Re: Starting with port-pmax on DECstation 5000/133

["Ari Constancio" <ari.constancio%gmail.com@localhost>]

Thanks for the warm replies :).

I'm waiting to receive an AUI-to-RJ45 adapter from ebay, in order to
have a network connection (I don't want to fiddle with BNC
connectors).

Ari Constancio

On Fri, May 9, 2008 at 12:48 PM, Lord Isildur <mrfusion%vaxpower.org@localhost> 
wrote:
>>> I'm a new user to NetBSD and, in addition to using i386 machines, I
>>> have nearby in my workplace a forgotten and sad DECstation 5000/133
>>> machine. I just turned it on, after a few years in the darkness, and
>>> the Ultrix login prompt comes up (asking for a new OS :)).
>
> Welcome!
>
>>
>> If you care about what's on the machine now you can interrupt the PROM
>> before the kernel loads, boot it into single user, and wipe the root
>> password. Otherwise you can just have NetBSD wipe the disk, or neboot.
>
> always fun to explore an old machine like this! it's time travel, you never
> know what interesting things are lurking in the corners of tmp directories
> and spool files and whatever other dusty corners of a box that's been
> sitting idle for a decade!
>
> you can boot into ultrix single user either by hitting ^c during the early
> phase of the boot-up (it's slow enough that you can catch it easily), while
> rc is just starting up, or more cleanly with a flag to the kernel
> of -s.. but there are a couple different pmax firmwares around and they
> have different ways of setting this. i think on the 5k133 it is rather
> straightforward.. it was more confusing on the 2100/3100. but someone else
> with a better memory might be better to answer it.
>
>>> Is there still good support to this port on NetBSD?
>>
>> Interest in these machines isn't nearly as high as it was a few years ago
>> but they still work.  I built -current a few months back, netbooted it on a
>> /260 and compiled some things from pkgsrc, and everything seemed fine.
>
> 'they still work' is an understatement. These things will still be running
> when _electricity_ goes obsolete! not much traffic on this list or in the
> community anymore, but there are a few of us still lurking in the corners.
> I suppose one reason there's not much traffic is that the stuff Just Works
> and we don't need to monkey with it.. not a whole lot of hardware that
> hasn't been supported for many years, and i know a lot of people just
> keep rather old versions of netbsd running on their pmax'en (i still have
> 1.6 running on mine).. but this list you will find still a lot of people
> who will happily help a newcomer get sorted out and up and running!
>
> good luck with your decstation!
>
> happy hacking,
> isildur
>