Hi !

On Fri, 14 Jan 2000, ville hautakangas wrote:

> > This is no problem, i have VMS running on my 4000VLC, because lack of cache
> > support and framebuffer support in NetBSD. The box doesn't really have use
> > with NetBSD for me, i have some more useful boxes for it. So it's my only
> > VMS installation here. Just take the hobbyist license and feel well.
> 
> Yeah, but I'd like to have graphical desktop and I haven't got the monitor.
> That's a problem.

This isn't really a problem. If you've got the LCG inside (should be the most
common framebuffer), you can connect every Sync-on-green-capable monitor,
which works wit 1280x1024@72 Hz. The correct DEC monitor is the VRT19-HA, AKA
Sony GDM-1961. I had it running with a Smile CA-1706 also. The connector is
a 3W3, for testing purposes you can use some pieces of RG58 cable, just remove
the outer isolation, use a very thin screwdriver to drill a little hole in
the middle of the cable, you need to have the copper contact there. Then you
should use some solder to keep the shield together, and you've got one of the
3 coax elements. With some hot glue and the rest of the connector, you can
make a fantastic complete connector, i tried so with a 13W3 for my Sun :-)
The connector is very expensive (one coax element costs about 4$ in germany,
the rest of a 13W3 is not that big, about 1$), so you may want to try this way
first. If you use the middle pin, you have the sync on it, just connect it to
green. The outer pins are red and blue.

> > It's indeed usual PS/2 memory modules with parity. 80ns is enough, so you can
> > put 4MB/parity into it, maybe bigger modules work, i never tested. But to use
> 
> That's what the system has, four pieces of four MB SIMMs.

If bigger modules don't work (the VAX 4000/200 also can use 16MB modules, it's
the same CPU, and the readout of the bits saying the capacity are correct in
the 4000VLC. So maybe it also works with 16MB modules), maximum is 24MB.
This is very low memory, OpenVMS 7.2 runs OK, but if you start Netscape, the
system just keeps swapping the rest of its life :-)

> > it as an X-terminal might be impossible. NetBSD has no Framebuffer support,
> > Ultrix isn't made for 4000 series, and VMS, the only alternative, doesn't
> > support X11, if i know right. But this is a question to the VMS gurus. Maybe
> > it could work with UCX (newer just TCP/IP) installed.
> 
> Hey, I have VAX/VMS 5.5-something and OpenVMS 7.1 on a VS3100/30.
> They do support X11 over TCP/IP, though I haven't bothered trying to set
> the UCX DECwindows transport up for the 7.1 installation yet. And at least
> on the VAX/VMS 5.5, DECwindows is only X11R5 compliant. Programs
> that want a lot of colours or strange fonts can f*ck the whole windowing
> system up pretty bad, but Netscape runs almost perfectly from my Pentium
> w/ Linux. There are some issues with HTML backgrounds moving from
> one window to another or something like that, but who cares .. :)

X11R5 is ok, i now this from the VXT. Ok, this is good news, i should try it
out here. As soon as i have the time :-) Should do some porting soon, i want
to see some new 4000s working in 1.5 :-)

> And again there lies an opportunity to "impress" one's friends here; I could
> run Windows Solitaire and Minesweeper with Wine from the Linux box onto
> the VAX desktop. Solit was not exactly playable, probably because of the
> large bitmaps that had to be moved so frequently. Pretty orgastic still.
> 
> I believe the OpenVMS 7.1 DECwin may be even X11R6 compliant, but
> I'm not sure.

I know somebody's wife is writing letters with word on a VXT 2000. Using ICA
client and NT-terminal server (hi Gerald :-). You can do nearly everything
with VAX hardware... I use 2 4000s (one is an empty enclosure, the other one
is my 4000/300, the compiler machine) and 2 DECstations as bases for a nice
DECdesk :-)

...Michael

-- 
 Michael@camaronet.de, Rottweil/Germany, http://www.camaronet.de
 Visit the german VAXpage: http://www.vaxpower.de