> Currently all my VAXen are at V7.2 and I'm moving my Alpha's to V7.2-1H1
> (with plans to move to V7.2-2 once it's available). Obviously part of what
> it takes to have a "good" release is to have all the patches that you can
> applied, and to keep current with what patches are available. Compaq has a
> mailing list you can join for this. Trust me it's worth it. What I've not
> been able to find is a list of recommended patches for specific release,
> which is unfortunate as that would save a person a lot of trouble.
That's why I like having a DSNLINK account. I can look at all the
patches and see the installation ratings and notes.
> Once V7.3-1 is out, then I'll consider moving past V7.2-x.
I've loaded V7.3 on the Charon VAX emulator, and it went pretty smooth,
but I'll not try to roll out V7.3 on the production VAX systems at work
until there's a good reason. For the Alphas I'm with you on waiting for
V7.3-1.
> > I happen to like VMS 5.5-2H4 which was, I believe, the last release in the
> > 5.x line and thus pretty darn stable. It runs on pretty much every VAX and
> > uses the "Modern" license management facility that the Hobbyiest licenses
> > conform to. There is also a lot of software that runs on "5.5 and above" so
> > that is good too. Finally its the last release that calls itself VAX VMS
> > (rather than OpenVMS) which gives it a wonderful classic like feel.
>
> One question. Where on earth did you get V5.5-2H4? I'm not 100% sure you
> can even get V5.5-2 out of the Hobbyist V1 CD (if you're lucky enough to
> have it). At the moment I've got one VAXstation 3100 on V5.5, but want to
> replace it with a VAXstation 4000/60 running V5.5-2 (or V5.5-2H4 if
> possible). Isn't V5.5-2H4 the Y2k update?
I'm pretty sure I have V5.5-2 on CD. I seem to remember V5.5-2H4 was
only shipped with processors that needed the support, since the "H"
releases are hardware releases, not patch releases.
> > Then there is VMS 6.x, of which I've got images for 6.1 and 6.2 (no 6.0 but
> > I opted to pass on the ConDist as well). Is there a release after 6.2 that
> > sits between it and the 7.x release? Given the shortness between 7.0 and
> > 7.1 I'm going to guess that 7.0 had some serious issues and 7.2 which is
> > running on the VLC cluster seems quite stable. (using a patched UCX).
>
> There are definite advantages to V6.2 in that you can a mixed
> verson/architecure cluster with one of the following V6.2, V7.1, and V7.2.
> Based both on the documentation and my personal experience V5.5 and 7.2
> can't be mixed in a cluster (very, very bad things happen when this is
> attempted).
>
> V7.0 = Avoid
> V7.1-2/Alpha & V7.1/VAX = OK
> V7.2-1H1/Alpha & V7.2/VAX = OK
> V7.3 = To new for me to try and I'm a hobbyist!
If you have a choice between V7.1 and V7.2 on a VAX go with V7.2. For
mixed version clusters Compaq does support running two different versions,
but only in a migration setting. Of course, lots of places have been
running in long-term migration for a while without any problems. Just
don't try to mix three different versions in a cluster, as that can cause
some problems.
BTW, V7.3 finally adds support for booting a VMS environment from the CDROM
for the VAX just like the Alpha. Booting SYS0 on the CD loads SA BACKUP,
and booting SYS1 boots VMS.
> > Thoughts? What was the best V4.x release? V3? Does anyone have VMS 1.x and
> > if so what processors does it support? As I recall on the 780 at school it
> > looked a _lot_ like RSX-11M+ :-)
>
> Unless I'm mistaken V1 probably only supports the VAX-11/780, and through V3
> I'd guess only the VAX-11/7xx family is supported (in fact I believe this is
> probably true for early V4 releases).
>
> Oh, and as for anyone having V1, the question is, not only does anyone have
> it, does anyone have the doc's. There was a survey about a year ago, and
> about the oldest anyone had was V2 or V3 of the Doc sets.
>
> As for V4.x which is supported on a wider range of processors (including,
> IIRC, some 3100's) the trick is getting it.
When Tim Stark's VAX emulation is ready I want to get a copy of V1.x just to
play with it, since it's been a long time since I've seen it running.
> Something else to consider. If you're running a MicroVAX II then V7.2 is
> where you stop. With a VAX-11/725 you stop at V5.1 (or maybe V5.1-1, with
> the rest of the VAX-11/7xx family, the VAXft family and the MicroVAX I you
> stop at V6.2. It appears that V7.3 won't be the final stopping point for
> any systems, at least I've been unable to find such information in the V7.3
> SPD.
V7.3 seems to have support for the MicroVAX II:
$ write sys$output f$getsyi("HW_NAME")
MicroVAX II
$ write sys$output f$getsyi("VERSION")
V7.3
Check the SPD for supported systems:
http://www.compaq.com/info/SP2501/SP2501PF.PDF
They list the MicroVAX II in both the supported and unsupported
list. I'm curious now as to whether which list is correct. I
guess I'll ask on comp.os.vms.
V7.3 is the last version for quite a few VAX systems. (listed
in the SPD).
--
Eric Dittman
dittman_at_dittman.net
Received on Fri Jun 29 2001 - 20:35:33 BST