DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 497 1 replies Reply to # 493 Left by: Phil Anthony On 16-Apr-89 At : Here Subject: PARITY ERRORS ON DMF32 I don't know a darned thing about differences between DZ11s and DMF32s that would give you parity errors on the DMF but not on the DZ. If anything, I'd expect the opposite, since the DZ does no buffering but requires interrupt service for every character input. A few thoughts unrelated to the multi- plexing hardware come to mind, though. The DZ, you say, was on a MicroVAX 2000. How many other users is the VAX 8650 supporting? If the machine is overloaded so that it can't respond to the 19.2 KBaud input in a timely manner, errors would be possible - though I'd expect overruns rather than parity errors in that case. Second, take a look at the path the cables follow from the external device to the 8650. If you're using a null-modem cable between the two devices, are they routed past a source of radiofrequency emissions that the cables going to the uVAX avoided - a copying machine, a motor, even too close to a fluorescent light with a flaky starter? If so, try moving the cables, or even replacing them with shielded cable. If you're using modems, on the other hand - even short-hauls - it may be that a slight difference in rates between the two devices is causing your problem. Third, it could be that this particular DMF's idea of 19.2 KBaud is a little off from the external device's and the DZ's. Do you have a free port on an- other DMF to check this out? I hope these suggestions at least give you a place to start looking. Maybe one of ARIS' hardware gurus can shed some further light on this one. Good luck, and let us know what you find. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 498 1 replies Reply to # 496 Left by: Philip Gravel On 17-Apr-89 At : (312)420-5474 Subject: DEC-IBM GATEWAYS There are a number of different gateways which you can use to connect DEC and IBM computers. Costs increase as functionality does. The easiest way to find about about them is to ask your IBM salesperson for a copy of their booklet entitled "Solutions in Connectivity" (from IBM's Engineering/Scientific National Support Center in Dallas). If you talk to DEC, you will just be told about DEC's products. DEC has two products for connectivity. The less expensive one comes with their WAN software (VMS 5.0) and when used with a bisynchronous link (DMB32 on a BIBUS or DPV11 on a Q bus), permits batch file transfers. DEC's SNA Gateway comes in three flavors and the optional Message Router/P routines provide a mail gateway between PROFS and VMS. DEC's SNA Gateway provides more functions for IBM's MVS operating system than it does for the VM operating system. If you talk to IBM, they will tell you about a half dozen products from third party vendors. Jnet, Interlink, and Flexlink all provide mail exchange between IBM's PROFS system and All-in-1 or VMS Mail. Jnet from Joiner Associates is software running on a VAX that when used in conjunction with some physical link (SNA Gateway, bisync) provides for file transfer and mail interchange; it does not provide terminal emulation. The offering from Mitek allows terminal emulation, file transfer between IBM systems and computers that speak TCP/IP; it doesn't support mail exchange with PROFS. Interlink is software and hardware that makes an IBM system look like a DECnet node. It provides terminal emulation, file transfer, mail exchange, and remote spooling. On the VAX side, you use the normal DCL commands with the standard DECnet syntax. On the IBM side there is both a command mode and a full-screen interface. Interlink software runs on the IBM system and provides the FAL-type functions. The hardware connects a DECnet network to a channel on the IBM system. It can be either Interlink's own (MicroVAX or PDP-11 based) or IBM's 8232 LAN Channel Adapter. Flexlink is a combination of software from Flexlink and Intel's FathPath hardware. The software provides terminal emulation, file transfer, and mail exchange. It uses Flexlink's own command set (FLPUT, FLGET, etc). The hardware connects an IBM channel with the bus on a VAX. It has the highest throughput of any gateway. Of course there is SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) over TCP/IP but it doesn't work with PROFS and VMS Mail. For file transfer, I haven't yet found an implementation of TCP/IP that preserves file and record attributes during binary file transfer. Phil DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 499 0 replies Left by: JAMIE MOLDT On 17-Apr-89 At : Chase Lincoln First Bank (716) 258-5576 Subject: VAX TO PC TEXT FILE DOWNLOAD We are looking for an easy, inexpensive (we are a bank) method for downloading tfifrom our VAcluster to an IBM PC. Due to security reasons (auditors) we would like to control this transfer from the VAX. That is we want to dial the PC, download the file and then terminate the session. Can we use PROCOMM for this? Are there other alternatives? What software do we need both on the VAX and the PC. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 500 0 replies Reply to # 497 Left by: PATRICK MAHAN On 17-Apr-89 At : (714) 720-7868 Subject: PARITY ERRORS ON DMF32 Thanks for the information. Unfortunetly, none of those senerios works with my situation. There is only myself and the operator when I run the software. Also, I have used a HP Protcol Analyzer on the cable and no noise or problems have shown up. I have trace the data all the way to the external device and back to the patch-panel for our VAX, so I know that the problem resides with the DMF32. I have tried other TXxx ports and all return the same error. I have also played with the DMA option for the terminal characteristics to no avail. Could the problem be in where the DMF32 is expecting the parity bit? I am not knowledgeable enough about serial communications to determine this. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 501 0 replies Left by: RONALD SALAZAR On 17-Apr-89 At : 818-967-9521 Subject: TERMINAL CONFIG FOR MODEM We have 9 VAXStations connected on a LAVC using DECnet. Our peripheral devices, including our Hayes-compatible modem, are connected to the network via a DECserver 200/MC. I log into the modem through the boot node (a GPX) on a VT200 set up like a VT100. The problem I am having is that I can log into BBS'S, but in certain cases I receive the error message UNEXPECTED I/O ERROR, SUBSCRIPT OUT OF RANGE when I input from the keyboard. I understand that this is a bit of a strange setup, it took quite a bit of tweeking to get it to work properly. Has anyone else set-up their system this way and encountered the same problems? Any help would be appreciated. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 502 1 replies Reply to # 498 Left by: JOHN DAVID GALT On 17-Apr-89 At : 408 735-2851 Subject: VMS MAIL - IBM PROFS GATEWAY Our VAX/VMS and IBM machines are already connected by TCP/IP, via another VAX which runs Ultrix and DECnet-Ultrix Gateway software. Since the two machines are at different sites about two miles apart, I don't think a package requiring a new hardware connection is a real possibility. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 503 0 replies Left by: JAN RUSSELL On 17-Apr-89 At : 1-812-234-1591 Subject: SCOM ASSISTANCE WE HAVE SCOM ON OUR PC AND NO DOCUMENTATION. SO FAR WE HAVE NOT HAD TROUBLE SENDING FILES BUT WE GET GARBAGE ON RECEIVES. I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM SOMEONE WHO KNOWS SCOM. THANKS! COMMUNICATIONS SIG Message # 263 0 replies Left by: PATRICK MAHAN On 17-Apr-89 At : (714) 720-7868 Subject: PARITY ERRORS ON DMF32 I am having parity errors on a DMF32 (TXxx) device. Please refer to the Software Communications SIG (42) for a description of the problem (message 493 I believe) Thanks, Patrick Mahan TERMINALS/PLOTTERS/PRINTERS SIG Message # 290 0 replies Left by: PATRICK MAHAN On 17-Apr-89 At : (714) 720-7868 Subject: HDS X-11 TERMINAL Hello, I am currently putting together a project using DECwindows as my graphical interface for the user. And I am toying with the possiblity of using a Ethernet based X-11 Terminal to for my display devices. I have looked around an can only find one terminal that will support DECwindows off of VMS (needs DECnet) and color and that is by Human Design Systems. They say they are in beta test and will be shipping in May. Does anyone have any information on performance of these devices? Patrick Mahan P.S. - Please do not publish this. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 504 0 replies Reply to # 502 Left by: Philip Gravel On 17-Apr-89 At : (312)420-5474 Subject: VMS MAIL/IBM PROFS CONNECTION Even though your computer sites are physically separated, there is a gateway that will provide a connection between VMS Mail or All-in-1 and IBM's PROFS. All you need is a dedicated phone line between them and Jnet software. On either end of the phone line, install synchronous modems. The link will be slow (9600 or 19.2K baud) but probably sufficient for mail interchange. On the IBM end, the line will appear as an ordinary RJE (Remote Job Entry) link. On the VAX side you will need a synchronous link. The DMB32 on BI machines has this capability; for a Q-bus machine, you'll need at DPV11 (I don't know the board for the Unibus). DEC has software which will provide the VAX with RJE functionality and thus will provide basic file transfer capabilities. Under VMS 5.n, it is part of their WAN package. To get mail interchange functions, license Jnet from Joiner Associates in Madison, Wisconsin. It'll work over the bisync link. (I'm not sure whether DEC's RJE software is also needed.) Joiner or you DEC salesperson can provide you with more details on Jnet. Phil VMS SIG Message # 922 0 replies Left by: GERALD TSUI On 17-Apr-89 At : (212) 5874232 Subject: OBTAIN OTHER PROCESS DEFAULT DIR Hi, Any one has a way to obtain another process DEFAULT DIRECTORY !!!? GETJPI system service doesn't support this. PC'S SIG Message # 214 0 replies Left by: LUIZ DE PAULA On 17-Apr-89 At : (818)796-9141 Subject: COMPAQ III TO DS200 COMMUNICATIONS Has anyone out there been able to sucessfully connect a COMPAQ Portable III to a DEC Terminal Server 200? Here is the scenario, this COMPAQ III and several others work fine when they are connected to a DMF or DZ on a VAX. When the COMPAQs are connected to a DS200, the server receives and outputs data to the COMPAQ, but the COMPAQ never displays the data. I have placed a data analyzer behind the COMPAQ, I see the data leaving & comming back...still nothing on the COMPAQ. And yes, I know I'm dealing with 2 pieces of DTE, TX/RX on the cable between the 2 have been rolled. DEC's Terminal Server team isn't aware of any problems nor has any suggestions. COMPAQ's Technical support...well I haven't been to get any support from them. COMPAQ insists that I get help throught a dealer...those guys are in the dark!!! I would appreciate any help pertaing to this problem. Thanking you in advance, Luiz. COMMUNICATIONS SIG Message # 264 0 replies Reply to # 256 Left by: KEN LUEBBERT On 18-Apr-89 At : 217-348-8181 Subject: SIGNON CARD NOT SENT VIA 2780/3780 WHEN WE ATTEMPT TO SEND THE SIGNON CARD, THE IBM SIDE DOES NOT RECEIVE ANY CHARACTERS, AND THE DEC SIDE (RUNNING 2780/3780 PROTOCOL EMULATOR) ENTERS A BIDDING MODE, AND EVENTUALLY TIMES OUT (BIDTIMOUT, timeout bidding) THE MODEMS APPEAR TO RECOGNIZE EACH OTHER AND DSR/CTS ARE CORRECT. THE IBM SIDE WILL RESPOND TO A SIGNON CARD FROM OTHER NON-DEC SYSTEMS ALMOST IMMEDIATELY. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS WHAT COULD BE WRONG? DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 505 2 replies Reply to # 505 Left by: Phil Anthony On 18-Apr-89 At : Here Subject: VAX TO PC DOWNLOAD Jamie, ProComm's host mode would be a low-end means of doing file transfer between VAXcluster and PC. On the VAX side, you'd simply need a protocol driver - VMS Kermit should do the job perfectly well. There are two disadvantages to ProComm, however. The first is that its host mode permits only one password for anybody to enter, which doesn't provide you much of an audit trail. The second is that its implementation of Kermit is notoriously weak. Line noise can terminate the transmission prematurely, leaving you to do the whole thing all over again. There are two other packages you might consider. ProComm Plus has a beefed-up Kermit implementation - a response to users who complained about the original ProComm's deficiency - and associates passwords with individual user names. It comes from the same people who wrote the original ProComm, Datastorm Technologies in Columbia, Mo. Cost is $75, I believe. Mirror gives you both of the above advantages plus very flexible user pro- filing to determine what any individual user can do (downloads but not uploads, for example) - auditors and data security officers love it. It can also run in the background, permitting you to download from the VAX while a user is doing other work on the PC. Mirror comes from Softklone, Inc., in Tallahassee, Fla., and I think it runs $125 for a single copy. I don't want to knock Datastorm's technical support, which is more than ade- quate for most users, but Softklone's support is really exceptional. I know that banks don't like to give away their stock in trade - money - but you can probably justify Mirror's extra cost by the money you'll save if you run into any problems implementing your application. And if you need limited customization (modification to their terminal emulations, for instance), Softklone has a history of doing it at no or minimal cost. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 506 0 replies Reply to # 500 Left by: Phil Anthony On 18-Apr-89 At : Here Subject: PARITY ERRORS ON DMF32 Sorry my suggestions weren't more help. Just to remove one red herring from your debugging, though, it can't be a question of where the parity bit is located in the transmitted bit stream. The 7E1 protocol calls for transmis- sion of a start bit, followed by data bits 0 through 6, then the parity bit (which would be the high-order bit, data bit 7, in 8N1 protocol), and finally the stop bit. Have you thought, by the way, of hooking a terminal configured at 19.2 Kbaud 7E1 to the DMF and seeing what happens when you log on and try to type some straight VMS commands? If the parity errors go away, it could be that the sampling rate from the external device is faster than what the DMF can handle. I've seen multiplexors (not DMFs, which I've never used) that don't recycle fast enough even to handle streaming 300 Baud, even though they do a perfectly good job accepting user input from a terminal at 9600. In that case, you might want to move a DZ onto the 8650 to see whether you still get the parity errors; it may have a faster recovery time, though it'd degrade the 8650's over-all performance. Or can the external device be configured to use XON/XOFF or RTS/CTS pacing without losing data? Also, your message says you've tried other ports, but not whether you've tried a different DMF. The whole problem might just be a faulty DMF. Maybe DEC field service could be of assistance here. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 507 0 replies Reply to # 503 Left by: Phil Anthony On 18-Apr-89 At : Here Subject: SCOM ASSISTANCE Jan, I hope our conversation gave you what you need - SmartCom really isn't a very good choice for the job you've been handed to do, and the people who laid it on you without documentation didn't give you the tools you need to do the job. Your greatest problem if you switch to ProComm Plus will be the usual one of determining just what the users have in the way of hardware (COM1: or COM2:, and the exact command set supported on the particular modem they'll be using - no, all Hayes-compatible modems don't support all Hayes commands, and some of them have extensions to the AT command set that you'll need to know about.) Tell the users to have their manuals handy, or call the modem manufacturer. Also, give them dedicated phone lines if you can - I've seen problems with telecommunications through switchboards. So you should be in good shape. But if I can help you out any further, give me a call at (215) 643-4265. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 508 1 replies Left by: TOM CACHAT On 18-Apr-89 At : HERE Subject: AS-400 TTY EMULATOR FOR PS-2 We are getting an AS-400 model B30 in about 2 months and want to use PS2 model 30's as terminals. IBM sells an emulation board (5250 I think) for the PS2 that only costs about $400. There has to be a cheaper solution. Right...? RSX SIG Message # 263 0 replies Left by: KELLY JOHANSEN On 18-Apr-89 At : (818) 702-3863 Subject: RSX COMMAND LINE EDITOR I saw the old message by STephen Davis which perked my interest. Could I get a copy of your command line editor to try on our system? RSX SIG Message # 264 0 replies Left by: On 18-Apr-89 At : Subject: DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 509 0 replies Reply to # 508 Left by: Phil Anthony On 18-Apr-89 At : Here Subject: AS-400 TERMINAL EMULATION This one's a little unusual for a BBS devoted to DEC - but far be it from me to be prejudiced because of the color of somebody's hardware. Two sources you might want to check out are: . AST Research, Inc. . 2121 Alton Avenue . Irvine, Calif. 92714-4992 . (714) 863-0181 and . Digital Communications Associates . (800) 241-IRMA I don't know how much cheaper they'll be, though. Four hundred dollars for an IBM link sounds pretty reasonable to me. For comparison, the IRMA card from DCA lists for $671. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 510 0 replies Reply to # 505 Left by: JAMIE MOLDT On 19-Apr-89 At : (716) 258-5576 Subject: Thanks Phil, Thanks for the information. COMMUNICATIONS SIG Message # 265 0 replies Reply to # 264 Left by: Philip Gravel On 19-Apr-89 At : (312)420-544 Subject: 3780 LINK STARTUP To get our link started (on a MicroVAX II with a DPV11) I first make sure that the link is stopped: $ run sys$system:remote set line /ident=UFA off exit Then I start the link by submitting the following batch job to a special queue dedicated for 3780 communications: $!RJESTART.COM $ run sys$system:remote receive dua0:[IBM]print.file /default/print/rename receive dua0:[IBM]punch.file /default/punch/rename set line /ident=UFA set forms /punch=fortran set nocompression set shared /priority=5/queue=IBM send sys$sysroot:[sysmgr.bsc]IBM_SIGNON wait $! Done.... $ exit $ submit [.bsc]rjestart /queue=IBM /log=dua0:[IBM] This queue has a base priority of 5 and a job limit of 1. The signon card I send (in file IBM_SIGNON.RJE) is: SIGNON VAXLINK 3780 P144 B512 PCHY TRSY CMPR The logfile file sometimes contains messages about an invalid bid (77FE I think) but the link always comes up. Hope this helps. Phil DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 511 0 replies Reply to # 507 Left by: JAN RUSSELL On 19-Apr-89 At : HERE Subject: PROCOMM REF Phil, Thanks fors the information on Procomm Plus and Mirror. I have already located a demo copy of Procomm and we're looking into it. I tried Scom yesterday and still had no luck. We've pretty much decided to abandon scom and find software that everyone will use. I appreciate your help! VMS SIG Message # 923 0 replies Reply to # 922 Left by: PAUL A. LUCERO On 19-Apr-89 At : (805) 388-5700 Subject: OTHER PROCESSES'S DEFAULT DIR One way to display other processes's default directory is to use the system service SYS$GETUAI. The item codes UAI$_DEFDEV and UAI$_DEFDIR should provide you with the information you need. You will also need SYS$GETJPI to get the process's USERNAME to get or to pass to SYS$GETUAI. If you are writing in FORTRAN, the line will look like this: status = SYS$GETUAI(,,username,item_code,,,) where item_code can be a single item or a combination of item codes (using STRUCTURE statement). I hope this gives you a head start. Paul A. Lucero, System Manager C-E Environmental Inc. Camarillo, CA SITE MANAGEMENT SIG Message # 269 1 replies Left by: PEDRO A. CRESPO On 19-Apr-89 At : (405) 521-5324 Subject: UNKNOWN PROCESS STATE Sometimes processes on our MicroVAX II connected through a terminal using a MUXMASTER, tend to 'hang' and '$ SHOW SYSTEM' indicates that the status of those processes is RWMBX. I looked this up, but I can't find a description for this code. We are running VMS 4.7. Any comments or suggestions will be appreciated. SITE MANAGEMENT SIG Message # 270 0 replies Left by: RON SALAZAR On 19-Apr-89 At : (818)967-9521 Subject: UNKNOWN PROCESS STATE SITE MANAGEMENT SIG Message # 271 0 replies Reply to # 269 Left by: RON SALAZAR On 19-Apr-89 At : (818)967-9521 Subject: UNKNOWN PROCESS STATE According to the information I received in DEC's System Architecture course, the process state "RWMBX" falls in the category of miscellaneous wait states. The "RW" prefix means the process is waiting for a resource to become available, while the following letters designate that the process is waiting for the mailbox resource. When the nonpaged pool becomes empty, the routine calls another VAX/VMS routine to save the process context and place it in a resource wait atate. during this time the process may be swapped out of memory. When the nonpaged pool becomes available, the scheduler reschedules the process. This is sort of covered in the Device Driver manual, although the wait state names are not given. I hope this is of some help to you. (Sorry guys about message 270, my modem connections aren't quite what they should be yet!!) DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 512 0 replies Left by: LINCOLN CHANG On 19-Apr-89 At : (408) 773-3853 Subject: MACPLOT FILE TO HPLOTER THRU VAX In the company I just start to work with has a HP PLOTTER, MODEL 240E, a electrostatic ploter connect to one of the MicroVAX II. We also has a lot of Machintosh and one enginneer he used to create a file through MACprojector and carry his MAC to the plotter site and physically use cable to connect between the MAC and the plotter. Then he use MACplot S/W to plot the file out. Now my problem is to transfer the MAC file from his MAC to plotter through ethernet. What I did is to get a VAX line to connect the MAC and he can logon VMS with no problem, then I buy the MACplot professional S/W such that he can create a plot file and try to transfer the file using kermit protocol through the VersaTerm-PRO S/W. Well, I did download the plot file and have problem plotting out .......... .... problem may be on the file itself or/and the terminal setting of the VAX port..... one time I did plot itout with a lot of empty paper!! All in all.... is there anyone out there can help me in this matter? Thanks. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 513 0 replies Reply to # 493 Left by: RICHARD B. GILBERT On 19-Apr-89 At : (609) 452-5130 Subject: DMF-32 PARITY ERRORS Patrick, I seem to recall, from reading the DMF-32 manual a few years ago, that the DMF-32 didn't do 19,200 baud exactly to spec; something about the clocking being off by a percent or two. This might account for your problem. The high speed makes maximum demands on everything, from the CPU to the cable connecting your device to the DMF-32. If your cable is longer than the 50 feet permitted by the standard, this might have something to do with the problem. It is well known that cables longer than 50 feet usually work but if there is a problem it is more likely to manifest itself at 19,200 baud than at a lower baud rate. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 514 0 replies Reply to # 505 Left by: SHELBY COOPER On 20-Apr-89 At : Subject: PCPLUS I thin k you will find that PCPLUS wi FORUM - 3RD PARTY SUPPLIERS SIG Message # 92 0 replies Reply to # 43 Left by: RICH NARDIELLO On 20-Apr-89 At : 609-764-0100 Subject: LANPAR TERMINALS REPLYING TO MESSAGE OVER 1 AND ONE HALF YEARS OLD WILL ALWAYS YIELD STRANGE RESULTS. REGARDING LANPAR TERMINALS, I TOO HAVE BEEN UNFORTUNATE ENOUGH TO NOW HAVE OVER A 45 % DOA RATE WITH LANPAR VISION II 3210'S. OUT OF APPROXIMATELY 38 ON-SITE, 18 HAVE HAD TO GO BACK "TO THE SHOP". ANYONE ELSE HAVING SUCH RIDICULOUS PERFORMANCE WITH LANPAR TUBES? PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES/AI SIG Message # 385 0 replies Reply to # 384 Left by: JOHN P. FLYNN On 20-Apr-89 At : (615)269-2266 Subject: MATRIX IN DATATRIEVE I have always thought there is no way to reference specific array elements in Datatrieve, and the lack of a response to the previous query appears to bear this out. I considered the same problem years ago, and the only solution I came up with was to pass the entire matrix as a string to an external user-written function. You'd also pass the desired indices into the matrix. You could use REDEFINES in the DTR record definition in order to map the whole matrix to a single overlayed string. Write the function in some language, the first step of which would be to re-convert the passed string into a multi-dimensional array of the appropriate type. The function would then simply grab the specified element of the array and return it. Meanwhile, follow the directions in the Guide to Programming and Customization in order to define the interface to your new function and relink Datatrieve. I have written many user-defined functions for Datatrieve, although I never got around to this one in particular. It would be a pain to do, but it should work. John. SITE MANAGEMENT SIG Message # 272 1 replies Reply to # 271 Left by: PEDRO A. CRESPO On 20-Apr-89 At : (405) 521-5324 Subject: UNKNOWN PROCESS STATE Ron, thank you for responding to my message. Your information will at least get me started in the right place. Pedro A. Crespo, Dir. Administrative Information Systems Oklahoma City University SYSTEM PERFORMANCE SIG Message # 222 0 replies Reply to # 179 Left by: MARTY JOHNSON On 20-Apr-89 At : (203)666-1737 Subject: INVEXCEPTN ERROR While working on a 8250 (VMS V5.0-2) with a TU81Plus I was repeatedly able to crash the system with a INVEXCEPTN error by issuing a MOUNT command (with no tape on the drive) followed by a . I suspect a hardware problem, but Field Service says the hardware is OK. I tried replicating the problem on a 8200 (VMS V5.0-2) with a TU81 (not a PLUS), but I was unable to crash the system. I still think it is a hardware problem on the 8250, especially since the heads and boards of the TU81Plus were just replaced. Any ideas where I can go from here? SYSTEM PERFORMANCE SIG Message # 223 0 replies Reply to # 203 Left by: MARTY JOHNSON On 20-Apr-89 At : (203) 666-1737 Subject: DISKEEPER I've installed Diskeeper on 5 machines at two customer sites. I have experienced no problems, except V2.0 would not run under VMS V5.0. As for customer support, I've received 5 calls from Executive Software in the last 8 months asking if there were any problems. When I ran into the VMS upgrade problem, they immediately shipped V2.1 and called several times to see if I received it. Personally, I couldn't ask for anything more. MISCELLANEOUS SIG Message # 492 0 replies Left by: RON DESGROSEILLIERS JR. On 20-Apr-89 At : 919-497-9189 Subject: NOVICE VAX USER Greetings, I'm just beginning to learn the VAX environment, and would like to hear your recommendations on books covering the fundamentals of VAX/VMS. I'm approaching this from a msdos background. Thank-you for your inputs. Ron SITE MANAGEMENT SIG Message # 273 0 replies Reply to # 272 Left by: Philip Gravel On 20-Apr-89 At : (312)420-5474 Subject: RW STATES Another good way to track down RWxxx states is to look in the Monitor Utility manual under STATES (Version 4.n). It lists what the mutex states are. From there, the VAX/VMS Guide to Performance Management can help you determine what resource is causing the wait state and what you can do to rectify it. If I'm not mistaken RWMBX is due to a full mailbox and is something for which an application program (rather than VMS itself) is responsible. Phil DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 515 0 replies Reply to # 512 Left by: Phil Anthony On 21-Apr-89 At : Here Subject: MACPLOT/VAX/HP PROBLEM Hm. Seems to me the first question would be whether it's the file or the terminal setting that's causing the problem. You might try transferring the file from the Mac to the VAX *and then back again*, switching the cables, and trying to plot the doubly-transmitted file from the Mac. If that isn't successful, the file is definitely getting clobbered in transmission. Now, I don't know anything about VersaTerm-PRO, but I've never heard of us- ing Kermit over Ethernet. Seems to me you may be mixing apples and oranges if you're communicating by Ethernet. Check your documentation on this. If VersaTerm-PRO is an asynchronous port program, though, and you're going over RS-232 lines, your problem may be the RMS attributes Kermit is giving the file on the VAX. Seems to me Kermit gives you fixed-length binary RMS attributes when you do a binary transfer (SET FIL TYP BIN), and the print symbiont is set up to handle variable-length text files. Maybe that'll give you a clue. SYSTEM PERFORMANCE SIG Message # 224 0 replies Reply to # 222 Left by: Phil Anthony On 21-Apr-89 At : Here Subject: INVEXCPTN One possible approach: Try issuing your MOUNT command on the 8250 while you're using MONITOR on another terminal and watch the interrupt stack ac- tivity. If it goes up sharply after the MOUNT, then I'd guess that either the TU81+ is getting into a shouting match with the device driver, or it's streaming interrupts back down the bus after being asked to check whether the requested tape is mounted. In either case, VMS would be spending an in- ordinate amount of time in the high-priority code of the driver, setting the stage for the INVEXCPTN when you hit CTRL/C. If you have DEC software sup- port, this would be a good time to call them in: You could be seeing some kind of interaction between the device driver and the TU81+ firmware. And if you don't get satisfaction from your field service engineer, have a talk with his/her manager. It might be time to escalate the call. MISCELLANEOUS SIG Message # 493 0 replies Reply to # 492 Left by: Phil Anthony On 21-Apr-89 At : Here Subject: CURL UP WITH A GOOD MANUAL ... Ron, you don't tell us what you're going to be doing on the VAX. But almost anybody who's going to be using VMS could stand to go through the DEC DCL manuals. If you aren't going to be trapped in a menu, a good part of your interaction with the system will be through DCL. For programmers, the DEC language manuals are required reading. They cover nonstandard DEC language extensions, such as the syntax to handle RMS files, and programming considerations (file locking, interprocess communication, etc.) on multiuser systems - usually with examples. It would also be a good idea to ask this question of your system manager, since he or she may have recommendations that apply more specifically to your site and job function. MISCELLANEOUS SIG Message # 494 0 replies Reply to # 450 Left by: MIKE MACIOLEK On 21-Apr-89 At : 2036833997 Subject: GALAXY ALSO... I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THE GALAXY PROGRAM. WHERE IS THE SOURCE CODE IF ANY FOR GALAXY? - MIKE RSX SIG Message # 265 0 replies Left by: MIKE CARLINO On 21-Apr-89 At : HARRIS Subject: DISK DEFRAGMENTORS I need to defragment an RSX 11m plus disk. Can anyone recommend a product? I don't want to use disk save and compress. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 516 0 replies Reply to # 494 Left by: On 21-Apr-89 At : Subject: DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 517 0 replies Reply to # 494 Left by: STUART MASCH On 21-Apr-89 At : (516) 379 - 9200 Subject: THANKS THANKS FOR THE TIPS. WE GOT THE TAPES LOADED WITH NO PROBLEM. HAVING NO NATIVE PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES, AND NOT BEING FAMILIAR WITH MACRO WAS THE REAL ISSUE. WE HAVE NO OTHER ACCESS TO SYSTEM SERVICES. WE HAVE A NIAKWA BASIC-2C CROSS COMPILER AND A 4GL AND ULTIMATELY REALIZED THAT WE COULD READ BLOCKS INTO EITHER OF THESE SYSTEMS AND THEN CONVERT VIA A TABLE WITHIN A PROGRAM. AND YES, WITHOUT YOUR TIP REGARDING PACKED DECIMAL FIELDS, THE GARBAGE WE WOULD HAVE CREATED MIGHT HAVE LED US TO SCRAP THE PROJECT AS BEING OVER OUR HEADS. WE WOULDN'T HAVE KNOWN WHAT WE WERE CONVERTING. MISCELLANEOUS SIG Message # 495 0 replies Reply to # 488 Left by: BRUNO JUGOVIC' On 21-Apr-89 At : 617-241-4899 Subject: VAX PRO I JUST RECEIVED THE APRIL EDITION THIS PAST WEEK. RSTS SIG Message # 360 0 replies Left by: DAVE KAPLAN On 21-Apr-89 At : (919) 878-0204 Subject: V9.6 OPSER/BATCH PROBLEMS ********* H E L P ****** We're in the final stages of testing RSTS V9.6 on a PDP-11/83 and we've solved just about every problem which we anticipated having UNTIL... We are unable to get jobs to run under the old OPSER batch processors. (I know we should convert to PBS - we will as soon (maybe sooner) as we can) The log file reports "??????? UNABLE TO LOGIN ..." On V7.1 this occured when you had defined a no-login account by putting one or more question marks in the password, preventing anyone from using the account. However, in this case, we have valid passwords, all possible privleges, and UNLIMITED quotas. If anyone can shed any light on this, we would appreciate hearing from you. If you can, call me collect during east-coast business hours at (919) 878-0204, or you can page me anytime at (919) 890-8621. If you page, please wait for an answer, then dial your own area code, number, and extension if any. THANKS!! - Dave FORUM - 3RD PARTY SUPPLIERS SIG Message # 93 0 replies Reply to # 90 Left by: STEVE CZERSKI On 21-Apr-89 At : (907)263-6845 Subject: 8 MM TAPES We have a clustered 785 & 8530, as well as 3 other standalone VAXes. Recently, we purchased an SI 8-mm subsystem to hook onto the 785. We also purchased Thruway from Software Partners to allow us to back up all our RA-81's to the 8-mm tape. We have had some problems - some hardware, some software. The problems are not all resolved yet, but we are hopeful. I set up a test routine which does four backups to the 8-mm tape drive, then rewinds and tries to read all four backups. Then it reinits the tape and repeat s the process. I planned a two week run of this loop as a test of the sub-system. It has yet to pass this test. A bad controller caused the 785 to crash once and then to hang the backup process in the RWAST state, requiring a reboot. After replacing the controller, we still had a problem with backup aborting intermittantly, for no reason. I have heard, that backup may have a problem with some type of disk errors, where it will abort. I have figured out a workaround by spawning a sub- process and checking for improper termination. In the midst of all this, I have done about 100 backups and have yet to have any problems reading the data on the verify pass. I have had one cartridge go bad mechanically, which caused the drive to lock up until it was power reset. (very odd symptom) For unattended backup, I would always check the data after the backups is done. I have had no problems putting four savesets on the tape totalling right at 2GB. APPLICATIONS SIG Message # 328 0 replies Left by: MICHAEL HODGES On 21-Apr-89 At : UNIV OF HAWAII Subject: SHAREABLE IMAGES After reading Alan MacArthur's article, "Shareable Image Libraries", I was inspired to make one of my own. The article was well written and I proceeded without trouble. Until. Until I discovered that my calling program could not get at the data in the array in the common area (I am using VAX/VMS BASIC MAP statements). The various callable modules seem to share the array OK, but the main program seems to have its own copy. I did link the main program with on options file that set PSECT_ATTR to NOSHR,WRT just as was done for modules when I built the library and the shareable image. I do have one clue. $ ANALY/IMAGE reveals that the global section name "HCS_SC_MODULES_001" is a problem. The message is "*** ISD extends beyond format for global section." HCS_SC_MODULES.SHRIMG is the name of the shareable image. What's happening? When I built the shareable image the analysis looked good, although it did not append 001 to hcs_sc_modues to make the global section name longer. Help! Help! Any help would be appreciated. VMS SIG Message # 924 1 replies Left by: STEVE CZERSKI On 21-Apr-89 At : (907)263-6845 Subject: V5.1 PERFORMANCE We have a 750 with 8MB which we upgraded to V5.0-02 from V4.7. Since the upgrade it has run everything much slower. I have checked for paging/swapping problems and see no evidence. I just acts as though the operating system overhead has increased so much that the machine is running slower. Has anyone else had this experience? Reply's apprreciated. SYSTEM PERFORMANCE SIG Message # 225 0 replies Reply to # 222 Left by: RICHARD B. GILBERT On 21-Apr-89 At : (609) 452-5130 Subject: CRASHES If you have a hardware service contract, give the Remote Diagnostic Center in Colorado a call. They can dial into your system and analyze the crash dump. Some of those guys are superb at it. If you are technically inclined and feeling masochistic, you could try to analyze the dump yourself. The SDA manual gives you a few pointers. The "black book" (Systems Internals and Data Structures) will give you a few more. The best source is "VMS Troubleshooting" by Ruth E. Goldenberg. Unfortunately this is a bit of an "underground classic", being for DEC internal use only. You might be able to borrow a copy from your CE. If you can get hold of a copy, study it! I think that this manual might be what makes the guys in Colorado so good. MISCELLANEOUS SIG Message # 496 0 replies Reply to # 492 Left by: RICHARD B. GILBERT On 21-Apr-89 At : (609) 452-5130 Subject: NOVICE VAX USER One of the best sources is right in front of you. It's your terminal. Type HELP at the $ prompt. Or type HELP inside just about any of the utility programs. The HELP system is superb. There are a couple of Computer Aided Instruction (CAI) courses that you can buy from DEC Educational Services. "Introduction to VMS" and "Introduction to EDT" (titles approximate) are both very good and will teach you survival level skills in a few hours. I can also recommend the lecture/lab courses offered by Educational Services. They are expensive but well worth it if you need to get up to speed in a hurry. You didn't say just what you were trying to learn, but the available courses cover just about everything. There is a book called "Introduction to VAX/VMS" or something close to that available from Professional Press. It is well thought of. I don't know if you can order it online here but you might blunder around in the menus and see what you can find. VMS SIG Message # 925 0 replies Reply to # 924 Left by: RICHARD B. GILBERT On 21-Apr-89 At : (609) 452-5130 Subject: VMS 5.1 PERFORMANCE Steve, If you are new to version 5, you can expect a performance hit. According to DEC, version 5 is about five percent slower overall. There are a few things that they made much faster and a few other things that got slower but the average is about five percent. There have been rumors about problems with paging and paging files so if rebooting straightens you out for a while and then your paging rate starts to go up, that may be your problem. There is supposed to be a patch available from CSC for this problem. I haven't seen the problem myself, I have a pair of VS 2000's on V5 but they both have enough memory that they don't do a lot of paging. VMS SIG Message # 926 0 replies Reply to # 925 There is indeed a patch for the page file fragmentation problem. It is for VMS V5.0, 5.0-1, 5.0-2, and 5.1. It is very effective - if you have been experiencing page file problems, the increase in performance is very noticeable, and you can leave your VAXen up more than a few days without having them slow down. It is called the "lost page" patch. The comments in the patch indicate that the problem was caused by memory management routines that would lose track of a page every now and then in the page file. These one page "orphans" would gradually prevent pieces of page file space from being able to recombine into big chunks. The patch is available from Colorado on request (presuming, of course, that you have a phone support contract...), and, if you have a large configuration with very much activity, I recommend it highly. Lee Gleason Control-G Consultants MISCELLANEOUS SIG Message # 497 0 replies Reply to # 493 Left by: RON DESGROSEILLIERS On 22-Apr-89 At : 919-497-9189 Subject: THANKS Hi Phil, Thanks for the reply. Part of the problem is that the vax system is in another state and, from what I can gather, so are the manuals. At the moment, I have been able to get ahold of manuals for datatrieve and digicalc. But for my own knowledge, I would like to learn more about the vax/dcl system. Hopefully, the vax will move directly into our plant and I can move into a programming position (if one were to open up). Take care, Ron MISCELLANEOUS SIG Message # 498 0 replies Reply to # 496 Left by: RON DESGROSEILLIERS On 22-Apr-89 At : 919-497-9189 Subject: THANK-YOU Hi Richard, Thanks for your reply. I've been lucky enough to have access to the two CAI on-line courses. They were very helpful, as is the "HELP" and "HINTS" commands. At the moment, I'm working as a test tech/engineer. So my interaction on the vax is one of entering reports, test data, etc. But I, myself, am interested in why and what vax/dcl system is. I will check into "Introduction to VAX/VMS". Just for the conversation, I'm able to get on-line here by using my ibm-clone. From reading some of the messages, I get the impression most are using a vax terminal and this bbs is running on a vax. Right? That would explain the unexpected results I'm getting from pressing my keys. Should I be emulating a VT-100 or maybe VT200 terminal from my end? Anyway, take care! Ron RSX SIG Message # 266 0 replies Reply to # 265 Left by: JERRY C. HUDGINS On 22-Apr-89 At : (804) 948-6006 Subject: RSX DISK DEFRAGMENTERS One of the major VMS disk defrag vendors also sells a product for RSX ODS-1 disks. I'm away from my documentation, so I can't come up with the name right now; maybe it's Diskeeper. I get so many ads from these guys, I can't keep them straight. Call me late next week if you still haven't come up with it yourself, and I'll paw through my literature. Obviously, I can't actually recommend the product, not having used it, but at least you're aware that it exists as an option. MISCELLANEOUS SIG Message # 499 0 replies Reply to # 498 Left by: Phil Anthony On 22-Apr-89 At : Here Subject: WELCOME! Ron, I'm using an MS-DOS machine myself when I dial in. Yes, do set your emulation to VT10x or VT220 for ARIS. First off, MS-DOS ANSI codes, as pro- vided by ANSI.SYS and most communications software, are close to VT100 but not exact; there are a lot of DEC private codes. Second, ARIS starts off the session by querying what kind of terminal is at the other end of the line, and ANSI emulation doesn't respond to that poll. Finally, entering messages is a pain without access to either EDT or TPU, and ARIS gives you EDT or TPU only if it thinks you have a known DEC terminal at your end. The advantage of using MS-DOS for talking with ARIS is that it's so easy to program the communications software to pick off all messages since the last date you were in, and save them to a file. Then you can edit them at your leisure, save the ones that are important to you, create replies on your end using your favorite editor or word processor, and dial back in and upload replies. For uploading, use whatever your comm program provides for sending ASCII text, and allow a reasonable amount of time after you send a carriage return - I set my program for a 0.3-sec delay, since the screen handling overhead in EDT and VMS is a lot more than you'd expect. But using ARIS this way saves long-distance charges, because you do your thinking off-line! In any case, welcome to ARIS and the world of DEC. Hope to be hearing more from you. EDITORS SIG Message # 204 1 replies Left by: DAVE HAYT On 23-Apr-89 At : OCEAN RESEARCH & ENGINEERING Subject: TPU SPAWN COMMAND When I use the spawn command from within TPU to do a directory listing , for example, the command executes and then without pausing puts me back in the editor. Is there a way I can get it to execute the command and then wait for a before it goes back to TPU ? RSX SIG Message # 267 0 replies Reply to # 265 Left by: JERRY C. HUDGINS On 23-Apr-89 At : (804) 948-6006 Subject: OOPS, IT WAS SQUEEZPAK I had to go in to the office unexpectedly today, so I went ahead and checked on the RSX defrag information. It was not Diskeeper, but Squeezpak, that had an RSX-compatible product. The address of the firm is below: Demac Software 1260 Old Innes Road Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1B 3V3 (613) 748-0209 Again, I haven't used this product and can make no recommendation. Anyone else have experience with it? VMS SIG Message # 927 0 replies Reply to # 924 Left by: Philip Gravel On 23-Apr-89 At : HERE Subject: VMS 5.0 PERFORMANCE I have heard that there is a problem with memory management in VMS 5.0. The problem results in the Modified Page Writer being kept constantly busy. I don't know if this is part of the problem that Lee Gleason referred to. Phil FORUM - 3RD PARTY SUPPLIERS SIG Message # 94 0 replies Reply to # 92 Left by: DAVE KAPLAN On 23-Apr-89 At : (919) 878-0204 Subject: LANPAR TERMINALS We've had similar results with ourLsnpar terminals. Fortunately we only purchased 5 terminals before we decided that they might have reliability problems. We've had the Lanpar's for about 1-1/2 to 2 years now, and after several repairs, we've decided not to put any more $$ into then once they break. Currently we've got 2 dead ones. They were sitting by the front door, ready to be carried out to the dumpster when we I got an inspiration. I've got the name and address of the east-coast regional sales manager, and when I get time I'm going to send them to him with a note asking him to throw them out for me! We switched to CITOH CIT326's about a year ago, and have had much better results. Also, these terminals have better features, especially if you want to use them as dual-host terminals (which we do). EDITORS SIG Message # 205 0 replies Reply to # 204 Left by: DAVE KAPLAN On 23-Apr-89 At : (919) 878-0204 Subject: TPU SPAWN COMMAND I'm not a TPU expert, but here's some info. based on my experience - Assuming we're using the EVE interface, you've got at least 3 ways to execute a DCL-level command from within TPU: 1) SPAWN If you just issue the spawn command, you spawn a sub- process, and put your editing session on "hold". You can then do whatever you want, say directories or whatever. When you're through, just LOGOUT and you'll re-connect to your TPU session. 2) SPAWN cmd I haven't used this, but I'm guessing that this is what you're doing. This works like above, but executes "cmd" under the sub-process and then deletes the sub-process with no wait. 3) DCL cmd This works like #2 above, except that the spawned session's output is transferred into a buffer in TPU, and it is displayed in an alternate window so you can peruse it at your leisure, or cut and paste it into your other buffer(s). See if this helps. Dave Kaplan, Independent Data Processing Corp., Raleigh, NC DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 518 1 replies Left by: DAVE HAYT On 23-Apr-89 At : OCEAN RESEARCH & ENGINEERING Subject: IBM->VMS FLOATING POINT XFER Does anyone know of any software that will translate the IBM floating point format to the VAX/VMS floating point format.? I've tried transfer programs that claim to transfer binary files, but this only makes a bit to bit image, which produces garbage for floating point numbers since the formast is diferent. We have VAX Fortran, which allows you to swap bits, but only for integer numbers. From what I've heard, C can only swap bits on integer numbers too. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 519 0 replies Reply to # 518 Left by: KITTY GEORGE On 23-Apr-89 At : HERE (ARIS) Subject: IBM-VAX FLOATING POINT Dave You didn't mention what kind of IBM you are pulling the floating point number data from. I recently hacked some Fortran code to convert Lotus spreadsheet files from WK1 format to text format and vice versa. In the course of doing so, I found that I had to use the Real*8 G_Floating format rather than the usual Real*8 D_Floating format . This was in an environment where I pulled files from a PC onto a VAX and did the conversion with VAX FTN-77. (I ended up doing the whole thing on the PC using RM Fortran due to various other technical reasons). If you're dealing with big endian/little endian problem in the integer data, then a combination of bit swapping plus G_floating may do the trick for the real numbers. Kitty :-) RSTS SIG Message # 361 0 replies Left by: DAVE KAPLAN On 24-Apr-89 At : (919) 878-0204 Subject: NEED BATRUN SOURCE V9.N This is a follow-up to a message I left last Friday. We're trying to use the old OPSER-based package to run batch jobs (I know we need to convert to PBS!) under V9.6, migrating directly from an 11/70 under V7.1. Unfortunately BATRUN reports "????UNABLE TO LOGIN BATCH JOB" whenever it tries to start a job, even though the account in which it's trying to run the job has all privileges, and unlimited job quotas. We've got the source to BATRUN from V7.1, but this doesn't help. If anyone out there has the source code for BATRUN from a 9.n version we would very much appreciate hearing from you!! We've got our system conversion scheduled for this weekend, but if we can't solve this problem within the next day or two, we'll have to postpone. Please leave a message, or preferrably call me collect at (919) 878-0204. Dave Kaplan, Independent Data Processing Corp., Raleigh NC VMS SIG Message # 928 0 replies Reply to # 921 Left by: PAUL LUCERO On 24-Apr-89 At : (805) 388-5700 Subject: LAT QIO INTERFACE I got my problem solved. To talk to an application port, whether to read or write from it, use the following QIO function codes: IO$_TTY_PORT!IO$M_LT_CONNECT to establish a connection to the LAT port; IO$_TTY_PORT!IO$_LT_DISCON to disconnect from the LAT port. I have used these function codes in my test FORTRAN program, and they worked. (For your info.) VMS SIG Message # 929 0 replies Reply to # 923 Left by: ROBERT G. SCHAFFRATH On 24-Apr-89 At : 914-335-9792 Subject: Default Directory Howdy folks! I have been in San Francisco for two weeks and have basically forgotten all my passwords! However... Regarding default directory, the SYS$GETUAI call that Paul mentions will get you the default login directory but not the working directory of a user at a given moment. This information is rather tricky to come by as evidenced by the SHOW PROCESS command returning 'not available' for any process other than your own (even DEC didn't want to deal with it). Getting the information would require the use of Special Kernel Mode AST's in order to peek into the target user's P1 space. Such a program would definitely be in the 'world of many bugchecks'! A good approach, albeit a rather lengthy one, would be to propose to Digital that they incorporate such an item in the $GETJPI system service. Call it JPI$M_DEFDIR as an example. However, now that you have piqued my curiousity, I may just try to write such a program for the fun of it. I sure hope no one is doing anything important on the 6330.... Robert G. Schaffrath System Manager General Foods Corporation White Plains, NY 10625 SYSTEM PERFORMANCE SIG Message # 226 0 replies Reply to # 222 Left by: ROBERT G. SCHAFFRATH On 24-Apr-89 At : 914-335-9792 Subject: TUDRIVER bug The problem you are describing is a known bug in TUDRIVER. I had called DEC three weeks ago after our TU81-Plus died and took the system with it. DEC will send you a tape with the new driver on it. I believe the tape was called TUDRIVER+208C, which may be the location of the bad code, but I can't be sure so don't reference that name. It will fix the problem of control-C's crashing your system. You must be running VMS V5.0. Hope this helps. Robert G. Schaffrath System Manager General Foods Corporation White Plains, NY 10625 CLUSTERING/NETWORKING SIG Message # 381 0 replies Left by: JOHN P. FLYNN On 24-Apr-89 At : (615)269-2266 Subject: MIXED V4-V5 ENVIRONMENT I have a homogenous cluster of two VAX 8250's running VMS V4.6, six HSC-served RA81 disks, two TA81 tape drives, and many LAT terminals. I am unable to convert to V5 because one of our two third-party software packages doesn't yet run under V5. We are about to add a 6310, and I have a multitude of questions: Is it true that a 6310 must run V5? If so, we will run the V4-only application on the 8250 cluster, and run the other application under V5.1 on the 6310. Is it true that V4 and V5 can't be mixed in a cluster? Even if it's a heterogenous cluster? If so, we will leave the 8250 cluster as it is but connect some of the disks directly to the 6310. Most of the disks are already fairly well dedicated to one application or the other, so this shouldn't be hard. Also we'll Ethernet everything so that LAT and DECnet can be utilized. What are the possibilities for sharing files and disks between the decoupled 6310 and 8250-cluster? Is DECnet efficient for this? Can we still backup all disks from one system? What are the implications in dual-porting the RA81's between the two systems? Does a disk need to be dismounted on one system and mounted on the other for that to work? What if some files are open on the disk at the time? Is there a way to share a spooled printer? Can files be queued through DECnet? Is there a way to submit batch jobs from one system to the other through DECnet? If my assumptions are correct, we'll be relying on DECnet for the not-huge amount of data sharing we need to do. What are the major restrictions of DECnet that might cause us problems? Thanks for any advice you can give me! - John. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 520 0 replies Reply to # 518 Left by: Phil Anthony On 24-Apr-89 At : Here Subject: C AND BIT-DIDDLING Dave, I think Kitty George will be able to help you best with your current problem. But for future reference - C permits you to swap, set, clear, or otherwise diddle with bits *in any data type* to your heart's content. What you have to do is what systems types do all the time: lie so that C thinks that what you're processing is a char, an int, or a long. For example, you could define a union as follows: . union { . double d; /* Eight-byte float */ . char c[8]; /* Eight bytes */ . int i[4]; /* Four 16-bit words */ . long l[2]; /* Two 32-bit longwords */ . } u; Then you'd read your eight-byte float into u.d and change bits in u.c[0] through u.c[7] - or u.i[0] through u.i[3], or u.l[0] and u.l[1], if you pre- fer. Unions provide different overlay definitions of the same memory, so you can access it any way you want. APPLICATIONS SIG Message # 329 0 replies Reply to # 328 Left by: ANDREW DUGGAN On 24-Apr-89 At : Subject: SHAREABLE IMAGES You may want to follow (option #3) the converstion beginning with message # 231 in this SIG (#41). In short you need to put a COLLECT= statement in you linker options. This will force all your commons & maps before your code. MISCELLANEOUS SIG Message # 500 0 replies Reply to # 498 Left by: RICHARD B. GILBERT On 24-Apr-89 At : (609) 452-5130 Subject: VT100 EMULATION Ron, You definitely should be using a DEC terminal emulation. Either VT100, VT200 or VT300 series will work. ARIS runs under VMS on an 11/750. It is mostly written in BASIC. I normally use my no-name AT clone and Crosstalk Mk.4 but I occasionally use one of my VAXen with either HOST32 or Kermit. SET HOST/DTE is also a possibility but is definitely a distant third choice. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 521 0 replies Reply to # 518 Left by: RICHARD B. GILBERT On 24-Apr-89 At : (609) 452-5130 Subject: IBM-VAX FLOATING POINT XFER. Dave, You didn't mention _which_ IBM floating point format you were trying to convert from or which VAX format you were trying to convert to. There are two issues to consider in the conversion. The VAX addresses the least significant byte of any word, doubleword, quadword, etc. It is referred to as "little endian". IBM hardware addresses the most significant byte of a halfword, word, doubleword, etc. It is referred to as "big endian". (I believe that these terms are due to Jonathan Swift in "Gullivers Travels" and refer to a fictional dispute over which end of a boiled egg to eat first.) You will need to do some byte swapping in order to get things to come out right. The second problem is the necessary bit twiddling to convert the different floating point formats. Typically, you need to move the sign bit, adjust the bias of the exponent, and move the exponent. The lengths of the exponent and the fraction may change between formats. This can all be done from any language that permits logical operations and shift operation on integers. It might be easiest from Macro if you know assembler language but Fortran or C are also plausible ways to go. UTILITIES SIG Message # 361 0 replies Left by: MARK VANDERBILT On 24-Apr-89 At : 916-446-1070#209 Subject: UNDELETE.COB VAX PRO DEC 88 HAS AN UNDELETE.FOR ROUTINE BUT DOES ANYONE HAVE ONE FOR A VAX VMS 4.6 IN DCL OR COBOL? APPLICATIONS SIG Message # 330 0 replies Reply to # 227 Left by: On 25-Apr-89 At : Subject: RSTS SIG Message # 362 1 replies Reply to # 361 Left by: Phil Anthony On 25-Apr-89 At : Here Subject: BATRUN ON RSTS V9.X Dave, I passed this message along to a buddy of mine who has V9.6 up and running - the highest level my clients are at is V9.2, and they no longer use OPSER. I hope my friend gets in touch with you in time. Under V7.1 (and V8.x as well), BATRUN worked by opening a pseudo keyboard, using the system call to determine the password for the account that submit- ted the job, logging in, and running the requested programs. That system call doesn't work in V9.x *unless you disable the use of passwords longer than six characters*, which I believe is done at sysgen time (the docs are at client sites, not in my office, so I can't look it up). If V9.6 BATRUN does what V7.1 did - and it probably does, since DEC doesn't update software they no longer support - you should make sure you're not permitting long passwords, which are enabled by default under V9.x. The other possibility that occurs to me is that when you restore the V7.1 data after doing the sysgen, you may inadvertently be overwriting V9.6's OPSER package with the package from V7.1. Not too likely, but worth check- ing out. Good luck! SITE MANAGEMENT SIG Message # 274 0 replies Reply to # 273 Left by: PEDRO A. CRESPO On 25-Apr-89 At : (405) 521-5324 Subject: RW STATES Phil, Thank you for your input... I will look at the manuals that you suggested. One comment though, we are not running anything out of the ordinary on the MicroVAX II other than VMS 4.7 and compilers, and ORACLE (which we had running before the problem showed up)> What really bothers me is that the processes hang, and our users (students) just login again from another terminal... when this happens, the system won't respond after taking your username and password and showing the last time you logged in... then it hangs, and if you look at the system, the process is in RWMBX state... Weird, I know, so any ideas are welcome. Pedro Crespo Oklahoma City University Director of Adm. Information Systems UTILITIES SIG Message # 362 0 replies Reply to # 354 Left by: JEAN SANTIVASCI On 25-Apr-89 At : 804-490-5068 Subject: SQUEEZPAK In this instance, we were running Squeezpak on a 750 using a Dec uda-50 controller. There is no third party hardware on this system. We finally pulled squeezpak off and have started using Rabbit-7 with no problems. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 522 0 replies Reply to # 521 Left by: DAVE HAYT On 25-Apr-89 At : 818-568 1800 (VOICE) Subject: IBM->VAX FLOATING POINT Thank you all ! The specific data types aren't important so long as I know it can be done. Strange that a commercial product isn't available. I'd think people would run into this problem all the time. PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES/AI SIG Message # 386 0 replies Reply to # 127 Left by: On 25-Apr-89 At : BRUCE HULSEY 501-664-5043 Subject: STRANGE REQUEST Digital Standard MUMPS should be able to do anything textual you want to do. I understand SNOBOL and PL1 are also very good string/text handlers. RSTS SIG Message # 363 0 replies Reply to # 362 Left by: DAVE KAPLAN On 25-Apr-89 At : (919) 878-0204 Subject: THANKS PHIL... I would definitely like to talk to your friend who is running a 9.6 system. We have spent about 6 man-days working on this, and today I talked with Mike Mayfield (if you know who HE is, you'll know who he is!) who confirmed that our "debugging" attempts seem to be logical, even though we hadn't found a solution at that time. However, today I located a 9.4 distribution, and after loading just OPSER$:BATRUN.TSK from 9.4, voila!!! - it works!! So, tentatively it looks like a bug in the 9.6 BATRUN.TSK, but for reasons I won't go into here, this seems unlikely. With regard to your comments, the lookup-password SYS call is evidently not used in these versions of BATRUN, since batch jobs WILL run in an account with a /NOLOOKUP password (once you get BATCH working of course!). During our "controlled thrashings", we tried OPSER programs from both 7.1 and 9.0, but neither will work (we set the account to /LOOKUP with a 6-character password for these tests, but you don't even get far enough for this to matter). Now that it looks like were "working" (it's only been about 4 hours since we found the fix), I'm still very interested in talking with other 9.6 sites, and would still like to locate BATRUN.BAS. Thanks for your reply. Dave Kaplan, Independent Data Processing Corp., Raleigh NC 919-878-0204 CLUSTERING/NETWORKING SIG Message # 382 0 replies Reply to # 381 Left by: ROBERT G. SCHAFFRATH On 26-Apr-89 At : 914-335-9792 Subject: Mixed V4-V5 environment So many questions and so little space! Regarding your 6310 VMS requirements, you must be running VMS V5.1. The hyperion CPU chip (6300 series) is not supported by any VMS release prior to V5.1 (except for some special pre-releases). Also, you can have a mixed V4.7, V5.0 cluster but it is a pain. You cannot fully upgrade to V5.0. You must run a version called A5.0. This applies for homogeneous as well as heterogeneous clusters. Also, I do not believe V5.1 is supported in a V4.7 environment under any circumstances. File sharing with DECnet works but will be rather inefficient. If you are going to be doing extensive file sharing, work on getting the cluster back up. Disk sharing is possible with the dual ported drives. It will require obtaining some additional SDI cables and hooking the each disk to both systems. You can share any disk this way except the system disk. In order to move the disk to another system, all you will need to do is dismount it on one system and remount it on the other. If files are open or installed on the disk, it cannot be dismounted. Robert G. Schaffrath System Manager General Foods Corporation White Plains, NY 10625 FORUM - 3RD PARTY SUPPLIERS SIG Message # 95 0 replies Left by: DAVID SOMMERS On 26-Apr-89 At : 206 525-3130 Subject: 9-TRACK TAPE DRIVE FOR VAX 3100'S MY COMPANY HAS RECENTLY PURHCASED 2 NEW VAXSTATION 3100'S. WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO LOCATE A 9-TRACK TAPE DRIVE WHICH CAN INTERFACE WITH THE SCSI PORT. I UNDERSTAND THAT KENNEDY MAKES A DRIVE WITH A SCSSI INTERFACE BUT DOES IT HAVE VMS DRIVERS? WE PURCHASED THE DESKTOP VERSION OF VMS. THIS WILL PROBABLY MAKE IT EVEN MORE DIFFICULT TO FIND DRIVERS. ANY COMMENTS? SYSTEM PERFORMANCE SIG Message # 227 0 replies Reply to # 226 Left by: MARTY JOHNSON On 26-Apr-89 At : (203)666-1737 Subject: Thanks! I have Field Service coming to check on some Bus errors. I'll mention it to him. CLUSTERING/NETWORKING SIG Message # 383 0 replies Reply to # 382 Left by: MARTY JOHNSON On 26-Apr-89 At : (203)666-1737 Subject: SHARING DISKS If you are going to share disks I would recommend FREQUENT backups that should be saved for the duration. I would also recommend a checklist for switching the disk from one machine to another. If you manage to mount a disk on more than one machine and each machine thinks it's the sole owner (i.e. no distributed lock manager) you can kiss the data on the disk goodbye! I saw it happen at one site where the SYSGEN parameters were set to never load the cluster software and the system manager put a second CPU on the HSCs. Luckily, he only dual mounted one disk. By the time the problem was found, so many block had been double allocated, the disk was useless. With regards to a mixed mode cluster, I've heard of problems with some of the layered products such as CDD and RDB. Check with Digital (via DSIN?) about problems with any of your layered products. It sounds like you will have a challenge no matter what you do. GRAPHICS SIG Message # 86 0 replies Left by: PETER SPENSER On 26-Apr-89 At : 914-636-4656 Subject: GRAPHS WITH VAX/C I'm looking for some sort of package to support either Textronixcommand set. What I would most like is a library of subroutines callable from C. My application is statistical quality control, and what I most need to do is draw control charts and datagrams. I also need support for some type of color plotter. the catch is that the package has to be solid, dependable and cost ff, I don't need anything in the way of fancy smoke and mirrors, just straight graphs. If I can't find anything I will just right this myself, and would therefore like to know if anybody knows of plotters that can be driven using REGIS?. TERMINALS/PLOTTERS/PRINTERS SIG Message # 291 0 replies Left by: DANIEL MASKIT On 26-Apr-89 At : 914-636-4656 Subject: REGIS PLOTTERS? I'd like to know if anybody out there is aware of a plotter that can be driven by the REGIS command set. VMS SIG Message # 930 0 replies Left by: RIC WILSON On 26-Apr-89 At : 403-25-6169 Subject: CTRL CODE TRANSPARENCY DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO DISABLE THE TERMINAL DRIVER FROM INTERPRETING CONTROL B AND CONTROL C ? I HAVE A PROM PROGRAMMER WHICH IS INSTALLED ON A TX PORT. I WISH TO UPLOAD DEVICE FILES FOR STORAGE ON THE VAX. THE FILES ALWAYS START WITH A CONTROL B AND END WITH A CONTROL C . I USE THE CREATE FILE OPTION AND THE UPLOAD THE FILE. HOWEVER VMS INTERPRETS THE CONTROL B AS A RECALL. IS THERE ANYWAY TO KEEP THESE CODES WITHIN THE DATA STREAM? AT THE MOMENT I HAVE TO EDIT THE FILES AND ENTER THE CODES IN MANUALLY. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR ANY ASSISTANCE VMS SIG Message # 931 0 replies Reply to # 930 Left by: ROBERT G. SCHAFFRATH On 27-Apr-89 At : 914-335-9792 Subject: Disabling control characters I would recommend that you look into the terminal characteristics PASTHRU and PASSALL. These characteristics will prevent the system from interpreting the control characters for you. Control-C, since it is caught by a special AST, may be a little more difficult to stop. Again, though one of the above characteristics may take care of it. TERMINALS/PLOTTERS/PRINTERS SIG Message # 292 0 replies Reply to # 291 Left by: JOHN P. FLYNN On 27-Apr-89 At : (615)269-2266 Subject: REGIS PLOTTER Long time ago I had experience with a Houston Instruments plotter that sat between the VAX and a VT terminal (i.e. the terminal was slaved off the plotter). When you told it to, the plotter would intercept REGIS commands coming to the terminal, and plot them. I remember that it emulated REGIS well, although it might not have done shading or some other features. That's all I remember about it. John. VMS SIG Message # 932 0 replies Reply to # 930 Left by: DANIEL MASKIT On 27-Apr-89 At : ACQUIDATA Subject: CONTROL MASKING ^T thistty sure that if you figure out how to disable to will also show you how to disable other control characters. I'm not sure though if this can be done outside of a program. One thing cho on the line, disablingdisabling all ea nd disabling penabling pasthru. PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES/AI SIG Message # 387 0 replies Left by: Phil Anthony On 27-Apr-89 At : Here or (215) 884-9128 Subject: QB/ASSEMBLER INTERFACE To Kelvin Smith: I can't find my V3.0 manual just at the moment, but if the calling interface hasn't changed, you should be all right - you just won't get the returned value. Also, V4.0 and V4.5 do permit continuation lines (I'm reading from the V4.0 BASIC language reference). It's just the built-in editor that doesn't understand the continuation character. Use your own editor, and your problem is solved. RSX SIG Message # 268 0 replies Left by: MIKE CARLINO On 28-Apr-89 At : (716)473-8237 Subject: RSX 11M PLUS V4.0 UPGRADE I have to upgrade to RSX 11M Plus version 4.0 soon, and I welcome any hints or horror stories anyone may have. I have heard there are problems, but I have no details. CLUSTERING/NETWORKING SIG Message # 384 0 replies Left by: JOHN P. FLYNN On 28-Apr-89 At : (615)269-2266 Subject: FILE TRANSFER SPOOLER Has anyone heard of a product (I think by DEC) called FTSV QSG01-SZ, which was described to me as "a software package which provides a file transfer spooler for the VAX. It allows network file transfers between nodes in the network. The software provides restart capability, picking up where it left off - not requiring a re-transmission of the whole file."? If anyone has used this I would appreciate any comments about it. Thanks - John. P.S. Thanks for all earlier advice concerning my mixed V4-V5 environment. RSX SIG Message # 269 0 replies Reply to # 267 Left by: LARRY HUISINGH On 28-Apr-89 At : 509-373-4244 Subject: DISK DEFRAGMENTERS I have used SQUEEZPAK on our RSX system. It seems to do the job pretty well. It also comes with a couple of public domain utilities to tell you how fragmented your disks are. RSTS SIG Message # 364 0 replies Reply to # 363 Left by: Phil Anthony On 28-Apr-89 At : Here Subject: BATRUN Dave, I'm sorry if I misled you - I thought Brett was up to V9.6. Turns out he's at 9.4 ... but between him and Mike Mays- field, all you need is Kelvin Smith and you'll have the top RSTS gurus I can think of outside DEC working for you. Maybe the top ones inside DEC, too, now as I think of it. Anyway, I'm glad you have a workaround for now. Maybe DEC will have things working right by V9.7 ... and we'll all learn that even-numbered releases are beta tests for the odd ones. FORUM - 3RD PARTY SUPPLIERS SIG Message # 96 0 replies Left by: GALEN TACKETT On 28-Apr-89 At : (408)742-6448 Subject: FOREIGN DISKS We've recently been pricing 3rd party SDI-compatible drives from such companies as System Industries, Dilog, Emulex, Micro Tech, etc. We're mainly interested in drives that would compete with DEC's RA90. Does anyone have any experience with drive subsystems from any of these folks? I'm mainly concerned about product reliability, spares availability, and how well reverse-engineered their SDI adapters are. DEC will probably be maintaining them for us whatever we buy... PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES/AI SIG Message # 388 0 replies Left by: GARY GEHRINGER On 29-Apr-89 At : (215) 591-7375 Subject: ADA - "PASMAT" HELP, I have being using PASCAL for the last few years and have become spoiled using the program "PASMAT", a Pascal Formater. I have now switched to programming in ADA and would like to know if such a program is available for ADA. Thanks in advance to all that reply.... UTILITIES SIG Message # 363 0 replies Left by: GARY GEHRINGER On 29-Apr-89 At : (215)591-7375 Subject: ADA FORMATER HELP, I have been using PASCAL over the last few years nad have been spoiled by a program called PASMAT, a Pascal formater. I have now switched to ADA and I am looking for a program to accomplish the same thing. Any help or direction would be great. Thanks in advance to all that reply... Gary MISCELLANEOUS SIG Message # 501 0 replies Reply to # 499 Left by: RON DESGROSEILLIERS On 29-Apr-89 At : Subject: THANKS Hi Phil, thanks for the suggestion. I'm using Telix v3.11 comm program which, I think, has vt100 emulation (if I can find the configuration file). Talk to you soon. Take care.... MISCELLANEOUS SIG Message # 502 0 replies Reply to # 500 Left by: RON DESGROSEILLIERS On 29-Apr-89 At : Subject: THANKS Hi Richard, I'm using Telix v3.11 comm program and I think it does have a configuration file for vt100 emulation. Hopefully, the chief vax operator at my plant with be subscribing to "VAX Professional" magazine and I'll be trying my hand at vax modem communicating. Is it much different from pc-to-pc phone links? That is, is there much pre-setup that must be done at the vax terminal? Thanks, take care... Ron MISCELLANEOUS SIG Message # 503 0 replies Reply to # 501 Left by: Phil Anthony On 30-Apr-89 At : Here Subject: VT100 EMULATION Ron, much as I like Telix V3.11 for PC-to-PC communications (especially its ZModem implementation), I must warn you that its VT100 emulation leaves something to be desired. One specific problem I've found is that when you leave an ARIS message using either EDT or TPU, Telix doesn't handle the right-arrow key correctly. It blanks out characters you're trying to cursor over, though a CTRL/R will show you that nothing actually was erased. Also, Telix doesn't even try to handle the VT100 graphics set, and its reverse- video handling is flawed. I haven't checked out Boyan V4.0's VT100 emulation yet, but I do know that both ProComm Plus and Mirror have good emulations (Mirror also provides VT220 emulation). Another good emulation is found in the old shareware ProComm V2.4.2, though the Kermit implementation in that software isn't very robust. Finally, vtKermit (based on Columbia University Kermit V2.27, I believe) and Kermit V2.29 both do a good job of VT100 emulation. RSTS SIG Message # 365 0 replies Left by: BRETT BUMP On 30-Apr-89 At : SEE BELOW Subject: MULTITASKING ON RSTS To Dave Kaplan: Dave, I love the Talk program. Since you are stuck at home calling in on a PC, I thought you might like a version of a multi-tasking program that I wrote. It's basically the same kind of program that's all the rage now on VMS. Give the Duke a call and I'll leave it for you. HEY KELVIN, ARE YOU OUT THERE? You're invited too. You can call my BBS at: 1 (308) Hea-Duke UNIX/ULTRIX SIG Message # 34 1 replies Left by: CHUCK ERICSON On 01-May-89 At : (513) 294-1258 after 5:00 PM EDT Subject: SECURITY IN ULRIX V3.0 I just got the May issue of the SIG Newsletter. The UNISIG Newsletter has a _very_ short article about a security hole in ULTRIX V3.0. Does anyone have any more information about this? VMS SIG Message # 933 1 replies Left by: RICK KENNEALLY On 01-May-89 At : 201 434-8033 Subject: RESCUING A DELETED FILE Someone in my office renamed an unimportant file over an important one, right down to the version number. If there is ANYTHING I can do, please call me. The UNDELETE.FOR program by Mr. Townsend just gives the message "Sorry, your header has been reused". Backup? That starts this week. --rick VMS SIG Message # 934 1 replies Left by: CURT SNYDER On 01-May-89 At : 714-752-4760 Subject: RECALL BUFFER Somewhere in either VAX Pro or DEC Pro I saw an article about recovering the recall buffer. I can't seem to find the article. Does anyone remember where that is? Or can anyone tell me the location of the recall buffer in memory? EDITORS SIG Message # 206 2 replies Left by: BRUCE A. GREMBOWSKI On 01-May-89 At : 408/291-3364 Subject: EDT FOR MS-DOS? Does anyone know of an EDT work-alike that will run on an IBM-PC compatible under MS-DOS V3.3? I have used EDT for so many years and just recently got a PC; I'd love to be able to use the same commands. Thanks in advance, Bruce FORUM - 3RD PARTY SUPPLIERS SIG Message # 97 1 replies Left by: LARRY HERRING On 01-May-89 At : Subject: RA90 REGARDING THE RA90 QUESTION. THE RA9O'S HAVE BEEN SUPERB DRIVES SINCE THE VERY BEGINNING. I THINK DEC LEARNED ITS LESSON ON THE RA81 & THEY WENT REAL SLOW IN INTRODUCING THESE DRIVES. THEY ARE MORE EXPENSIVE THAN SI OR EMULEX, BUT FOR PERFORMANCE & REALABILITY YOU CANT BEAT IT!!! ALSO REMEMBER THIRD PARTY DRIVES SAY THEY EMULATE DSA TECHNOLOGY. THAT JUST DOES NOT CUT IT. ECC CORRECTION IS NOT DONE PROPERLY ON THIRD PARTY DRIVES. CLUSTERING/NETWORKING SIG Message # 385 0 replies Reply to # 384 Left by: Philip Gravel On 01-May-89 At : HERE Subject: FTSV John, I don't have the File Transfer Spooler for VMS (FTSV) running but I have some documentation on it. It says that FTSV: o Creates a batch job to do the transfer so the terminal isn't tied up o Checks that input files can be read and that output files can be created o Recovers from errors (including network problems) o Will retry (rather than abort) a transfer if the network link between the source and destination is not operational o Transfers in block mode if possible for efficiency o Can read its input from a file o Works for hetergeneous systems (VMS, RSX, RSTS, P/OS, Ultrix) o Provides its own accounting records o Has a callable interface On paper, it sounds good. We haven't had a need for it yet so we haven't loaded it. Hope this helps. Phil VMS SIG Message # 935 0 replies Reply to # 933 Left by: Philip Gravel On 01-May-89 At : HERE Subject: MISSING FILE Unfortunately, if there has been much activity on the disk (ie, you didn't press the WRITE PROTECT button as soon as you found out), your chances of recovering the file are remote. I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings. Phil DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 523 2 replies Left by: LUIZ DE PAULA On 01-May-89 At : (818)796-9141 Subject: COMPAQ III TO DS200 COMMUNICATIONS Since I haven't had any luck getting a reply on the PC SIG, let me try on the SIG with the most activity! Has anyone out there been able to sucessfully connect a COMPAQ Portable III to a DEC Terminal Server 200? Here is the scenario, this COMPAQ III and several others work fine when they are connected to a DMF or DZ on any one of our VAXes. When the COMPAQs are connected to a DS200, the server receives and outputs the data to the COMPAQ, but the COMPAQ newer displays the data. I have placed a data analyzer behind the COMPAQ, I see the data leaving & comming back...still nothing on the COMPAQ! And yes, I know that I'm dealing with 2 pieces of DTE, TX/RX on the cable between the 2 have been rolled. DEC's Terminal Server Support Team is not aware of any problems nor has any suggestions. COMPAQ's Technical Support, well I haven't been able to get any support from them. COMPAQ insists that I get help through a dealer...those guys are in the dark when it comes to this kind of stuff!!! I would greatly appreciate any help pertaining to this problem. Thanking you in advance, Luiz. VMS SIG Message # 936 0 replies Reply to # 934 Left by: Philip Grave; On 01-May-89 At : HERE Subject: RECALL BUFFER ARTICLES Hunter Goatley had two articles in VAX Professional that dealt with the recall buffer. The December, 1988 issue (p. 13) has one titled "Extending DCl Recall" and the February, 1989 issue (p. 8) has "Easy Command Recall". You can check the cumulative index -- it's an ARIS option. Phil MISCELLANEOUS SIG Message # 504 0 replies Reply to # 502 Left by: RICHARD B. GILBERT On 01-May-89 At : (609) 452-5130 Subject: VAX DIALOUT Ron, There's not any particular setup required for your terminal when you call out from the VAX. Your modem setup and the terminal settings for the modem port are critical. The most important thing is that the modem must be set in its "quiet mode" for dial in to work properly. Set the dip switches on the modem so that it does not send "response codes". When you want to call out, you can give a command to turn codes on; for a Hayes compatible modem, it's ATQ0. Be sure and issue ATQ1 when you're done. The terminal settings on the modem port should include /MODEM /DIALUP /HANGUP and /AUTOBAUD. I wrote a short article covering this in a lot more detail. It's available from CompuServe's VAX Forum (GO VAXSIG) in LIBrary 8. The file name is SETTRM.TXT. It was also posted to the INFO-VAX mailing list (comp.os.vms on usenet) last fall and is probably available in the archives somewhere if you have access to the internet. FORUM - 3RD PARTY SUPPLIERS SIG Message # 98 0 replies Reply to # 97 Left by: Phil Anthony On 01-May-89 At : Here Subject: ECC CORRECTION Larry, can you document that? If it's true, I think a lot of people here would like to know about it. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 524 1 replies Reply to # 523 Left by: Phil Anthony On 01-May-89 At : Here Subject: COMPAQ III TO DS200 Luiz, this just doesn't sound possible! Let me ask a few, probably mislead- ing and maybe stupid, questions: Are you using the same cables between the Compaq and the DS200 that you were using between it and the DMF or DZ? If not, check your pin-outs; a null- modem cable is more than TD and RD. I don't know whether the Compaq III portable has a D9 or a D25 connector, so I won't leave a diagram here. But typically DSR goes straight through, with DTR on either side patched to it, and RTS and CTS on each side tied to CD on the other, in addition to swap- ping RD and TD on both sides. Your PC communications software will also have to be told that you're using a direct connection when you wire up a null modem, since otherwise it'll be monitoring signal changes that will never occur. Speaking of that, what comm software are you using on the Compaq? Does it permit capture of unfiltered data to a file? Does it have an RS-232 debug mode that displays the status of your major pin-outs (typically TD, RD, RTS, CTS, DSR, CD, and DTR)? This might give you clues about what's going on. Is the software configured correctly for your monitor? If it thinks it's going to a mono board and it's doing direct writes to screen memory, the data won't show up on a mono monitor connected to a CGA board - which is what the Compaqs I'm familiar with use. Mono screen memory lives at a dif- ferent address from color screen memory on PCs (B000h versus B800h). When you say you're seeing data leaving and coming back, what data are you talking about - something being sent from the Compaq? Is this ASCII infor- mation under terminal emulation, or is it data being transferred via some protocol such as Kermit? Are you sure you're not set for half duplex on the VAX side - which would certainly explain the presence of data traffic with no echo on the PC? It's always possible, of course, that the serial port on the Compaq has been damaged. Have you tried going back to the DZ or DMF to verify that it still works there? You've probably considered all of this. Maybe you could leave more informa- tion about your setup, and we'll try to aim the scattergun a little better. EDITORS SIG Message # 207 1 replies Reply to # 206 Left by: Phil Anthony On 02-May-89 At : Here Subject: EDT - SORTA - FOR PC Some time ago I picked a public-domain (or maybe shareware - the documenta- tion doesn't say) file called VAXEDT.ARC off one of the bulletin boards I keep in touch with. I never did any more than load it to see that it actu- ally ran, and glance at the docs: Soon afterward I picked up another editor that served my needs better, and I've never particularly liked EDT anyway; TECO's more my speed. So I can't vouch for how good it is, or how close it is to the real thing. But if you'd like to download it and give it a try, give me a call at (215) 884-9128 and we'll arrange it. TERMINALS/PLOTTERS/PRINTERS SIG Message # 293 1 replies Left by: HARLEY RHODEHAMEL On 02-May-89 At : 617 942 2666 Subject: MICROVAX PRINTER Hi! I'm looking for a reliable, fast (around 5-10ppm), and cheap (under $1000) printer to use for a uvax system printer. I'm willing to go with used non-DEC equipment. Am I dreaming? HR DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 525 1 replies Reply to # 523 Left by: KITTY GEORGE On 02-May-89 At : HERE (ARIS) Subject: COMPAQ III WOES Luiz - Your problem with hooking up a Compaq III to a Decserver 200 didn't register with me before - it's good you threw this up on ARIS again. Last month I had a problem like yours with a PS/2 Model 50Z and a Decserver 100. Everything checked out - cables were okay, swapped in a VT320, that worked fine, ran diagnostics on the PS/2, all tests passed okay, swapped the asynch comm port board with another known working asynch comm port board, that didn't fix the problem. We also swapped the connection on the Decserver end with two other Decservers. Finally I figured the heck with it, swapped the PS/2 with another one and got the poor user on-line to the VAX. I'm wondering if the signals going down the wire from the comm port are strong enough for direct connections but too weak for the DS200 to use. That would explain your situation where you can 'scope the Ascii stuff both ways and yet see nothing on the Compaq. If this is the case, you'll have to try another Compaq in the same hookup to see whether this is a problem common to all Compaq III laptops, or to just yours. One other thing to check - you "did" disable modem control on the DS200, did you? Kitty :-) EDITORS SIG Message # 208 1 replies Reply to # 206 Left by: KITTY GEORGE On 02-May-89 At : HERE (ARIS) Subject: MS-DOS EDT LOOK-ALIKE Bruce - For a decent EDT look-alike on your PC, check out EDT+ from Bahstun Bizness Computing, Ltd. Price is $300 max, and it's a good value. Kitty :-) (Look for ads in the trade pubs for EDT+ and VCL, Boston Business Computer advertises in a lot of places. RSTS SIG Message # 366 1 replies Reply to # 364 Left by: KELVIN SMITH On 03-May-89 At : (203) 357-0504 Subject: OPSER FOREVER Phil, I'm honored that you put me in the company of such people as Mike Mayfield. I'm not sure that I can accept such accolades, but I can say that I'm running V9.6. Dave, if you want to talk to me about it, feel free to call during Eastern business hours. OPSER handles the new features of V9; even though it's now a de-emphasized product, Digital isn't totally ignoring it when necessary. Since at least V8.0, there has been a spawn job SYS call which spawns the job logged in without knowing the password (as long as you have the right privileges), and OPSER's BATRUN seems to use that. (I know that ATPK uses it.) We don't run OPSER BATCH here; we have a highly modified form of ATPK with checkpoints and the other cute features that Digital has never even put on the VAX. We do run OPSER on our printers, since DEC in its infinite wisdom decided that the ability to restart a print job in the middle wasn't important for PBS. Maybe not for most people, but I don't like restarting 1500-page print jobs when the paper jams at page 1475. Dave, if you'd like me to bring up BATCH and test a command file for you, I'd be happy to help. Other than that, though, I don't have any suggestions. But it's nice to see another RSTS user on the system here. Welcome aboard! MISCELLANEOUS SIG Message # 505 0 replies Left by: KELVIN SMITH On 03-May-89 At : (203) 357-0504 Subject: SYSOP, I CAN'T REACH YOU! This is a message for the Sysop: I can't leave a message in the Dear Sysop function if I request non-editor format. Several DCL error messages quickly appear and then disappear from the screen. Since I've never learned to use EDT (I'd love a TECO interface here!), and RSTS machines don't have TPU, I don't have any other way to leave a message. (Are you guys trying to tell me something?) DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 526 1 replies Reply to # 524 Left by: LUIZ DE PAULA On 03-May-89 At : (818)796-9141 Subject: REPLY TO PHIL ANTHONY...COMPAQ III to Terminal Server 200 Phil, thanks for getting back to me. Here is some more information that may help you in narrowing down your suggestions: 1. I'm using the same cable on the T.S. to COMPAQ III as was used in the DZ/DMF to COMPAQ III. The cable being used is comprised of: TXD, RXD, SGN and DTR. They're straight throught with the exception of TXD/RXD which are reversed. This is the same cable used on other COMPAQs. Our COMPAQ IIIs are using a DB-9 (COMPAQ side) to DB-25 (T.S. side). 2. The software being used is either PROCOMM or POLYCOMM althought several others have been used with the same result. The above mentioned software are using a hardwire direct connection setup. 3. I'm not sure if PROCOMM or POLYCOMM have a way to capture (in/out) data or any way to monitor the interface. Are these features available in either of them? Perhaps you can recommend one that can. 4. As to the Data Analyzer question, I'm monitoring ASCII data leaving and comming back to the COMPAQ III. This data is what I'm typing to get onto the VAX. 5. The VAX channel associated with this T.S.200 is set for FULLDUPLEX and ECHO. 6. I have tested the COMPAQ III again on a DZ/DMF and also tested it with a DIALOUT MODEM...all tested out okay. I hope this gives you a better idea about whats been tried, etc. Luiz. P.S. Also, see my next message...reply to Kitty's mail. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 527 0 replies Reply to # 525 Left by: LUIZ DE PAULA On 03-May-89 At : (818)796-9141 Subject: REPLY TO KITTY GEORGE...COMPAQIII to Terminal Server 200. Kitty, here are the answer to your questions/comments: 1. I thought about the distance situation. The COMPAQ III is about 100' from the T.S.200. I have also tested it with a 5' distance between the two with the the same result. 2. All of our COMPAQ IIIs have the same configuration (100% COMPAQ internal hardware). 3. MODEM control on the T.S.200 is disable. Any other suggestions? Thanks... Luiz. P.S. See my previous message...reply to Phil's MAIL for more info on the situation. VMS SIG Message # 937 1 replies Reply to # 916 Left by: CRAIG WATERBURY On 03-May-89 At : (206)547-5279 7:00-3:30 PDST Subject: UTILITY TO CHECK SENT MAIL If you need a utility to allow people to find out if other VMS Mail users have read messages that they were sent (pseudo return-receipt), we are using a different one from the DECUS tapes. It is called CHECKMAIL.EXE and has always worked for us, although we are not at V5.0 yet. If you try it, I would be interested to know if it worked. EDITORS SIG Message # 209 1 replies Reply to # 207 Left by: BRUCE A. GREMBOWSKI On 03-May-89 At : 408/291-3364 Subject: EDT FOR MS-DOS Phil, Thanks for your speedy response. I will give you a buzz when I get some time and arrange for the d/l. In the meantime, you say you found another editor that you like for PCs. What is it, and what're its most endearing features? The reason I'm looking for something EDT-like is that I like being able to define close to 75 different keystrokes, and I love being able to have multiple buffers. The editor I have now is from PFS: First Choice software, and it's pretty bare-bones. For doing ASCII files, it's also time-consuming to load and save these files. Once again, thanks for the reply, and I'll be calling you. Bruce EDITORS SIG Message # 210 0 replies Reply to # 208 Left by: BRUCE A. GREMBOWSKI On 03-May-89 At : 408/291-3364 Subject: EDT FOR MS-DOS Kitty, Thanks to you for a speedy reply! If EDT+ is that, then I will probably end up getting it (even though $300 seems like a lot for a text editor). I will check into it; hopefully some dealer will let me demo it. Once again, thanks for your help. 8-) ^^^wearing my glasses Bruce VMS SIG Message # 938 1 replies Left by: MARTY JOHNSON On 03-May-89 At : (203)666-1737 Subject: DAP STATUS CODES In one of may netserver.log files is the message: "DAP status code of 4032 generated" Anyone know what that code means, or where I can lookup DAP status codes? Thanks MIGRATION ISSUES SIG Message # 48 1 replies Left by: PAUL A. LUCERO On 03-May-89 At : (805) 388-5700 Subject: RSX-11M+ TO VAX /VMS MIGRATION Is it possible to use the VMS Backup utility to read tapes that were used or written by the BRU utility of RSX. We are migrating all the files from our PDP 11/44 by directly copying the files from DU0: and DU1: to DUA0: and DUA1:. Do I need to do this or can I simply connect the DU0: and DU1: ports to the VAX and there I have it without doing massive copy commands? I do not have the means to do a test because our PDP is constantly running and utilizing those disks for data acquisition from our instruments. I will welcome all your comments and thank you. - Paul UTILITIES SIG Message # 364 0 replies Left by: KEVIN GRINDHEIM On 03-May-89 At : 804-359-0800 Subject: 3-RD PARTY CMS I am looking for other products available that will perform the functions available in CMS. Any useful information will be appreciated. RSTS SIG Message # 368 0 replies Reply to # 366 Left by: KELVIN SMITH On 03-May-89 At : (203) 357-0504 Subject: OPSER BATCH CONTINUED Ignore my previous message. There seems to be no way in non-editor mode to cancel a message. To quote from the V9.6 Release Notes, "OPSER BATCH requires the use of static pseudo-keyboards." I got confused between BATCH and ATPK, which now uses dynamic PKs, as does PBS. If V9.4 BATCH works for you, PKs shouldn't be the problem. Regarding your request, Dave, for BATRUN.BAS, I don't think anyone will be able to help you. To get that, you have to have a source license now; with the normal license, you only get sources to a handful of programs now (LOGIN, LOGOUT, SYSTAT, and a few others). I believe that anyone with a source license has to promise not to pass the sources on to others; they might be able to answer a specific question for you, but that would be it. What is Digital saying about your problems? If you have V9.6, you presumably have some level of support. If you have telephone support, call them and get them working on it; OPSER really IS still a supported product, and they have an obligation to get it right for you. If you don't have telephone support, write an SPR and put a high impact level on it; send them a copy of your command file, the log, and the privileges of both the account it was supposed to run in and the account BATCH itself is running in (probably [1,2]; if it isn't, that may be your problem). Even if the V9.4 version is working OK, let them know about the V9.6 problem; there are no guarantees that a V9.4 version will work in the future, and they won't fix problems they don't know about. FORUM - DEC SIG Message # 64 0 replies Left by: JEFFREY L. CLEARY On 03-May-89 At : 99 WALNUT ST CHATTANOGA TN 37403 Subject: 3100 CLUSTER LICENSING VMS V5.1B This message is as much for Dave Mallery, the authory of the Cluster Chronicles, as anyone. I bought a Vaxstation 3100 intending to use its processing power as an additional node on a LAVC. I really did not want an "engineering workstation", whatever that is. The DEC salesman even said it would work that way. I have heard of this being called a "backdoor" login through the clustering software which bypasses the interactive login count of a VMS license. I suppose we all knew this would come to an end. It has. To make a VAXstation 3100 work you need VMS 5.1B. The licensing software is in full gear in this version of VMS. Clustering is not what it used to be. Only one login on the CPU thank you and forget the way cluster logins used to work. I put the thing back in the box and sent it back. Am I trying to "cheat". Why is a crime to use things I buy the way I want to? Why does DEC care what I do with the 3100? If they sold cars they would probably want to know how many drivers would use it or where I was going to drive it. They just lost a sale and made a confused if not irritated customer. Maybe it is just me but VMS seems overpriced by a considerable margin. Do these people thing they can run a proprietary operating system as a profit center? I think VMS ought to be free or at least a nominal cost. That would increase the sales of CPUs and get DEC really going instead of the iceberg pace they move at now. Oh well, that is my two cents. MIGRATION ISSUES SIG Message # 49 0 replies Reply to # 48 Left by: ANDREW DUGGAN On 03-May-89 At : Subject: RSX TO VAX Paul, From what I have read, VMS Backup cannot read BRU tapes. You can hook up your disks to your VAX (I assume they are RA8x drives). VMS can read and write RSX disks (ODS-1). You will want to have backups, but you can do it. After the drives are on the VAX you can use VMS Backup to backup the data. If you do connect the drives to the VAX you must make absolutely SURE THAT THE UNIT #'S DO NOT CONFLICT WITH THE DRIVES ALREADY ON THE SAME CONTROLLER. IF YOU ALREADY HAVE A DUA0:, & DUA1: YOU MUST CHANGE THE UNIT SELECT PLUGS ON THE DRIVES TO OTHER NUMBERS, (DUA2, & DUA3 ARE EASIEST.) You will want to convert the disk up to ODS-2, so you will have quite a bit of shuffling to do. - Andrew DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 528 0 replies Reply to # 526 Left by: Phil Anthony On 03-May-89 At : Here Subject: DS200 AND COMPAQ III Luiz, I have two different specs for 9-to-25-pin null-modem cables. The first is what I mentioned in my previous message, taken from the Navtel Datacheck II Operators Manual (they're discussing using a breakout box as a null-modem connection; the DB9 pinouts come from the Sperry Personal Com- puter Library Technical Reference). The signal names are translated here to their associated pin numbers: . 9-pin 25-pin . ------- --------------------- . 1 (CD) ---------------- 4 (CTS) and 5 (RTS) . 2 (RD) ---------------- 2 (TD) . 3 (TD) ---------------- 3 (RD) . 5 (SG) ---------------- 7 (SG) . 6 (DSR) ---------------- 6 (DSR) and 20 (DTR) . 7 (RTS) and 8 (CTS) ---- 8 (CD) DTR on either side (I've shown it on the 25-pin side, but the connec- tion could be on Pin 4 of the DB9 instead) asserts DSR for both systems; DTR on the other side is ignored. RTS on each side drives CTS on the same side and CD on the other. RI - Pin 9 on the DB9 and Pin 22 on the DB25 - is ig- nored, since it's meaningless unless a telephone is involved. Some people don't bother with signal ground, Pins 5 and 7 respectively, but signals can get misinterpreted without a reference voltage. The second is simpler conceptually, though it uses more wires in the cable. It comes from the Mirror III User's Guide. I've corrected one questionable connection in the listing - they show CTS on the DB9 (Pin 8) tied to DSR (Pin 6) on the DB25, instead of RTS (Pin 4). I've never used this particu- lar hookup, but it looks as if it should work; faking it with a breakout box between two PCs was successful: . 9-pin 25-pin . ------- -------- . 1 (CD) ---------------- 8 (CD) . 2 (RD) ---------------- 2 (TD) . 3 (TD) ---------------- 3 (RD) . 4 (DTR) ---------------- 6 (DSR) . 5 (SG) ---------------- 7 (SG) . 6 (DSR) ---------------- 20 (DTR) . 7 (RTS) ---------------- 5 (CTS) . 8 (CTS) ---------------- 4 (RTS) . 9 (RI) ---------------- 22 (RI) Here, CD is actually meaningless - it's never asserted, but you've already told both sides to ignore it anyway. If either side needs it, you could patch a DTE-asserted signal, such as DTR or RTS, to it. DTR on each side drives DSR on the other, and each side's RTS asserts CTS on the other. You can safely ignore the RI connection, which I included only because the man- ual did. Again, I strongly recommend connecting SG straight through, which you're already doing. But your wiring is missing DSR, RTS, and CTS. I'm not familiar with the DS200. If it wants to monitor DSR, or if it uses RTS/CTS handshaking, this might be a problem for you. If I recall, DZs ignore RTS and CTS. Also note that Pin 2 on a DB9 corresponds to Pin 3 on a DB25 - receive data - and vice versa, so that swapping those two pins would give a straight-through con- nection rather than a reversed (null-modem) one. I doubt that that's the problem, since you're communicating successfully on the DZ and DMF. Unfortunately, neither ProComm nor its successor, ProComm Plus, provides a means of monitoring the interface. I haven't used PolyComm, so maybe some- body else can speak to its features. Mirror III, from SoftKlone, provides two means of monitoring what's going on: an optional display on the screen that monitors (DB25) Pins 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 20; and the ability to capture all data transmitted and received, without filtering, to a file. EDITORS SIG Message # 211 0 replies Reply to # 209 Left by: Phil Anthony On 03-May-89 At : Here Subject: EDT FOR PC Bruce, your comments lead me to think that this public-domain EDT won't do what you want it to. A glance at the docs that come with it show no key- board macros and no buffers. Kitty George's suggestion, except for the price, looks like the better of the two. I'm using Epsilon from Lugaru Software, myself. It has a lot of advantages, probably the most important of which to me is that I can go back and forth on a number of operating systems and find essentially the same editor - ex- actly what you're trying to achieve with EDT. The keys aren't particularly intuitive, but once you learn 'em, they're almost exactly the same as the keys for the same functions on UNIX/XENIX or VMS Emacs. Also like Emacs, you can redefine the keystrokes for the editing functions to your heart's content; and if you don't like the functions Epsilon provides, it also has a script language and compiler for creating your own. I've never needed to use this feature, however, since Epsilon gives me more functionality than I really require. Epsilon provides as many buffers, and can handle as many files, as you have memory and/or file handles for. Size of the file(s) you're editing is not limited to the size of the PC's memory. And built-in functions provide for regular expression search and search-and-replace, which neither EDT, TPU, nor TECO give you. Cost is about $150. Good luck in your search for an editor. If you want to play with the brain-damaged EDT I have, you're welcome to it, but I really don't think it'll fill the bill for you. UNIX/ULTRIX SIG Message # 35 0 replies Reply to # 34 Left by: Phil Anthony On 03-May-89 At : Here Subject: SECURITY IN ULTRIX V3.0 Chuck, I don't get the UNISIG Newsletter, so I don't know about the article you're referring to. Your best bet might be to get in touch with the News- letter's editor or the author of the article and ask if he or she has any more light to shed on it. If you attend LUG meetings, that might be another good place to ask about it, especially since you can catch the ear of the DEC representative there. You might also want to call DEC directly and see if they have a response or a workaround, or maybe even a patch. In the meantime, would you like to tell us more about what the Newsletter says? My experience of DEC software in general is that x.0 releases tend to be buggy. There just aren't enough beta sites to test them out thoroughly be- fore they're released. This is especially true of operating systems. Most of the bugs get fixed in the x.1 release; you might simply want to hold off upgrading for six months or so, or drop back to your previous version if you've already upgraded, unless you really need new features in V3.0. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 529 0 replies Left by: JON BLACKMAN On 04-May-89 At : 516.595.6973 Subject: COMM PCKGE ON VAX FOR HAYES Does anyone know of a program that will talk to a Hayes modem via a VAX? I need something that works like Crosstalk does on a PC, complete with file transfer capabilities such as Kermit. -Jon VMS SIG Message # 939 0 replies Reply to # 937 Left by: ROBERT G. SCHAFFRATH On 04-May-89 At : 914-335-9792 Subject: CHECKMAIL I can guarantee that if CHECKMAIL is working on a Pre-V5.0 system, it won't be after you upgrade. The MAIL UAF file VMSMAIL.DAT was changed to VMSMAIL_PROFILE.DATA and has it's internal format changed. I would be interested to see the CHECKMAIL code. Anyone know which symposium tape it is on? UTILITIES SIG Message # 365 0 replies Left by: TIM SAGSTETTER On 04-May-89 At : (715) 847-6784 Subject: F$USEFUL REDUX The February 1989 issue of the VAX Professional contained an article by Donald R. Stevens-Rayburn entitled F$USEFUL Redux. In the article, he mentions that he has implemented F$SEARCH as F_SEARCH in Macro as well as F$FILE_ATTRIBUTES that was presented in the article. I am interested in obtaining the source for F_SEARCH, but have not been able to locate an address for Mr. Stevens-Rayburn. Can anyone help me out? Thank you in advance. Tim Sagstetter WORD PROCESSING SIG Message # 122 0 replies Left by: JOHN NAU On 04-May-89 At : 914-732-3693 Subject: MASS-11 VS WORDPERFECT I am a member of a group that is trying to decide between MASS-11 and WordPerfect as a wordprocessing system on a Microvax. Has anyone gone through this ordeal!! HELP RSTS SIG Message # 369 0 replies Left by: DAVE KAPLAN On 04-May-89 At : 919-878-0204 Subject: OPSER/BATRUN PROBLEMS To Phil, Brett and Kevin: Thanks for all your help regarding my OPSER BATCH problem. We de-installed our 11/70 (V7.1) system Saturday, and have been up and running on our 11/83 (V9.6) since Sunday with no major glitches! I haven't slept much, but that goes with the territory as we all know. I'm taking tomorrow off!! Here's a summary of my "research" on OPSER... I'll try to address all of your comments (from memory - I'm sure I'll leave something out): 1) BATRUN.TSK always fails with "..?UNABLE TO LOGIN BATCH JOB..." regardless of privileges, quotas, or any other controllable factor IF you are run- ning a V9.6 or V9.7 system INSTALLED FROM SCRATCH. (I duplicated our 9.6 failure on Northwest Digital's V9.7 beta test system courtesy of Mike Mayfield - He is submitting this to DEC.) 2) A successful workaround on both 9.6 and 9.7 systems is to put a copy of BATRUN.TSK in OPSER$: from a 9.4 distribution. We're using this on our 9.6 system, and I also tested this successfully on NDS's 9.7 beta system. 3) If you have a 9.4 system INSTALLED FROM SCRATCH, and then you UPGRADE to V9.6, you do NOT have this problem. This is the situation at another site in my area. These folks apparently had our same problem when they first decided to install 9.6 from scratch on their working 9.4 system. With OPSER batch jobs not running, they were forced to go back to 9.4 to get back into production. After reading more carefully about 9.6 changes, they decided to try again, but this time opted for an UPGRADE. This time OPSER batch jobs ran ok. However, they mistakenly thought that their original problem was due to failing to do a SET SYSTEM/PSEUDO=n. Therefore, they did not "connect" to my problem until I was able to "jog" their memory by studying there installation and upgrade logs. 4) I have not reported this problem to DEC via phone, as we don't have telephone support, and I've already used my one courtesy call! I haven't got our self-maintenance contract yet, but I can still submit an SPR under my software warranty. However, I don't think I will since NDS has reported the problem to DEC for 9.7 beta. 5) I have a "pet" theory to explain this bug if anyone cares. I believe that some "transparent" internal change(s) has(have) been made to the 9.6 disk structure and/or the 9.6 UFD attributes which don't interact properly with some change(s) made in 9.6 BATRUN.TSK. It appears that a 9.4 BATRUN.TSK doesn't look at the 9.6 attributes, and that a 9.6 BATRUN.TSK looks, but doesn't mind not finding them on a 9.4 disk with 9.4 UFD's (or UFD's created under 9.6 on a 9.4 disk structure). I've got some additional comments about RSTS utility program sources. Will send another message about this sometime during the next few days. Dave Kaplan, Independent Data Processing, Raleigh NC, 919-878-0204 P.S. Kevin - where in CT are you located? I lived in Norwalk and Wilton until I went to college!! RSTS SIG Message # 370 0 replies Left by: DAVE KAPLAN On 04-May-89 At : 919-878-0204 Subject: THANKS BRETT... Brett - Thanks again for your help. Also, for CLE. We've had 1 unexplained auto-reboot on our 11/83, so we've stopped using CLE for the moment. Could this possibly be corrupting the executive's memory region? Re: Other stuff you gave me - haven't had time to look yet... Re: TALK - glad you like it! Re: PC stuff you've got for me - have't tried to dial you, but if you've got the time and inclination, I've set you up an account on our 11/83. Account is [200,40], password is the edit date which you see when you invoke the TALK utility on your system. It's 8 characters, including punctuation. Just "KERMIT" for KERMIT. "MAIL BRETT TO DAVE" to send me mail. Phone is 919-872-9610, 24 hours (if the lights don't go out- don't have our UPS yet!); 2400-300 baud; N,8,1; MNP-5 if you've got it. In KERMIT, "SET FILE TYPE BINARY", and "SET LONG ON" as appropriate. Let me know if you want TALK sources and I'll move to your account. Got to run - later... Dave Kaplan 919-878-0204 RSTS SIG Message # 371 0 replies Left by: DAVE KAPLAN On 04-May-89 At : 919-878-0204 Subject: EMULEX QT13 TAPE CONT. PROB. Has anyone experienced the following hardware-related problem? We're using a Kennedy 9610 9-track 1/2" tape drive with an Emulex QT13 controller on a PDP-11/83 running RSTS V9.6. The QT13 has two emulation modes: TMSCP and TS11 (I think that what you call it??). We want to run in the TMSCP mode, because this provides density control via software. However, in this mode we get the error '?Error 52 in "BCKSUB"' when we use either the BACKUP or RESTORE utilities, withOUT specifying the "/DENSITY=n" qualifier. Note that specifying "/DENSITY=n" is a workaround which is NOT available when installing RSTS from the distribution media, since the required RESTORE commands are pre-defined as part of the instal- lation procedure! Therefore, for now we run in TS11 mode. Emulex acknowledges this problem, and claims that rev. "F" firmware is modified to correct this. However, after upgrading my QT13 to rev. "F" with Emulex-supplied ROMs, the problem still persists. Has anyone else experienced a similar problem? Dave Kaplan, Independent Data Processing, Raleigh NC 919-878-0204 DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 530 0 replies Left by: DAVE KAPLAN On 04-May-89 At : 919-878-0204 Subject: PROCOMM PLUS VT100 EMULATION Does anyone know if the key-mapping features of Procomm Plus allow you to define VT100 keypad equivalents to map to your PC's function keys? I use Procomm, and love it's VT100 emulation. My PC has function keys on the left arranged vertically. Procomm uses this arrangement very well. I have a copy of Procomm Plus "Test Drive", and I like it's additional features over Procomm, but the default VT100 key mapping is inferior for my use. The key-mapping feature (which is not available in Procomm) is mentioned, but disabled in the Test Drive version. Therefore, I'm unable to check this out myself without purchasing a commerical version. I'm ready to purchase if the key-mapping will do the job. Can anyone answer this for me? Respond here, or call if you like. Thanks... Dave Kaplan, Independent Data Processing, Raleigh NC, 919-878-0204 VMS SIG Message # 940 1 replies Left by: CHRISTOPHER ATKINS On 04-May-89 At : (516)549-6900 Subject: MODEM BLUES Well, I am the only "systems manager" on a cute lil ol'MicroVax II where I work, (if you can call THAT management!) and we constantly have these little annoying problems with our modems: i) We don't own "DIGITAL-MADE" modems or even "DIGITAL-COMPATABLE" ones. perhaps this is the problem in the first place, perhaps not... ii) The modems we have are serial-connect (RS232) only...they work allright up to a point, if they stay "alive" long enough for us to call places. iii) We have a problem with them not hanging up after someone has called in and hung up their end, but not logged out on ours. This can be annoying as often we have other users waiting to log on under the same modem line. I know of hardware devices that would solve this problem, but I wonder if any of you would have some suggestions as to what I could implement to alleviate this sillyness via S/W fix. Also, is there any other software available that will function with modems like, say, the Kermit program from some Decus tape does? It's annoying to have to go through life with only one protocol to use, and, especially, one that doesn't allow the sending of files without a remote Kermit server waiting to receive them at the other end. Thanks in advance for any advice you all may have. Chris LASER PRINTERS SIG Message # 59 1 replies Left by: CHRISTOPHER ATKINS On 04-May-89 At : (516)549-6900 Subject: "SCRIPTPRINTER" STUFF Hiho and hello - I need some info on the LN03R LaserPrinter, and I bet this is where I should go to get it! Now, I KNOW this is a good printer. The only thing I don't get is why my boss got it, knowing (hopefully) full well that we probably wouldn't know how to use the stupid thing! The documentation we received with the contraption was minimal to say the least, and all I have been able to tweak out of it is some great- looking test pages ("ScriptPrinter successfully installed" is a personal favorite :) and be able to print documents from VMS in 4 or 8-on-a-page format. Nifty, but useless in our environment. I work in an office where useage of the machine is primarily allocated to accounting and word-processing. VT-220 and 320's are the majority, with a smacking of IBM PC-clones and a Sun 386i! We currently have WPS plus installed, along with Focus and some other minisicule programs. What I need to know is: i) Are there any other good books which I should see which could help me access those great fonts, PostScript capabilities, and other goodies from the LN03R? The docs I got aren't very helpful with that... ii) Can anyone recall or recommend some IBM PC or VMS software that would similarly accomplish this task? iii) Will someone please tell me why people buy things they don't know anything about and, of course, expect someone else to?!? ;) Thanks in advance for any help that comes my way... Chris COMMUNICATIONS SIG Message # 266 0 replies Left by: CHRISTOPHER ATKINS On 04-May-89 At : (516)549-6900 Subject: OOPS! I think I left a few questions in the wrong SIG base...If the gurus here could take a peek at the message I left in the "VMS" section of this board and could provide an answer there, I'd appreciate it greatly! Also, I failed to mention, on some DEC-compatable boards, I get a bunch of "*OUTPUT ON*" and "*OUTPUT OFF*" messages at random. For instance, on this board, I sometimes get one inserted at the beginning of a message I start writing in the TPU editor...does this have anything to do with the terminal speed or what? Are those messages caused by Ctrl-O's ?? Please read the other message for more applicable information about my system. THANKS, Chris APPLICATIONS SIG Message # 331 0 replies Reply to # 297 Left by: TOM MYNAR On 04-May-89 At : 714-956-9159 Subject: USE FORM SETUP If you define a /SETUP for the form you have assigned to the printer, instead of using the /SETUP in the print command - you will get no extra form feed. Of course, you have to delete the form and then add it to set this qualifier. Make sure there's no RESET module defined in the queue's /SEPARATE qualifier too ! Using the /SETUP on the form causes the symbiont to send those escapes before each job, without the formfeed - something I'm not sure you want to do when download softfonts, though. Give me a call in the morning, pacific time, if you want more help. Tom VMS SIG Message # 941 0 replies Reply to # 940 Left by: ANDREW DUGGAN On 04-May-89 At : (215) 925-5400 Subject: MODEM BLUES Chirs, I run a VMS timesharing system with 32++ modems, none of which are DEC modems. Here are the basics for sucessful use of modems under VMS: You must be using a terminal multiplexor or server that supports modem control. The terminal port must be set /MODEM /HANGUP. Your modem must watch the DTR (Data Terminal Ready). Your modem must supply CD,DSR, and RI (Carrier Detect, Data Set Ready, and Ring Indicate). There are usually DIP switches to set the modem for this type of setting. To answer a call this is what should happen. The line rings and the modem raises RI. (It should not answer the phone.) VMS raises DTR. When the modem sees DTR high it answers the phone. If a connection is made the modem raises DSR and CD. If CD and DSR don't come on in 30 seconds VMS drops DTR. When you logout from the dialin call VMS will drop DTR. When the modem sees DTR go down it should hangup the phone. It's also a good idea to have the terminal port set to /DIAL so you can enable security audits for dialup login/logout/logfail. For a complete description of what goes on with modems see Section 8.2.3 of the I/O User Part 1 mannual. (Pages 8-12 thru 8-17) I hope this helps. TERMINALS/PLOTTERS/PRINTERS SIG Message # 294 0 replies Reply to # 293 Left by: RICHARD B. GILBERT On 04-May-89 At : (609) 452-5130 Subject: SYSTEM PRINTER Harley, I'm sorry but it sure sounds like a dream to me. 5-10 ppm translates to 300 to 600 LPM. Impact printers that run at these speeds sell for $5K and up. If you found a used printer for $1K, I would be very surprised. Laser printers can be had for as little as $1700 that will do 8ppm. DEC's laser printers start at around $3K. These prices are for stripped down models. For full featured models that do full page bit mapped graphics or PostScript add another $1.5K - $3K. I don't think that there are very many used laser printers available. I don't recall ever seeing one offered by any of the equipment brokers. Your best bet for a printer might be a dot matrix printer with a serial interface and a wide carriage. These do not run at anything like 5ppm but $400 - $600 should buy you a nice one. VMS SIG Message # 942 0 replies Reply to # 938 Left by: RICHARD B. GILBERT On 04-May-89 At : (609) 452-5130 Subject: DAP STATUS CODES Marty, Look in the Networking manuals for the DAP Status codes. They may not be there, in which case the VMS microfiche may be the only place. Some of this stuff was simply not documented anywhere else, at least in V4. If you have software support, call Colorado and ask them to dig it out for you. LASER PRINTERS SIG Message # 60 0 replies Reply to # 59 Left by: RICHARD B. GILBERT On 04-May-89 At : (609) 452-5130 Subject: LN03R SCRIPTPRINTER The LN03R is a PostScript printer. (I guess you noticed that :-). To print vanilla ASCII files, you need to prepend a PostScript program to your file and then print it. Such a program is available from the VAX Forum on CompuServe. It's in LIBrary 12, filename PSHEAD.PS. It was written by someone at Adobe Systems and placed in the public domain. I believe that there may be a special print symbiont for PostScript printers but I could be wrong. You can get a program called TeX (order V-SP-58 from the DECUS Library) which can be used to produce typeset (almost) output from your LN03R. It uses a "markup" language to indicate how your text is to be printed and then produces a device independent output file. Various "driver" programs take this .DVI file and produce output for various laser printers, PostScript printers among them, and various Photo-typesetters. It is especially good for setting mathmatics and tables. MICROVAX SIG Message # 200 0 replies Left by: BILL NADDY On 04-May-89 At : HERE Subject: VAX PRO ADDRESS CHANGE Is there a way to change address here for a VAX professional subscription or can you only do non-address changes to a DEC professional subscription? Thanks. Bill UTILITIES SIG Message # 366 0 replies Reply to # 365 Left by: ANNE SCHRAUGER On 05-May-89 At : HERE Subject: HOW TO REACH AN AUTHOR Tim, I'm the Editorial Systems Coordinator here at Professional Press. I'll get in touch with Mr. Stevens-Rayburn and ask him to contact you. MICROVAX SIG Message # 201 0 replies Reply to # 200 Left by: ANNE SCHRAUGER On 05-May-89 At : HERE Subject: VAX PRO ADDRESS CHANGE Bill, Yes, you may use the address change option to update your VAX Professional subscription. Enter 1 at the Main Menu, which is Subscription Information. Please tell us your old address along with your new, so we can correct the right sub #. MISCELLANEOUS SIG Message # 506 0 replies Reply to # 505 Left by: ANNE SCHRAUGER On 05-May-89 At : HERE Subject: DEAR SYSOP & NON-EDITOR Kelvin, The non-editor function is working fine now from our end. Give it another try. Or give EDT a try. Just type along, and use Returns at the end of every line. Up and Down arrow keys will move you around to correct any typos. Then CTRL-Z when you're done. TERMINALS/PLOTTERS/PRINTERS SIG Message # 295 0 replies Reply to # 292 Left by: PATRICK MAHAN On 05-May-89 At : (714) 720-7868 Subject: REGIS PLOTTING If you can capture the ReGIS commands into a file, then DEC has a product called RETOS (ReGIS to sixel graphics converter). The program does a very good job of scaling the ReGIS plot upward to fill a 8.5 X ll.0 page. The utility supports the following devices (LJ250, LA50, LA75, LA210, LA100, LN03 and LN03 Plus). It should fit your needs nicely. SITE MANAGEMENT SIG Message # 275 1 replies Left by: TOM CACHAT On 05-May-89 At : THIS BULLETIN BOARD Subject: AUTOMATIC SHUTDOWN PROGRAM We have a 30 KVA General Power Systems uninterruptible power supply that sends ASCII characters out a 9-pin RS232 port in the event of power problems. I would like to have our VAX 11/785 monitor this UPS output and automatically shut down if necessary. A search of the cumulative index on this board did not show a program for this purpose. I am looking for a program or suggestions on writing a program to do an automatic shutdown. Thank you. TERMINALS/PLOTTERS/PRINTERS SIG Message # 296 0 replies Reply to # 293 Left by: DANIEL MASKIT On 05-May-89 At : 914-636-4656 Subject: PRINTERS FOR UVAX This may seem really weird, but we're actually using an Apple ImageWriter II as the printer on our UVax. You need to make up a simple little adapter (call me and I'll give you the pin assignments) to go from the apple plug into the VAX MUX, but it works fine. I would guess that any printer which will take a serial input would work just as well, we just happened to have an Imagewriter we weren't using. Hope this helps. Dan EDITORS SIG Message # 212 1 replies Reply to # 211 Left by: BRUCE A. GREMBOWSKI On 05-May-89 At : 408/291-3364 Subject: EDT FOR MS-DOS Phil, Thanks for the reply. After consideration, I would probably be better off with Kitty's EDT+, as I'd hate to have to learn another editor -- I already use five. Now I have another problem -- I just realised that our AT has an XT keyboard! I wonder how EDT+ can implement both keypad and arrow keys at the same time? :-) I think I'm going to have to convince my wife to get an AT keyboard (the PC is actually her work computer, but I like to steal it in the evenings). Anyway, thanks for all your help; I'm going to try out EDT+. Yours, Bruce VMS SIG Message # 943 2 replies Left by: LINCOLN CHANG On 05-May-89 At : 408 733-3853 Subject: BACKUP /VERIFY PROBLEM I image backup a RD54 disk from node A to a disk RA81 on node B through Ethernet as following: $backup/record/image/ignore=inter/ver/buffer=5 dua2: - BBBB::dua3:[back]4may1989_bbbb_image.bck then I backup ONLY the above saveset (no other file) on node B to TU81 tape as following: (well, of course I don't have TU81 tape on node A!) $backup/ver/log/rec/buffer=5/nocrc dua3:[backup]4may1989_bbbb_image.bck - mub0:4may89_B_dua2_image.bck The tape did stream and backup this large saveset to the tape but when it come to verification state it said it cannot find this file as follow: ...error opening mub0:[]4may89_b_dua2_iamge.bck; as input ...no such file I did use command $BACKUP/LIST MUB0: and see the file is there ... but how come it didn't do verification or cannot see that file ????? Oh I have MicroVMS V4.7 ... Anyone can help me will be greatly appreciated! Lincoln VMS SIG Message # 944 0 replies Reply to # 943 Left by: KITTY GEORGE On 05-May-89 At : HERE (ARIS) Subject: BACKUP BOOBOOS Lincoln - Your problem with BACKUP sounds similar to one I've encountered when I try to recover files with long filenames. I've run into problems in the past under the following circumstances ... 1. I backup a file and specify a long saveset name like ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQR.BCK . 2. I try to restore the file, specifying the saveset name exactly as I entered it during the backup. BACKUP cannot find it. 3. If I do a BACKUP/LIST, BACKUP says the file is there. The usual way around this is to use wildcards to recover all files from tape, and to use /CONFIRM so I restore only what I need. It appears to me that /VERIFY has a similar problem with long names. If that's the case, you have two options; one, to forget about /VERIFY (yes, I'm aware of the pros/cons of doing so, so let's not rehash that subject again!); or two, use a shorter saveset name. If memory serves me right, a filename of 16 characters or less will do the trick. I'd do the latter. Kitty :-) CLUSTERING/NETWORKING SIG Message # 386 0 replies Left by: PHILLIP A CREWS On 05-May-89 At : 704 332 3372 OR HERE Subject: DECNET-VAX FILE XFER I am attempting to optimize VAX to VAX file transfers over ethernet between a MicroVAX 3500 and a MicroVAX II. No matter what changes I make, or from which node I initiate the copy, I can't get more than about 55K per second throughput because the MicroVAX CPU is maxed out, even when the copy is the only thing running. I have examined the FAL and COPY images with SDA while they are running and noticed that they are using about 75% of the MicroVAX II's CPU doing (emulated) CRC checks of the DECnet packets. I would think that this would be the province of DECnet itself, instead of programs such as FAL and COPY. Does anyone know if it is possible to disable these CRCs? The copies I require are not critical, but extremely large (500 Mb or so) and must be done daily. SITE MANAGEMENT SIG Message # 276 0 replies Reply to # 275 Left by: KITTY GEORGE On 05-May-89 At : HERE (ARIS) Subject: MONITOR PROGRAM SUGGESTIONS Tom - The kind of program required to read the ASCII output from the UPS should be very simple to write. I'll sketch out the bare essentials, and you can pick it up from here. 1. Connect a VT220 or other terminal to the UPS RS232C cable (you'll need an adaptor to match 9 pins to 25 pins). Set up the terminal so that you can see the actual output from the UPS. This will let you know exactly what baud rate and other terminal settings you'll need. 2. Configure a port on the VAX to match the characteristics determined above. Test it by plugging that same VT220, whatever, in and make sure you can log in. Use a DZ, DMF32, or DHU port, not an Ethernet port to keep things simple. 3. Make sure the port is logged off, then $ ALLOCATE the port. Plug in the cable from the UPS. If you don't ALLOCATE the port first, the VAX will think all those messages from the UPS are login attempts. 4. Write a program that OPENS the port as a new file (example - OPEN (UNIT=1,NAME='TXA4:',STATUS='NEW') in Fortran) . Then issue READ statements to read in the output from the UPS. When the UPS gives you a message that indicates you should shut the system down, go through the shutdown process. One way to do this (in Fortran) is to write a simple ASCII file that invokes SHUTDOWN, then CLOSE (UNIT=nnn,DISPOSE='SUBMIT') the ASCII file to send it to the batch queue. 5. And that's it. I'll let you figure out how to tell everyone the only way to test the procedure is to run through the shutdown procedure 326754 +/- 3 times. Other notes .... - You should be able to hack this whole thing in DCL. A Fortran/Macro/Pascal/C/your_pick program will be a lot more efficient and responsive, though. - Make sure you $ ALLOCATE from the same process that runs the program/DCL procedure that watches the UPS output. Otherwise you'll get a "file locked" error. - Be wary of data overruns if the UPS spits out data constantly. For this, you'll have to set the port to use the ALTYPEAHEAD buffer, and possibly to specify a larger alternate typeahead buffer size (which means running AUTOGEN). The one thing I'd be most worried about is the UPS sending a constant stream of data so fast that your monitor program uses up all the CPU time just reading the incoming data. I doubt that this is the case here, since you're dealing with simple environment monitoring. - Have fun ! Kitty :-) LASER PRINTERS SIG Message # 61 0 replies Reply to # 59 Left by: Phil Anthony On 05-May-89 At : Here Subject: LN03R SOFTWARE Chris, to take your questions in order: i) Don't know of any. Maybe a call to Ken Olsen's office to ask the same question would get some results - might shake up the documentation writers, too. You might also pick up a generic book on PostScript, which I'd expect to be helpful. ii) Richard Gilbert left you a couple of suggestions. WordPerfect for both PCs and VAXes has what I've heard described as a very good driver for the LN03R that can access its font capabilities, etc.; if somebody around here has used it, maybe they can add to this comment. Since you don't seem to like WPS anyway, this could give you some leverage for switching. iii) Because DEC salesmen do a better job than DEC technical writers these days - at least in some cases - and because that's why we get paid .... RSTS SIG Message # 372 0 replies Reply to # 371 Left by: Phil Anthony On 05-May-89 At : Here Subject: EMULEX QT13 Dave, can the Kennedy be set to default to 1600 BPI under TMSCP emulation for at least as long as you're doing software upgrades? It sounds to me as if it's defaulting to some other density, and any software you use would re- quire a /DENSITY switch (or the equivalent) to read or write 1600 BPI media. The Tape Stretch-11, on the other hand, does only 1600 BPI, so everything is already set. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 531 0 replies Reply to # 530 Left by: Phil Anthony On 05-May-89 At : Here Subject: PCPLUS KEYBOARD MAPPING Dave, you can remap ProComm Plus function keys, Alt-function keys, and Ctrl-function keys to your heart's content - also the cursor and keypad keys except for PgUp and PgDn (which PCPlus uses for upload and download), Tab, Backtab, Insert, Delete, Backspace, and Enter. Each key, according to the User's Manual, can be mapped to as many as 14 characters. PCPlus is a darned good product - one of the two I normally recommend to PC clients. I think you'll get some good use out of it. EDITORS SIG Message # 213 0 replies Reply to # 212 Left by: Phil Anthony On 05-May-89 At : Here Subject: PC KEYBOARDS Bruce, believe it or not, what you have is an AT keyboard - if you really had an XT keyboard, the system wouldn't boot (different specs). What you have is the original-style AT keyboard, and what a lot of programs did was to use the function keys at the left to emulate keypad keys. On the other hand, you can get a Northgate Computer Systems Omnikey 102 for something under $100. The big advantage of the Omnikey 102 is that its func- tion keys are still on the left-hand side, which makes them accessible when you're typing, while it has the newer AT keyboard layout (separate numeric keypad and cursor keys) on the right. VMS SIG Message # 945 0 replies Reply to # 943 Left by: WILLIAM DEKRONEY On 05-May-89 At : 301-974-2059 Subject: SAVESET NAMES If I'm not mistaken, the problem you are having is due to the fact that VMS saveset names are limited to 17 characters including the . for ext. But all is not lost if this is the problem. If you redo your restore command and specify only upto the 17th character for the input saveset, vms backup should be able to find it without a hitch. Good Luck! Will VMS SIG Message # 946 0 replies Left by: WILLIAM DEKRONEY On 05-May-89 At : 301-974-2059 Subject: PAGEFILE SPACE I recently upgraded my system from VMS V4.6 to V5.0-2. It's an 8810 with 128MB of memory. I'm beside myself with the new results of show mem/fil command. I was reading Bruce Ellis's article entitled "Modified Page Writing in V5" and noticed a few words about Free/Reserveable Pagefile space. The problem I am having is that swapfile space is never being subtracted from anywhere and pagefile Reserveable goes '-' sometimes. Also, Is it more beneficial to have multiple small pagefile's spread out over several spindles as opposed to one large pagefile on the system disk. Any Info would be appreciated. Thanks, Will. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 532 0 replies Left by: JOHN GREER On 05-May-89 At : 209-847-1721 Subject: CTRL-S AND KERMIT We are trying to dial out of our 11/73 to an IBM system. The other system is set up for half-duplex and is expecting a CTRL/S as the turnaround character. How do I transmitt the CTRL/S without making my 11/73 think it is getting XOFF from my terminal. We are using KERMIT for MicroRSX to dial out but the IBM is not. We have tried SET TERM/NOTTSYNC and changing the setup on the VT320 to NO XOFF. Any help would be appreciated! DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 533 0 replies Reply to # 532 Left by: Phil Anthony On 06-May-89 At : Here Subject: CTRL/S AND RSX John, I don't know a darned thing about RSX, so I may be shooting in the wrong direction entirely. If I am, I'm sure the RSX gurus will catch me! But if its SET TERM commands work the way they do under VMS and (recently) RSTS, SET TERM /NOTTSYNC tells the system that the terminal won't respond to XON/XOFF protocol, not that the serial port hooked onto the computer shouldn't. If RSX has a SET TERM /NOHOSTSYNC command, you might try that instead of, or maybe in addition, to the /NOTTSYNC. CLUSTERING/NETWORKING SIG Message # 387 0 replies Left by: HAL KUFF On 07-May-89 At : (301) 494-0086 Subject: ASYNCH DECNET/TELEBIT TRAIL+ Hello, We are in desperate need of some help with a Telebit Trailblazer Plus static asynch-decnet circuit. The parameters are: o PEP Mode 19.2 o Re-transmit Timer 30000 o Pipeline Quota 6000 o Buffer Size (2048 + 64) Receive Buffers 4 o MaxBuf 8192 o 750 4.7 DZ11 The problem: o Poor throughput, DTSEND returns 26% utilization @ 2500 Baud Questions: o Obviously, DMF-32's would help...How much, and we believe only after we solve most of the throughput problem and get the line closer to 7000-8000 baud. o We have the 'cheat sheet' from Telebit and have set all of the reccomended settings for Decnet, no change We are looking for someone with a running Telebit circuit, or some- one who can offer suggestions. A brief consulting arrangement for someone with specific solutions would be acceptable. Thanxs for your patience . COMMUNICATIONS SIG Message # 267 0 replies Left by: HAL KUFF On 07-May-89 At : (301) 494-0086 Subject: TELEBIT TRAILBLAZER +/DECNET Hello, We are in desperate need of some help with a Telebit Trailblazer Plus static asynch-decnet circuit. The parameters are: o PEP Mode 19.2 o Re-transmit Timer 30000 o Pipeline Quota 6000 o Buffer Size (2048 + 64) Receive Buffers 4 o MaxBuf 8192 o 750 4.7 DZ11 The problem: o Poor throughput, DTSEND returns 26% utilization @ 2500 Baud Questions: o Obviously, DMF-32's would help...How much, and we believe only after we solve most of the throughput problem and get the line closer to 7000-8000 baud. o We have the 'cheat sheet' from Telebit and have set all of the reccomended settings for Decnet, no change We are looking for someone with a running Telebit circuit, or some- one who can offer suggestions. A brief consulting arrangement for someone with specific solutions would be acceptable. Thanxs for your patience . RSTS SIG Message # 373 0 replies Reply to # 372 Left by: DAVE KAPLAN On 07-May-89 At : 919-878-0204 Subject: RST/QT13 PROBLEM PHIL - YES, YOU CAN SET A DEFAULT DENSITY OF 1600 IN TMSCP MODE, BUT THIS DOESN'T SOLVE THE PROBLWM. APPARENTLY WHEN USING TMSCP MODE TAPE DEVICES, THE BACKUP AND RESTORE UTILITIES "POLL" THE TAPE SUBSYSTEM IF YOU DON'T EXPLICITLY SPECIFY A DESIRED DENSITY WITH "/DEN=" IN YOUR COMMAND LINE. AND, APPARENTLY THE QT13 RETURNS AN UNACCEPTABLE RESPONSE (LIKE A NUMERIC VALUE WHICH IS OUT OF RANGE, HENCE "ERROR 52 IN BCKSUB - 52 IS 'ILLEGAL NUMBER' IN BASIC). EMULEX CLAIMS THAT THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM WHICH WAS FIXED WITH REV. "F" OF THE QT13, BUT NOW THAT I HAVE REV "F", THE PROBLEM PERSISTS. ON EMULEX'S RECOMMENDATION, I'VE REQUESTED A 2ND QT13 FROM MY DISTRIBUTOR, WHICH ARRIVED FRIDAY AFTERNOON. SOMETIME THIS WEEK WE'LL GIVE THIS ONE A TEST. I WAS JUST CHECKING TO SEE IF ANYONE ELSE HAD EXPERIENCED THE SAME PROBLEM. THANKS FOR YOUR COMMENTS!!! P.S. I HATE UPPER-CASE MESSAGES, BUT I GET SO MUCH PHONE GARBAGE ON ARIS THAT THIS TIME IT'S SWITCHED ON THE GRAPHICS CHARACTER SET IN MY VT100 EMULATION!! DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 534 0 replies Reply to # 531 Left by: DAVE KAPLAN On 07-May-89 At : 919-878-0204 Subject: PROCOMM PLUS KEY MAPPING THANKS PHIL - THIS IS THE INFO I NEEDED, EXCEPT FOR ONE THING. I'M NOT CLEAR FROM THE WORDING OF YOUR MESSAGE... YOU SAID THAT YOU COULD RE-MAP MOST ALL KEYS EXCEPT PGUP AND PGDN, AND THEN YOU LISTED SEVERAL MORE KEYS INCLUDING TAB, DELETE, BACKSPACE, ETC. WERE YOU INCLUDING THIS LIST ALONG WITH PGUP AND PGDN AS KEYS WHICH CAN'T BE DEFINED? I DON'T THINK YOU WERE, BUT I'M NOT CLEAR. BESIDES THE F1-F10 KEYS, I'M MOSTLY INTERESTED IN THE BACKSPACE KEY, WHICH NEEDS TO BE DEFINED AS DELETE FOR VT100 EMULATION, AS YOU KNOW. ALSO, WHAT'S YOUR OTHER RECOMMENDATION BESIDES PROCOMM PLUS? I USE PROCOMM ALL THE TIME AND IT'S ALMOST PERFECT FOR MY NEEDS. I ALSO HAVE A COPY OF BOYAN (HAVEN'T YET HAD TIME TO CHECK IT OUT), AND MTE; A PROGRAM WHICH DOES MNP LEVEL 5 EMULATION IN SOFTWARE. THE MNP PART WORKS WONDERS, BUT THE TERMINAL EMULATION IS USELESS!! THANKS ONCE AGAIN FOR YOUR COMMENTS. VMS SIG Message # 947 0 replies Reply to # 943 Left by: DAVE KAPLAN On 07-May-89 At : 19-878-0204 Subject: BACKUP PROBLEM LINCOLN - YOU'VE GOT 2 GOOD REPLIES ALREADY, BUT WHAT THE HECK... I BELIEVE THAT SAVE SET NAMES ON TAPE ONLY ARE LIMITED TO A 6 CHARACTER NAME AND A 3 CHARACTER EXTENSION, LIKE "BACKUP.BCK" FOR EXAMPLE. AS ALREADY MENTIONED, YOU CAN ALWAYS FIND YOUR TAPE BACKUP SET WITH "BACKUP/LIST DDUN:*.*" IF YOU NEED TO. IF I'M RIGHT ABOUT 6 + 3, I'M SUPRISED THAT YOUR LONGER SAVESET NAME DOESN'T GIVE AN ERROR WHEN DOING THE BACKUP TO TAPE, BUT SOMETIMES THESE THINGS JUST GET TRUNCATED AT THE LEGAL LENGTH, WITHOUT ANY WARNING. ONE OTHER COMMENT. ONCE YOU'VE DONE A BACKUP TO A DISK SAVESET, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO THEN TRANSFER TO TAPE MORE EFFICIENTLY BY USING "COPY" INSTEAD OF "BACKUP". I RECOMMEND YOUR OWN TESTING, BUT ASSUMING YOU "/CRC" ON YOUR ORIGINAL DISK TO DISK BACKUP (OVER THE NETWORK IN YOUR CASE), THEN THE CRC INFORMATION IS ALREADY IN THE SAVE SET. IT SHOULD BE PRESERVED BY A SIMPLE COPY TO TAPE. NOTE THAT THE DEFAULT BLOCKSIZE FOR A DISK SAVESET IS SOMETHING LIKE 32768 V.S. 8192 (THIS IS FROM MEMORY) FOR TAPE SAVE SETS. YOU MAY WANT TO FIDDLE WITH /BLOCKSIZE DURING THE ORIGINAL BACKUP.Md1v'| TO COPY THE SAVESET TO TAPE, YOU'LL WANT TO INITIALIZE THE TAPE, THEN MOUNT IT AS A FILE-STRUCTURED MEDIUM (RATHER THAN /FOREIGH). THEN JUST COPY THE SAVESET FILE TO TAPE. YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO RESTORE DIRECTLY FROM TAPE, OR COPY THE TAPE BACK TO DISK, THEN RESTORE FROM THERE. MISCELLANEOUS SIG Message # 507 0 replies Left by: DAVE KAPLAN On 07-May-89 At : 919-878-0204 Subject: RELAYED MSG. FROM BRETT Phil - here's a message which Brett B. left on my system for me to pass along to you via ARIS if I could sometime by Sunday: To PAnthony, I was up, you were down. You'll be up and I'll be down. But pray for me, I'll be in R.C. Cause the Block's around, so I won't be in town. So I won't be late, make it after the 8th. I have 4,3,0 to 5,0,4 So don't reload, But I will need more. Your account has changed, cause I've rearranged. So you won't PASS go, till you remember what you use to throw. Only the names have ! ( >> B DUA2:, the error DEVOFFLINE is returned. Our documentation does not say how to configure the drive select pins for DUA2, we have tried the following jumper/cable combinations for DUA2: 1) DS3 set, cable to J1 2) DS3 set, cable to J2 3) DS4 set, cable to J1 4) DS4 set, cable to J2 5) DS3 and DS4 set, cable to J1 6) DS3 and DS4 set, cable to J2 Each time we issue a boot command, from either DUA0, DUA1 or DUA2, the activity lights on all drives will flash for a moment before they actually boot. As I said DUA0 and DUA1 work fine, only DUA2 fails with DEVOFFLINE. The drive in DUA2 works fine if installed in place of DUA0 or DUA1, and both DUA0 and DUA1 return DEVOFFLINE when installed in place of DUA2. Any help would be appreciated. Specifically... 1) How should the RQDXE be configured for this situation? 2) How should the cables be run from drive to drive? (The documen- tation specified the current arrangement.) 3) How should the drive select pins be set on DUA2? Steve. LASER PRINTERS SIG Message # 62 0 replies Left by: CHRISTOPHER ATKINS On 08-May-89 At : 516/549-6900 Subject: MORE STUFF Well, it would seem that I have gotten what I asked for -- answers that raise a few more questions! i) Great. At least I'm not the only person around that has trouble getting specific docs from DEC. Can anyone reccomend a good (generic or otherwise) PostScript book I could start reading? ii) I have the print Symboint...I found out (AFTER we got the printer, of course) that we needed it in one of the manuals, so ordered it thru DEC and received it about a month aftwards. Neat little bugger, it sets up a main print queue (naming it after the model name and device number) and a few generic queues under the main one to handle ANSI and PostScript files. The ANSI and MAIN queue work just fine, but I can't seem to get PostScript programs to work. (I found a few examples in some 'Electronic Publishing' magazines I had lying around. They ran without a hitch after some debugging, but didn't print anything! Interesting programs, but they did NOTHING...) Any suggestions? iii) Last, but not least, are there any people on this board who we know (or wish to tell us now) that do book/picture/text layouts on their computers? I'd like to be able to talk to them too! Thanks for all your help! Chris LASER PRINTERS SIG Message # 63 1 replies Left by: KAREN KLINE On 08-May-89 At : 303-248-6118 OR 0627 Subject: DEC'S LN03R POSTSCRIPT LASER In the May 1989 DEC Professional, p. 148, DP Labs reviewed GrayMatter's ScriptMaster/Spooler that supports PostScript printers on VMS. The menu- driven user interface is just exactly what we need for our Digital LN03R ScriptPrinter. The bad news is that GrayMatter has support for 35 lasers from various manufacturers--but not for the LN03R. The same goes for ECAP (mentioned on p. 168 of the same issue)--no support for LN03R. Digital has no software for the LN03R that provides a good user interface; also the LN03R is not supported as a print device in All-in-1 (telling All-in-1 that it's an LN03 works OK for pitch & margins, but there's no support for selecting fonts, point sizes, etc.). Is anyone aware of a product similar to GrayMatter's ScriptMaster that supports an LN03R laser?? We have TeX and LaTeX, but they're far too complex for the casual word processing user. Also, we'll be installing WordPerfect 5.0 on VMS when it's released--any rumours about LN03R PostScript support? Thanks for any ideas--our programmer who worked on this is baffled. LASER PRINTERS SIG Message # 64 0 replies Left by: KAREN KLINE On 08-May-89 At : 303-248-6118 OR 0627 Subject: LN03R SCRIPTPRINTER (MORE) Didn't find the dialog with Christopher Atkins during my first scan--I see he's having similar problems. At least ASCII, TEK4014, and PostScript files print OK on our LN03R. Sounds like there's hope for our future WordPerfect users, but we still need some support for EDT and TPU users' vanilla-flavored ASCII files. Right now, they're stuck with 10-pitch, courier font, and no left margin (unless they put margins in their text files). Our "power" users have resorted to embedding escape sequences in their files to control horizontal/vertical pitch. WPSplus users use the All-in-1 print settings menu and pretend it's an LN03 without any fonts. Is it reasonable to think we can develop (or get from public domain) some PostScript programs to control pitch, font, etc. as Richard Gilbert suggests, put them in the library file for the LN03R, and write a front-end menu system for the users? We'd rather not make our users learn PostScript or TeX! WORD PROCESSING SIG Message # 123 0 replies Reply to # 122 Left by: BRUNO JUGOVIC' On 08-May-89 At : 617-241-4899 Subject: MASS-11 VS WORDPERFECT WE EVALUATED WORD PROCESSING PACKAGES A YEAR AGO AND CHOSE MASS-11 OVER, AMONG OTHERS, WORD-11, WORDPERFECT, LEX-11, ETC. WE FOUND WORDPERFECT TO BE SOMEWHAT CUMBERSOME AND SLOWWWWW. WE ALSO FOUND THE LEARNING CURVE FOR MASS-11 TO BE MUCH SHORTER THAN WORDPERFECT. OF COURSE, THINGS CHANGE IN THE COMPUTER INDUSTRY GREATLY OVER A ONE YEAR PERIOD, SO WORDPERFECT MAY HAVE IMPROVED IN THE AREAS MENTIONED. HOWEVER, WE STILL STAND BY OUR DECISION ON MASS-11. IT IS A GREAT WORD PROCESSING PACKAGE AND WELL WORTH TAKING A LOOK-SEE. I RECOMMEND THAT YOU GET DEMOS FOR BOTH AND COMPARE FOR YOURSELF IF POSSIBLE. IT'S REALLY THE ONLY WAY TO GET A FEEL FOR THE DIFFERENCES AND HOW THEY WILL FIT NEEDS. MASS STORAGE SIG Message # 254 1 replies Left by: NED CAMPBELL On 09-May-89 At : 616 764 8913 X0425 Subject: MICROVAX 3400 DISK DRIVES We are currently looking at purchasing a new MICROVAX 3400 system to replace a PDP 11/73 system we are now using. Our biggest problem in configuring this system, is the choice of disk drives. We need the fastest disk access that we can get on the QBUS. We would appreciate any information on dealings with both the new DEC RF71's and also any 3rd party configurations. thanks TERMINALS/PLOTTERS/PRINTERS SIG Message # 298 0 replies Left by: ROB VUGTEVEEN On 09-May-89 At : (602) 792-3010 X334 Subject: TRACK BALL FOR DEC MOUSE? I don't always have enough desk space to chase a mouse around. Is there a track ball available to replace the DEC mouse on a VAXstation 3100? Do they have three or more buttons on them? DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 536 0 replies Reply to # 535 Left by: DAVE KAPLAN On 10-May-89 At : 919-878-0204 Subject: MIRROR III Phil - Thanks for clarifying PCPlus key mapping. You've got me interested in Mirror III now! Your description was pretty complete, but I'm here to bug you further by asking some additional questions: 1) You mentioned an MNP/5 option for $30, but what is the cost of the basic Mirror III package? 2) With regard to VT100 emulation key-mapping, does Mirror have user- definable key mapping like PCPlus? If not, then the built-in mapping is important. I'm in EDT heaven when I've got my F1-10 keys mapped like they are in Procomm (not PCPlus). In case this is not familiar to you, my function keys are on the left, in 2 columns of 5 each: F1 F2 With this arrangement, the first 2 columns of the VT100 F3 F4 keypad correspond to my 2 F-key columns, and the last 2 F5 F6 columns of the VT100 keypad are mapped by ing the F7 F8 2 columns of F-keys. So, is this possible with Mirror? F9 F10 3) I'm using a "script" file with Procomm to pickup new ARIS activity. If I decide to get Mirror III, would you be willing to let me have a copy of your Mirror script so I can pick up some insights from an experienced user? 4) Since you and I have been conversing, I'd like to "meet" you via phone sometime if you don't mind. I'm curious about what type of environment you work in. As you've probably deduced, we are using both VMS and RSTS at our site. I may have some "goodies" of interest to you. If you're up for a talkie, leave me a number, or call me at 919-878-0204. 5) See message #507 in the Misc. SIG if you haven't already... MISCELLANEOUS SIG Message # 508 0 replies Left by: DAVE KAPLAN On 10-May-89 At : 919-878-0204 Subject: DEC RAINBOWS Does anyone know of any sites where Rainbows are still in use? How about any DEC equipment brokers who are still buying/selling them? Reply here or call me at 919-878-0204 Thanks - Dave. WORD PROCESSING SIG Message # 124 0 replies Reply to # 116 Left by: JULIE VANDERWILT On 10-May-89 At : HERE Subject: WP & TALARIS Thanks for the information. We did get in touch with Word Perfect and they tell us that proportional fonts won't be supported until they release version 5 of VAX WP. They were quite helpful, however, and did put us in touch with the outside developer of the Talaris driver. In all other respects, we're very happy with the VAX version of Word Perfect. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 537 0 replies Left by: MARK SUN On 10-May-89 At : (604)-921-6807 Subject: VS3200 COMMUNICATION I'm currently using my IBM PC with terminal emulation to communicate with ARIS because I am unsure how I would connect my modem to the VaxStation 3200. I would like to use the 9 pin CSA0: console port but I am unsure it will support a modem. Is there anyway of doing this? Also, I would like to communicate with my PC. Thanks for the help! TERMINALS/PLOTTERS/PRINTERS SIG Message # 299 0 replies Reply to # 297 Left by: Philip Gravel On 10-May-89 At : (312)420-5474 Subject: LASERJET CARTRIDGES Brian, We have the SuperCartridge 1 that was reviewed in the March issue of DEC Pro. It's nice. We've written a print utility which allows users to specify qualifiers such as /HP, /VP, etc for horizontal pitch, veritcal pitch. The utility then generates the appropriate escape sequence, prepends it to their file, and then sends it to the LaserJet printer. The users like it alot. Our only concern with the SuperCartridge is using it with word processing packages. Most of these assume that the cartridge has the Roman-8 character set. The SuperCartridge uses the US ASCII character set. We're doing some testing of this now. The SuperCartridge documentation has a complete list of escape sequences to issue in order to emulate any of the fonts available on the HP A-Z cartridges. Hope this helps. Phil VMS SIG Message # 949 0 replies Reply to # 879 Left by: David Beorn On 10-May-89 At : 804-788-7410 Subject: UIC FROM USERNAME Here's a simple way to get the UIC from the USERNAME: $! SHOW UIC: $ if p1 .eqs. "" then inquire p1 - " Name of user for whom to display a UIC? (the output is in octal) " $ UIC_INT = F$IDENTIFIER("''p1'","NAME_TO_NUMBER") $ UIC = F$FAO( "!%U" , UIC_INT ) $ SHOW SYMBOL UIC $ SHOW SYMBOL UIC_INT !in case you want the number too $exit You can also get the ALPHA UIC from using lexicals, and I have that too if anyone is interested. David LASER PRINTERS SIG Message # 65 0 replies Left by: CRAIG BOYHONT On 10-May-89 At : 717-898-0161 Subject: QUEUED LN03+ I have a queued LN03+ thru a Decserver 200 that goes into contrllr error code "32" when printing long/complex document. EC CSC recommendedcuttin baud rate to 2400, which did not solve theprobOther misc faca memory - we're at vms 5.1, LN03+ has a memory cartridge and XON control is enabed at Decserver/LN03+. Thanks for any ideas. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 538 0 replies Left by: RON SALAZAR On 10-May-89 At : (818)967-9521 X425 Subject: FILE TRANSFER WITH KERMIT I KNOW YOU GUYS MUST BE GETTING TIRED OF ANSWERING THIS, BUT I NEED SOME INFORMATION ON TRANSFERRING DATA USING KERMIT. WE ARE A LAVC USING A VAXSTATION II/GPX AS A BOOT NODE. THE GPX IS CONNECTED VIA A DELQA TO A VAXSERVER 200/MC, WHICH HAS THE MODEM CONNECTED TO PORT 6. OUR OPERATING SYSTEM IS MICROVMS 4.7. AS YOU CAN SEE I HAVE NO TROUBLE DIALING IN OR OUT. THE VERSION OF KERMIT IS KERMIT-32, WHICH WAS INCLUDED WITH OUR SYSTEM. THE PROBLEM I AM HAVING IS THAT THE COMMANDS LISTED IN THE KERMIT DOCUMENTATION DO NOT SEEM TO WORK. WHEN I TRY TO CONNECT, I RECEIVE AN ERROR MESSAGE: "CANNOT CONNECT TT: TO TT:". ESCAPE SEQUENCES DO NOT PERFORM AS THEY SHOULD EITHER. I'VE READ THROUGH THE DEC SUPPLIED DOCUMENTATION (HA,HA) AND READ SOME OF THE PREVIOUS MESSAGES LEFT IN THIS SIG, BUT I MUST BE MISSING SOMETHING ALONG THE WAY. I'M NOT A NETWORKING GURU (OBVIOUSLY!) SO I MY HAVE OVERLOOKED SOMETHING OBVIOUS. ANY HELP I CAN GET WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. RON SALAZAR CAD SYSTEMS ANALYST EG&G POWER SYSTEMS COVINA, CA. 91724 VMS SIG Message # 950 0 replies Reply to # 898 Left by: David Beorn On 10-May-89 At : 804-788-7410 Subject: LEXICALS AS SYMBOLS Well, you CAN use lexicals as symbols - just not from within a language; DCL sees them as symbols. One thing to add, also, I'm not sure, but I think the default from a language (FORTRAN, anyway) is to look for a LOCAL symbols and the ones you defined WERE local but if you defined them as globals before you called the BASIC program (global is made with ==) it might not work - not sure. Anyway - just a caution. CLUSTERING/NETWORKING SIG Message # 388 0 replies Left by: ROB VUGTEVEEN On 10-May-89 At : (602) 792-3010 X334 Subject: BACKUP TO REMOTE TAPE We will be installing an 8mm tape backup system on a MicroVAX II. In the same network will be a VAXstation 3100 (PVAX) standalone system with 300+Megabytes of disk storage. I want to backup the VAXstation disk to the 8mm on the MicroVAX _UNATTENDED_. BACKUP will not allow this under normal circumstances because one node cannot allocate the tape drive on another node (so I'm told). There are software products available on the market which will do it (like RSM), but I'm cheap and want to do it without paying kilobucks! DSIN has a set of commands that use the CONVERT utility to "fool" the node with the tape drive into writing the saveset from the other node directly onto the tape. HAS ANYONE USED THIS UTILITY TO DO THIS, and WHAT ARE THE PITFALLS??? CONTROLLERS/MEMORY SIG Message # 108 0 replies Left by: DOUGLAS Taylor On 10-May-89 At : Here Subject: MSV11-PL memory In an attempt to get an RX02 board to work in a MicroPDP-11 I strapped the 18 bit address jumper on a 512kb DEC memory board, it didn't work and now the memory board doesn't either. Is is possible to blow out the DEC memory board by doing what I did? The error I get now is that the PDP-11/23+ CPU bootstrap comes up and states "no memory at location 000000". Thanks. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 539 0 replies Reply to # 533 Left by: JOHN GREER On 10-May-89 At : 209-847-1721 AND HERE Subject: CTRL/S ON MICRO/RSX Phil, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUGGESTION. RSX DOES HAVE SET TERM/NOHOSTSYNC BUT IT DOES NOT SEEM TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. I HAVE TRIED ALL PERMUTATIONS OF /NOTTSYNC AND /NOHOSTSYNC ON MY TERMINAL LINE AS WELL AS THE DIAL-OUT LINE. IS IT POSSIBLE THE CTRL/S IS BEING FILTERED OUT BY KERMIT? OR THE DIAL-OUT LINE IS RESPONDING TO IT RATHER THAN SENDING IT ON? I WILL KEEP TRYING. THANKS AGAIN! JOHN SITE MANAGEMENT SIG Message # 277 0 replies Reply to # 276 Left by: TOM CACHAT On 11-May-89 At : HERE (ARIS) Subject: UPS AUTOMATIC SHUTDOWN Kitty - Thanks much for your quick and detailed response to my UPS automatic shutdown inquiry; but, oh do I feel dumb.... The General Power V30-1 UPS we have has a 9-pin port designed to interface with an IBM AS400 (which we are soon receiving - the AS400 includes a port to interface with a UPS and system software to shut down) and does NOT send ASCII characters out pin 2. Rather, it changes between two electrical states on 4 pins to indicate 4 conditions. For example, pin 9 indicates the status of the utility input to the UPS. I believe the two possible electrical states are 1) 0 volts and 2) .15 volts (or possibly alternation between 0 and .15 volts). So, the goal is to have the VAX gracefully shut down in the event of a prolonged utility outage, either using the signals provided by the UPS or another to-be-purchased monitor device. I am looking at at a June '88 DEC Pro. article on a thermostat shutdown procedure and an October '88 DEC Pro. article on a Radio Shack Duofone monitoring device. If, by chance, you/someone has already figured this one out I'd appreciate hearing what you did. Otherwise, I'll figure it out with help from DEC/Black Box/General Power/Intra Computer (SAM 2010 mfg.)... Thanks again. - Tom MASS STORAGE SIG Message # 255 0 replies Reply to # 254 Left by: ROBERT G. SCHAFFRATH On 11-May-89 At : 914-335-9792 Subject: DISK DRIVES FOR Q-BUS Well, if you have money to burn, I would definitely recommend the RF71. However, since most of us do not, your best bet would probably be a CDC Wren series drive with either an ESDI or SCSI interface. You might want to look into 5 1/4" drives besides CDC but my experience is limited to Maxtor and CDC, and between the two, I feel CDC is superior. Robert G. Schaffrath System Manager General Foods Corporation White Plains, NY 10625 VMS SIG Message # 951 0 replies Left by: DAVID ROBISON On 11-May-89 At : 702-364-8633 Subject: DETACHED PROCESSES I have written a program in C and I am interested in starting it as a detached process but I need to be able to pass a parameter to the program. I have looked at the RUN command in the DEC documentation but it does not tell how to pass parameters to a detached process. Does any one know how to do this??? RSTS SIG Message # 374 0 replies Reply to # 371 Left by: GERALD VEZZOSI On 11-May-89 At : (201) 802-6249 Subject: QT13 TAPE CONTROLLER I have an 11/83 running V9.6 and we also use the QT13 controller. We do not use a Kennedy tape drive, but MegaTapes' GT88 (8mm helical). When I recently tried the TMSCP emulation I received the exact same error and thru trial and error came to the same conclusion as you, I had to specify the density as 1600 even though my system's default is 1600. I eventually switched back to TS11 emulation too. I wish I had a solution for you, but all I can do is sympathize. Our MegaTape tape drive and Emulex controller have been less than reliable. I feel like a test site for the GT88 tape drive. Do you know of a reliable method of doing unattended backups on 1 tape? DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 540 0 replies Reply to # 536 Left by: Phil Anthony On 11-May-89 At : Here or (215) 884-9128 Subject: MIRROR III Dave, let's see if I can take your questions in order. First, Mirror III costs $137.95 with the MNP add-in included; the MNP Level 5 add-in by itself is $34.95. I have the complete list of key mappings, but it's a little too long to leave on the board here. Basically, the arrow keys on the PC keypad do the same things as the arrow keys on the VT100 when NumLock is off (if it's on, you can use Alt 9, Alt 0, Alt - and Alt =); PF1 through PF4 are mapped to F1 through F4; and switching under software control between standard and ap- plications mode is supported. Backspace is translated into DEL. There's no provision for creating your own keyboard mappings, but if you need some- thing special, they'll run you up a special emulation/mapping at minimal or no charge. You see why I like these guys! I'd be glad to share my Mirror script with you if you want to go that route. I won't say that script is the best example of my programming ever, since I wrote the original version a year and a half ago and changed it as my needs (and the ARIS displays) have changed, but you'd be welcome to it. You can give me a call at (215) 884-9128; don't know when the best time is, since I'm in and out. If I'm at a client site - or taking the sun in the back yard (there will be some sun again some day, won't there?) - you'll get my answering machine. And yes, I did get Brett's message. Thanks for passing it on. Who knows? maybe I'll be able to figure it out before I need it. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 541 0 replies Reply to # 537 Left by: Phil Anthony On 11-May-89 At : Here Subject: VS3200 COMMUNICATION The last I looked, on an 11/750 a couple of years back, CSA0 wasn't an RS232-C serial port; it was the console device (a TU58 in my case, a floppy drive on other models). Since a modem expects an RS232-C port, as does whatever communications software you'd be using on your 3200, I don't see how it could work. Better to stick with the PC. So far as communicating with your PC goes, several communications packages for PCs provide a dial-in or host mode for modems connected to COM1 or COM2 (the BIOS doesn't support higher COM numbers for redirection). This allows uploading and downloading files; you can also run programs, so long as they use BIOS calls to manage the screen. The package I generally recommend for this purpose is ProComm Plus from Datastorm Technologies, Columbia, Mo. The price is about $75. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 542 0 replies Reply to # 538 Left by: Phil Anthony On 11-May-89 At : Here Subject: KERMIT Ron, I suspect you're not telling Kermit what terminal to use; try doing a SET PORT (and probably a SET BAUD as well) at the beginning of your session. Also, you can get complete Kermit documentation from Columbia University - I'm sure you have the address from several other Kermit messages posted here. VMS SIG Message # 952 0 replies Reply to # 947 Left by: LINCOLN CHANG On 11-May-89 At : 408 773-3853 Subject: THANKS.... Thanks for all of you - Kitty, Willian & Dave......... a great help! After changing the long saveset name to 16 char. then it work... before when I backup again from the disk to tape it did do the job of coping but didn't do verification check and recording backup date because of fatal error in searhing that long saveset name in the tape which is not found! Dave.... After I do daily incremental backup from 3 smaller disk of 2 different node to one big disk on the third node I also do a incremental backup to that big disk so I use BACKUP command instead of COPY command. Anyway, thank you for your suggestion. Bye now .........Lincoln RSTS SIG Message # 375 0 replies Reply to # 374 Left by: DAVE KAPLAN On 11-May-89 At : 919-878-0204 Subject: QT13 CONTROLLER WOES Gerald - Thanks for confirming that I'm not the only one with this problem! I wonder if you know your QT13's revision level? It's on a paper label on a large socketed ROM. It says something like G08E (that's from memory). We started out with ...E, have now upgraded to ...F which Emulex claims should have fixed our problem. I've got another "E" QT13 on my desk, and am going to upgrade it by taking the "F" ROM from my operating board. Emulex says that the "F" upgrade is all in ROM, there are no board changes (ha ha). So as soon as I find time, maybe I'll discover that my current board is bad. Sorry to hear that your tape subsystem is unreliable. We've got 2 380MB CDC Wren V's on our PDP, and with the Kennedy 9610 at 6250 bpi, we can do our Mon-Thu incremental backups for both disks on a 3600 ft reel. So this runs unattended after hours. The full end-of-week backup takes 4-6 reels, so there's room for improvement. BUT, we're used to 12-14 reels at 1600 on our just-replaced 11/70 using the old V7.1 BACKUP, so this is much better. Since our sites seem to have similar systems, I'll probably try to call you tomorrow or Monday so we can exchange more information. Thanks - Dave Kaplan; Independent Data Processing; Raleigh NC; 919-878-0204 CONTROLLERS/MEMORY SIG Message # 109 0 replies Reply to # 108 Left by: DAVE KAPLAN On 11-May-89 At : 919-878-0204 Subject: MSV11 MEMORY PROBLEMS Douglas - I'm not really familiar with your specific hardware, but here's some info. which may relate. Also, this info. may not be exactly correct, but may get you started in some direction. Q-bus backplane slots exist in 2 variants; Q/Q and Q/CD. Here's a picture: A B C D A B C D 1 ----->-----v | * 2 v-----<----+ <- Q/Q type v * <- Q/CD type 3 +---->-----v | * 4 v-----<----+ 18-bit +---->----v 22-bit 5 +---->-----v v-----<---+ 6 v-----<----+ addressing +---->----v addressing 7 +---->-----v v-----<---+ 8 end--<----+ +---->--end In the Q/Q backplane, slots 1-8 are identical, and dual-size boards can go in any AB or CD position. Buss grant follows the zig-zag pattern as shown through all slots. In the Q/CD backplane, the first 3 slots are modified such that additional addressing lines (represented above by *) connect slots 1,2, and 3 in positions CD; and the buss grant path is modified accordingly. Furthermore, these addressing lines use connections where power supply volt- ages would otherwise be present. Therefore, if you install a dual-wide 22- bit board in 1-3 CD of a Q/Q backplane, power voltages coming in on the ex- tended addressing lines can definitely damage the board! Don't know if this all applies to you, but... Good luck! Dave Kaplan; Independent Data Processing; Raleigh NC; 919-878-0204 VMS SIG Message # 953 0 replies Reply to # 951 Left by: MARTY JOHNSON On 12-May-89 At : 203/666-1737 Subject: Why don't you try running LOGINOUT detached with the /INPUT qualifer pointing to a command procedure that will run your program, passing the needed parameters? Running LOGINOUT will give the detached process the CLI to handle DCL commands. If you can run the program interactively in DCL, you should be able to run in detached. If you use logicals such as SYS$SCRATCH, these will have to be defined in the command procedure prior to running your program. EDITORS SIG Message # 214 0 replies Reply to # 213 Left by: BRUCE A. GREMBOWSKI On 12-May-89 At : 408/291-3364 Subject: AT KEYBOARD Phil, Thanks for the info. Yes, of course it's an AT keyboard; in fact, I just used a utility from PC Magazine to modifiy its speed response (from 20 cps .5s delay to 30 cps .25s delay before repeating), which is only possible on a mapped kb like the AT has. It was just that it looks exactly like an XT kb, so I figured that's what it must have been. I'm still learning PCs. . . . Bruce PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES/AI SIG Message # 389 0 replies Reply to # 233 Left by: ROBERT TROSPER On 12-May-89 At : 801-582-5847 XT 3737 Subject: SMALLTALK ON VMS? How do I get Small talk exit PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES/AI SIG Message # 390 1 replies Reply to # 389 Left by: ROBERT TROSPER On 12-May-89 At : 801-582-5847 XT 3737 Subject: SORRY ABOUT THAT Sorry about that mess there - must have picked the wrong editor. First time on this board. Robert PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES/AI SIG Message # 391 0 replies Reply to # 390 Left by: ROBERT TROSPER On 12-May-89 At : 801 - 582-5847 EXT 3737 Subject: SMALLTALK ON VMS? From whom is Smalltalk on VMS available? I've been using the Digitalk Smalltalk/286 on the PC. Thanks PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES/AI SIG Message # 392 0 replies Left by: ROBERT TROSPER On 12-May-89 At : 801-582-5847 XT 3737 Subject: TRELLIS/OWN ANYONE HAVE IT? Has anyone had a chance to play with Trellis or Trellis/Owl DECS's object-oriented language? If so, I would appreciate comments and sources. Thanks DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 543 0 replies Reply to # 529 Left by: RICHARD B. GILBERT On 15-May-89 At : (609) 452-5130 Subject: COMM PROGRAM FOR VAX I can suggest one possibility; there is a package called VAXNET, available on one or more recent DECUS Symposium tapes, that offers several communications protocols, including both Kermit and XMODEM. I have not used it but I doubt that it has the polish of Xtalk Mk4. The fancy screens and menus will probably not be there. The scripting language may not be there. The protocols, however, are there. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 544 0 replies Reply to # 537 Left by: RICHARD B. GILBERT On 15-May-89 At : (609) 452-5130 Subject: VS3200 COMMUNICATION Mark, I think you can use one of the serial ports on your VS3200 to hook up a modem. I think all the modem control signals are available. If you are under warranty, why don't you give CSC Atlanta a call? I think the number is (800) 332-8000. (It will be in your documentation somewhere.) They should be able to fill you in on the pinouts for the CSA0: connector and/or the DEC cable necessary to connect it to a MODEM. (I wish I could afford a VS3200) SITE MANAGEMENT SIG Message # 278 1 replies Reply to # 276 Left by: RICHARD B. GILBERT On 15-May-89 At : (609) 452-5130 Subject: SHUTDOWN IN BATCH? Kitty, Can you really run SHUTDOWN from batch? I would expect the whole thing to die when SHUTDOWN stopped the batch queues. CLUSTERING/NETWORKING SIG Message # 389 0 replies Reply to # 387 Left by: RICHARD B. GILBERT On 15-May-89 At : (609) 452-5130 Subject: ASYNCH DECNET/TELEBIT Hal, I believe I heard this problem being discussed at DECUS in Atlanta last week. The problem is that the Trailblazer is not a full duplex modem. It does a line turnaround after every packet which takes a great deal of time. About the only thing that might help would be to send very long packets to minimize the overhead. The only other thing to do is to get a genuine full duplex modem, even one with a lower baud rate. This will give you a higher effective transfer rate by eliminating the overhead of line turnarounds. LASER PRINTERS SIG Message # 66 0 replies Reply to # 65 Left by: RICHARD B. GILBERT On 15-May-89 At : (609) 452-5130 Subject: QUEUED LN03+ Craig, I use an LN03+ at 19200 baud with no problems. The following commands set it up: $ $ ! Set up local characteristics for the applications devices. $ $ SET TERMINAL /PERMANENT /NOBROADCAST /NOWRAP - /NOSECURE_SERVER /NODISCONNECT - /SPEED=19200 /WIDTH=256 /PAGE=66 /HOSTSYNC - /DEVICE_TYPE=LN03 _LTA6: $ $ ! Set the protection on the devices so that only the symbiont can access $ ! them. $ $ SET PROTECTION=(S:RWLP,O,G,W) /DEVICE _LTA6: I hope this helps. RSTS SIG Message # 376 0 replies Reply to # 366 Left by: Brett Bump On 15-May-89 At : (308) 432-2828 or HEA-DUKE Subject: RSTS GURU'S Likewise Phil. Although I can't say as I feel that bad about being compared with Mike. I wonder how Mike feels about being compared with us (he he). A word of warning about people communicating with Phil Anthony. I didn't think it could happen, but this man sent me a COMPUTER VIRUS in a text file. And just reciently we have been spending a lot of time trying to get the bugs out of all of our software (there goes 1 now). [Note: Brett, good buddy, that wasn't a computer virus, it was a plain, ol' ordinary COMMON COLD. I think I got it over the phone from Dave Kaplan's messages. If you choose to sneeze on your keyboard, don't blame me - or ARIS. And just for that base canard (French for a low duck), I won't correct the misspellings in your messages tonight. - pga.] RSTS SIG Message # 377 0 replies Left by: Brett Bump On 15-May-89 At : (308) 432-2828 or HEA-DUKE Subject: RSTS/E(XTENSIONS) (Everything you didn't want to know about Rsts but were told anyway.) As Rsts evolves, some of the features have disappeared, while some of the workarounds have been fixed (there I go again Kelvin). The Uu.job system directive (used in ATPK) originally did nothing except allocate a job slot. In fact, the information to be loaded into the new jobs core common area was not done by the kernel, but by the run-time-system of the new job, before it runs the program in Firqb (usually LOGIN). In version 9, this has been correctly implemented into the kernel. But if you were to load a pre9 run-time-system (some people like Bp2) as the default keyboard monitor, your system will appear to hang. What really happens is the run-time-system gets caught in an infinate loop. The system appears to hang because the jobs priority is at 0. It's nice that Uu.job now works correctly, but it took a nice (undocumented) feature away. The .TIME system directive in V7.0 and later could tell you if this job is detached or a Pk board. I think Kelvin had a similar rts problem a while back with an RT11 derivitive. In V9, when a DCL procedure passes control, it checks to see if the rts uses a EMT 255 prefix. If it does, it assumes RT11, and passes control at P.BAD with an error of 0. The new RT11 rts says "Hm. Dcl" and keeps running. An RT11 derivitive will generate an error. RSTS SIG Message # 378 0 replies Reply to # 370 Left by: Brett Bump On 15-May-89 At : (308) 432-2828 or HEA-DUKE Subject: .PLAS(TER) UU(YOUR) .RTS WITH CLE Dave. Read the above message about the trials and tribulations of run-time-system. Then realize that resident libraries are added with the same system call (Uu.rts), and accessed with .PLAS directives. I really doubt that CLE had anything to do with your auto-reboot (I don't think Brian would .POKE your system). A system crash is usually assoicated with system routines (the kernel itself). Run-time-systems run in USER mode and therefore have no access to the executive region. I don't use CLE, but I know many people that will vouch for Kermit-11. If CLE did have something to do with your auto-reboot, I would expect it to come from a memory allocation problem (Kelvin, wasn't there something about a memory management bug in Software Dispatch some time back? Or was that a rumor I heard?). If there is a bug in the kernel, then it could happen when adding RMS or EDT (though not as frequently). Call me if it happens again. RSTS SIG Message # 379 0 replies Left by: Brett Bump On 15-May-89 At : (308) 432-2828 or HEA-DUKE Subject: MULTI XOFF/XON Dave. If another job needs to do output while you are doing something else, it will go into a TT wait until you come back to it. Then it will continue. (That's why I use a workstation with up to 9 separate windows. No TT wait.) And YES. It would have been very easy to force Xoff/Xon processing in Multi but since it goes into a TT wait anyway, there was no need for it. The program acts now, the same way it would if you prefaced a job switch with ^S, then ^Q on return. I guess I don't understand what your asking! SITE MANAGEMENT SIG Message # 279 0 replies Reply to # 278 Left by: KITTY GEORGE On 15-May-89 At : HERE (ARIS) Subject: SHUTDOWN FROM SYS$BATCH Richard - I never thought about the possibility that SHUTDOWN would have problems running from batch. I was thinking about the fact that SHUTDOWN checks to make sure it doesn't kill the activating process by running a check on the PID as it merrily goes on its way zapping processes (to make sure it doesn't STOP / ID itself). I guess a LIB$DO_COMMAND would be a better choice for this task - not to invoke SHUTDOWN directly, but to invoke a command file that supplies all the params needed by SHUTDOWN. Kitty :-) SITE MANAGEMENT SIG Message # 280 0 replies Left by: MARK SUN On 16-May-89 At : (604)-921-6807 Subject: STANDALONE BACKUP ERROR Standalone Backup Errorfter sending the appropriate boot code (B/E0000000 DUA0), the system returns the error: SITE MANAGEMENT SIG Message # 281 0 replies Left by: MARK SUN On 16-May-89 At : (604)921-6807 Subject: STANDALONE BACKUP ERROR I've recently installed a CDC Wren V SCSI disk (model 94181, 638 MB) and a Sigma SDC-RQD11-SCSI controller in our VaxStation 3200. Everything seems to work well except when I attempt to boot standalone backup from disk. After sending the appropriate boot code (B/E0000000 DUA0), the system returns the error: %Execinit-F-Error Initializing boot device - R0=00000084 ?06 HLT INST PC = 801ACEF8 Loading system software. ...then the system boots. However, standalone backup boots fine from the TK50. Furthermore, this error only occurs on VMS 5.0-1 -- booting standalone backup works fine on VMS 4.7. I've rebuilt the STABACKIT kit several times with the same results. I understand that VMS uses the unique serial number located on the disk's home block which it did not on previous VMS releases. Could this be the problem? If anyone has heard of this or a similar problem, I'd sure like to hear from you! Thanks! DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 545 0 replies Reply to # 541 Left by: MARK SUN On 16-May-89 At : (604)921-6807 Subject: VS3200 COMM. Thanks for the advice! I'll look into ProComm after I find a way into the VaxStation. Perhaps there with the purchase of a Q-bus communications card. Thanks again! DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 546 0 replies Reply to # 544 Left by: MARK SUN On 16-May-89 At : (604)921-6807 Subject: VS3200 COMM. Thanks for your reply, Richard! In your reply, you use the wording "one of the serial ports"...the VaxStation only has a single 9-pin console port. I guess DEC built it with only one user in mind. All communication occurs through the VR290 display monitor. I'll give DEC a ring to see if this is possible. If not, I'm sure they'll want to sell me a solution! Thanks again for your reply! COMMUNICATIONS SIG Message # 270 1 replies Left by: JAMES MOLDT On 16-May-89 At : (716) 258-5576 Subject: SHORT HAUL MODEMS We are interested in using non-powered short haul modems (Black Box) for connecting VT220/VT320 type terminals to Terminal Server 100 or 200 at a distance of about 700 ft. Has anyone had any luck in doing this? We have tried and have had no success. From what Black Box and Digital has to say these modems should work. Any advice, experience or other information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. COMMUNICATIONS SIG Message # 271 0 replies Reply to # 270 Left by: ROB VUGTEVEEN On 16-May-89 At : (602) 792-3010 X334 Subject: SHORT HAUL MODEMS We have used Black Box Short Haul Modems between VT-compatible terminals and Infotron muxes with no problems, but have not tried them with our DS200's. That doesn't help you much, except to say that they DO work on the VT end. SYSTEM PERFORMANCE SIG Message # 228 0 replies Reply to # 24 Left by: ROBERT WYAN On 16-May-89 At : (516)435-4180 Subject: VAX 11/785-PERFORMANCE We here at SIEMENS had (2) 11/785 DECnet/Ethernet. One was dedicated to CAD/CAM applications--Designing circuit boards for manfacturing and the other was dedicated to Engineering. Engineering uses the VAX for C programming and 6809, 68000 assemblies. Recently one 11/785 had to be sold because of financial reasons concerning the lack of work for CAD/CAM board development. To make a long story short the CAD/CAM system must be migrated to the remaining 11/785. I was able to boost up memory to 32 megs and tune this sucker to perfection to support 60 engineers and 2 CAD/CAM workstations. This 11/785 contains four DMZ32's, two DMF32's, two DZ11's, and has over 2.5 gigabytes of storage capacity. The 11/785 has been setup successfully for approx. 1 year with no major complications. We are satisfied until we can dig up some capital for next year's budget to go possibly into 63xx series. GRAPHICS SIG Message # 88 0 replies Left by: EDWARD BENDER On 16-May-89 At : 215-822-1982 Subject: VAX BASEVIEW I AM LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHO IS USING VAX BASEVIEW TO VIEW CAD FILES ON THEIR TERMINALS AND LASER PRINTERS. PLEASE LEAVE YOUR PHONE # SO I CAN REACH YOU. THANKS. SITE MANAGEMENT SIG Message # 282 0 replies Reply to # 278 Left by: PEDRO A. CRESPO On 16-May-89 At : (405) 521-5324 Subject: SHUTDOWN IN BATCH...? Shutdown can't be run in Batch mode... it kills itself along with any other batches that might be running at the time. The suggestion of LIB$DO_COMMAND will work, or you could detach a process to do it. Pedro. UTILITIES SIG Message # 367 0 replies Left by: SAMUEL FODULYAN On 16-May-89 At : 818-843-1200 Subject: IDLE PROCESS KILLER I would like to know if anybody is using WATCHDOG (DECUS) or similar program under MicroVMS V4.5 , V4.6 or V4.7 and if they have any problems with it. How about V5.0? How do you obtain updated versions of these programs for the newer releases of VMS (.e.g. from V4.x to V5.x)? Any information is appreciated. Thank you. COMMUNICATIONS SIG Message # 272 1 replies Reply to # 270 Left by: Phil Anthony On 17-May-89 At : Here Subject: SHORT HAUL MODEMS I've managed both PDP and VAX systems that used Black Box short-haul modems to connect to terminals at distances as great as half a mile over twisted pair phone cable. So I don't think the problem lies in the modems. But I'm not familiar with the requirements of terminal servers. I'd want to check the cabling configuration to make sure the terminal servers are getting the signals they need on the pins where they expect them. COMMUNICATIONS SIG Message # 273 0 replies Left by: ROB VUGTEVEEN On 17-May-89 At : (602) 792-3010 X334 Subject: MODEM LOGFAILS BY ITSELF We have a Concord Data System Series II modem 224 connected to a TX port on our MicroVAX II. Using SET HOST/DTE TXnn: I can call out just fine, and generally receive calls just fine. It is a Hayes-compatible, but I'm using its native command set. Trouble is when I logout or disconnect. Sometimes the modem will get in a loop with the MicroVAX that generates scads of s in the accounting file. Left overnight, it can cause the accounting file to become enormous! After the call logs out, it seems that the MicroVAX waits for a new USERNAME. Getting none, it send its "Timeout period expired" message. The modem sends its "Illegal command" message, and the MicroVAX responds with the "USERNAME:" prompt. Back and forth they go, "USERNAME", "Illegal command", "USERNAME:"... I have to set the port to /NOTYPEAHEAD, or unplug the modem to stop it. There's gotta be a better solution!! Anybody know what it is? I have the port set to /MODEM /DIALUP /DISCONNECT /HANGUP already. SITE MANAGEMENT SIG Message # 283 0 replies Reply to # 278 Left by: GAVIN ADAMS On 17-May-89 At : 702-295-7643 Subject: SHUTDOWN FROM BATCH On our site, we run SHUTDOWN from batch to re-boot our cluster. We use two DCL command files to do this. The first command file is submitted to batch and runs a detached process (the other DCL command proc.). The detached DCL has all of the P1,P2,P... parameters for SHUTDOWN. It took some trial and effort, but for a fast, easy way of shutting down the system using DCL, this is it. $ ! Program to submit to the batch queue (Make sure you have the necessary $ ! priviledges for the /detach and /uic parameters $ ! $ run /detach/input=sys$manager:autoshutdown.com/output=nl:/uic=[1,4] - sys$system:loginout $ exit $ ! AUTOSHUTDOWN.COM : Locate in SYS$MANAGER, it is run as a detached $ ! process to shutdown and re-boot the cluster. $ ! $ ! P1 = Minutes till shutdown P2 = Reason for shutdown $ ! P3 = Spin down drives? P4 = Execute site-specific? $ ! P5 = When will system be up P6 = Re-boot after shutdown? $ ! P7 = Things to do on shutdown $ ! $ @sys$system:shutdown 30 "To reset the system" "NO" "YES" - "Shortly after reboot" "YES" "CLUSTER_SHUTDOWN,SAVE_FEEDBACK,REBOOT_CHECK" Hope these are of use, enjoy! Gavin. PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES/AI SIG Message # 394 0 replies Left by: V. JAMES KRAMMES On 17-May-89 At : (614) 228-2001 x 341 Subject: DECUS GNU C Compiler Is anyone out there using this compiler? I have it installed on my VAX 6210 and have some questions about some of the files distributed with this thing. There are two files with a .DVI extension that appear to have been generated by some version of TeX. How can I print these out (they appear to be documentation of some sort). Also, the compiler seems to have some difficulty handling CHARs in structures. Any ideas why? I've made all of them into INTs, but this seems to be a bit wasteful. Overall, I've found this to be a good compiler, it interfaces well with all my macro code, with the VAX C RTL, and with VMS system services, etc. I haven't been able to kick out any bugs yet. I would appreciate any comments from other users of this compiler. Finally, please ignore my previous message -- wrong terminal emulator. WORD PROCESSING SIG Message # 125 0 replies Left by: V. JAMES KRAMMES On 17-May-89 At : (614) 228-2001 X 341 Subject: PRINTING TEX .DVI FILES Help! Can anyone out there tell me how I can print a .DVI file produced by TeX? A couple of the DECUS programs include documentation in .DVI format, and I would like to print them out (but I don't have the TeX software). We are a VAX 6210 with only an LA75 for a printer (all production output goes via RJE to our mainframe & is printed on FORUM - 3RD PARTY SUPPLIERS SIG Message # 99 0 replies Left by: JOHN J. BARRETT On 17-May-89 At : (703) 329-9707 Subject: SOFTWARE FOR IEEE-4 CARDS Does anyone out there know if there is any interface software for the IEEE-488 bus. We are looking for Vax/VMS software thaoperates a level above the device drivers for the IEQ11 and IEU11 cards, and provides a simple interface, performs basic bus management, and processes SRQ's in sn orderly manner. Any ideas? John Barrett COMMUNICATIONS SIG Message # 274 1 replies Reply to # 270 Left by: ROB VUGTEVEEN On 17-May-89 At : (602) 792-3010 X334 Subject: SHORT HAUL MODEMS After your phone call, I asked someone to measure the voltage between pins 20 and 7 on the WYSE 99GT at our remote site. He got just over 5 volts! He also reminded me that while the SHM's were in use, they did get some noise hits every now and then, several times a day. We had a plotter on one line and it would wreck the plot if a noise hit came during the plot. We were using a 15-conductor shielded NON-TWISTED pair cable 300 feet long running above the suspended ceiling. I thought at the time that if we'd used twisted pair, much of the problem would have been eliminated. Of course, using the Ethernet and the DS200 really took care of it!! That was all part of a different project and not simply justified on the basis of a little line noise, though. There are some messages back in 1988 on SHORT HAUL MODEMS in this SIG that you might want to read if you haven't already. They may have additional clues for you, I don't know. Wish you well. -Rob COMMUNICATIONS SIG Message # 275 0 replies Reply to # 274 Left by: JAMES MOLDT On 18-May-89 At : Subject: THANKS. Rob, Thanks for all of your help. I'll let you know how things turns out. Jamie COMMUNICATIONS SIG Message # 276 0 replies Reply to # 272 Left by: JAMES MOLDT On 18-May-89 At : HERE Subject: THANKS. Thanks for your advice Phil. EDITORS SIG Message # 215 0 replies Reply to # 202 Left by: CLAUDE BAUDOIN On 18-May-89 At : (512) 356-3108 Subject: TPU EMULATION OF WP We recently considered doing a TPU emulation of WordPerfect so that we could diminish the culture shock for our users of ALL-IN-1 with WordPerfect, who were going to start using VAX NOTES too (VAX NOTES calls TPU, and that's hard-coded). I passed around the spec of the PC key emulation by several DEC people, and the consistent reply I got was: "it's not tto bad, EXCEPT for one thing: making sure your paragraphs get re-wrapped after you insert or delete something within a previously typed line." Problem is, there's no concept of a "soft return" v. a hard return in a pure ASCII file, which is what TPU is going to create. Therefore, things like paragraph manipulation, preserving indents while typing within a paragraph, etc., are close to impossible when using a customizable text editor which hand;es ASCII without the embedded control characters (e.g. soft returns) that a real word processor uses. You can emulate a subset, e.g. make sure that "Ctrl-RightArrow" goes to the next word, but you can't do the really sophisticated stuff. Sorry for the bad news. If anybody has a magic solution that I haven't thought of, I'd be happy to read about it... WORD PROCESSING SIG Message # 126 0 replies Left by: GAVIN ADAMS On 18-May-89 At : 702-295-7643 Subject: LASERJET II PRINTER TABLE I'm doing an upgrade of my All-In-1 system from 2.2 to 2.3, and I'm looking for a printer table for the LaserJET II created under All-In-1 2.3. Can anyone point me in the right direction???? Frazzled. COMMUNICATIONS SIG Message # 277 0 replies Reply to # 273 Left by: RICHARD B. GILBERT On 18-May-89 At : (609) 452-5130 Subject: MODEM LOGFAILS Rob, This is a common problem with Hayes compatible modems on VAXen. You must get the MODEM to _shut up_! There should be a DIP switch on the MODEM somewhere that will make it stop sending response codes. The control sequence ATQ1 should also do it. The DIP switch is better because the MODEM will power up in the proper state. The DIP switch setting can be temporarily overridden for dial-out by ATQ0. (Don't forget to ATQ1 when you're done!) PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES/AI SIG Message # 395 0 replies Reply to # 394 Left by: RICHARD B. GILBERT On 18-May-89 At : (609) 452-5130 Subject: PRINTING .DVI FILES. James, Those .DVI files must be processed by a driver for a particular printer or phototypesetter. You would need a laser printer for decent output quality. Low resolution dot matrix printers can be used but the output quality is terrible. A large collection of TeX drivers for various printers is available from the DECUS library on tape V-SP-58. This tape also has the complete TeX and LaTeX distribution. If you have access to the internet, the drivers may be obtained by anonymous FTP from CTRSCI.UTAH.EDU. FORUM - 3RD PARTY SUPPLIERS SIG Message # 100 0 replies Reply to # 99 Left by: RICHARD B. GILBERT On 18-May-89 At : (609) 452-5130 Subject: IEEE-488 SOFTWARE John, I have a set of routines in Fortran that work with the IEU-11 card. They should serve as a "how to" even if you can't use them as is. I'd be glad to share them with you if you will send me a tape and return postage. UTILITIES SIG Message # 368 0 replies Reply to # 367 Left by: ROBERT G. SCHAFFRATH On 19-May-89 At : 914-335-9792 Subject: Idle Process Killers There are many flavors of idle process killers. AUTOLOG, WATCHER, BOUNCER, and WATCHDOG to name a few. I even have to admit to writing one myself. It seems to be something to do when you get bored. At this past DECUS symposium I decided to submit it (what the heck, one more won't make any difference!). At that time, I was told that AUTOLOG had broken in VMS V5.0. However, no reason was given. If you are interested in WATCHDOG, AUTOLOG or my own home brewed program (I won't elaborate on it), feel free to drop me a line. Robert G. Schaffrath System Manager General Foods Corporation White Plains, NY 10625 UNIX/ULTRIX SIG Message # 36 0 replies Reply to # 35 Left by: CHUCK ERICSON On 19-May-89 At : HERE Subject: SECURITY HOLE IN ULTRIX 3.0 Sorry for the delay in responding, but I wanted to have things checked out. UNIX/ULTRIX SIG Message # 37 0 replies Reply to # 35 Left by: CHUCK ERICSON On 19-May-89 At : SAME AS BEFORE Subject: SECURITY HOLE IN V3.0 I will try again.... Sorry for the delay in responding, but I wanted to get things checked out first. If the uid is greater than 32000, the SETUID command fails and the uid will be the same as the uid of the process which issued the command. In the case of LOGIN, the uid is ROOT so anyone logging in with a uid of greater than 32000 will remain ROOT. Simple solution is .... don't let any user have a uid of greater than 32000. Not very elegant but effective. The actual problem was examined by trial and error. I still haven't found or heard any indication that DEC has admitted to the problem or is working on a fix. COMMUNICATIONS SIG Message # 278 0 replies Reply to # 277 Left by: ROB VUGTEVEEN On 19-May-89 At : (602) 792-3010 X334 Subject: MODEM LOGFAILS Thanks, Richard. I haven't been using Hayes mode on my modem, but using it's native CDS mode (Concord Data Systems). This may be the motivation to get up to speed on Hayes mode. Since my first message (273) I did change the way the modem treats pins 5-CTS, 6-DSR, and 8-DCD. It used to just keep them high all the time, connection or not, now it should treat them as the VAX expects, and hangup when DTR drops. That helped some. Instead of a constant chatter of login attempts, now things are quiet during the 30 seconds before the VAX drops DTR. When it drops DTR, the VAX also sends the message: "VAX/VMS host system wired incorrectly-contact your system manager" which is a new message VMS 5.n puts out. The modem IS wired correctly since I can get successful logins when a genuine call comes in. Just get the logfails after the call hangs up. Oh, well, I'll keep hunting. Thanks for your reply! PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES/AI SIG Message # 396 0 replies Reply to # 395 Left by: V. JAMES KRAMMES On 19-May-89 At : (614) 228-2001 X 341 Subject: .DVI FILES Thanks for the info. I was actually just hoping to be able to print them on my LA75, I think one of the files is the documentation to the GNU compiler's pre-processor. Oh well, since it's unlikely that I can get my management to spring for the tape (depending how expensive it is), I'll have to explore other options. CONTROLLERS/MEMORY SIG Message # 110 0 replies Reply to # 109 Left by: DOUGLAS TAYLOR On 19-May-89 At : ARIS Subject: MSV11-PL MEMORY The memory board was in a DEC micro/PDP-11, with the H9278 backplane. Your comments certainly were helpful, I was moving the boards around to accomodate another controller and may have put the memory board into a slot that it wouldn't work in. I have to check it out. A present the MSV11-PL memory board is out of the system and in it's place is a Chrislin Industries 256kb memory board that is supposed to work in the 11/23+. This configuration works. Thanks for the insight. COMMUNICATIONS SIG Message # 279 0 replies Reply to # 277 Left by: ROB VUGTEVEEN On 19-May-89 At : (602) 792-3010 X334 Subject: MODEM LOGFAILS >SOLVED< Richard, your comment about using the ATQn command to get the modem to "_shut-up_" was the key. I figured that if there was a Hayes command to do that, then there must be a native-mode command to do the same. There is, I set it, and that solved it! Thanks for the idea!! I appreciate your reply. -Rob TERMINALS/PLOTTERS/PRINTERS SIG Message # 300 0 replies Reply to # 299 Left by: Brian DeSantis On 19-May-89 At : 201-670-0286 Subject: LaserJet II Philip - I would be very interested in that program (the source, object and executable) if that would be possible. i wont have too much of a problem with the roman-8 or us ascii -I use the LJ mainly on a Macintosh and the printer driver software has a font adjustor and it lets you choose character sets, maps, etc, so the mac can find the right font on the cartridge... Woudl it be possible for you to send those to me? And a sheet of all the fonts samples as well - would be great! - ? It can be on tape, ms dos disk, mac disk, etc... Thanks! Brian DeSantis Bergen County Computer Consortium 30 Garber Square Ridgewood, NJ 07450 (201)670-0286 TERMINALS/PLOTTERS/PRINTERS SIG Message # 301 0 replies Left by: BRIAN DESANTIS On 19-May-89 At : HERE Subject: LJII Philip, if the programs are small enough we could xfer over phone lines, and any samples can be faxed if you have one. I have one at our main office that you can reach... let me know if this would be better. Thanks again. VMS SIG Message # 954 0 replies Reply to # 946 Left by: MICHAEL MARCHIONDO On 19-May-89 At : (314) 537-9755 Subject: MULTIPLE PAGEFILES CONTROLLERS/MEMORY SIG Message # 111 0 replies Reply to # 108 Left by: Brett Bump On 20-May-89 At : (308) 432-2828 or HEA-DUKE Subject: Q-BUS FOREVER Douglas. As I recall, the MSV11-PL is a quad slot memory board. So you shouldn't have any problem with a CD-interconnect problem like Dave mentioned (assuming you are using a BA23 box). In fact as long as you don't have anything on line AU1 or BU1 (not bussed by Dec) you could stick your board in upside down and probably get away with it. However you could have given your board BRAIN DAMAGE just by handling it. Some of us just naturally have that magnetic personality. If this is the case, then I would replace it with a nice 3rd-party board (Clearpoint) if I were you. In fact, if you are interested, I know a party who is looking to go to a larger (Clearpoint) board and would probably part with theirs. As far as your RX02 goes, what's the problem? I don't know what you are running, but I typically use 2 different RX02 systems (1 Dec 8" and a 3rd- party 5-1/4" that thinks it's an RX) all of the time on 4meg systems with RSTS and RT11. Give me a call or drop another message and we'll see what's up. (Disclaimer: Me. Work for Clearpoint? Give me a break. I'm in Nebraska.) CONTROLLERS/MEMORY SIG Message # 112 0 replies Reply to # 109 Left by: Brett Bump On 20-May-89 At : (308) 432-2828 or HEA-DUKE Subject: Q-BUS FOREVER AND EVER Dave. You got it right, you just typed it wrong. You meant to say be wary of the CD interconnect in the Q/CD backplane, didn't you! I think it's time you got a raise, you're working too hard. My turn. TRIVIA NOTE: Pick up an old BA11-MA, BA11-NC (11/03) cabinet from your dusty storage room. Wirewrap all the BC1's together, then the BD1's, BE1's, and BF1's. You have just fixed BDAL18-21 (made a 22-bit box out of an 18-bit one). For those of you with 256k 11/23's, you can now put in that 4-meg board. MICROVAX SIG Message # 203 0 replies Reply to # 202 Left by: Brett Bump On 20-May-89 At : (308) 432-2828 or HEA-DUKE Subject: CONFIGURATION F(LOPPY) Steve. I hate to rain on your parade, and I've never used an RQDX controller (only DEC controller I will still put up with is an RXV21). But as I recall, the RQDX1 (like a lot of 3rd-party boards) will handle 4 devices. What they sometimes fail to mention, though, is that 2 of those devices are hard disk and the other 2 are floppy. Unless the RQDX3 has jumped that hurdle you may be stuck before you leap. If it has, then I would say off the top of my head that DU1 has the wrong drive select. I really don't think that it should be last. Who is on DS1? What's on DS2? And, I don't know, is DS3? the right place to be, if all I know is DU1 is DS4. Which drive gets the termination block and is that drive the last in line? If it hasn't, then I would say that the reason that the documentation specified to use DS4 for DU1 was because DS2 and DS3 are used for the DEC flippy-floppy drive (another device that will fall by the wayside, Kitty). DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 547 0 replies Reply to # 527 Left by: Brett Bump On 20-May-89 At : (308) 432-2828 or HEA-DUKE Subject: FIELD SERVICE 101 Luiz. I think that Kitty may have hit on something that you missed. I too at one time used to use a DZ mux. In fact, I ran a 2000' 4-conductor phone cable (no shielding whatsoever) from the DZ to my office VT200 terminal, 4 blocks away at 9600 Baud (very noisy, but liveable). But the resistance of your length of wire should have little impact on the voltage (I=ER). A typical voltage level for space signal is between 3 and 25 volts above ground. Mark signal is between -3 and -25. Many PCs that I have worked with usually have had very low signals - but don't change the ground level yet). First: Find the minimum number of lines needed to run your VT on a DS200 (last time I was on a DS100, I think I needed SD,RD,GD,DTR,CTS,DSR). Once you know what the DS200 has to have, you can set up the Compaq. Hopefully your Compaq doesn't require anything fancy (probably just SD,RD,GD*). It could be that the DS200 isn't getting what it wants. But start with something that you know works (the VT) before adding lines to something that you know doesn't (the Compaq). And once you know what wiring you have to have, you can go from their. Then: If it still doesn't work, you can check the line levels to see what voltages they're sending. HOPE THIS HELPS. *Nope. It depends on the software, but most comm programs for PCs want TD, RD, SG, CD, DSR, and DTR. (Chassis ground, Pin 1, is usually handled by the DB connector casing.) Many packages support CTS/RTS protocol as well; check the documentation to see if PolyCom requires these lines, which I'm almost certain ProComm doesn't. - pga. DATA/FILE TRANSFER SIG Message # 548 0 replies Left by: Brett Bump On 20-May-89 At : (308) 432-2828 or HEA-DUKE Subject: HARDWARE FIXES Phil. Sorry you had so much trouble on the Duke the other night. I got quite a few other calls from people who said that they couldn't even get the Duke to answer them. It's amazing how everything from your computer to your modem can work fine, and you can still have problems that elude you. Well, you'll be happy to know that my 2-line phone is now part of my spare pcb box. Hopefully (knock, knock, knock) this will end the Duke's problems. UNIX/ULTRIX SIG Message # 38 0 replies Reply to # 37 Left by: Phil Anthony On 20-May-89 At : Here Subject: /usr/thanx Thanks very much, Chuck, for the information. It *is* a rather gaping hole, especially if uid 33000 got assigned to /usr/guest - although as you point out, the workaround is simple once you know about the problem. The more widely it's known in the user community, the higher priority DEC is likely to assign to verifying and fixing it. It seems to me that it'd be easy enough to verify, though - and probably easy enough to fix. (What're they doing, using a signed int in the setuid command, and then falling through when they get a negative number? Or are they bombing on an atoi () somewhere?) COMMUNICATIONS SIG Message # 280 0 replies Reply to # 258 Left by: RALPH BRANDT On 20-May-89 At : 717-751-5210 Subject: TWISTED PAIR NEEDS ON ENET We are using 2 piar of wire from the decconnect plate to the server. we have both 550's and 200's on DEC423. About 350 terminals and only have a problem with a calcomp plotter-not suore of the reason. I have diagrams I made by breaking open DECCONNECT face plates and passive adapters that prove this will work he COMMUNICATIONS SIG Message # 281 0 replies Left by: CARL HOUSEMAN On 21-May-89 At : 703-949-1323 Subject: HP TERMINAL EMULATION FOR VMS We have connected 4 async terminal lines from our HP 3000/MPE systems to a DECserver 200 and set them up as a service. We can use the terminal lines directly from the DS200 Local> prompt by connecting to the service, or from the VAX by connecting to an application LTAxx: port (using Kermit, for example). However, because most of the software we want to use expects an HP terminal, only PC's running HP terminal emulation software (Reflection in this case) can do anything useful. The question: Is there anything, anywhere, that does for the VAX & VT-terminal what HP terminal emulation software does for a PC? In other words, how can we use our (many) VT terminals as HP terminals? CLUSTERING/NETWORKING SIG Message # 390 0 replies Reply to # 388 Left by: CARL HOUSEMAN On 21-May-89 At : 703-949-1323 Subject: BACKUP TO REMOTE TAPE I've done what you want to do, using the DSIN article you mentioned. It works just fine, just make sure that your network multiblock count is set high enough. For example, to write 8192 block records to the tape, your NMBC must be at least 16 (the default is, I believe, 8). SET/SHOW RMS allow you examine/change it on the running system (requires CMKRNL). To modify it permanently, use SYSGEN and modify the parameter RMS_DFNBC. The only other caveat is that when writing to the remote node with a task object filespec, your saveset name stored in the backup header will be of that form, while the saveset name on the tape will be whatever you called it. And, this method of writing tape may be somewhat less reliable than BACKUP doing it directly, because BACKUP plays some games to avoid using bad spots on the tape, so this is definitely a case to leave /CRC on. CLUSTERING/NETWORKING SIG Message # 391 0 replies Left by: CARL HOUSEMAN On 21-May-89 At : 703-949-1323 Subject: REVERSE LAT TO HP We have connected several HP3000/MPE lines to a DS 200 and would like to use VT-terminals to access HP applications. Most of the HP applications expect HP terminals. Is there anything that can be used to make a VAX/VMS system emulate an HP terminal on a VT-series terminal (i.e. accomplishes the same things on a VAX that HP term emulation software on a PC does)? RSTS SIG Message # 380 1 replies Reply to # 376 Left by: Brett Bump On 22-May-89 At : (308) 432-2828 Subject: BIRD OF A DIFFERENT COLOR Phil. I'm not the only one who can't spell (y afore d, except on thursday). That was no canard. It was a canary singing the blues. Hey. I really got sick. But isn't it interesting how we change the original meaning of words to suit our own terminology. P.S. Just how does one go about extracting these Elm Leaf Beatles from a floppy disk? RSTS SIG Message # 381 0 replies Reply to # 380 Left by: Phil Anthony On 22-May-89 At : Here Subject: THE OLD OAKUS POCUS Feed them to a base canard or a blue canary, whichever you have handy. I'm reminded of a DEC field engineer who used to carry a rubber spider in his kit. When he went out on a call, he'd pull it out of the bag, show it to the unsuspecting system manager at the site, and inform him or her: "Here's the latest ECO for [fill in the device]. It'll catch all your soft- ware bugs before they do any harm." RSX SIG Message # 271 0 replies Left by: EDMUND CRAMP On 22-May-89 At : (813) 855-2910 Subject: RSX DEFRAG - SQUEEZPAK Sorry about the previous message. I have used SqueezPak about a year ago. I had an evaluation copy and it worked fine with no problems at all. I think they wanted about $800 for it at the time which seemed expensive compared to BRU so I didn't buy it. RSX SIG Message # 272 0 replies Left by: EDMUND CRAMP On 22-May-89 At : (800) 826-9391 Subject: MULTI-VOL BRU TAPE BUG? I have a 1600bpi magtape that appears to have had BRU backup sets /APPENDed to the end of it and it's a VOL2 tape ie the second tape created when a backup set will not fit onto a single tape. The BRU manual seems to state that it is impossible to create this sort of tape - however someone has done it and now I'm supposed to get the appended backup sets back... does anyone have any idea how? I can read the backupset that spans the tapes without any problem. I can do a /DIR and list the three backup sets on the second tape but there's no way to read the contents.... /DIR/BAC:name just gives me a BRU -- *FATAL* -- Tape read error (I/O code -10). If I just do a regular BRU /INI MS0: DL2: then I get the "WARNING -- Volume not a backup tape" message. BRU /REW/DIR MS0: :- VOL2. SS1060 26-APR-89 08:36:27 <- this one spans the 2 tapes. VOL1. SS1061 11-MAY-89 14:27:40 <- cannot access anything further VOL1. SS... etc Any ideas ?? (It's all happening on RSX11M 4.3) CLUSTERING/NETWORKING SIG Message # 392 0 replies Reply to # 390 Left by: ROB VUGTEVEEN On 22-May-89 At : (602) 792-3010 X334 Subject: BACKUP WITH CONVERT UTILITY Thanks for the reply, Carl. Now I have some experimenting to do RSX SIG Message # 273 0 replies Left by: JERRY KILGORE On 22-May-89 At : 512-331-0508 Subject: DECUS-ATLANTA One of the RSX sessions at DECUS in Atlanta presented information about loadable directives. If anyone was able to attend, I would like very much to get the name and and address of the presenter. I wasn't able to attend, but I very much want to talk to this person. Thanks. e RSX SIG Message # 274 0 replies Left by: VERNON L. PALANGO On 23-May-89 At : 201-679-0200 Subject: SA BRU WITH FUJITSU DRIVE I am curently having a problem trying to perform a standalone BRU from a FUJITSU M2322 disk drive to TK50 tape. The problem occurs using standalone BRU from V3.0 of RSX, the following message appears when a BRU>/VER/DIS DR0: MU0: I/O -65 Boot block lead error this is a system disk, and the only way I can back it up is through standalone. Is there anyone out there who can help with this problem? SITE MANAGEMENT SIG Message # 284 0 replies Left by: STEPHEN TATRAI On 23-May-89 At : (201) 524-132 Subject: Tracking program use on VAX I need to find a program which will allow me to fing out how often applications are being used and by whom. FORUM - 3RD PARTY SUPPLIERS SIG Message # 101 0 replies Left by: VERNON L. PALANGO On 23-May-89 At : 201-679-0200 Subject: FUJITSU M2322 & SA BRU I am attempting to do a Standalone BRU on a FUJITSU M2322 disk drive. A previous employee here set up this as the system disk. When I try to do the backup in Standalone, I get an error message as follows: BRU>/VER/DIS DR0: MU0: I/O -65 Boot block lead error Does anyone have a solution to this problem, I am not an RSX expert and would apreciate some help. We are using RSX11M V3.1 on a PDP 11/73. LASER PRINTERS SIG Message # 68 0 replies Left by: BRIAN T CARCICH On 23-May-89 At : (607)2555908 Subject: LN03+ TEK ALPHA SIDEWAYS Hello all, I have just put in my LN03 to LN03+ upgrade. However, when I use the Alpha mode of the Tektronix emulation, the small (: and ;) characters are printed in portrait mode. i.e. imagine every character in this message being rotated in place 90 degrees clockwise. The large (8 and 9) characters are printed properly. Is this a bug or a feature? Brian Carcich Cornell University, Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Galileo Project 422 Space Sciences Building Ithace, NY 14853-6801 Internet: carcich@cuspif.tn.cornell.edu or btcx@CRNLVAX5.BITnet LASER PRINTERS SIG Message # 69 0 replies Reply to # 68 Left by: BRIAN CARCICH On 23-May-89 At : Subject: OOOPS, MY MISTAKE Thanks to a previous converstion in ARIS, I realized it may just be loaded fonts that were sideways. So I did the ;;y to delete the loaded fonts, and that cleared it. CPU'S SIG Message # 49 1 replies Left by: EDWARD FINNERAN On 23-May-89 At : (413) 787-7179 Subject: MORE THAN 2 CPU'S IN 8300? We just installed a VAX 8350 system from a corporate contribution from DEC, and my field enginerr said that there was no particular reason why more than 2 cpu's couldn't be active on the BI bus in the box, and there wasn't anything special about the slots the cpu's were in either. Now that VMS can handle up to 6 cpu's with SMP, being able to stick more possibly used 8300-type processors into that box would be a real cheap cpu upgrade. Does anyne have any thoughts or information about the feasibility of this? Just an idea... VMS SIG Message # 955 0 replies Reply to # 947 Left by: GEORGE DAWSON On 23-May-89 At : 818-397-9060 Subject: BACKUP SAVESET NAME The save set names are limited to 17 characters including the ".". Not 6+3 or 16 MISCELLANEOUS SIG Message # 509 0 replies Reply to # 498 Left by: CHARLIE KOTAN On 23-May-89 At : (916)452-3211/4823EXT Subject: PRO PRESS TEXT You should be using a VT-100 or term emulating it. You should consider getting the Introduction to VAX/VMS from the folks who sponsor this BBS (professional Press). If you aren't a subscriber to DEC Professional mag, you should do that as well. Their phone is (215)542-7008. Regards. Ck MASS STORAGE SIG Message # 256 0 replies Left by: GABRIEL R. TORO On 23-May-89 At : (3030)2789800 Subject: DISK RELATED ERROR MESSAGES I have been getting the following message in the console: SYSTEM-I-MOUNTVER _DUB0 is offline. Mount verification in progress and (a few seconds later) SYSTEM-I-MOUNTVER _DUB0 has completed mount verification. DUB0 is a Fujitsu M2249E and is connected to the VAX through an Emulex QD-21 ESDI controller. We have had the drive for several mohs, but these messages suddenly started. We have not lost any data and SHOW DEVICE does not indicate any errors I would like to know what is the likely cause of these messages and whether they are serious. SITE MANAGEMENT SIG Message # 285 0 replies Left by: GEORGE DAWSON On 23-May-89 At : HERE OR 818-397-9060 Subject: SYSTEM PAGE READ ERROR HELP! We have 6 MicroVax II connected via DECNET running VMS 4.6. Recently two of the machines have reported page read errors. SYSTEM-F-PAGRDERR, page read error, reason mask=04 virtual address = 00006f66,pc....... This occured on one machine when trying to envoke EDT and on another system when issuing the MONITOR command. The documentation say's to see the system manager (alot of help). The only way I have been able to solve the problem is to restore the system disk from a previous backup. Is there any other way to solve this problem? What exactly is a page read error ? Can this be avoided ? Previously these machines have been running with no problems. P.S. I am new to system management Is there a way to boot standalone backup from the disk rather then from the tape? Thanks VMS SIG Message # 956 0 replies Left by: GABRIEL R. TORO On 23-May-89 At : (303)2789800 Subject: DISK RELATED MESSAGES Please see my message number 256 in the mass-storage SIG. Thanks, CPU'S SIG Message # 50 0 replies Reply to # 49 Left by: ROBERT G. SCHAFFRATH On 24-May-89 At : 914-335-9792 Subject: The missing VAX Undoubtedly your engineer was referring to the VAX 8370. Lucky for the the VAX world, this machine never hit the streets although if you do a SEARCH on your .REQ files in SYS$LIBRARY for '8370', you will find references to it (VMS V5.0 and above). The major problem with such a machine is the 13.3MB/sec bandwidth of the VAXBI. It just can't handle the high volume of communication between I/O adapters and memory as well as between the CPU's. Thus the NMI and XMI were born. Robert G. Schaffrath System Manager General Foods Corporation White Plains, NY 10625 SITE MANAGEMENT SIG Message # 286 0 replies Reply to # 281 Left by: ROBERT G. SCHAFFRATH On 24-May-89 At : 914-335-9792 Subject: STANDALONE BACKUP ERROR The error you are receiving (R0=0000084) is 'Device not in configuration or available'. Part of the problem may be the fact that the AUTOCONFIGuration algorithm was redesigned for VMS V5.0. While autoconfigure's behavior can be modified by changing the value of 'VMS8' (see page 8-52 of V5.0 release notes) it may be that standalone backup's routine is not as tolerant. What is the configuration of your system? Robert G. Schaffrath System Manager General Foods Corporation White Plains, NY 10625 MASS STORAGE SIG Message # 257 0 replies Reply to # 256 Left by: KITTY GEORGE On 24-May-89 At : HERE (ARIS) Subject: MOUNT VERIFICATION MESSAGES The reason for the Mount verification messages on that Fujitsu? is that VMS is periodically losing touch with the disk drive - for example, intermittent power fails, or internal problems that puts the drive off-line for long enough for VMS to sense that the disk isn't there when it was supposed to be on-line and mounted. This is the same message you get on reboot after a system crash - VMS doesn't get a chance to write back cached data from memory to disk prior to shutting the disk down. The mount verification tries to make sure you haven't lost anything basic, like directory entries. You could, however, lose data from files due to Write-Behind activity not being up to date. You mention that no program problems have been encountered - don;t be too sure about this. I strongly recommend you get that disk checked out ASAP. You might want to check all the cable connections 'twixt disk and controller, on the off-hand chance that you recently moved something around, and loosened up some of the connector cables or the power cable. Kitty :-) COMMUNICATIONS SIG Message # 282 0 replies Left by: STEPHEN TATRAI On 24-May-89 At : (201)524-1325 Subject: VAX TO HP1000 I am supporting a research group that is using a HP1000 and will soon be working on a VAX are there any software packages to connect the two. Also how can a HP150 terminal be used as a terminal to the VAX. Thanks. UTILITIES SIG Message # 370 0 replies Left by: RICHARD MCGORMAN On 24-May-89 At : (705) 945-8045 Subject: TIME REPORTING UTILITY ??? I'm looking for a Time Reporting Utility (Public Domain or 3rd Party). Does anyone know of any packages available that would allow users to enter their hours worked on various projects. Ideally the package would have a reportwriter that could create reports by any combination of the following: 1 - Username 2 - Project # 3 - Start Date/End Date Thanks for any help given. Richard McGorman Algoma Steel Corp Ltd. S. S. Marie, ON, Canada UTILITIES SIG Message # 371 0 replies Left by: RICHARD MCGORMAN On 24-May-89 At : (705) 945-8045 Subject: TIME REPORTING REVISITED The Time Reporting Utility I mentioned in the previous message is needed to run on a VAX under VMS. Thanks. APPLICATIONS SIG Message # 332 0 replies Reply to # 297 Left by: JAY BELLER On 25-May-89 At : (718) 767-2304 Subject: FORM FEEDS Thanks for all of the suggestions. Anyone following this conversation will now know how to avoid blank pages at the start of a print job which uses a /SETUP qualifier. I still have found no solution to suppressing the trailing form feed. Has anyone out there written a print symbiont? Have you been able to control the final form feed? TERMINALS/PLOTTERS/PRINTERS SIG Message # 302 0 replies Reply to # 298 Left by: JAY BELLER On 25-May-89 At : (718) 767-2304 Subject: TRACKBALL Rob, I believe the product you are looking for is the ITAC M5 Trackball. It has 3-button controls and is a replacement for the DEC mouse. My company has a product which allows a mouse or trackball to be connected to ANSI terminals (VT100, 200, 300) and we have worked with the ITAC trackball - it works great. It takes a little while to develop a comfortable hand position since the 3 buttons are positioned at clock coordinates of 3, 6 and 9 o'clock. Personally, I keep my thumb tucked under my hand to press the 6 o'clock button and use pinky and pointer for the other two. The actual trackball is a bit rougher to move than a mouse, but in a week or two you forget all about that. If you need more info either call ITAC at (214) 494-3073, or look at a competiDR's December 19th 1988 issue - page 45. SITE MANAGEMENT SIG Message # 287 0 replies Reply to # 285 Left by: ROB VUGTEVEEN On 25-May-89 At : (602)792-3010 X334 Subject: STANDALONE BKUP ON DISK I cannot help you with your disk error question other than to suggest that it may be some peculiar fragmentation problem or one of the limits is set to low in AUTHORIZE--all speculation at this point. But I can help you with booting Standalone Backup from a disk. If you are running MicroVMS on your MicroVAXes, in SYS$MANAGER there is probably a file called MGRMENU.COM which, when activated ( $ @MGRMENU ) will offer you an option to create a Standalone Backup Kit on some device. When you select that option, MGRMENU just runs the file SYS$UPDATE:STABACKIT.COM which you can run directly yourself if MGRMENU.COM is not available. At Boot time, when you get the >>> prompt, IF YOU BUILT THE KIT ON A DIFFERENT DRIVE THAN YOUR SYSTEM DISK, type B followed by the name of the device on which you built the kit. ( like >>> B DUA2: ). IF YOU BUILT THE KIT ON THE SYSTEM DISK, you have to tell it to boot out of [SYSE] instead of [SYS0] by typing B/E0000000 at the >>> prompt. Much of this is documented in version 4.x doc set VAX/VMS Volume 5A System Management Manual in the section System Manager's Reference, Section 2.8.2, page 2-18. DISCLAIMER: I don't do a lot of standalone backups, but this works when I do them every great once and awhile. MICROVAX SIG Message # 204 1 replies Left by: DOUGLAS Taylor On 25-May-89 At : 202-767-6893 Subject: BERNOULLI ON UVAXII I would like to have a removable drive on our MicroVax II, but the current crop of removable drives are quite large capacity and expensive. Has anyone out there ever used one of the inexpensive Bernoulli Boxes on a MicroVAx ( Probably as a RL02 device) ? IF so I would like to know how it is done. Thanks. MICROVAX SIG Message # 205 0 replies Reply to # 204 Left by: Phil Anthony On 25-May-89 At : Here Subject: BERNOULLI BOXES ON ANYTHING Before you proceed too far with your plans, a warning: Several clients of ours using Bernoulli boxes on PCs have found them not to be as satisfactory as they'd hoped. For one thing, they're slo-o-o-o-ow. For a second, the clients have experienced unpredictable bad blocks appearing on disks that have not been used heavily; in one case, it was only once every two days, to perform backups from a standard hard disk, for about two years. I've per- sonally had better experience with 5-1/4" floppies! SITE MANAGEMENT SIG Message # 288 0 replies Reply to # 279 Left by: PHILLIP CREWS On 26-May-89 At : AMEX HSG 704 333 1276 Subject: SHUTDOWN FROM BATCH You can always shutdown a system (from Batch, a network task, or an interactive process) with: $ MCR OPCCRASH If you want to dismount disks first (to avoid quota and extent rebuilds on boot), use $ DISMOUNT/ABORT/NOUNLOAD for each one before the above command. If you want to cause an automatic reboot, add the following command: $ DEFINE OPC$REBOOT Y Beware: processes are not stopped normally, queues are not terminated with grace, and file modification dates may not be updated for open files if ACP_WRITEBACK is set to 1. Using OPCCRASH also avoids messy warning messages letting those irritating users know what is going on. ;-) SITE MANAGEMENT SIG Message # 289 0 replies Reply to # 285 Left by: PHILLIP CREWS On 26-May-89 At : AMEX HSG 704 333 1276 Subject: PAGE READ ERROR Page read errors are due to disk errors. These may be in either the pagefile or any image or section file. Sounds like some bad blocks are appearing on your disk. Check error log for bad block replacements] and disk errors and call field service. CLUSTERING/NETWORKING SIG Message # 393 0 replies Reply to # 390 Left by: PHILLIP CREWS On 26-May-89 At : AMEX HSG 704 333 1276 Subject: BACKUP VIA DECNET Re: BACKUP handling tape errors. Almost all bad spots on tapes will be passed over by the magtape driver. Backup may be somewhat more forgiving, but if tapes are that bad, you really don't want to use them anyway. BACKUP creates XOR redundancy records within a saveset regardless of its destination (unless you specify /GROUP=0). These redundancy records will be written to the tape along with the rest of the data, and will be used in a restore if any single record is unreadable. VMS version 5.2 will include improvements to the BACKUP utility so that it will avoid the CRC instruction, which is emulated on all MicroVAX and 6xxx processors. This should speed up backups that use /CRC considerably. VMS SIG Message # 957 0 replies Reply to # 951 Left by: PHILLIP CREWS On 26-May-89 At : AMEX HSG 704 333 1276 Subject: DETACHED PROCESS PARAMETERS Several possibilities: 1. Create a file with the parameters in it, and specify the file as input to the detached image: $ CREATE TEMP.TXT parameter 1 parameter 2 $ RUN/DETACHED/INPUT=TEMP.TXT image-name The program can read the records from SYS$INPUT as its parameters. 2. Use a mailbox. It must be created by a program (no DCL command to do it), but then DCL can write the parameters to the mailbox, and the detached image can read them. 3. Define /SYSTEM or /GROUP logical names with parameter values. The program can translate the logicals and use the results as the parameters. I hope this helps. MASS STORAGE SIG Message # 258 0 replies Reply to # 256 Left by: BERN FOX On 26-May-89 At : (313) 994-1200 Subject: SPURIOUS MOUNT VERIFIES... ...sounds like Kitty has pointed you in the right direction on this problem Gabriel. Is DUB0: the only drive on this QD21? Has the error logger noted any problems, other than the usual init sequence failures? Seems to me that the Fugi might have some sort of a status/ fault LEDs on the logic board, try to monitor these for voltage fault and/or seek error condidtions, either of which might render the drive unavailable to the controller. Try: ANA/DISK/READ DUB0:, if any glitches, repeat ANA/DISK/READ DUB0:/REPAIR. If problems persist, a waltz through the Emulex format & verify routine may in order. Good luck! - bern - VMS SIG Message # 958 0 replies Left by: DAVID MCCALLIE On 26-May-89 At : (617) 735-8380 Subject: PSEUDO-TERMINAL-DRVR Hello. I need some advice on how I can have one process pass information to another process where the second process is expecting input from a terminal type device (and is in fact in 'passthru' mode.) I tried mailboxes but the system complains that the MBAn: is not a terminal device. I need something like the 'pty' pseudoterminals that Unix offers. I suspect that I can take advantage of the 'virtual terminal' (VTA:) device, but I don't know how to create a process that is expecting input from a VTA device (other than to login), nor how to read/write to that processs if I got it running with a VTA (I assume I can just QIO to it, but I haven't been able to try yet. How does DCL implement the 'disconnect' and 'connect' commands ? Is there a system service that I can use from within a program to do similar tricks? Thanks in advance to anyone who can help ! VMS SIG Message # 959 0 replies Left by: DAVID MCCALLIE On 26-May-89 At : (617) 735-8380 Subject: LATS APP-TO-APP ? I know that with the LATS protocol one can communicate from terminal server to a dedicated application, and conversly from an application to a dedicated port on a terminal server - but - can LATS communicate from one application to another _application_ ? In other words, can LATS be used as a substitute for DECNET task-to-task communication ? Thanks.