> Well, now my brain cells are gettin' old an' flakey, but here's what I can
> still recollect...
> 
> I did a port of 4.2BSD shortly after the MVII came out, so we could replace
> the 11/780 we had with them (we couldn't afford maintenance on the big beast:-).
> (It wasn't that big a job, since the MVII Qbus interface looked just like
>  a Unibus adapter. The main trick was the DEQNA and TMSCP. The DEQNA didn't
>  do what the doc said and the tape MSCP port wasn't published by DEC. The
>  result was a couple of drivers that "kinda worked".) I passed this stuff
> along to the BSD crowd (well, actually it wasn't a very big crowd, 4? guys
> at the time). Mt Xinu was interested in the port and agreed to help integrate
> it into 4.3BSD in return for access to it (or maybe they had written a partial
> port too, but needed a driver or something like that). The first release of
> the code was in 4.3BSD and actually had DECs drivers for the DEQNA and TMSCP
> in it, which worked since they knew how the devices really worked:-)

By any chance is this in the stock distribution tape masters?  I will
have to unroll them and have a lookiesee.

I was thinking of trying to backport a 4.2BSD tape onto an Ultrix system
and see if I could build it up from that.  If the bits are there in the
4.3 tapes, I should perhaps use that directly instead.

Most of my problems, so far have centered around my SQ706A scsi controller.
It must deviate in some critical places from what the RQDXx things that
were original on the MVII's did.  I can get most of the kernel to load
and go, but when it polls the mscp disks, it shells out to a reboot
on that SQ706A controller.  Close, but not quite.

> Sorry, but all those old bits have gone away from my bit bucket. I do have
> a 4.3Reno bootable TK50 if nbsdbob wants it. (Be forwarned I have no idea
> how you boot the thing. At one point, you had to toggle stuff into the
> console to boot the tape and get the old tp monitor going. Basically,
> enabling the Qbus interface and setting the base addresses for the Qbus
> device registers and base address for the Qbus address map.)

Ohhh, for sure, for sure, I would love to have that tape.  May I
also pass the bits along to the Unix Historical Society (TUHS)/PDP-11
Unix Preservation Society (PUPS) archives that Warren Toomey is running
for SCO, down under in Australia?  That would make a nice addition
to the archives.  Write me a paragraph of any info/history you have
about that or its development, and I will pass that too along to Warren.
We all got to keep the mystical and magickal Unix bits preserved...(:+}}.

By snailmail.... R.D. Keys
                 203 Weed Control Labs
                 3123 Ligon Street
                 Raleigh, NC 27607-5376.

Thanks.....

> Anyhow, have fun with it, rick

I been having loads of fun, and IFF I can find the right set of controller
bits (probably mfm) (does ESDI work correctly with it on the early BSD's?)
I will get it up and running, no sweat (just some midnight toil....(:+}}.).

> ps: Although I haven't turned it on in years, I still have a MVII sitting
>     beside my desk (makes a pretty good foot stool) and am typing this on
>     a VT100. (This produces some interesting reactions from the students
>     these days, when they try to figure out what kind of computer it is.
>     The concept of a terminal that is not a computer is entirely foreign
>     to them.:-)

Which configuration of MVII?  Sounds neat.

I have been threatening to load up a V5 in an emulator on a closet box
of some kind and stick my remaining TTY37 out in the hallway for the
``students'' to ponder (assuming the mechanical monster still clatters
and bangs along anymore).  I really do sense they would not even know
what to do with it, especially since it does't grok gui/meeces....(:+}}.
A printing terminal would really throw them for a loop.... especially
if remotely triggered to dump a login prompt as they walk by....(:+}}...

Gads, what fun....I really should do that.....(:+}}...

Thanks

Bob