[Simh] NetBSD 5.1 on MicoVAX 3900 boot error

Fri Apr 21 08:59:34 EDT 2017

On Thu, 20 Apr 2017, Mark Pizzolato wrote:

> Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2017 23:47:16 -0700
> From: Mark Pizzolato <Mark at infocomm.com>
> To: Peter Conrad Cumminsky <petercon at SDF.ORG>
> Cc: Mark Pizzolato <Mark at infocomm.com>
> Subject: RE: [Simh] NetBSD 5.1 on MicoVAX 3900 boot error
> 
> On Thursday, April 20, 2017 at 4:57 AM, Peter Conrad Cumminsky wrote:
>> On Wed, 19 Apr 2017, Mark Pizzolato wrote:
>>
>>> Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2017 14:23:20 -0700
>>> From: Mark Pizzolato <Mark at infocomm.com>
>>> To: Peter Conrad Cumminsky <petercon at SDF.ORG>
>>> Cc: Mark Pizzolato <Mark at infocomm.com>
>>> Subject: RE: [Simh] NetBSD 5.1 on MicoVAX 3900 boot error
>>>
>>> Hi Peter,
>>>
>>> On Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at 5:45 AM, Peter Conrad Cumminsky wrote:
>>>> On Tue, 18 Apr 2017, Mark Pizzolato wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2017 11:52:35 -0700
>>>>> From: Mark Pizzolato <Mark at infocomm.com>
>>>>> To: Peter Conrad Cumminsky <petercon at SDF.ORG>
>>>>> Cc: "simh at trailing-edge.com" <simh at trailing-edge.com>
>>>>> Subject: RE: [Simh] NetBSD 5.1 on MicoVAX 3900 boot error
>>>>>
>>>>> On Tuesday, April 18, 2017 at 8:57 AM, Peter Conrad Cumminsky wrote:
>>>>>> On Mon, 17 Apr 2017, Mark Pizzolato wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Monday, April 17, 2017 at 10:28 AM, petercpm at sdf.org wrote:
>>>>>>>> I'm getting a Segv error on boot of NetBSD 5.1 on the VAX
>>>>>>>> emulator of
>>>>>> SIMH v
>>>>>>>> 4.0 Beta. Install went fine w/o any problems. I'm attaching the
>>>>>>>> session
>>>> file
>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>> here's the netbsd-boot file:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> ............................................................
>>>>>>>> load -r ..\..\..\..\bin\ka655x.bin set cpu 64m ; SET CPU
>>>>>>>> IDLE=NETBSD set tto 7b ; AT DZ 8888 set rq0 ra92 at rq0
>>>>>>>> netbsd.dsk at xq0 eth0 boot cpu
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> ; At the VMB prompt, type boot dua0:
>>>>>>>> ............................................................
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I vaguely recall that there was at least one NetBSD version that
>>>>>>> was just
>>>>>> broken and hadn't been tested on any VAX (real or simulated) before
>>>>>> it was 'released'.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I suggest you:
>>>>>>> 1) try the same with simh 3.9
>>>>>>> 2) try a later NetBSD release.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> If you're seeing a problem which persists across several NetBSD
>>>>>>> releases,
>>>>>> and/or exists in the 4.0 code but not the 3.9 code, please open an
>>>>>> issue at https://github.com/simh/simh/issues
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Have Fun.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> - Mark Pizzolato
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks for the tips and info.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I've tried all versions of NetBSD 5.x (5.0.2, 5.1, 5.1.5, 5.2 and
>>>>>> 5.2.3) that I can find on SIMH 4.0 beta and they all Segv. I have
>>>>>> an old NetBSD 3 that boots and I tried NetBSD 6.0.4 and that also boots.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I am not able to run earlier versions of SIMH as I'm on Windows 10
>>>>>> 64-bit and WinPCAP does not run on W10. I use NPcap on W10 and that
>>>>>> doesn't work on earlier versions of SIMH which require WinPcap.
>>>>>
>>>>> You shouldn't need WinPCAP merely to test if the CD image is bootable.
>>>>> The point of the boot test exercise is to help determine if the
>>>>> problem is in NetBSD or due to recent changes to simh.  If changes
>>>>> to simh are at fault, I'll track it down and fix the problem.
>>>>>
>>>>>> I specifically want to run a 5.x version of NetBSD. I'm pretty sure
>>>>>> it did run on SIMH 3.8-1 on Windows 7 before the upgrade. I need to
>>>>>> downgrade
>>>> a
>>>>>> laptop I have to Win7 in the future and may try that. Until then
>>>>>> I'll play with OpenBSD which doesn't seem to have any problems with
>>>>>> SIMH 4.0
>>>> beta.
>>>>>
>>>>> The boot test I'm suggesting will be far less work than setting up
>>>>> another system.
>>>>>
>>>>> Let me know.
>>>>>
>>>>> - Mark
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> As I mentioned in my OP the NetBSD 5.x iso's installation works fine
>>>> - no problems with cd-rom boot. The first boot of the installed
>>>> NetBSD 5.x Segv's as per the original file attachment in my OP.
>>>>
>>>> I installed the SIMH 3.9 vax.exe and ka655x.bin in a seperate
>>>> directory and ran the installed NetBSD 5.1. It booted w/o the Segv
>>>> (and did not give me the WinPCAP error since I used the sans-network
>> version of SIMH 3.9).
>>>>
>>>> While it doesn't help me to run it without a network I hope this
>>>> helps you find the problem. Again, installation from CD works fine -
>>>> first boot Segv's.
>>>
>>> Can you zip the installed disk image and provide it somewhere I can
>>> pick it up (Google Drive maybe)?
>>>
>>> Thanks.
>>>
>>> - Mark
>>>
>>
>> Here you go:
>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/bbyrncu54z5qwcf/netbsd.zip?dl=0
>
> Thanks.
>
> Using that, I've tracked the SEGV back to the instruction which is actually faulting.  The panic message and the initial kernel debug have nothing to do with the instruction which actually is failing.  The address being referenced is indeed not valid, so how/why it gets to this point is the next question....  Is there some way you might have (or I might find) a link map for the kernel that is being booted?  Knowing what module it is occurring in would give me a clue as to where to look next...
>
> Thanks again.
>
> - Mark
>
>

That is way beyond my level of expertise, I'm afraid. All I can offer is 
that the install image is the official release of NetBSD 5.1 from the 
NetBSD archives. Pretty much the default installation options and no 
kernel "tuning".

--
Peter Conrad Cumminsky - petercon at sdf.lonestar.org
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