> Hi everybody!
> 
> Is there any support for the VAX BI bus in NetBSD yet? I think
> I can recall that the matter was discussed some months ago. Are there 
> any support, or will there ever be any support?
> 
> I will recive a VAX 8530 and about 16 RA82 disks this week, and it 
> would be fun to have an OS for it... ;-)
> 
There are BI support in NetBSD, yes, but no support for KA88/NMI yet.
The only OS to run on it so far is Ultrix...

> I don't know anything about the machine execpt that it is big, but 
> smaller than the 8600 we have now. What media is used for 
> bootstrapping? Can I use my TU77 Massbus tape or do I have to blow 
> the dust off the old TS11? (Is TS11 supported by NetBSD yet? And if 
> it isn't would a TU81 work?)
> 
A 8530 is about 2/3 of a 8600. You cannot connect any Massbus devices
to it and you can only use TS11 if you have a DWBUA BI->Unibus adaptor.
(probably not). There is a TS11 driver in NetBSD but it isn't working
anymore, but TU81 on Unibus should work. Not on BI, though.

A 8600 is also a little bit faster than 8530 (~5%) and is supported
by NetBSD.

-- Ragge