More RT-11 questions

From: Megan <mbg_at_world.std.com>
Date: Thu Apr 29 23:15:19 1999

>Ok, so when I boot the disk labelled RT-11V02C on my H-11 it seems to
>work except if I try to use PIP to copy a file to a disk I formatted with
>HT-11 it doesn't work (gives me DIR-RD-ERR).

It's possible that HT11 had some slight variation in the directory
structure which causes real RT-11 to throw up its hands in disgust.

>I realize DEC was "famous" for not providing formatting software but is
>there a FORMAT program for this version? Interestingly PIP on the HT-11
>DISK can read the disks just not the "official" RT11

Not so much that there is no software for it, some devices had no
capability to format... You cannot format an 8" floppy on an RX01.
Even on the RX02, all you can do (with true DEC hardware) is change
a single-density RX01 to a double-density RX02 or vice versa. If
the disk has no formatting to begin with, RX02s can't help it.

The only machine, strangely enough, which could truly format RX01s
was the PDT-11/150... It writes the low-level format whenever it
writes a block... I had a RX01 attached to one of my file cabinets
at work, using a magnet ring from an RK05... but I regularly used
it on the PDT just to show people it could be done...

BTW - a side effect of this is that only those sectors actually
written by the PDT-11/150 will have single-density formatting...
if the disk is otherwise a double-density disk, the unwritten
sectors remain double-density... strange, eh?

>Contents of Disk 1: Contents of Disk 2:
>MONITR.SYS 46 5-JAN-78 RKMNSJ.SYS 46 5-JAN-78

typically, MONITR.SYS was RT-11 SJ monitor for RK05
what the bootable monitor
was called.

>DXMNFB.SYS 58 5-JAN-78 RKMNFB.SYS 58 5-JAN-78

RT-11 FB monitor for RX01 RT-11 FB monitor for RK05

>DP .SYS 2 5-JAN-78 RFMNSJ.SYS 46 5-JAN-78

SJ/FB RP02/03 disk handler RT-11 SJ monitor for RF11
                                (fixed head disk)

>RK .SYS 2 5-JAN-78 RFMNFB.SYS 58 5-JAN-78

SJ/FB RK05 disk handler RT-11 FB Monitor for RF11

>RF .SYS 2 5-JAN-78 DPMNSJ.SYS 46 5-JAN-78

SJ/FB RF11 disk handler RT-11 SJ monitor for RP02/03

>TT .SYS 2 5-JAN-78 DPMNFB.SYS 58 5-JAN-78

SJ/FB TT handler RT-11 FB monitor for RP02/03

>LP .SYS 2 5-JAN-78 DT .SYS 2 5-JAN-78

SJ/FB Parallel Line printer SJ/FB Dectape (TU56) handler
handler

>BA .SYS 7 5-JAN-78 DX .SYS 2 5-JAN-78

SJ/FB Batch handler SJ/FB RX01 disk handler

>SYSMAC.SML 18 5-JAN-78 CR .SYS 3 5-JAN-78

System Macro Library SJ/FB Card reader handler

>SYSMAC.8K 25 5-JAN-78 MT .SYS 6 5-JAN-78

System Macro Library SJ/FB Magtape handler

>BATCH .SAV 25 5-JAN-78 MM .SYS 6 5-JAN-78

Batch processor SJ/FB Magtape handler

>EDIT .SAV 19 5-JAN-78 PR .SYS 2 5-JAN-78

Text editor, uses commands SJ/FB Paper tape reader handler
kind of like TECO, but
different

>MACRO .SAV 31 5-JAN-78 PP .SYS 2 5-JAN-78

Assembler SJ/FB paper tape punch handler

>ASEMBL.SAV 21 5-JAN-78 CT .SYS 5 5-JAN-78

Assembler (?) I never used SJ/FB TU60 cassette handler
this one...

>EXPAND.SAV 12 5-JAN-78 DS .SYS 2 5-JAN-78

I've forgotten... SJ/FB RJS04 disk handler

>CREF .SAV 5 5-JAN-78 FILEX .SAV 11 5-JAN-78

Cross-referencer File Exchange utility (knows
                                about RSTS file structure as
                                well as interchange floppies
                                and TOPS-10 volumes.

>LINK .SAV 25 5-JAN-78 SRCCOM.SAV 11 5-JAN-78

Linker Source file comparison utility

>PIP .SAV 14 5-JAN-78 DUMP .SAV 5 5-JAN-78

Peripheral Interchange Program DUMP utility

>PATCH .SAV 5 5-JAN-78 PATCHO.SAV 33 5-JAN-78

Utility for patching image Utility for patching object
files files

>ODT .OBJ 9 5-JAN-78 VTMAC .MAC 7 5-JAN-78

'Octal Debugging Technique' VT11 macro definition file
I always had a problem with
the name. I always thought
it should have been 'Octal
Debugging Tool'.

>VTHDLR.OBJ 8 5-JAN-78 SYSF4 .OBJ 33 5-JAN-78

VT11 display handler object I don't know...
library

>DEMOFG.MAC 5 5-JAN-78 KB .MAC 33 5-JAN-78

Demo foreground program, SJ/FB keyboard handler, allowed
communicates with... input from keyboard (the way
                                TT handled device output)

>DEMOBG.MAC 4 5-JAN-78

Demo background program

>LIBR .SAV 15 5-JAN-78

Librarian utility, used to
build object libraries

>TT 1 5-JAN-78

This is not a standard RT
file...

>LOAD .SAV 7 5-JAN-78

This is not a standard RT
file, it may be part of what
is executed at boot time...?

Thanks for the walk down memory lane...

                                        Megan Gentry
                                        Former RT-11 Developer

+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry!zk3.dec.com |
| Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg!world.std.com |
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Received on Thu Apr 29 1999 - 23:15:19 BST

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