[Simh] RSTS/E 10.1-L and Paper tape

[Johnny Billquist]

On 2016-01-07 03:27, Larry Baker wrote:
> Johnny,
>
> On Jan 6, 2016, at 6:03 PM, <simh-request at trailing-edge.com
> <mailto:simh-request at trailing-edge.com>> <simh-request at trailing-edge.com
> <mailto:simh-request at trailing-edge.com>> wrote:
>
>> Just a short comment. Linux/DECnet do not play right with RSX. The
>> development was all done against VMS, and it would appear to have lots
>> of bugs that were never ironed out. Success against anything except VMS
>> is dicey at best (unfortunately).
>
> Wish I had heard that before we got rid of our RSX-11M-Plus system!

Why did you get rid of something so good? :-)

> It's true our experience with DECnet/Linux is from VMS.  For the last
> decades we used the RSX system entirely from VMS using DECnet's
> Task-to-Task feature to access custom UNIBUS hardware on a PDP-11/73
> with a QNIVERTER.

Wow, that's a rather special setup. Nice to hear it worked well for you.

> Do you know if a SIMH RSX system would be able duplicate the errors you
> are talking about?  Do you have any clue whether the problems are in the
> Linux device driver or the applications?  I know there are some
> configuration hoops one has to jump through that seem to change with
> every new Linux kernel.  I did some hacking there to get it working.
>   But, I never had to hack the applications.  That being said, the only
> one we care about is DAP.
>
> Feel free to drop me a note off-list if you think it is worth pursuing.

You should definitely see the same problem on an emulated system.
My memory might fail me, but in essence, I could sortof get DAP/NFT work 
in one direction, but not at all in the other.
PHONE also did not work at all towards RSX. I don't think CTERM worked 
either.
But easiest would be for you to just set up a system, and try various 
things.

Exactly where the bugs are in the Linux code, I don't know. I never 
digged much into this. At the time I was talking a lot with the main 
developer of DECnet/Linux, but he/she never got around to look much at 
it in the end. But the problems were known.

As for if it is worth trying to fix? I don't know. I don't need it 
myself. There is TCP/IP, with both ftp and telnet on RSX, which I use 
when/if I want to transfer files from something "odd" and RSX. :-)

	Johnny

-- 
Johnny Billquist                  || "I'm on a bus
                                   ||  on a psychedelic trip
email: bqt at softjar.se             ||  Reading murder books
pdp is alive!                     ||  tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol