Wanted: ASR-33, LA36, and VT50

From: John A. Dundas III <dundas_at_caltech.edu>
Date: Mon Jun 28 12:39:40 2004

Ashley,

At 12:26 PM -0400 6/28/04, Ashley Carder wrote:
> > Also note that the 15 switch needs to be raised (or "d sr 100000" in
>> SIMH) in order for the performance collection code to dynamically
>> keep track of interesting things. [You did SYSGEN in the monitor
>> collection code?]
>
>I don't remember this question during SYSGEN. What does this do
>and how can I look at the "interesting things" that are collected?

There is a document that explains all of this. Go to
<http://pdp-11.trailing-edge.com/rsts11/rsts-11-101/> and grab the
DECUS.DOC file. The relevant part is "RSTS/E Statistics Collection,"
Author: Martin Minow, Date: November 18, 1976. In this document he
describes that to enable these, one must answer the SYSGEN question
"long or short question format" with "L/Q" or "S/Q". Afterward,
switch register bits 0 and 15 control various aspects of data
collection. I believe this information is valid for RSTS versions 6
(starting in c?) through 9, though I can't confirm it.

>It sounds like you're pretty "into" RSTS. What kinds of system(s) do
>you have and what versions of RSTS are you using? I just copied a

I'll accept that :-)

I have one each of /73, /84, and /70. I'm still working on bringing
the /70 back to life. RSTS versions are available for hobbyist use
through 9.6, I believe.

I am trying to put together a comprehensive archive of RSTS
distributions and make this available to the community.

>SYSGEN of a RSTS V7 system from my simh system to a *REAL*
>RL02 on my 11/34 (using that handy program, VTServer), along with
>lots of custom mods to $LOGIN, $LOGOUT, and other things that
>were unique to our late 1970s implementation. I've used $REACT
>to create our original PPNs for all of our old crew and the retired
>professor who ran the computer center. I've booted the 11/34
>from the pack and everything seems to work fine. I've set up all our
>custom CCLs and LOGICALs, and I need to create another RL02
>pack for all our additional stuff like the GAME: directory, which I
>have loaded with all those old BASIC games, as well as the BASIC-
>PLUS version of ADVENTure, and some custom stuff like VT50
>versions of games like Star Trek, which one of my friends put together
>back around 1976.

Very nice.

>I'm working on getting an 11/40, so my reincarnation of the system
>will be more close to the original, complete with blinking lights and
>toggle switches. Our professor modified $LOGIN so that you
>could not log in to a privileged account on any KB other that KB0:
>(the system console) unless one of the switches was "on". I have
>this modification made to our copy of $LOGIN and have tested it
>in simh. I've also implemented a program, $WAITS, which our
>professor wrote. It runs as a detached job and wakes up ever
>10 or 15 minutes and collects statistics on system usage, and also
>logs off "idle" terminals.

I believe *many* sites had similar modifications. Also see DYNPRI
from the same URL given above.

We must be roughly contemporary. My first experience with RSTS was
in '75 using the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) machine
while a student at Lewis & Clark University. I too am trying to
recreate an environment, but not that particular one. I'm trying to
put together a V7.2 system on the /70. It's been interesting (!)
trying to assemble all the pieces.

If you need any help, feel free to ask. Good luck,

John
Received on Mon Jun 28 2004 - 12:39:40 BST

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0 : Fri Oct 10 2014 - 23:37:01 BST