INFO-VAX Fri, 28 Mar 2008 Volume 2008 : Issue 176 Contents: Alphaserver/station reliability Re: Alphaserver/station reliability Re: Alphaserver/station reliability Re: Alphaserver/station reliability Re: Alphaserver/station reliability Re: Alphaserver/station reliability Re: Alphaserver/station reliability Re: Alphaserver/station reliability Re: Alphaserver/station reliability Re: Alphaserver/station reliability Re: Alphaserver/station reliability Re: AlphaStation 255 dead Re: AlphaStation 255 dead ANA/DISK/SHAD not working properly Re: ANA/DISK/SHAD not working properly Re: ANA/DISK/SHAD not working properly Re: ANA/DISK/SHAD not working properly GnuPG 1.4.9 for VMS Re: Hobbyist VMS CD and AlphaStation 200 Re: Hobbyist VMS CD and AlphaStation 200 Re: Hobbyist VMS CD and AlphaStation 200 Re: Hobbyist VMS CD and AlphaStation 200 Re: RX3600 and VMS 8.3 Re: RX3600 and VMS 8.3 Re: RX3600 and VMS 8.3 Re: scripting a telnet session to VMS Re: scripting a telnet session to VMS Re: scripting a telnet session to VMS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 03:04:32 -0700 (PDT) From: david.pearson@british-energy.com Subject: Alphaserver/station reliability Message-ID: <9e34ca46-b248-4099-b4ce-30d5e5959c09@m3g2000hsc.googlegroups.com> This is a little bit of an open request but for the installation and application I'm trying to justify it would really help me if I could get some 'real' uptime data from the wider industry on how reliable AlphaServers are. I know they have outstanding performance and are used by half of wall street etc. but it would be great to know from the real guys who have to keep these things running the real facts behind the claims. The two models I'm interested in are Alphaserver DS25 (a number of, both single and dual processor) and an Alphastation DS15. All will be running Tru64 Unix 5.1b. Simple feedback such as "Typical application, date installed, MTBF/ uptime/failure rate etc., whether frequently power-cycled or running 24/7" would be great. Direct contact details to confirm this would also be appreciated but not essential. The reason for this request is to support the use of the Alphas in a mission-critical role running a legacy app as part of the business justification. Posting to the forum preferred but mail to hp@pearson.in also accepted if confidentiality required. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 08:49:51 -0400 From: "Richard B. Gilbert" Subject: Re: Alphaserver/station reliability Message-ID: <47ECE96F.7010504@comcast.net> david.pearson@british-energy.com wrote: > This is a little bit of an open request but for the installation and > application I'm trying to justify it would really help me if I could > get some 'real' uptime data from the wider industry on how reliable > AlphaServers are. I know they have outstanding performance and are > used by half of wall street etc. but it would be great to know from > the real guys who have to keep these things running the real facts > behind the claims. > The two models I'm interested in are Alphaserver DS25 (a number of, > both single and dual processor) and an Alphastation DS15. All will be > running Tru64 Unix 5.1b. > Simple feedback such as "Typical application, date installed, MTBF/ > uptime/failure rate etc., whether frequently power-cycled or running > 24/7" would be great. Direct contact details to confirm this would > also be appreciated but not essential. > The reason for this request is to support the use of the Alphas in a > mission-critical role running a legacy app as part of the business > justification. > Posting to the forum preferred but mail to hp@pearson.in also accepted > if confidentiality required. My current uptime on my Alphastation 200 is 97 days. It's protected by a UPS but the run time after the power goes off is eight to ten minutes. Power, once off, takes two-three hours to restore. That's two to three hours to get two men and a truck here and two to three minutes to get a a man to the top of the pole in the "cherry picker" and replace the blown fuse. With reliable power and air conditioning, uptimes of four hundred days or more are quite possible. Your downtimes then are for reboots to install O/S upgrades and/or patches and to change SYSGEN parameters. Also allow for a shutdown every three or four years for major maintenance on the electrical systems. You CAN set things up to eliminate even more of the occasional down time but it can get REALLY expensive. You would need dual Uninterruptable Power Systems, dual (at least) air conditioners, dual emergency generators for when the power goes off for several hours, etc. Few companies need the uptime badly enough to pay the bills! ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:00:54 +0000 (UTC) From: gartmann@nonsense.immunbio.mpg.de (Christoph Gartmann) Subject: Re: Alphaserver/station reliability Message-ID: In article <9e34ca46-b248-4099-b4ce-30d5e5959c09@m3g2000hsc.googlegroups.com>, david.pearson@british-energy.com writes: >The two models I'm interested in are Alphaserver DS25 (a number of, >both single and dual processor) and an Alphastation DS15. All will be >running Tru64 Unix 5.1b. This is somewhat the wrong group. I could tell you something about the stability of our DS25 under OpenVMS. Regards, Christoph Gartmann -- Max-Planck-Institut fuer Phone : +49-761-5108-464 Fax: -452 Immunbiologie Postfach 1169 Internet: gartmann@immunbio dot mpg dot de D-79011 Freiburg, Germany http://www.immunbio.mpg.de/home/menue.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:13:56 +0000 (UTC) From: gartmann@nonsense.immunbio.mpg.de (Christoph Gartmann) Subject: Re: Alphaserver/station reliability Message-ID: In article <47ECE96F.7010504@comcast.net>, "Richard B. Gilbert" writes: >david.pearson@british-energy.com wrote: >> This is a little bit of an open request but for the installation and >> application I'm trying to justify it would really help me if I could >> get some 'real' uptime data from the wider industry on how reliable >> AlphaServers are. I know they have outstanding performance and are >> used by half of wall street etc. but it would be great to know from >> the real guys who have to keep these things running the real facts >> behind the claims. >> The two models I'm interested in are Alphaserver DS25 (a number of, >> both single and dual processor) and an Alphastation DS15. All will be >> running Tru64 Unix 5.1b. >> Simple feedback such as "Typical application, date installed, MTBF/ >> uptime/failure rate etc., whether frequently power-cycled or running >> 24/7" would be great. Direct contact details to confirm this would >> also be appreciated but not essential. >> The reason for this request is to support the use of the Alphas in a >> mission-critical role running a legacy app as part of the business >> justification. >> Posting to the forum preferred but mail to hp@pearson.in also accepted >> if confidentiality required. > >My current uptime on my Alphastation 200 is 97 days. It's protected by >a UPS but the run time after the power goes off is eight to ten minutes. >Power, once off, takes two-three hours to restore. That's two to three >hours to get two men and a truck here and two to three minutes to get a >a man to the top of the pole in the "cherry picker" and replace the >blown fuse. > >With reliable power and air conditioning, uptimes of four hundred days >or more are quite possible. Your downtimes then are for reboots to >install O/S upgrades and/or patches and to change SYSGEN parameters. >Also allow for a shutdown every three or four years for major >maintenance on the electrical systems. Did you notice that he asked for a DS25 under Unix? I assume yours is running under OpenVMS ;-) Regards, Christoph Gartmann -- Max-Planck-Institut fuer Phone : +49-761-5108-464 Fax: -452 Immunbiologie Postfach 1169 Internet: gartmann@immunbio dot mpg dot de D-79011 Freiburg, Germany http://www.immunbio.mpg.de/home/menue.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:19:49 -0400 From: "Richard B. Gilbert" Subject: Re: Alphaserver/station reliability Message-ID: <47ECFE85.2030208@comcast.net> Christoph Gartmann wrote: > In article <47ECE96F.7010504@comcast.net>, "Richard B. Gilbert" writes: > >>david.pearson@british-energy.com wrote: >> >>>This is a little bit of an open request but for the installation and >>>application I'm trying to justify it would really help me if I could >>>get some 'real' uptime data from the wider industry on how reliable >>>AlphaServers are. I know they have outstanding performance and are >>>used by half of wall street etc. but it would be great to know from >>>the real guys who have to keep these things running the real facts >>>behind the claims. >>>The two models I'm interested in are Alphaserver DS25 (a number of, >>>both single and dual processor) and an Alphastation DS15. All will be >>>running Tru64 Unix 5.1b. >>>Simple feedback such as "Typical application, date installed, MTBF/ >>>uptime/failure rate etc., whether frequently power-cycled or running >>>24/7" would be great. Direct contact details to confirm this would >>>also be appreciated but not essential. >>>The reason for this request is to support the use of the Alphas in a >>>mission-critical role running a legacy app as part of the business >>>justification. >>>Posting to the forum preferred but mail to hp@pearson.in also accepted >>>if confidentiality required. >> >>My current uptime on my Alphastation 200 is 97 days. It's protected by >>a UPS but the run time after the power goes off is eight to ten minutes. >>Power, once off, takes two-three hours to restore. That's two to three >>hours to get two men and a truck here and two to three minutes to get a >>a man to the top of the pole in the "cherry picker" and replace the >>blown fuse. >> >>With reliable power and air conditioning, uptimes of four hundred days >>or more are quite possible. Your downtimes then are for reboots to >>install O/S upgrades and/or patches and to change SYSGEN parameters. >>Also allow for a shutdown every three or four years for major >>maintenance on the electrical systems. > > > Did you notice that he asked for a DS25 under Unix? I assume yours is > running under OpenVMS ;-) > > Regards, > Christoph Gartmann > No, I didn't notice that and mine do run VMS. Unix, however, is fairly reliable these days. I'm running Sun SPARC systems with Solaris 8, 9, and 10 and these boxes seem to be quite reliable. Not quite up to VMS standards but close enough for government work ;-) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:26:27 GMT From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Jan-Erik_S=F6derholm?= Subject: Re: Alphaserver/station reliability Message-ID: Richard B. Gilbert wrote: > Christoph Gartmann wrote: >> In article <47ECE96F.7010504@comcast.net>, "Richard B. Gilbert" >> writes: >> >>> david.pearson@british-energy.com wrote: >>> >>>> This is a little bit of an open request but for the installation and >>>> application I'm trying to justify it would really help me if I could >>>> get some 'real' uptime data from the wider industry on how reliable >>>> AlphaServers are. I know they have outstanding performance and are >>>> used by half of wall street etc. but it would be great to know from >>>> the real guys who have to keep these things running the real facts >>>> behind the claims. >>>> The two models I'm interested in are Alphaserver DS25 (a number of, >>>> both single and dual processor) and an Alphastation DS15. All will be >>>> running Tru64 Unix 5.1b. >>>> Simple feedback such as "Typical application, date installed, MTBF/ >>>> uptime/failure rate etc., whether frequently power-cycled or running >>>> 24/7" would be great. Direct contact details to confirm this would >>>> also be appreciated but not essential. >>>> The reason for this request is to support the use of the Alphas in a >>>> mission-critical role running a legacy app as part of the business >>>> justification. >>>> Posting to the forum preferred but mail to hp@pearson.in also accepted >>>> if confidentiality required. >>> >>> My current uptime on my Alphastation 200 is 97 days. It's protected >>> by a UPS but the run time after the power goes off is eight to ten >>> minutes. >>> Power, once off, takes two-three hours to restore. That's two to >>> three hours to get two men and a truck here and two to three minutes >>> to get a a man to the top of the pole in the "cherry picker" and >>> replace the blown fuse. >>> >>> With reliable power and air conditioning, uptimes of four hundred >>> days or more are quite possible. Your downtimes then are for reboots >>> to install O/S upgrades and/or patches and to change SYSGEN >>> parameters. Also allow for a shutdown every three or four years for >>> major maintenance on the electrical systems. >> >> >> Did you notice that he asked for a DS25 under Unix? I assume yours is >> running under OpenVMS ;-) >> >> Regards, >> Christoph Gartmann >> > > > No, I didn't notice that and mine do run VMS. > > Unix, however, is fairly reliable these days. I'm running Sun SPARC > systems with Solaris 8, 9, and 10 and these boxes seem to be quite > reliable. Not quite up to VMS standards but close enough for government > work ;-) > And, besides, the O.P was specificaly asking about the *hardware* reliability, so unix vs. VMS might not be that important in this case... Jan-Erik. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 08:52:55 -0700 (PDT) From: Rich Jordan Subject: Re: Alphaserver/station reliability Message-ID: <33c6bd01-93a4-475e-b3b9-5c91802d4fda@m71g2000hse.googlegroups.com> We have one DS15 in the field running OpenVMS V7.3-2. It was installed August 2004, replacing a DS10 that had similar reliability stats except for two service replacements of a TLZ10 DAT tape drive. There have been no hardware service events with the DS15. System has been running 24x7 except for four downs; two were power failures that outlasted the UPS, one for ECO update installations, and the most recent for rack installation. System was the primary application server at the site until late 2007 and averaged 70 concurrent interactive users until then. It is currently used for access to archival information, about 4-8 interactive users. It was also and remains the site email and web server and the central mail and time server for the customer's domain. Current uptime: 518 days. Last reboot cause: power interruption due to installation of the system in a rack. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 09:10:28 -0700 From: David Mathog Subject: Re: Alphaserver/station reliability Message-ID: david.pearson@british-energy.com wrote: > The two models I'm interested in are Alphaserver DS25 (a number of, > both single and dual processor) and an Alphastation DS15. These are presumably going to be used systems since HP doesn't sell them anymore. So you need to consider not just how well these have run for their former owners for the last 5 years, but how well they will run for you for the next 5 years. For hardware purposes really the only things you need to be concerned about as computers age are disks, fans and electrolytic capacitors. Of these, the fans are by far the easiest to deal with since they come in standard sizes. You can usually find replacements from Delta, Sunon, or whoever made the fans in the first place. If ultra-reliability is a concern then you might consider putting in new fans before putting the units into service. Especially the CPU cooling fan, if there is one. You may be able to find the MTBF numbers for the fans, which will help you decide which ones should be preemptively replaced. In any case, before putting the machine into service (and with the power unplugged!) give each fan a spin with a finger or a blast of compressed air and verify that it moves smoothly and quietly. If the disks are more than a few years old you might prefer to install new ones before putting the machines into service. Again, this assumes reliability is a paramount concern. If a disk failure is not a show stopper then you can wait for failures before putting in new disks. The capacitors are the most difficult issue. I'm speaking generally here, since I don't have access to this specific hardware, but electrolytic caps are usually found in the power supply and scattered around the motherboard. Some machines have no electrolytic capacitors on the motherboard, and that may be true here as these were not run of the mill PCs. Electrolytic caps are difficult to test in situ, and the small ones on the motherboard are difficult to replace. About the best you can do is, before putting a used machine into service, to inspect all the capacitors carefully looking for bulging, leaking, or signs of past problems such as a stain next to a capacitor. Most failed capacitors are not kind enough to give any visual indications that they have left the building. My impression is that often when older machines just stop working, and it isn't the power supply, the cause is often a bad capacitor. Repair at that point is a costly option, but so may be finding replacements for these machines. Regards, David Mathog ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 09:35:08 -0700 (PDT) From: Bob Gezelter Subject: Re: Alphaserver/station reliability Message-ID: <1389e4c5-f618-45f3-be16-e09344ee1211@13g2000hsb.googlegroups.com> On Mar 28, 5:04 am, david.pear...@british-energy.com wrote: > This is a little bit of an open request but for the installation and > application I'm trying to justify it would really help me if I could > get some 'real' uptime data from the wider industry on how reliable > AlphaServers are. I know they have outstanding performance and are > used by half of wall street etc. but it would be great to know from > the real guys who have to keep these things running the real facts > behind the claims. > The two models I'm interested in are Alphaserver DS25 (a number of, > both single and dual processor) and an Alphastation DS15. All will be > running Tru64 Unix 5.1b. > Simple feedback such as "Typical application, date installed, MTBF/ > uptime/failure rate etc., whether frequently power-cycled or running > 24/7" would be great. Direct contact details to confirm this would > also be appreciated but not essential. > The reason for this request is to support the use of the Alphas in a > mission-critical role running a legacy app as part of the business > justification. > Posting to the forum preferred but mail to h...@pearson.in also accepted > if confidentiality required. David, At this instant, I do not have any of the DS-class boxes in-house. However, in addition to the comments that have already been made, I will make the observation that atmospheric dust can be a major issue. Here in New York City, I got a demonstration of how much ambient particulate there actually is. A few years ago, a DEC axp 3000 (early generation AlphaStation) failed. When I opened the cover, the volume of dust was impressive. A quick cleaning with an air compressor and a vacuum (along the lines of "computer peridontics" -- removing the accumulated dust collection), and the system was back in service. Of course, it is not recommended to let things get to that point. - Bob Gezelter, http://www.rlgsc.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:44:59 -0400 From: "Richard B. Gilbert" Subject: Re: Alphaserver/station reliability Message-ID: <47ED208B.1050606@comcast.net> Bob Gezelter wrote: > On Mar 28, 5:04 am, david.pear...@british-energy.com wrote: > >>This is a little bit of an open request but for the installation and >>application I'm trying to justify it would really help me if I could >>get some 'real' uptime data from the wider industry on how reliable >>AlphaServers are. I know they have outstanding performance and are >>used by half of wall street etc. but it would be great to know from >>the real guys who have to keep these things running the real facts >>behind the claims. >>The two models I'm interested in are Alphaserver DS25 (a number of, >>both single and dual processor) and an Alphastation DS15. All will be >>running Tru64 Unix 5.1b. >>Simple feedback such as "Typical application, date installed, MTBF/ >>uptime/failure rate etc., whether frequently power-cycled or running >>24/7" would be great. Direct contact details to confirm this would >>also be appreciated but not essential. >>The reason for this request is to support the use of the Alphas in a >>mission-critical role running a legacy app as part of the business >>justification. >>Posting to the forum preferred but mail to h...@pearson.in also accepted >>if confidentiality required. > > > David, > > At this instant, I do not have any of the DS-class boxes in-house. > However, in addition to the comments that have already been made, I > will make the observation that atmospheric dust can be a major issue. > > Here in New York City, I got a demonstration of how much ambient > particulate there actually is. A few years ago, a DEC axp 3000 (early > generation AlphaStation) failed. When I opened the cover, the volume > of dust was impressive. A quick cleaning with an air compressor and a > vacuum (along the lines of "computer peridontics" -- removing the > accumulated dust collection), and the system was back in service. > > Of course, it is not recommended to let things get to that point. > > - Bob Gezelter, http://www.rlgsc.com Dust bunnies are a common problem but they usually do not, or are not allowed to, interfere with system functionality. A computer does, however, act as a vacuum cleaner. Any dust it sucks up will likely remain inside the machine. A reasonably clean data center helps a lot. A thorough vacuum cleaning every couple of years is a good idea anyway. Just remove the cover, vacuum out the dust bunnies, and close it up again. With workstations used in an office environment, once a year is a good idea! I've never heard of a dust explosion inside a computer but there's a first time for everything! ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:32:08 -0400 From: JF Mezei Subject: Re: Alphaserver/station reliability Message-ID: <47ed2bd9$0$28131$c3e8da3@news.astraweb.com> CHAIN: DS10L : Up since 11-OCT-2007 Current CPU temp: 45° BIKE: DS10L : Up since 11-OCT-2007 Current CPU temp: 40° VELO: VAX4000-600: Up since 11-OCT-2007. AKA: Last power failure was 11-OCT All these machines were used when I got them. They have been up without any problems for a couple years now. Not a data centre. They are on self maintenance. So if you have machines in a real data centre with conditioned power supply and UPS, they should run for a very long time. Make sure fans work properly. If configured in a cluster, you can make it such that you can bring one node down with littel disruption to service, perform hardwarde and or software maintenance and bring that node back up to re-integrate into the cluster. OOPSL: forgot, you're not running VMS. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 11:28:36 +0000 (UTC) From: helbig@astro.multiCLOTHESvax.de (Phillip Helbig---remove CLOTHES to reply) Subject: Re: AlphaStation 255 dead Message-ID: In article , gartmann@nonsense.immunbio.mpg.de (Christoph Gartmann) writes: > today one of our AlphaStations 255 just crashed and refuses to boot anymore. > It powers up, the disks spin up but the monitor remains dark. There is no > beeping sound, just a green LED on the mainboard. We replaced the graphics card > with no luck, so what else could we try? Before I saw it was you, I was going to suggest checking the capacitor between mouse and SCSI connections on the motherboard. :-) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:58:24 +0000 (UTC) From: gartmann@nonsense.immunbio.mpg.de (Christoph Gartmann) Subject: Re: AlphaStation 255 dead Message-ID: In article , helbig@astro.multiCLOTHESvax.de (Phillip Helbig---remove CLOTHES to reply) writes: >In article , >gartmann@nonsense.immunbio.mpg.de (Christoph Gartmann) writes: > >> today one of our AlphaStations 255 just crashed and refuses to boot anymore. >> It powers up, the disks spin up but the monitor remains dark. There is no >> beeping sound, just a green LED on the mainboard. We replaced the graphics card >> with no luck, so what else could we try? > >Before I saw it was you, I was going to suggest checking the capacitor >between mouse and SCSI connections on the motherboard. :-) This is not the problem as the phenomenon is completely different. Meanwhile we know that it is the motherboard itself :-( Regards, Christoph Gartmann -- Max-Planck-Institut fuer Phone : +49-761-5108-464 Fax: -452 Immunbiologie Postfach 1169 Internet: gartmann@immunbio dot mpg dot de D-79011 Freiburg, Germany http://www.immunbio.mpg.de/home/menue.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 09:03:47 -0700 (PDT) From: tadamsmar Subject: ANA/DISK/SHAD not working properly Message-ID: I am getting discrepancies in SYS$ERRLOG.DMP But the HELP on /IGNORE says its suppose to ignore this file by default. VMS 7.2.3 ------------------------------ Date: 28 Mar 2008 13:07:12 -0500 From: brooks@cuebid.zko.hp.nospam (Rob Brooks) Subject: Re: ANA/DISK/SHAD not working properly Message-ID: tadamsmar writes: > I am getting discrepancies in SYS$ERRLOG.DMP > > But the HELP on /IGNORE says its suppose to ignore this file by > default. > > VMS 7.2.3 What is the EXACT command you are using? -- Rob Brooks MSL -- Nashua brooks!cuebid.zko.hp.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:31:20 -0700 (PDT) From: tadamsmar Subject: Re: ANA/DISK/SHAD not working properly Message-ID: <53f66f67-5b3a-4227-9b94-2d79a46bf253@b64g2000hsa.googlegroups.com> On Mar 28, 2:07=A0pm, bro...@cuebid.zko.hp.nospam (Rob Brooks) wrote: > tadamsmar writes: > > I am getting discrepancies in SYS$ERRLOG.DMP > > > But the HELP on /IGNORE says its suppose to ignore this file by > > default. > > > VMS 7.2.3 > > What is the EXACT command you are using? > > -- > > Rob Brooks =A0 =A0MSL -- Nashua =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 br= ooks!cuebid.zko.hp.com I have tried: ANAL/DISK/SHAD ANAL/DISK/SHAD/IGNORE ANAL/DISKS/SHAD/FILE all find a descrepancy in SYS$ERRLOG.DMP ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:33:01 -0700 (PDT) From: tadamsmar Subject: Re: ANA/DISK/SHAD not working properly Message-ID: <95ef02fb-68a6-4887-a7b4-8b30ddedb99d@b64g2000hsa.googlegroups.com> On Mar 28, 1:31=A0pm, tadamsmar wrote: > On Mar 28, 2:07=A0pm, bro...@cuebid.zko.hp.nospam (Rob Brooks) wrote: > > > tadamsmar writes: > > > I am getting discrepancies in SYS$ERRLOG.DMP > > > > But the HELP on /IGNORE says its suppose to ignore this file by > > > default. > > > > VMS 7.2.3 > > > What is the EXACT command you are using? > > > -- > > > Rob Brooks =A0 =A0MSL -- Nashua =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 = brooks!cuebid.zko.hp.com > > I have tried: > > ANAL/DISK/SHAD > > ANAL/DISK/SHAD/IGNORE > > ANAL/DISKS/SHAD/FILE > > all find a descrepancy in SYS$ERRLOG.DMP With DSA0: on the command to be EXACT. ANAL/DISK/SHAD DSA0: etc. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 06:53:46 -0500 (CDT) From: sms@antinode.org (Steven M. Schweda) Subject: GnuPG 1.4.9 for VMS Message-ID: <08032806534643_2020CE0A@antinode.org> GnuPG 1.4.9 exists now. Looks like a minor bug-fix release. I made no new VMS-specific changes: http://antinode.org/dec/sw/gnupg.html Now that I have my own IA64 system, where I can give myself PSWAPM (Thanks again!), the IA64 section of the kit includes PREPARED.STAMP. That's about as exciting as it sounds. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Steven M. Schweda sms@antinode-org 382 South Warwick Street (+1) 651-699-9818 Saint Paul MN 55105-2547 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 06:10:28 GMT From: John Santos Subject: Re: Hobbyist VMS CD and AlphaStation 200 Message-ID: david20@alpha1.mdx.ac.uk wrote: > In article <47EBC406.2020002@comcast.net>, "Richard B. Gilbert" writes: > >>The-Grue@hotmail.com wrote: >> >>>Hi! I have an AlphaStation 200 and I am wondering if the new Hobbyist >>>Alpha VMS CD will work with my Alpha? Or, as an alternative, does >>>anyone in the Seattle area have media that I could borrow to do the >>>install if it requires an older version? Thanks! >>> >>>James T. Sprinkle (The Grue) >>>http://www.myspace.com/jamestsprinkle >> >> >>Check the Software Product Description. It should tell you what >>hardware is supported. Hardware that is not supported MAY work anyway! >> > > > The AlphaStation 200 is supported with VMS 8.3 see > > http://h71000.www7.hp.com/openvms831hquickspecs.pdf > > page 43 > > VMS has a long tradition of continuing to support the latest OS versions on > older hardware. > > Only a handfull of Alpha systems have had support dropped with more recent OS > versions > > Dec 2000 Models 300/500 > Tadpole AlphaBook 1 > > only supported upto and including VMS 7.3-1 > > > DEC 4000 Models 600/700 > DEC 10000 Model 600 > Alphaserver 400 > Alphaserver 2000 > I have an $ sho cpu/full System: NOMAR, AlphaServer 2000 4/275 SMP execlet = 3 : Enabled : Streamlined. Config tree = None Primary CPU = 0 HWRPB CPUs = 4 Page Size = 8192 Revision Code = Serial Number = NI649xxxxxxx Default CPU Capabilities: System: QUORUM RUN Default Process Capabilities: System: QUORUM RUN CPU 0 State: RUN CPUDB: 82018000 Handle: * None * Process: * None * Capabilities: System: PRIMARY QUORUM RUN RAD0 Slot Context: 853B2180 CPU - State..........: RC, PA, PP, CV, PV, PMV, PL Type...........: EV45 (21064A), Pass 1.1 Speed..........: 275 Mhz Variation......: VAX FP, IEEE FP, Primary Eligible Serial Number..: Revision.......: Halt Request...: 0 Software Comp..: 2.1 PALCODE - Revision Code..: 5.56-01 Compatibility..: 7 Max Shared CPUs: 4 Memory Space..: Physical = 00000000.00000000 Length = 0 Scratch Space..: Physical = 00000000.00000000 Length = 0 Bindings: * None * Fastpath: * None * Features: Autostart - Enabled. Fastpath - Selection enabled as Preferred CPU. CPU 1 State: RUN CPUDB: 8205F980 Handle: * None * Process: John_RTA1 PID: 0000011B Capabilities: System: QUORUM RUN RAD0 Slot Context: 853B2400 CPU - State..........: RC, PA, PP, CV, PV, PMV, PL Type...........: EV45 (21064A), Pass 1.1 Speed..........: 275 Mhz Variation......: VAX FP, IEEE FP Serial Number..: Revision.......: Halt Request...: 0 Software Comp..: 2.1 PALCODE - Revision Code..: 5.56-01 Compatibility..: 7 Max Shared CPUs: 4 Memory Space..: Physical = 00000000.00000000 Length = 0 Scratch Space..: Physical = 00000000.00000000 Length = 0 Bindings: * None * Fastpath: EWA0 BG0 Features: Autostart - Enabled. Fastpath - Selection enabled as Preferred CPU. > only supported upto and including VMS 8.2 > Running on VMS V8.3. No problems. I had no idea it was not supported. (This is a demo system running under DSPP licenses, other the the VMS base license, so has no support contract.) > > > David Webb > Security team leader > CCSS > Middlesex University -- John Santos Evans Griffiths & Hart, Inc. 781-861-0670 ext 539 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 06:16:48 GMT From: John Santos Subject: Re: Hobbyist VMS CD and AlphaStation 200 Message-ID: pfaut wrote: > On Mar 27, 11:52 am, The-G...@hotmail.com wrote: > >>Hi! I have an AlphaStation 200 and I am wondering if the new Hobbyist >>Alpha VMS CD will work with my Alpha? Or, as an alternative, does >>anyone in the Seattle area have media that I could borrow to do the >>install if it requires an older version? Thanks! >> >>James T. Sprinkle (The Grue)http://www.myspace.com/jamestsprinkle > > > I have an AlphaStation 200 4/233 that I just installed from the latest > hobbyist kit. It works fine but you'll want as large a disk as you > can find to install it on. It will probably take the bulk of a RZ28 > once you get some products installed on it. My system has an RZ29 for > the system disk. I have an AlphaStation 200 4/100 at home (hobbyist) with a pair of RZ26 (1 GB). It is painfully tight. I had to delete the dump file to have enough room to install VMS83A_UPDATE-V0600 yesterday. I plan to install an RZ29 as soon as I can get around to it. I installed VMS from the real V8.3 CDs borrowed from work, not from the hobbyist CDs, so I can't guarantee that would work. -- John Santos Evans Griffiths & Hart, Inc. 781-861-0670 ext 539 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 06:46:06 -0700 From: "Tom Linden" Subject: Re: Hobbyist VMS CD and AlphaStation 200 Message-ID: On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 23:10:28 -0700, John Santos wrote: > Type...........: EV45 (21064A), Pass 1.1 That is old! Count the number of instructions to do c =3D a + b; /* all 16 bit integers */ -- = PL/I for OpenVMS www.kednos.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 08:33:54 -0700 (PDT) From: Rich Jordan Subject: Re: Hobbyist VMS CD and AlphaStation 200 Message-ID: <6f97e850-424d-4ee0-8adf-dfc346a599c8@m34g2000hsc.googlegroups.com> On Mar 27, 2:32 pm, s...@antinode.org (Steven M. Schweda) wrote: > From: pfaut > > > On Mar 27, 1:03 pm, s...@antinode.org (Steven M. Schweda) wrote: > > > If a 4GB disk (RZ29) is "as large a disk as you can find", then > > > you're not looking in the right places. I replaced all my 9GB drives > > > with 18GB (or larger) drives years ago, although there may still be a > > > 9GB drive in a seldom-used AlpSta 200 4/233. > > > The system supports narrow SCSI with a 50 pin cable. The largest > > drives I've seen with this interface are about 9GB. If you want to > > put larger drives on it, I think you have to add a better SCSI > > interface. > > I think that many commonly available drives having SCA interfaces > (mated with suitable SCA-to-50-pin adapters) have worked quite well for > me. I have a Genuine DEC (Fujitsu) RZ1CF-CF (4GB) in one system, and a > Genuine IBM (Seagate) ST39103LC ("IBM-PSG-ST39103LC") in another. I'd > bet a buck that I can get a 36GB drive to work in there, too, if I don't > have to worry about keeping it cool. > > And, if you have a free PCI slot, I believe that a generic Qlogic > looks-like-a-genuine-KZPBA-CA/CX will work just fine in one of these > things, and they have 68-pin connectors, too. > > You need to broaden your outlook on junk. (All my disk drive are > eBay junk.) You're missing too many exciting opportunities (some of > which may even be functional). > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Steven M. Schweda sms@antinode-org > 382 South Warwick Street (+1) 651-699-9818 > Saint Paul MN 55105-2547 Confirmed on the KZPBA-CA/CX. The single ended (not differential) controller works just fine in my AS200. I've been running an IBM Ultra-wide 9GB drive in it for a long time. However I could not run two drives in my box; the lower drive cable presses the memory DIMMs and it really does get a little too warm in there. Rich ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 05:59:53 GMT From: John Santos Subject: Re: RX3600 and VMS 8.3 Message-ID: Jeremy Begg wrote: > Hi Tom, > >> On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:34:53 -0700, Jeremy Begg >> wrote: >> >>> Make sure you install OpenVMS V8.3-1H1 on your Integrity box; >>> amongst other things it gives you USB 2.0 so a range of cheap >>> storage peripherals become an option. (The hardware of course has >>> alwways supported USB 2.0 devices but OpenVMS restricted it to >>> low-speed operation.) >>> >> >> Are there any reasonable backup devices that operate over the USB >> interface? > > > A number of vendors, including HP, make DAT tape drives with USB 2.0 > interfaces. > > You could also look at Iomega's REV drive, which uses removable disk > cartridges of 35GB or 70GB capacity. I've got old one with a Firewire > interface here on a Mac and it seems to work quite well. > > And of course there is a wide choice of external hard drives by > Seagate/Maxtor, Western Digital, Hitachi, LaCie, etc. > > Regards, > > Jeremy Begg > (replace nospam by jeremy to reply via email) > We back up our development cluster (3 Alpha, 1 VAX, 1 Itanium) to external USB hard disks. About 20 disks, many quite old and small, it all fits easily on a single 300GB(?) disk. I think we have about 3 of them we cycle through. It isn't particularly fast, but we run incrementals overnight, and image backups occasionally on weekends, so time doesn't matter much. (Since it is a development cluster, not production, we don't worry too much about about online backups! See other thread!) We have system disk backups on 8mm (Alpha server 1200), DAT (Alpha 3000-300) and TK70(!) (VAX 4000-200), so we can recover if all else fails. We did lose the system disk on the VAX and successfully recovered it from the USB backups last fall. It was fairly complicated and took a while, but we don't use the VAX much, so no one minded. The VAX CPU, no longer on maintenance, had died. Got a "new" one on Ebay, installed it (after the system had been down a few weeks), and a few minutes after booting, it crashed and wouldn't reboot. It took a while to determine that it was in fact the system disk and not the new CPU that died, and, mostly to test the CPU because I didn't want to risk the possibly okay system disk, I installed VMS V7.3 on an old scratch disk. It installed and booted up okay, and I could verify all the other disks were fine, but the system disk (RZ29 on a HSD10 DSSI-SCSI controller) was really and truly dead, so I replaced it and restored the system disk via the NI cluster from the Itanium's USB external disk, then booted the replacement RZ29. Without the cluster configured on the spare disk, I probably would have had to restore the TK70 system disk backup, but I think it turned out to be easier and quicker to do a fresh install from CD and manually reconfigure the cluster. Just had to get it able to join and see the MSCP-served disks from the rest of the cluster. I'm not sure if the HSD presents the same disk geometry to the host as a direct-connect SCSI disk would have, but if so, another option would have been to insert a "new" RZ29 into a slot on one of the Alphas and then restore the USB backups (image plus incrementals) to it, then dismount and install in the HSD10 shelf. I think the HSD steals some blocks for metadata. If at the end, ana/disk/repair would probably fix it. If at the beginning or somewhere in the middle, the disk would look completely bonkers on the VAX. -- John Santos Evans Griffiths & Hart, Inc. 781-861-0670 ext 539 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 08:22:32 -0400 From: "Richard B. Gilbert" Subject: Re: RX3600 and VMS 8.3 Message-ID: <47ECE308.3030403@comcast.net> John Santos wrote: > Jeremy Begg wrote: > >> Hi Tom, >> >>> On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:34:53 -0700, Jeremy Begg >>> wrote: >>> >>>> Make sure you install OpenVMS V8.3-1H1 on your Integrity box; >>>> amongst other things it gives you USB 2.0 so a range of cheap >>>> storage peripherals become an option. (The hardware of course has >>>> alwways supported USB 2.0 devices but OpenVMS restricted it to >>>> low-speed operation.) >>>> >>> >>> Are there any reasonable backup devices that operate over the USB >>> interface? >> >> >> >> A number of vendors, including HP, make DAT tape drives with USB 2.0 >> interfaces. >> >> You could also look at Iomega's REV drive, which uses removable disk >> cartridges of 35GB or 70GB capacity. I've got old one with a Firewire >> interface here on a Mac and it seems to work quite well. >> >> And of course there is a wide choice of external hard drives by >> Seagate/Maxtor, Western Digital, Hitachi, LaCie, etc. >> >> Regards, >> >> Jeremy Begg >> (replace nospam by jeremy to reply via email) >> > > We back up our development cluster (3 Alpha, 1 VAX, 1 Itanium) to > external USB hard disks. About 20 disks, many quite old and small, > it all fits easily on a single 300GB(?) disk. I think we have > about 3 of them we cycle through. It isn't particularly fast, but > we run incrementals overnight, and image backups occasionally on > weekends, so time doesn't matter much. (Since it is a development > cluster, not production, we don't worry too much about about online > backups! See other thread!) > > We have system disk backups on 8mm (Alpha server 1200), DAT (Alpha > 3000-300) and TK70(!) (VAX 4000-200), so we can recover if all > else fails. Have you tested restoring from 8mm? 8mm may have improved since I last used it but my experience was that it was unreliable even with so called "data grade" tapes. YMMV! ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:11:12 -0400 From: Forrest Kenney Subject: Re: RX3600 and VMS 8.3 Message-ID: <47ED18A0.F482E444@hp.com> Before anyone tries this OpenVMS does not support USB DAT drives. If you plug one in, it will look enough like a USB disk to OpenVMS that we will bind it to the USB disk driver. It should not crash your system but it also will not work. We have no plans to support USB DAT drives. Forrest Kenney OpenVMS group Jeremy Begg wrote: > > Hi Tom, > > > On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:34:53 -0700, Jeremy Begg wrote: > > > >> Make sure you install OpenVMS V8.3-1H1 on your Integrity box; amongst > >> other things it gives you USB 2.0 so a range of cheap storage > >> peripherals become an option. (The hardware of course has alwways > >> supported USB 2.0 devices but OpenVMS restricted it to low-speed > >> operation.) > >> > > > > Are there any reasonable backup devices that operate over the USB > > interface? > > A number of vendors, including HP, make DAT tape drives with USB 2.0 interfaces. > > You could also look at Iomega's REV drive, which uses removable disk > cartridges of 35GB or 70GB capacity. I've got old one with a Firewire > interface here on a Mac and it seems to work quite well. > > And of course there is a wide choice of external hard drives by > Seagate/Maxtor, Western Digital, Hitachi, LaCie, etc. > > Regards, > > Jeremy Begg > (replace nospam by jeremy to reply via email) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:29:37 +0000 (UTC) From: david20@alpha1.mdx.ac.uk Subject: Re: scripting a telnet session to VMS Message-ID: In article <47ec1994$0$90276$14726298@news.sunsite.dk>, =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Arne_Vajh=F8j?= writes: >VAXman- @SendSpamHere.ORG wrote: >> Cygwin is a Weendoze terminal emulator? > >Cygwin is a *nix shell + utilities + libraries for Windows. > > > I can't believe you'd be so lax >> with system security to have username and password to a VMS machine hard- >> coded into a script that any hacker who gets into the Weendoze box could >> exploit. > >The risk of hacking is probably lower than for most OS'es. > Well I suppose you could argue that there are so many unpatched badly mismanaged Windows systems out there that you have to be unlucky for someone to pick on your machine to hack into. >It is the risk of viruses that are for practical purposes >a Windows only thing. Many viruses open backdoors for hackers to later exploit. David Webb Security team leader CCSS Middlesex University > >Arne ------------------------------ Date: 28 Mar 2008 15:26:54 GMT From: VAXman- @SendSpamHere.ORG Subject: Re: scripting a telnet session to VMS Message-ID: <47ed0e3e$0$5615$607ed4bc@cv.net> In article , david20@alpha1.mdx.ac.uk writes: >In article <47ec1994$0$90276$14726298@news.sunsite.dk>, =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Arne_Vajh=F8j?= writes: >>VAXman- @SendSpamHere.ORG wrote: >>> Cygwin is a Weendoze terminal emulator? >> >>Cygwin is a *nix shell + utilities + libraries for Windows. >> >> > I can't believe you'd be so lax >>> with system security to have username and password to a VMS machine hard- >>> coded into a script that any hacker who gets into the Weendoze box could >>> exploit. >> >>The risk of hacking is probably lower than for most OS'es. >> >Well I suppose you could argue that there are so many unpatched badly mismanaged >Windows systems out there that you have to be unlucky for someone to pick on >your machine to hack into. > >>It is the risk of viruses that are for practical purposes >>a Windows only thing. > >Many viruses open backdoors for hackers to later exploit. Most of the attempts on my systems were traced back to PeeCees being run as remote controlled rogues unbeknownst to the hapless owners of said inferior technology. -- VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)COM "Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?" http://tmesis.com/drat.html ------------------------------ Date: 28 Mar 2008 12:57:15 -0600 From: koehler@eisner.nospam.encompasserve.org (Bob Koehler) Subject: Re: scripting a telnet session to VMS Message-ID: In article <47ec3f6d$0$25048$607ed4bc@cv.net>, VAXman- @SendSpamHere.ORG writes: >>C# is a nice language. > > I thougth it was just a black key. > I can find C# on my flute, but no black keys. ------------------------------ End of INFO-VAX 2008.176 ************************