[Simh] PDP11 oddity with RSTS 9.6

[Paul Koning]

> On Feb 3, 2016, at 3:46 PM, Paul Koning <paulkoning at comcast.net> wrote:
> 
> 
>> On Feb 3, 2016, at 2:46 PM, Gene Irwin <girwin1215 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Hello guys,
>> 
>> I have tried simh 3.9 and 4.0 and have this odd issue.
>> 
>> I got a copy of a built rsts on rpo6, and the copies of the .tap files used to gen this image.  it is v9.6.
>> 
>> If I boot the prebuilt hard drive image the system comes up just fine.
>> 
>> If I boot the tape and go through the sysgen process the hard drive image that is built has no lp0: device in the monitor, and the spooler fails during boot and keeps the rest of the start.com script from running, making the system come up in a single user mode with job max at 2.
>> 
>> I've tried diferent processors (11/70 up to 11/94), LPT is enabled in simh, and I'm not sure what to try next.  
>> 
>> If I boot the prebuilt image and do show devices _LP0: is present.
>> If I boot the sysgen'd image and do show devices, there is no _LP0:
> 
> Did you ask for line printers during sysgen?  Can you show the generated config.mac (produced by running the sysgen program)?

Something else to try.

After boot, at the "start timesharing" prompt, ask for "hardware list".  It should show the LP; if not, it meas that the boot autoconfiguration code did not see an LP controller.

If it's shown there, start with the "START" command (not just Return for the default fast start).  Look for device disabled messages before the prompt from the startup script.

	paul