VAX Booting and Startup Dilema (was: VAX consoleandcrossover...)

From: Witchy <witchy_at_binarydinosaurs.co.uk>
Date: Sat Feb 21 17:53:45 2004

> -----Original Message-----
> From: cctalk-bounces_at_classiccmp.org
> [mailto:cctalk-bounces_at_classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of R. D. Davis
> Sent: 21 February 2004 20:25
> To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
> Subject: Re: VAX Booting and Startup Dilema (was: VAX
> consoleandcrossover...)
>
> Ok, thanks, I'll start commenting things out of the startup
> files and poke around some more to see what all does, and
> doesn't, exist.

>From looking at comp.os.vms you've been having disk based fun which is now
sorted....good. The second I saw your post I thought 'he could've asked here
and got a faster response' :)
 
> Once I mounted the other disk manually, I discovered lots of
> files pertaining to qfax, software by Audiotechs for the
> DECvoice boards, etc. Not sure how complete that software

One of my customers used DECtalk (I assume you mean that) lots for
announcing timechecks and potline voltages/temperatures. I was v. annoyed
when they ditched the whole lot *while I was on site* and didn't give me the
chance of salvaging it. They also had racks of PDP stuff that they also
binned......grrr......

> A while back I think someone mentioned some piece of hardware
> that allows one to use standard residential voice lines with
> the commercial telephone (T1?) lines. Does anyone recall
> anything about this? It would be fun to be able to put these
> DECvoice boards to some creative use to have fun with people
> who keep dialing wrong telephone numbers and reach my number. :-)

I'm not familiar with QFAX but I'd assume it was a domestic fax product
along the lines of the (perhaps) much later Wilco FAXbox. I doubt it'd need
anything more than a handful of phonelines, unless it was part of a much
bigger setup.
 
> Can those be used with VAX/VMS 5.5? This system has a
> licence which never expires, according to what I've seen by
> poking around. This machine is also supposed to have an

Hmm......I'd think so. Your license must be a type A with 60 units? UCX was
originally the Ultrix Connection (or a very close similar name) so it
would've been a TCP/IP stack to allow VMS boxen to talk to DECstations and
the like; maybe Antonio can fill us in on that one? I remember CMU-IP
(Carnegie-Mellon University) and Multinet came about because the similar DEC
product cost an arm and a leg because they were still pushing DECnet and Ken
was still very proprietary.

We all know the C language was developed (or finalised) on a PDP-11 so that
would almost definitely have been available on VMS 5. I've still got the CDs
from back then so I'll grab the layered product CDs and let you know what
version it was.....

Cheers

--
Adrian/Witchy
Owner & Webmaster, Binary Dinosaurs
www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - possibly the UK's biggest online computer museum
www.snakebiteandblack.co.uk - ex-monthly gothic shenanigans :o(
Received on Sat Feb 21 2004 - 17:53:45 GMT

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