- WLUG - wlug.mailman3.com

Re: [Wlug] Wlug Digest, Vol 79, Issue 9
by David Hardy May 21, 2010

May 21, 2010

I don't have any old DEC equipment anymore, but I started my so-called IT career on a PDP-11 out in gorgeous Gardner, MA back in 1986. It ran RSX for an engineering CAD/CAM shop and we also had a VAX 780 running VMS 3.5. Last version of VMS I've worked with was 7.1, right here in Wormtown. I love Linux but I have to say I also was in love with VMS. Rumor had it, back in '89, that there was a field somewhere off Route 12 in Leominster, where DEC had dumped loads and loads of equipment, including computers, printers, cables, you-name-it. One of my operators when I was a sys admin at DEC Marlborough at that time had his front yard filled with that stuff, and the weather allegedly had no effect on any of it. I would imagine by now that the field, if it ever existed, is now a condo development or a semi-abandoned strip mall. Cheers from South Woostuh! On Wed, May 19, 2010 at 12:00 PM, <wlug-request(a)mail.wlug.org> wrote: > Send Wlug mailing list submissions to > wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > wlug-request(a)mail.wlug.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > wlug-owner(a)mail.wlug.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Wlug digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Success - antique linux on antique SPARC (Ken Jones) > 2. Re: Success - antique linux on antique SPARC (Jorden Mauro) > 3. Re: Success - antique linux on antique SPARC (Doug Chamberlin) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 18 May 2010 22:02:40 -0400 > From: "Ken Jones" <kjones(a)ziplink.net> > Subject: [Wlug] Success - antique linux on antique SPARC > To: <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> > Message-ID: <94F4CAE4ED0C4AC0BB1660AF1C3A9586@kjonespc> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > I tried and tried. I fdisk'd. I setenv'd boot-device. I tried to study > and learn. GENTOO just would not stick. > > I found in my CD pile a five disk set of AURORA 2.4.20-2.3sparc64 dated Jan > 15, 2003. It installed. It does KDE. I can see all my old "lost" files. > Hurray!! > > Anybody have a DEC PDP10 for us senior citizens to play with? > > Ken Jones > > > > ======= > Email scanned by PC Tools - No viruses or spyware found. > (Email Guard: 7.0.0.18, Virus/Spyware Database: 6.14960) > http://www.pctools.com/ > ======= > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > http://mail.wlug.org/pipermail/wlug/attachments/20100518/2c82159f/attachmen… > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Wed, 19 May 2010 07:35:45 -0400 > From: Jorden Mauro <jrm8005(a)gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [Wlug] Success - antique linux on antique SPARC > To: Worcester Linux Users Group <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> > Cc: "<wlug(a)mail.wlug.org>" <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> > Message-ID: <52DB5519-B9DE-47AE-9DC6-FE7E2899906A(a)gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > On May 18, 2010, at 10:02 PM, "Ken Jones" <kjones(a)ziplink.net> wrote: > > > I tried and tried. I fdisk'd. I setenv'd boot-device. I tried to > > study and learn. GENTOO just would not stick. > > > > I found in my CD pile a five disk set of AURORA 2.4.20-2.3sparc64 > > dated Jan 15, 2003. It installed. It does KDE. I can see all my > > old "lost" files. Hurray!! > > > > Anybody have a DEC PDP10 for us senior citizens to play with? > > 'fraid even the computer history museum is still looking for parts to > get one that can boot. > > You can run v7 Unix in a special pdp11 VM for old time sake, though. > It even has a working version of Ken's chess. > > If anyone knows PDP assembly, I'd love to see that program ported into > the 21st century. > > > > > Ken Jones > > > > > > > > > > > > ======= > > Email scanned by PC Tools - No viruses or spyware found. > > (Email Guard: 7.0.0.18, Virus/Spyware Database: 6.14960) > > http://www.pctools.com > > ======= > > _______________________________________________ > > Wlug mailing list > > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > http://mail.wlug.org/pipermail/wlug/attachments/20100519/0644a5bb/attachmen… > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Wed, 19 May 2010 08:09:12 -0400 > From: Doug Chamberlin <dougchamberlin(a)earthlink.net> > Subject: Re: [Wlug] Success - antique linux on antique SPARC > To: wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > Message-ID: <4BF3D4E8.9080303(a)earthlink.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > On 5/18/2010 10:02 PM, Ken Jones wrote: > > Anybody have a DEC PDP10 for us senior citizens to play with? > No, but I have two Dec Alpha systems looking for a good home. > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > http://mail.wlug.org/pipermail/wlug/attachments/20100519/9ba9f378/attachmen… > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > > > End of Wlug Digest, Vol 79, Issue 9 > *********************************** >

7 10

Re: [Wlug] Need a bigger ULTRA1 disk
by jbaillie＠netzero.com May 21, 2010

May 21, 2010

If you are talking 68 pin I may be able to help you out with a disk. It probably has a generic firmware on it. I don't know if that makes a difference to your situ. ---------- Original Message ---------- From: "Ken Jones" <kjones(a)ziplink.net> To: <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> Subject: [Wlug] Need a bigger ULTRA1 disk Date: Thu, 20 May 2010 22:56:34 -0400 Hello again, I have down loaded the six CD Fedora-12-sparc-beta-disc.iso set. It appears to be about 3.4 Gig. That is about the size of the hard drive on which I had hoped to install it. Anybody know where I could get a bigger ULTRA sparc64 compatible hard drive? Ken ======= Email scanned by PC Tools - No viruses or spyware found. (Email Guard: 7.0.0.18, Virus/Spyware Database: 6.15020) http://www.pctools.com ======= ____________________________________________________________ Refinance Now 4.0% FIXED! $160,000 Mortgage for $633/mo. Free. No Obligation. Get 4 Quotes! http://thirdpartyoffers.netzero.net/TGL3231/4bf69580c22af5bdf5st02duc

3 2

Need a bigger ULTRA1 disk
by Ken Jones May 21, 2010

May 21, 2010

Hello again, I have down loaded the six CD Fedora-12-sparc-beta-disc.iso set. It appears to be about 3.4 Gig. That is about the size of the hard drive on which I had hoped to install it. Anybody know where I could get a bigger ULTRA sparc64 compatible hard drive? Ken ======= Email scanned by PC Tools - No viruses or spyware found. (Email Guard: 7.0.0.18, Virus/Spyware Database: 6.15020) http://www.pctools.com/ =======

3 2

Progress - hardware issues...
by Ken Jones May 19, 2010

May 19, 2010

Again, Thank you all for being there. My SUN ULTRA 1 Creator had some hardware problems. Its CDROM reader was intermittent. That explained the problem getting GENTOO liveCD disks to work. Now, I have three GENTOO liveCD's. They all boot. ------------------------ One has a printed label. I must have gotten in by snail mail. The label says: GENTOO Linux/2004/sparc64/CD1 Sparc64 Installation Disc 'uname' says it is: liveCD 2.4-gentoo-r2 (I think) Inside is documentation. The most recent date is July 2004. ----------------------------- install-sparc64-minimal-2006.1.iso 'uname' says it is: liveCD 2.6.17-gentoo-r5 ----------------------------- install-sparc64-universal-2006.1.iso 'uname' says it too is: liveCD 2.6.17-gentoo-r5 ----------------------------- I fail to see the difference between the minimal and the universal versions once they are installed. I want a 'real' installation. Not one running off my cdrom drive. I thought that somehow these minimal and universal versions would show me the way. I used to run Aurora, but the old mirror sights seem to have disappeared. I have my old five CD aurora disc set, but the CD drive coughs it out when I try to boot to it. I have saved the files on that hard drive that I had been using as a server. I would like to get the ULTRA running GNOME or KDE, but I am getting a bit lost. A suggestion would be appreciated. Ken

3 2

Success - antique linux on antique SPARC
by Ken Jones May 19, 2010

May 19, 2010

I tried and tried. I fdisk'd. I setenv'd boot-device. I tried to study and learn. GENTOO just would not stick. I found in my CD pile a five disk set of AURORA 2.4.20-2.3sparc64 dated Jan 15, 2003. It installed. It does KDE. I can see all my old "lost" files. Hurray!! Anybody have a DEC PDP10 for us senior citizens to play with? Ken Jones ======= Email scanned by PC Tools - No viruses or spyware found. (Email Guard: 7.0.0.18, Virus/Spyware Database: 6.14960) http://www.pctools.com/ =======

3 2

OMG this thing was expensive
by Ken Jones May 15, 2010

May 15, 2010

Hello again, I've finally gotten around to fixing my SPARC ULTRA 1 machine. It's cpu fan is fried. I have a SPARC ULTRA 1 CREATOR that works with UBUNTU linux but I never got X-WINDOWS working on it. The working SPARC has been my home file server for all these many years. It had Aurora Linux with X all working fine. I figured I would do some swapping. Although the outsides are identical the two machines differ inside. The CREATOR has no cpu fan - just cooling fins. Good, I guess. I had no Service Manuals for either machine so I went to Wikipedia. It has the manuals. It also said, "The Ultra 1 Creator3D 170E launched in November 1995 with a list price of US$27,995." WOW!! QUESTION: If I move from the ULTRA1 to the ULTRA1 CREATOR the SIMMs in bank one and the hard drive should everything come up per before the crash? Thanks for thinking about this. Twenty Seven Thousand Bucks WOW!! Ken ======= Email scanned by PC Tools - No viruses or spyware found. (Email Guard: 7.0.0.18, Virus/Spyware Database: 6.14950) http://www.pctools.com/ =======

4 3

Reminder: WLUG Meeting Wednesday May 12 7PM
by Chuck Anderson May 12, 2010

May 12, 2010

Reminder about tomorrow's WLUG meeting. On Tue, May 04, 2010 at 02:13:41PM -0400, Chuck Anderson wrote: > Hi folks, > > Our next WLUG meeting is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, May 12 at > 7:00 PM in Morgan Hall at the WPI campus in Worcester, MA USA. > > I'm pleased to announce that Jeff Moyer from Red Hat will be our guest > speaker. He will be giving a talk on Solid-State Drive technology > (SSDs): > > A Complete Guide to SSDs > > This talk explains the inner workings of solid state storage > technology in an easy to understand manner. The innate properties of > NAND flash are discussed in the context of current disk scheduling > methodologies. Benchmark results comparing SSDs and traditional > rotating media are presented. The talk further outlines changes in the > Linux kernel and file system utilities that have been made to > accommodate SSDs, and changes that are on their way. Finally, guidance > is given on practical deployment of SSDs, including file system > creation and mount options, I/O scheduler selection, and answers to > some frequently asked questions. > > I look forward to seeing you there, > Chuck > President, Worcester Linux Users' Group

3 2

I finally got the GEntoo liveCD running.
by Ken Jones May 12, 2010

May 12, 2010

It took me three hours to figure out that at the ok prompt I am meant to write: ok boot cdrom boot: gentoo-2.4 But I am started! Ken

2 1

Boy an I out-of-it
by Ken Jones May 11, 2010

May 11, 2010

WLUG folks-> I got my ULTRA1 Creator up and running. I accomplished this by taking my original (Aurora) hard drive out of slot 1 and reinstalled the hard drive that had been there in the first place. When I had the Aurora in slot 1 everything booted and looked perfect for X Windows, but then in the last step it crashed. It is now running Gentoo's bash. Bash has so few commands that I am feeling helpless. When I try a BOOT from DISC to my gentoo liveCD. The machine just ejects the disc. I have eth0 working, but bash does not have a ssh command. Nor is there a demon sshd lying around. There is no 'locate' command. There is no 'find' command. I am very much missing something. What? I now feel challenged. Ken

2 1

2.6.20-gentoo-R5
by Ken Jones May 11, 2010

May 11, 2010

I've got my ULTRA1 Creator running 2.6.20-gentoo-R5. I am having senior moments. Too long since I have command line LINUX'd. Even longer since I have bash'd. My terminal display is different colors between files and directories which I do not like. Where is that defined? I will have many questions over the next couple of days. Please be forewarned. Ken Jones

5 5