Yubyub Bird <yubyub@j51.com> wrote:
> I recently had the good fortune to come by a R4000-200.

I don't know what the "R" means, but since it runs VMS, I assume that this is a
VAX 4000 model 200. It is a Q-bus MicroVAX-type system, just like MicroVAX II
or MicroVAX 3/3+, except that its CPU is KA660, rather than KA630 or KA650/655.
KA660 is based on the SOC chip and rated at 5 VUPs. It has on-board Ethernet
and DSSI interfaces, just like KA640. One nice thing about it is that it uses
MS650 memory, so if you are upgrading from KA650/655/640, you can keep all your
memory modules. However, it is NOT compatible with KA650 from the software
viewpoint. NetBSD, Ultrix, and 4.3BSD-Reno all run fine on KA650, but neither
will even boot on it.

> To cut to the
> chase, does NetBSD/Vax support the CPU/arch on an R4000?

No, KA660 is not supported.

> As far as I can
> tell, the machine has a QBus [...]

Yes, it is essentially a Q-bus MicroVAX, even though DEC prefers to call it a
VAX.

> [...] and the CPU is an early MIPS derivative (but
> I'm not sure).

Whaaaat?!?! It's a VAX, not a MIPS! VMS has never run on MIPSen!

Sincerely,
Michael Sokolov
Phone: 440-449-0299
ARPA Internet SMTP mail: sokolov@alpha.ces.cwru.edu