[TUHS] Unable to boot v7 UNIX

[TUHS] Unable to boot v7 UNIX

[Rox 64]

Hi guys, new SIMH (and Research Unix) user here coming from the future
(Linux), haha. Well, as the mail subject says, I have a problem.

After creating a bootable disk from a virgin Unix v7 distribution tape by
following this guide, http://homepages.thm.de/~hg53/pdp11-unix/, and after
umounting the usr file system and halting the machine, SIMH returns:
        HALT instruction, PC: 000002 (HALT)
after running the command:
        pdp11 run.conf
and I cannot boot my 87,9 MB 'system.hp' disk.

I thought the problem was on the final line of 'run.conf':
        run 2002
But when I use SIMH without .conf files and by manually typing the
following commands:
        set cpu 11/45
        set cpu 256k
        set rp0 rp04
        attach rp0 system.hp
        boot rp0
I see the same HALT message too.

I'm currently unning SIMH from Debian/Ubuntu package 3.8.1-5build1. Should
I update to a newest one? Or did I make a mistake when creating my bootable
disk?
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[TUHS] Unable to boot v7 UNIX

[Rox 64]

Ah crap, this mail was for the SIMH mailing list. Sorry for the confusion.
Anyway, if someone here uses SIMH and knows a solution, I would be happy to
hear it.
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[TUHS] Unable to boot v7 UNIX

[Hellwig Geisse]

Hi Rox,

On Mon, 2012-12-31 at 05:36 +0100, Rox 64 wrote:
> I'm currently unning SIMH from Debian/Ubuntu package 3.8.1-5build1.
> Should I update to a newest one? Or did I make a mistake when creating
> my bootable disk?

I cannot reproduce the behavior you describe, sorry. I'm using
32-bit Ubuntu, and compiled SIMH 3.9-0 freshly out-of-the-box.
Everything comes up as it should, including UNIX V7 multi-user
mode.

Did you remember to
  -  substitute 'tm' for the tape in all commands
  -  substitute 'hp' for the disk in all commands
  -  use hptmunix when booting
  -  do a 'mv hptmunix unix' in preparing further bootstraps
  -  'make rp04' and 'make tm' in /dev for creating devices
  -  use 153406 as size for the filesystem on /dev/rp3
  -  copy /usr/mdec/hpuboot as boot block?
Each of these steps is absolutely necessary to successfully
boot the system.

Good luck!

Hellwig

[TUHS] Unable to boot v7 UNIX

[Rox 64]

>   -  substitute 'tm' for the tape in all commands
>
Yes, I did it, I was very careful about not screwing up things by not
writing 'tm'

>   -  substitute 'hp' for the disk in all commands
>
Yes too

>   -  use hptmunix when booting
>
Yes, I wrote 'hp(0,0)hptmunix'

>   -  do a 'mv hptmunix unix' in preparing further bootstraps
>
Yes, and then I removed all instances except 'unix' with the commands 'RM
HP*IX' and 'RM RP*IX' as according to this site:
http://gunkies.org/wiki/Installing_v7_on_SIMH (don't worry, your HOWTO as
my main guide, I just used that wiki entry as a companion). Maybe should I
leave HPTMUNIX and RP*IX?

>   -  'make rp04' and 'make tm' in /dev for creating devices
>
Yes

>   -  use 153406 as size for the filesystem on /dev/rp3
>
Yes, I was about to type 74000 but then I saw 153406 is the correct value
for RP04/5

>   -  copy /usr/mdec/hpuboot as boot block?
>
Yes, I wrote 'dd if=/usr/mdec/hpuboot of=/dev/rp0 count=1'

So I'm not sure what's the problem. I will try it again with the shipped
Ubuntu package and I will be more careful. If it fails then I will compile
3.9-0. And if it fails again I will use Clem Cole's suggestions. Wish me
luck!

BTW, what version of SIMH did you use when writing your guide, Hellwig?
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[TUHS] Unable to boot v7 UNIX

[Hellwig Geisse]

On Mon, 2012-12-31 at 17:01 +0100, Rox 64 wrote:


> BTW, what version of SIMH did you use when writing your guide,
> Hellwig?

The simulator is included in the package... ;-)
A quick look reveals (in file sim_rev.h):

#define SIM_MAJOR       3
#define SIM_MINOR       6
#define SIM_PATCH       0

Hellwig

[TUHS] Unable to boot v7 UNIX

[Rox 64]

That's funny, now it works! I'm not sure what did I do wrong in my previous
test. The only difference I know is that then I did 'cd /' before
'/etc/mkfs /dev/rp3 153406', and now I have skipped 'cd /'.

Aaaah, nice to be able to use V7 Unix on modern computers =)
        PDP-11 simulator V3.8-1
        Disabling XQ
        boot
        Boot
        : hp(0,0)unix
        mem = 177344
        # RESTRICTED RIGHTS: USE, DUPLICATION, OR DISCLOSURE
        IS SUBJECT TO RESTRICTIONS STATED IN YOUR CONTRACT WITH
        WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INC.
        WED DEC 31 19:08:26 EST 1969

        login: root
        Password:
        You have mail

I don't see a '@', but otherwise it works now ^^. Now I'm going to play a
little, add new users and fix the time zone =). Thanks for all!
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[TUHS] Unable to boot v7 UNIX

[Random832]

On 12/31/2012 11:25 AM, Rox 64 wrote:
> I don't see a '@', but otherwise it works now ^^. Now I'm going to 
> play a little, add new users and fix the time zone =). Thanks for all!

Speaking of time zones, has anyone written code to update ctime.c for 
the changes to the US rules in 2007? (let alone any non-US rules) and 
have a list of what binaries need to be recompiled for changes to 
daylight saving rules?

Also, I'm looking at ctime.c, and i'm not sure if the current code 
handles leap years correctly.

It might be nice to have a repository for little things like that, 
y2k-compliance (there are a couple 19112's in there IIRC), and so on.