Unofficial DEC Documentation

In this section you will find:


DECstation/VAXstation FAQ with answers

Hardware

General
Compatible components & pinouts
Troubleshooting

Operating Systems

General
Software & licensing
Installation media
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What keyboard/mouse will fit my DECstation/VAXstation/DEC3000?

There are a couple of different keybords/mice that older DEC computers can use. Look up your system in this table, # means that this is any number, * means any character.

DEC COMPUTER SYSTEM
 KEYBOARD TYPE (click on the link for a picture) ADAPTER
 MOUSE TYPE (click on the link for a picture)
DECstation (DECsystem) 2100 or 3100
 DEC LK201-**, DEC LK401-**
 None
 DEC VSXXX-AA., -GA
DECstation (DECsystem) 5000/200 or 5000/2#0 or 5000/1##
 DEC LK201-**, DEC LK401-** keyboard/mouse port splitter DEC VSXXX-AA., -GA
DECsystem 5900 or 5900/260 DEC LK201-**, DEC LK401-** keyboard/mouse port splitter DEC VSXXX-AA., -GA
Personal DECstation 5000/##
 DEC LK501-** Keyboard cable
 DEC VSXXX-BB
VAXstation 3100/M##
 DEC LK201-**, DEC LK401-** None DEC VSXXX-AA., -GA
VAXstation 4000/VLC
 DEC LK201-**, DEC LK401-** None DEC VSXXX-AA., -GA
VAXstation 4000/M##
 DEC LK201-**, DEC LK401-** None, optional keyboard/mouse port splitter DEC VSXXX-AA., -GA
DEC 3000/300#, -##, and 3000/#00
 DEC LK201-**, DEC LK401-** keyboard/mouse port splitter DEC VSXXX-AA., -GA

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What operating systems are there for DECstations?

First of all I want to point out that there is no version of OpenVMS for DECstations. The available operating systems might change in the future, but at the moment of writing October 2004, the situation looks like this:

OS NAME OF THE ARCHITECHTURE
 RELEASE STATUS
 CURRENT VERSION (2004)
 LAST VERSION
 LAST RELEASE
 HARDWARE SUPPORT
DEC ULTRIX
 RISC
 stable
 4.5
 4.5
 1995
 99% of all DEC MIPS original equipment is supported.
DEC OSF/1
 MIPS
 unstable
 X2.0
 X2.0
 1992
 No support for R4K processors.
NetBSD
 PMAX
 stable
 1.6.2
 1.6.2
 2004
 No or poor support for some TC cards, otherwise good.
OpenBSD
 PMAX
 stable
 2.8
 2.8
 2000
 No or poor support for some TC cards, otherwise good.
Linux
 MIPSEL
 stable
 2.4
 2.4
 2004
 No or poor support for some TC cards, otherwise good.
Sprite
 MIPS?
 unstable
 KS.390
 KS.390 1993
 Unknown, but probably no support for R4K processors.
(CMU) Mach
 MIPS
 unstable
 3.0
 3.0
 1993
 Unknown, but probably no support for R4K processors.
BSD
 PMAX
 stable
 4.4
 4.4
 4.4
 DECstation 2100/3100, 5000/200, 5000/2x, 5000/1xx and 3100 color/mono graphics, TURBOchannel PMAG-AA, PMAG-BA,  PMAG-DV graphics. Lacking support for R4K processors.
Feel free to contact me if you feel that this table requires updating!

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What operating systems are there for VAXstations?

This might change in the future, but at the moment of writing October 2004, these OS's are existing, for VAXstations (this list applies to most  other VAXen too):

OPERATING SYSTEM
 RELEASE STATUS
 CURRENT VERSION (2004)
 LAST VERSION
 LAST RELEASE
 HARDWARE SUPPORT
DEC ULTRIX
 stable
 4.5
 4.5
 1995
 All but VAX 4000 or newer. 99% support for older DEC VAX hardware.
HP OpenVMS
 stable
 7.3
 7.3
 2004
 99% of all DEC VAX original equipment is supported.
NetBSD
 stable
 1.6.2
 1.6.2
 2004
 No or poor support for frambuffer devices, X11 may not run, otherwise good & modern.
OpenBSD
 stable
 2.8
 2.8
 2000
 No or poor support for frambuffer devices, X11 may not run, otherwise good & modern.
Linux
 early development
 2.4?
 2.4?
 2004
 Poor
BSD
 stable
 4.4
 4.4
 4.4
 Unknown, but probably no or poor support for framebuffer devices.
Feel free to contact me if you feel that this table requires updating!

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What SCSI CD-ROM drive will work with DECstations/VAXstations?



VAXstations

Not all *NIX compatible drives that can read 512 bytes/sector work with VAXstations, for the use with ULTRIX or OpenVMS. I recommend trying a Toshiba SCSI CD-ROM, since most older Toshiba SCSI CD-ROM drives work without trouble, and perform rather well compared to older DEC drives. If you, however, get some cryptic register dump error messages on the console while trying to boot, you probably have an incompatible device. Check out the link below, for information about different drive models.

DECstations

If you want to run ULTRIX on your DECstation, the short answer is that only original DEC SCSI CD-ROM drives are compatible, however this is not enirely true. Some other rare SCSI CD-ROM drives with the capability to read 512 bytes/sector may work. There is a useful list of these drives. Please follow this link:

 http://sites.inka.de/pcde/help/dec-cdrom-list.txt

The above list is maintained by Dennis Grevestein.

For NetBSD (or Linux, I guess) on DECstations, it's easier to find a compatible drive. I would expect that most *NIX compatible drives that can read 512 bytes/sector will work for that.

Unreadable discs - problems with bad CD media

One good point, when it comes to older CD-ROM drives, is that they normally don't read CD-RW media or bad quality CDRs. Many times I've had to burn another copy on lower speed / other brand CDR, to get a readable disc. If you are perceptive you can notice if the CD-ROM drive accepts a disc or not, just by looking at the led and listening to the sound it makes. If it takes a very long time for the drive to recognise the disc (i.e. a lot of spinning at different speeds and lots of led blinking) it probably won't be readable, at least not reliably. Normally the disc is ready to be read after the inserted disc has spun up one time and the led on the drive has been turned off.

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I don't have a compatible SCSI CD-ROM drive, how then do I install ULTRIX?

You can do a disk-to-disk installation (or a tape installation, if you have tapes and a compatible tape drive). For a disk-to-disk installation you need an ULTRIX CD, and a spare SCSI disk (min. 300MB) and also a computer equipped with a CD-ROM drive and a SCSI interface. With that computer you can make a raw copy of the ULTRIX installation CD directly on the spare disk. This can easily be done under any *NIX.
[root@linux_system /]# dd if=/dev/cdrom of=/dev/X bs=512

where X = the device name of  your whole spare SCSI disk. Be careful when you check that device name! The dd command can easily overwrite any other disk, if you choose the wrong device name! Make sure to dd to the whole disk rather than to some exisiting disk partition. 
ultrix_system# dd if=/dev/rz4c of=/dev/rzXc bs=512

where X = the SCSI ID of  your spare SCSI disk, and assuming that your CD-ROM drive has SCSI ID 4.

To dd a big file like that in 512 bytes chunks will generally take some time. Be patient. The dd command will terminate when one of the devices reaches it's end. If you have a big enough disk that should be okay.

Once you've created this installation disk, you should simply connect it to your DECstation along with your system disk. Now boot from the installation disk. After booting, you will be able to install ULTRIX on your system disk as if you had a compatible CD-ROM drive.

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What hard disk drives are compatible/useable with DECstations/VAXstations?

SCSI Disks

Basically any standard SCSI disk will work with a DECstation. New SCSI disks are backwards compatible, and will automatically switch to the correct SCSI protocol. A new(er) SCSI disk, however, will boost the performance of your old DEC box so I highly recommend that you replace your original DEC SCSI disk with a newer and faster SCSI disk. All the DECstation computer systems have at least one 50 pin SCSI interface, so if your disk has a different SCSI interface it should only be a matter of acquiring the correct pin adapter. This applies to most VAXstations too.

ULTRIX

If you plan to install ULTRIX V4.5 on your DEC box you need to keep in mind that the OS can't format any bigger partitions than 2 GB. This also means that you can't use more disk space per physical disk than 16 GB, and then you need to make all 8 partitions (a-h) 2GB each.

OpenVMS

A VAXstation 3100 or MicroVAX 3100 can only format a SCSI system disk up to 1 GB in size, for the use with OpenVMS through their PROM console. Once booted to OpenVMS, you can format bigger disks, however the system disk (where the base OS is located), to be bootable, must not be bigger than 1 GB.

IDE-SCSI Bridge Adapters

As for this moment I haven't had any luck using IDE-SCSI bridge adapters with DEC boxes. I've tried some Yamaha CD-ROM adapter and some ACARD disk adapters but they don't work with DEC computers. Feel free to correct me if you have had other experiences.

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How do I build my own 'keyboard/mouse port splitter' for a DECstation 5000?

To do that you need to have a look at my pinouts for the keyboard/mouse DB15 port found on DECstation 5000/200, -240, -260, DECstation 5000/120, -125, -133, and -150. Here is a picture of an original DEC splitter. The pinout document tells which pins should be connected togeather:
The required components can be purchased from any shop specializing in electronic components.

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How do I replace a broken Power Supply Unit (PSU) in a DECstation 5000/1XX?

You can follow the same procedure described on my page about how to build an ATX-DECstation. With the help of those instructions you can adapt an standard ATX PSU to a DECstation.
Note! In case of a failed PSU you should also consider repairing your original DEC PSU, because these are high quality PSU's that will serve you for many years if repaired properly. Most likely one or a couple of capacitors have dried out or leaked. These are usually cheap components to replace.
 
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What are the technical specifications for my DECstation/VAXstation?

This section may get written properly at some point. First you can try to look up your system in these scanned pages, but these only include systems sold the corresponding year :
If your system can't be found in the above charts, you can have a look at the technical specifications provided through NetBSD's web site. These guys have done a good job:

Where can I get a manual for my DECstation/VAXstation?

You can try to find one at MANX, this site has links to complete DEC MDS CDs, containing TXT and PDF libraries. With any luck you will find a PDF manual for your computer there.

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What external SCSI cable will fit my DECstation 2100/3100, VAXstation 3100?

This is also mentioned at NetBSD's web site. Please look here. Unfortunately it's a pretty rare cable so you may have to stick with internal SCSI devices if you can't find that cable.

Pinouts for DECstation 2100/3100 can be found here (local copy). There is also a pinout for the DECstation 2100/3100 (VAXstation 3100) SCSI cable (local copy).

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How do I compile Open Source Software on ULTRIX?

Should you ever want to build your own open source software (or other software for that matter) on ULTRIX,  you probably need to either install the GNU tools and use them or you can do it the hard way, port the programs to ULTRIX and use the native compiler. I've written a document on this topic:
This document is slightly outdated, however, the most important issues are covered.
 
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My DECstation/VAXstation only has 4MB RAM, can I install ULTRIX 4.x?

On VAX: Yes, on DECstation: No.

On VAXstation you could install DEC ULTRIX 4.2 (or older). The VAX versions after 4.2 will need more RAM. To run ULTRIX on a DECstation any version 4.x will need at least 8MB RAM. But if it's at all possible for you to get more RAM. I'd recommend 24MB for 'normal' use with ULTRIX 4.3A and newer. If you are going to compile software with GNU tools you might want more than 24MB, for good performance.
 
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I can't set the system date to year 2000+, during the installation or using the normal date command in ULTRIX. Can the date be corrected?

Yes. During the installation you can use the year 1999. After that you could apply the Y2K Patch Kit and set the correct date. Offically there is a Y2K Patch Kit only for ULTRIX RISC 4.3A - 4.5. There is however, also an unofficial Y2K Patch Kit for ULTRIX VAX 4.5 (base software only).

If you don’t have the kits you can use the standard date command to set the date one second before the year 2000 and wait a second and then set the date to 31st of December 23:59.59  (one second before next year), wait, set again etc. until you reach the current year, after that you can set the actual time and date, but only by not specifying the year.

Basically ULTRIX doesn't have any serious Y2K bugs so you can live without the Y2K Patch Kit, since IIRC it will introduce some new ULTRIX bugs, especially related to DECwindows.
 
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Why should I install ULTRIX on my DECstation/VAXstation?

Because it's fast, "retro", hardware compatible and simple. ULTRIX is an old derivative of BSD UNIX specifically customized for DEC VAX computers and later for DECstations. The hardware support is yet unmatched by other OS's on DECstations and on VAXstations older than the VAX 4000's, this is mostly true too. OpenVMS however has the best hardware support for all types of VAXen, but if you don't know how to use it, it can be a bit problematic to learn it "from scratch". If ULTRIX 4.x runs on your DEC box you will also have a working X11 (provided that there is a graphical console in the system, of course).

Compared to more modern OS's like NetBSD, ULTRIX is a very light OS to run on old hardware. On a high-end DECstation with a good SCSI disk you can boot up the system from the boot prompt to X11 in about 45 s. Booting DEC OSF/1 or NetBSD the same will take much longer. The same speed feeling will be there all the time so I personally think it matters. Sure NetBSD is cool with a lot of new software and such but there is also the "bloat factor". A good rule would be to try to use software from the same era as the computer itself. Only then you will get the feel of  what a particular retro-computer was like when it was introduced on the market!
 
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I don't have a real DEC computer but I still would like to try a DEC OS like ULTRIX or OpenVMS, what can I do?

You can run one of the hardware emulators. Read more about them here:
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Is there a hobbyist program for DEC ULTRIX, similar to the famous OpenVMS Hobbyist program?

No. There is no hobbyist program for ULTRIX as for the moment of writing (November 2004). Most likely there won't be any such ever. Generally ULTRIX should be considered abandonware. At this point there are probably only a handful of ULTRIX computers in the whole world in a serious production environment, if any at all. You can run ULTRIX without a license, but then you probably want to install ssh so more than one user can login.

Please also observe that in most cases, when you get a used DECstation with its original SCSI system disk still intact, there will also be a license PAK installed. A license PAK is a database entry that unlocks the the software under license and contains a unique checksum. Be sure to backup that PAK with the lmf command, before you format the disk. Within lmf, just do an issue <name-of-the-PAK>. This will purge the license from the local license database but at the same time also create a file containing the PAK entry. Also please be aware of the fact that officially DEC licenses are "not transferable", whatever that implies. Still I've seen many auctions for PAKs on ebay for example.

For those interested in why there is no Hobbyist program for ULTRIX, I could say that the problem lies in the fact that it includes source code from various other OS's. It's generally a simple BSD developed and customized by DEC, but there is also some System V related source code and other third party source code in it. Knowing this, DEC couldn't make a hobbyist version of something they hadn't deveopled from scratch themselves. It's not exactly helping either (especially considering certain recent events) that everything with the label "System V" is owned by SCO. Keep in mind that the Ancient UNIX license from SCO only covers software for PDP-11 and explicitly excludes anything with System V in it.
 
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Where can I purchase a legal ULTRIX license? Where can I get new ULTRIX installation media?

Nowhere, sorry. DEC doesn't exist anymore, Compaq bought that corporation back in 1998 and nowadays HP owns both the remains of DEC and Compaq. ULTRIX has not been supported nor sold in many, many years. Just try sending a mail to HP and see if anyone has any clue about what you are asking about... :-}

Seriously, you could try to get used installation media on several different places. Concerning the license PAKs look above. Today there is Internet with 2nd hand online shops and web auction sites. ULTRIX is rarely seen on ebay however it has happened. Be sure to check out my web/archive links too.

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What memory modules will fit my DECstation?

Look up your system in this table, # means that this is any number, * means any character. There are both DEC original memory modules and third party memory modules for DECstations.

DECSTATION SYSTEM
 MEMORY SIZE / TYPE
 DEC PART (click on the link for a picture) CONFIGURATION (MAX)
DECstation (DECsystem) 2100 or 3100
 2MB FPM 80pin SIMM
 MS01-AA
 Installed in pairs (12 x 2MB = 24 MB)
DECstation (DECsystem) 5000/200 or 5000/2#0
8MB FPM ECC memory card
32MB FPM ECC memory card		 MS02-AA
MS02-CA
 Installed individually (15 x 8MB =  120MB or 15 x 32MB = 480MB)
DECstation (DECsystem)  5000/1## 2MB FPM 80pin SIMM
8MB FPM 80pin SIMM		 MS01-AA
MS01-CA
 Installed in pairs (16 x 2MB = 32 MB or 16 x 8MB =  128MB)
DECsystem 5900 or 5900/260 8MB FPM ECC memory card
32MB FPM ECC memory card		 MS02-AA
MS02-CA 		Installed individually (15 x 8MB =  120MB or 15 x 32MB = 480MB)
Personal DECstation 5000/## 2MB FPM 80pin SIMM
8MB FPM 80pin SIMM		 MS01-AA
MS01-CA		 Installed in pairs (8MB onboard + 4 x 2MB = 16 MB or 8MB onboard + 4 x 8MB =  40MB)
DECsystem 5100
 4MB FPM SIMM
16MB FPM SIMM
 MS44-AA
MS44-CA
 Installed in pairs (8 x 4MB = 32 MB or 8 x 16MB =  128MB)

I've come to the conclusion that the first character in the ending of the DEC part number (-AA or -CA) corresponds to the size of memory per chip on the memory module. AA means 1Mbit memory chips and CA means 4Mbit chips. This applies only to "fully populated" memory modules. Some modules that at the first glance look like the larger MS02-CA might be MS02-AA after all.

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RAM test fails in my DECstation/VAXstation / my DECstation/VAXstation
doesn't use all the RAM that is supposed to be installed, what can I do?

Most likely one of your memory modules are not properly seated in its socket or requires cleaning to work again. Gently remove all modules and, preferrably in an anti-static environment, remove all visible dust or dirt from the modules and clean all the connecting metal surfaces / connectors with "Electro Clean" spray (or similar). Also, use a soft paper if needed.

Now install the modules in minimum memory configuration (in a DECstation with MS01 modules, that means 2 modules, 1 module using MS02 modules) and test the system. After that try the next module(s). This way you will discover a terminally non-functional module, if there is one.

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My DECstation/VAXstation doesn't find its SCSI disk drive(s), what can I do?

The main resons for this could be one or more of the following:
To eliminate the three first problems, try a shorter SCSI bus (max. bus length is usually specified in your computer's manual) and make sure that you have correct termination in both ends, this applies to a system with only internal disk(s) as well as systems with external disk(s). You should also try another SCSI cable, sometimes you need to use a SCSI cable with full pinout i.e. 50 conductors, no more no less, to make it work. Also examine the pins on the SCSI device / mobo to see if you need to straighten any bent pins.

Systems that have been a long time in storage or used in an un-healthy environment (such as in a too humid, dusty or condensing environment) may need proper cleaning, to work. I suggest that you should spray the SCSI cable ends and SCSI device connectors with "Electro Clean" spray. This will eliminate problems with related to the corrosion on the metal surfaces on the interconnections. I always do this when I install a SCSI disk in a system older than, say 10 years. I tell you, these sprays can sometimes do wonders!

If nothing helps then you might have a non-functional SCSI device or worse, a non-functional SCSI controller. DEC RZ5x disks are known not to spin up at first if they haven't been used in a long time. To revive such a disk you may need to remove the disk from its enclosure and manually rotate it (around its disk platter axis) and suddenly stop the movement. This will hopefully get the disk going the next time it recieves the "spin up"  SCSI command.

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How do I convert DEC ULTRIX TK50-K tapes or tape images to "normal" software kit directories?

It is possible to convert DEC unix software tapes by following a few steps. If you have a TK50-K tape containing the software in question, you first need to extract the files to disk using some tape drive that can read TK50-K tapes. Once you have done that, you can take the 4th file from the tape and extract its contents to a new directory instctrl with tar:


ultrix_system# mkdir instctrl; tar xf tape_file04 instctrl


Then you need to open the file something.image in the newly created instctrl directory (there should be only one file with the .image file extension) with a text editor to see how to rename the other files. File 05 from the tape is the first kit file, file 06 from the tape is the second, etc. Please see the table below. The kit files are setld files, which actually are compressed directories in tar.Z format.

Now you need to rename the files, from file 05 and onward, exactly as the list of names in the 3rd column of the something.image file specifies. Usually the names are some combination of capital letters plus some numbers to tell which version of the kit it is (e.g. DXMDECW113). ULTRIX kit names may contain a "V" or "ULT" for VAX kits and "M" or "UDT" for MIPS kits.

After you have renamed the kit files, it is possible to install directly from the converted tape images directory as follows:


ultrix_system# setld -l ./
...


If the software requires it, you should add appropriate license PAK(s) before running the setld installation.

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What kind of format are ULTRIX CDs / CD images?

ULTRIX CDs are not standard ISO9660 format, but they contain an UFS file system. You cannot mount these images or CDs on Window$ but you may be able to mount them on linux with some additional options added to the mount command. I haven't tried on Mac, but I suppose it may be theoretically possible that OS X would still support this old 4.2BSD derivative filesystem. You can read the CDs on Alphas running Tru64 UNIX without any particular mount options. It is also possible to use the dd command in *nix to transfer the contents of any UFS CD to a SCSI disk and mount the disk as if it was a CD.

The software kits on the CDs are in setld format, and the archived files can be manually extracted if needed knowing that the the format of the actual kit archives is tar.Z.

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What kind of format are ULTRIX tapes / tape images?

Sequential data media

First of all, please keep in mind that tape drives access data files on tapes in sequence, rather than randomly as hard disk devices do. In a way it's much easier to understand the nature of a tape media, than hard disk media, but thenagain tape media has become so rare these days so I thought I should mention it here.

For example, if a file has been read from a sequential device, the next read operation will process the next file on the physical media, without the need to specify any file name or file location. Therefore, file names and file systems are irrelevant to the tape device. The tape device cares only about chunks of data that are stored one chunk after the other, on the physical media.

ULTRIX and DEC OSF/1 tapes

The only tapes I have seen containing ULTRIX software, have been TK50-K tapes. These are half-inch thick cartridges looking like DLT tapes, but can only store 95MB per tape. You can read these with any TK50 compatible tape drive. Look up your DEC tape drive in the following table:

TAPE DRIVE
 TK50-K TAPE COMPATIBILITY
TK50 Cartridge Tape Drive
 R/W
TZ30 Cartridge Tape Drive R/W
TK70 Cartridge Tape Drive R
TZ85 / TF85 Cartridge Tape Drives R
TZ86 / TF86 Cartridge Tape Drives R

ULTRIX was available on other types of tape media too, but unfortunately I don't know anything about those formats. Maybe someone can give me some more info to add here (feel free to mail me). On TK50-K tapes the software kits from Digital are organised as follows:

FILE # ON TAPE CONTENTS BLOCK SIZE
01
 boot (bootable file 1)
 512 bytes
02
 vmunix (bootable file 2) 512 bytes
03
 root
 10240 bytes
04
 instctrl.tar
 10240 bytes
05
 KITFILE100.tar.Z 10240 bytes
...
 ...
 ...
last file
 LASTKITFILE.tar.Z 10240 bytes

If the software media kit consists of more then one tape,  then the next tape may exclude the bootable files, root file and table of contents file (file 01 - file 04) and continue with only kit files. On the tapes I have seen, the first three files used for OS installation and boot purposes have been included eventhough the software tapes didn't include any bootable software, it's just a standardised format of the tape.

Software kit files

The software kits on the CDs are in setld format, and the archived files can be manually extracted if needed knowing that the the format of the actual kit archives is tar.Z.

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How do I backup ULTRIX or DEC OSF/1 operating system or software installation tapes?

Here are some scripts that show how you can extract files from tapes that are arranged as the above table. These are just examples, you can make more advanced scripts if you have the skills to do so. The below scripts assume that you already have a soft link pointing to your tape device as /dev/nrmt0h. For the script to work properly you need to insert the first tape of the kit and wait until it becomes online, then you can try.

The first tape:


ultrix_system$ cat read_tape1.sh
#!/bin/sh
echo F00.boot
dd if=/dev/nrmt0h bs=512 of=F00.boot

echo F01.vmunix
dd if=/dev/nrmt0h bs=512 of=F01.vmunix

echo f02.root
dd if=/dev/nrmt0h bs=10240 of=f02.root

echo f03.instctrl.tar
dd if=/dev/nrmt0h bs=10240 of=f03.instctrl.tar

i=4

while true
do
    if [ $i -lt 10 ]
    then
        num="0$i"
    else
        num=$i
    fi

    name=f$num.tar.Z

    echo $name

    dd if=/dev/nrmt0h bs=10240 of=$name ||
    {
        exit
        mt -f /dev/nrmt0h rewoffl
    }

    i=`expr $i + 1`
done


Next tape (tape without table of contents; the second / third etc. tape of the media kit):


ultrix_system$ cat read_tape2.sh
#!/bin/sh

i=0

while true
do
    if [ $i -lt 10 ]
    then
        num="0$i"
    else
        num=$i
    fi

    name=f$num.tar.Z

    echo $name

    dd if=/dev/nrmt0h bs=10240 of=$name ||
    {
    exit
    mt -f /dev/nrmt0h rewoffl
    }

    i=`expr $i + 1`
done


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How do I make ULTRIX or DEC OSF/1 operating system or software installation tapes, i.e. create real tapes from tape images?

You can use the following script to restore tape images made with the above scripts to a tape. This tape script assumes that the files are arranged as the above table. If you have tape images with other file names (e.g. 01, 02, 03 or similar) you need to rename the files so that the first two files, in other words the files that has to be stored using 512 bytes blocks to be bootable, begin with "F" plus the number of the file with an extra "0" before one digit numbers (e.g. F00). The next files, with larger block size, should have names like "f" plus the number of the file with an extra "0" before one digit numbers (e.g. f04).

The below scripts assume that you already have a soft link pointing to your tape device as /dev/nrmt0h. For the script to work properly you need to remove the write protection of the tape, insert it into your tape drive and wait until it becomes online, then you can try.


ultrix_system$ cat write_tape.sh
#!/bin/sh
for file in F*
do
    [ -r $file ] &&
    {
        echo $file
        dd if=$file bs=512 of=/dev/nrmt0h
    }
done

for file in f*
do
        echo $file
        dd if=$file bs=10240 of=/dev/nrmt0h
done

mt -f /dev/nrmt0h rewoffl


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Feel free to drop me an email if you have found these instructions useful or if you have some more useful information to add.

I can't guarantee the correctness of the information provided on this web page, since this is a completely UNOFFICIAL source of DEC related information, not supported by, nor provided by, nor checked/approved by any representative of HP / Compaq / Digital Equipment Corporation.

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Last updated:  2-1-2007