[Simh] SCSI-Interface for simh-vax?

[Paul Koning]

> On Sep 2, 2018, at 5:55 AM, Johnny Billquist <bqt at softjar.se> wrote:
> 
> ...
>>> I wasn’t able to figure out how to make it work in RSTS/E.
>> To be bootable, a CD needs an appropriate boot block (LBN 0).  For VMS,
>> it's written by 'writeboot' - not initialize.  I don't remember the
>> details for RSTS - look at SAVRES->RESTORE and BACKUP for
>> possibilities.    Or wait for Paul K to fill that in.
> 
> Paul needs to chime in here. But in the back of my head, there is a warning bell about RSTS/E expecting/require the boot device to always be writeable, which could be a serious problem for a CD.

No, that's fine, provided the file system flags mark the file system as read-only.  In that case, RSTS will treat the disk as an installation disk, and when booted go automatically to the installation actions as opposed to prompting for a regular startup.  You can't start such a disk, that is true.  But you can boot it, invoke the disk initializer to initiaze your intended system disk, and copy the minimal files from the CD to that disk after which it is booted.

The block size could be a consideration; RSTS expects 512 byte blocks and I don't know how one would work around that on a CD.  Also, what interface would you use?  MSCP, I suppose; does that do the necessary magic to make it look like a 512-byte sector size device?

	paul