Hi!
> Not strictly on topic, since these are fairly new - but they were old enough to
> be thrown out at work, and I got them for L10 each.
It's OK I suppose.
> Both machines say Alphastation 200 4/100 on the front, and I think Model
> PB40H-CA on the back.
Nice machines.
> One of them boots openVMS, for which I have no passwords (same old story...).
> This machine claims her name is Tracey.
See www.openvms.digital.com to see how to hack this system. No problem.
> Anyway, if I press ctrl-C when booting Tracey, I can get to the console prompt.
> SHOW CONFIG then tells me a bit about what's installed in her:
>
> SRM Console X3.9-1387
> ARC Console 4.1-22
> PALcode VMS X5.48-87 OSF X1.35-57
> Serial ROM V4.6
> Diag ROM V1.6
>
> CPU DECchip 21064-2 at 100MHz
>
> pka0.7.0.6.0 SCSI 7
> dka0.0.0.6.0 RZ26L (this is whence it boots, BTW)
> dka100.1.0.6.0 RZ28
> mka400.4.0.6.0 TLZ07 (This is a tape drive on the SCSI bus. Presumably at
> address 4 - forgot to look when I had it in bits)
It is address 4
> With some random flag adjustments to the BOOT command, I got it into SYSBOOT,
> which has another load of useless things to SHOW and SET. This seems to be part
> of VMS, though.
It isn't useless. It's to hack the system or make some adjustments so
system parameters before the machine boots. It's very good. Read the VMS
FAQ.
> Can anyone tell me, off list if necessary:
>
> How do I break into OpenVMS from here?
See www.openvms.digital.com in the FAQ
> If I put in the floppy and CDROM drives from the other machine, will it
> recognise them automatically on boot, and if not, how do I tell it they're
> there?
They swill be recognized. Have a look at show device
> What OS are available, and whence do I obtain them? I found a FAQ somewhere at
> compaq.com about installing Linux on some models of Alphaserver - not mine, but
> could be helpful. Also, what are the various OS useful for?
You can install NetBSD/alpha, OpenVMS/alpha (IMHO the best), Tru64 Unix,
FreeBSD/alpha,...
> What are the HDDs? (How big, how easy to replace? They are both SCSI afaik)
RZ26L is about 1.08GB, and the RZ28 is about 2.xx GB. That's OK.
> If I decide to stay with VMS, are there any good books on the subject? I have
> almost no VMS experience (enough to know that I have to PURGE my files from time
> to time to stop my disk filling up, but that's about it!)
Read comp.os.vms.... It's useful. And read the FAQ. It's not hard at all.
HTH
--
Best Regards,
Freddy
=====================================================================
Frederik Meerwaldt ICQ: 83045387 Homepage: http://www.freddym.org
Bavaria/Germany OpenVMS and Unix Howtos and much more
FREEBSD, NETBSD, OPENBSD, TRU64, OPENVMS, ULTRIX, BEOS, LINUX
Received on Fri Aug 11 2000 - 12:10:54 BST