.  LEDs show xxxx xxox where x=on and o=off.  From this I presumeJ that SROM is present to run the memory tests.  No video output is present.    Failure symptoms are as follows:  B With 64MB RAM properly installed, there is no beep code sounded onE power-up and there is no output to video.  The LEDs continually cycle H through the following three indications without stopping, where x=on and o=off:	 xxxx xoxx 	 xxxx xoox 	 xxxx xxoo   F Attempts to load a failsafe loader floppy using jumper J2 fail with noD floppy drive activity.  LED indicators cycle as above.  No post code( beeps.  Apparently DROM is never loaded.  I Does anyone recognize this failure?  What's up with the 8 sockets instead ( of 6?  I appreciate any advice.  Thanks. --  C Alexander_R_Svirsky_____________________________atlas@world.std.com    ------------------------------  % Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2001 14:09:07 -0500 ! From: Beyonder <beyonder@vrx.net> / Subject: Re: Future outlook for OpenVMS admins? 8 Message-ID: <ob709tkg6oqcv2jojfvs41e2goo1ps7elu@4ax.com>  4 On Fri, 16 Feb 2001 16:23:10 GMT, tsm@palindrome.org (tsm@palindrome.org) wrote:   
 >Not true. > J >The Pentium 4 is faster than the 833 MHz EV6, at least at integer, and is4 >faster than anything but the 833 at floating point.  % ahaha. oh I'm sorry you were serious. & nice stats, too bad they're not valid.B Intel has been supplying "customized" software for the spec tests.  E Every reliable test I've seen shows the P4 is even slower than the P3 B except when it comes to playing Quake. And I hardly think that's a
 qualifier.   B.   ------------------------------  % Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2001 14:12:15 -0500 ! From: Beyonder <beyonder@vrx.net> / Subject: Re: Future outlook for OpenVMS admins? 8 Message-ID: <qh709t8bt59vj31n4mo4443fgha5r2q3sc@4ax.com>  ? On Sat, 17 Feb 2001 07:33:55 -0800, <tsm@palindrome.org> wrote: 3 >It's just too bad that the P4 doesn't run VMS. :-(   > why would you want it to? For those who "buy into" Intel hype,9 I guess Charon is the way to go. But Athlon is preferred.   : I guess everyone should dump their DEC stuff and buy Intel< stuff running Windows 2000 or something. Much better, right?  = BTW: if anyone does this, I know a good home for all that old & DEC equipment you don't need any more.   B.   ------------------------------    Date: 18 Feb 2001 20:21:33 +0100* From: eplan@kapsch.net (Peter LANGSTOEGER)/ Subject: RE: Future outlook for OpenVMS admins? ( Message-ID: <3a9020bd@news.kapsch.co.at>  | In article <910612C07BCAD1119AF40000F86AF0D805284E00@kaoexc3.kao.cpqcorp.net>, "Main, Kerry" <Kerry.Main@compaq.com> writes:L >>>>> What are you planning to do if suddenly CPQ decides to stop OVMS ! <<<I >What will happen if MS decides to stop support of Windows NT or Wiondows  >2000?   Such dreams won't come true...  < >What will happen if Sun decides to stop support of Solaris?  ? I thought they already did (favoring LINUX) or will soon do ;-) : No, SOLARIS will be the last UNIX dying in favor of LINUX.  9 >What will happen if HP decides to stop support of HP-UX?   0 Then M$ succeeded in taking over the (IT) world.  8 >What will happen if IBM decides to stop support of AIX?  > They already did - at least some kind of - (favoring LINUX ;-)   btw You forgot SGI/IRIX   & >Stay tuned for tomorrow's episode ...  B Which might be - as all burnt Digital/Compaq customers argue - theK dicontinuation of VMS (and we are all very afrightened of such a nightmare)    --  < Peter "EPLAN" LANGSTOEGER           Tel.    +43 1 81111-2651; Network and OpenVMS system manager  Fax.    +43 1 81111-888 < <<< KAPSCH AG  Wagenseilgasse 1     E-mail  eplan@kapsch.netH A-1121 VIENNA  AUSTRIA              "I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist"   ------------------------------  % Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2001 14:59:54 -0500 2 From: rdeininger@mindspring.com (Robert Deininger)/ Subject: Help with Storageworks / DWZZB / BA353 L Message-ID: <rdeininger-1802011459540001@user-2ivebj2.dialup.mindspring.com>  	 Hi folks,   G Perhaps someone can dust off their storageworks memory and help me make  sense of some old parts.  A I have what is supposed to be a differential-to-single ended SCSI J converter.  It is a storageworks canister.  The canister's label has model number  H "SHZ34-ZZ A01", and another number "70-31500-03".  It says "For use withI 300 Series Shelf or other devices as specified in manual."  The connector H on the front is a 68-pin "P" connector as I would expect for diff SCSI. = The other end has the standard 3-row storeageworks connector.   H Inside the canister, there is a PCB with the following markings:  DWZZB,G 5023333-01-E01, SE SCSI (by one connector), and DIFF SCSI (by the other F connector).  There is a bar code sticker on the board with "54233401",I "E01", and a serial number "ZG....".  There are two jumpers on the board, H marked W1 and W2, near the single-ended connector.  There are 5 socketedB resistor packs near the differential connector, which I assume are termination for that bus.   H The flexible adapter that connects the PCB to the storageworks connector: has part number "17-04028-03 A03".  The date code is 6/96.  E The DWZZB is a FWD to 16-bit SE converter, from what I have found.  I J think it is supposed to work with either wide or narrow SE.  Maybe that is what one of the jumpers is for?   H The DWZZB came in -AA (standalone), -MA (OEM), and SBB (-VW) varieties. % The -VW was for wide (BA356) shelves.   8 I found what is supposedly a picture of a DWZZB-MA here:=    http://www.hitechcafe.com/eshop/product_images/DWZZBMA.gif I The PCB in my mystery converter doesn't look anything like this picture.  I Mine has smaller, more numerous chips, and the connectors look different.   E My mystery converter came with a BA353 (narrow pizza-box) shelf.  The I right converter for this shelf would be DWZZA-VA, I think.  I'm hoping to 5 configure the mystery converter to work in the BA353.   I The combination KZTSA -> diff SCSI cable -> mystery converter -> BA353 -> J RZ26M-VA does NOT work.  The KZTSA either reports that the bus is hung, orG just doesn't see any drives, depending on how many terminators I put on E the SE BA353 bus.  Sometimes the disk's light is always on, sometimes  always off.   H The same drives, in the same shelf, work fine using a SE adapter and the SE connectors on the BA353.    Specific questions:   J 1)  Can anyone identify my mystery SHZ34-ZZ?  What do the jumpers do?  Can  it work in a narrow BA353 shelf?  G 2)  What do the LEDs mean on SBBs like the RZ26M-VA?  What does it mean E when all the drives in the shelf keep their (leftmost) LED on all the  time?   " Thanks for any help you can offer.   --   Robert Deininger rdeininger@mindspring.com    ------------------------------  % Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 10:49:40 +1100 - From: "Nick Ogbourne" <okeburnit@bigpond.com> $ Subject: Re: History of VAX releases5 Message-ID: <H1Zj6.338$x5.1239@newsfeeds.bigpond.com>   H By withdrawal dates I meant the date when a specific model was no longer available or was replaced.  < "Mark D. Jilson" <jilly@clarityconnect.com> wrote in message, news:3A8D7056.5347B0F5@clarityconnect.com...D > Release dates may be obtainable but what do you mean by withdrawal > date?? >  > Nick Ogbourne wrote: > > F > > Can anyone point me to information that lists the release date andJ > > withdrawal dates of VAX and Alpha machines in the period 1995 to 2000? > >  > > Nick Ogbourne  >  > --F > Jilly - Working from Home in the Chemung River Valley - Lockwood, NY/ > - jilly@clarityconnect.com - Brett Bodine fan - > - Mark.Jilson@Compaq.com - since 1975 or so - > - http://www.jilly.baka.com               -    ------------------------------  % Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 10:54:09 +1100 - From: "Nick Ogbourne" <okeburnit@bigpond.com> $ Subject: Re: History of VAX releases5 Message-ID: <T5Zj6.340$x5.1801@newsfeeds.bigpond.com>   K I've looked at the timeline and it was  start.  I think that a "broad" view G would be good enough.  It's clearly not that simple.  I am specifically C interested in Australia.  If  I could get something like a 6000 was D available from (month) (year) to (year), that would be close enough.   Nick  6 "antonio.carlini" <arcarlini@iee.org> wrote in message! news:3A8EDD08.96C58DA8@iee.org...  >  >  > "Mark D. Jilson" wrote:  > > F > > Release dates may be obtainable but what do you mean by withdrawal
 > > date?? > >  > > Nick Ogbourne wrote: > > > H > > > Can anyone point me to information that lists the release date andL > > > withdrawal dates of VAX and Alpha machines in the period 1995 to 2000? > > >  > > > Nick Ogbourne  > 5 > Withdrawl date could be either "last order date" or 6 > "last ship date" for any given machine. Getting hold > of them can sometimes be fun.  > 6 > Release date is similarly fuzzy given that there are6 > "announcement" dates and "first revenue ship" dates. > 8 > Go back far enough and you can split these dates up by5 > geography (products were sometimes announced in the 6 > US and then announced a few months later in Europe). > 1 > Then again he may want a list of machines first * > supported by a given release (of a given+ > operating system) or the same list but of % > releases which last supported given  > hardware.  > & > The Digital timeline might be a good > general place to start.  > 	 > Antonio  >  > --------------- / > Antonio Carlini             arcarlini@iee.org    ------------------------------  % Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2001 19:18:51 +0000 ; From: Malcolm MacArthur <malcolmm@rustic-place.demon.co.uk> - Subject: Re: Multitasking via telnet sessions 8 Message-ID: <3A90201B.89D8643E@rustic-place.demon.co.uk>   Alex wrote:  > H > I connect to a VMS server through Telnet to do various tasks, and someA > of those taks take a considerable amount of time to run.  Is it D > possible to multi-taks through a telnet session with just a single > login?  M Perhaps BOSS is what you need. Presumably you can't open multiple windows and N use a telnet session in each, because maybe you're on a serial line to anotherL system, and then telnet from there to the VMS box? BOSS is your answer - youL log in, run BOSS, and then you use Ctrl-X (or any other character... you canL select the switch character to use) and other keys (can't remember what keysN ;-) to create new processes and switch to them. You have the ability to createH subprocesses (useful if you have a job limit of 1...) or proper detached7 processes - automatically logged in or not. You choose.   L BOSS is at ftp.wku.edu in [.VMS.FILESERV]BOSS.ZIP. It's written in C, but itN comes with object files so you only have to link the objects if you don't have
 a C compiler.   	 -Malcolm.    ------------------------------  % Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 05:26:26 +0100s( From: Bernd Eckstein <B.Eckstein@cli.de> Subject: Re: newbiel& Message-ID: <3A90A072.7C0E215C@cli.de>   Matt London wrote: > D > I've just aquired a microvax 3100 m10e with VAX/VMS-5.4 and NetBSDI > installed on it - and while I'm nice and at home with *BSD, I'd love toeK > get into VMS. My first thought was "let's check out the online VMS docs",aF > but I'm so much more at home with stuff on paper :&/ I did wonder ifG > anyone knew any resoure, be it online, book, whatever that introducedSI > admining/using VMS from a unix user's perspective. If not, then I'll be-# > attacking the online VMS docs :&)1 >  All the OpenVMS doku is online:e  # http://www.openvms.compaq.com:8000/1       -- aC B.Eckstein, TTi Entwicklungszentrum GmbH - mailto:B.Eckstein@cli.deNC Matthiashofstr. 28, D-52064 Aachen - Fon: +49 241 47051-0, Fax: -89    ------------------------------  % Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2001 22:02:22 +0100o From: zessin@decus.de.. Subject: RE: VMS dropped as client OS by Eurex* Message-ID: <009F7D7E.EEE3ED35.9@decus.de>  @ > This is a late follow up to the thread "VMS dropped by EUREX".  > I've talked to a system manager who works in a bank about this
 last year.  G First it was played down (by Compaq Germany personal) as a 'workstation  problem' - nothing serious.r  B Then it was claimed to be a 'Java problem'. That worked as long asF someone from Compaq went to the programmers and solved that 'problem'.  A The current reason is to reduce platform count. It looks like the B programmers have to do a lot of work to keep the code current with
 laws, etc.  C There is also a 'conspiracy theory' walking around that OpenVMS was B kicked out by some managers of some big banks when they were askedB which OSes to retain. The smaller banks were in favour of OpenVMS,? because it required them very little work. They were not amusedeA when they learned they had to buy new hardware for lots of money.-    9 > Or want they express that VMS is only for Eurex and thek( > member banks should use lower quality?  @ It's like a catch-22. The programmers support what the banks ask< for, however the banks want directions from the programmers.' Clearly not enough lobbying by DEC/CPQ.-  B Once again we all can thank DIGITAL for their sabotage to OpenVMS.   --
 Uwe Zessin   ------------------------------  % Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 05:29:57 +0100-( From: Bernd Eckstein <B.Eckstein@cli.de>( Subject: Re: Win NT on AlphaServer 1200A& Message-ID: <3A90A145.5F39CF3B@cli.de>   C Castiglia wrote: > J > Yes, the box would be used as a file server for a bunch of Win 98/Win NTJ > Workstations.  I am open to suggestions as to what you would consider an8 > appropriate operating system for such a configuration. > D We are happy for about 6 years now with Linux as our Fileservers forA WinNT-Clients. Uptimes of the servers are 400++ days. Works fine.s     -- 'C B.Eckstein, TTi Entwicklungszentrum GmbH - mailto:B.Eckstein@cli.deoC Matthiashofstr. 28, D-52064 Aachen - Fon: +49 241 47051-0, Fax: -89s   ------------------------------   End of INFO-VAX 2001.099 ************************