COMP.SYS.IBM.PC.RT: - AOS - Frequently Asked Questions
Mark Whetzel
Last-modified: Fri Jul 1 07:08:57 CDT 1994
Version: 1.5
Frequently Asked Questions for: AOS on IBM RT systems
Posted monthy to comp.sys.ibm.pc.rt.
This is the third of three FAQ's dedicated to the IBM RT processor.
This FAQ is dedicated to use of AOS (Academic Operating System),
running on the IBM RISC processor known as the RT. The RT is known
also as an IBM model 6150 and IBM model 6151 machine.
The following informational items are correct to the best of my knowldge.
Additions, corrections or suggestions are gladly accepted. I want this
list to be a dynamic article, with input by our readership.
All of the information in this list is specific for the IBM AOS.
Unfortunately, I do not have access to any RT's that run AOS. For problems
with the information presented here, please contact me and I will try
to contact the submitter of the information.
Discussions on AOS usage are generally handled in comp.sys.ibm.pc.rt.
However, as AOS is a BSD derived port, so some discussions on its usage
have also appeared in "comp.bugs.4bsd.ucb-fixes".
Over time, RT speific questions have migrated to being discussed in the
newsgroup comp.sys.ibm.pc.rt.
There are other FAQ lists I post covering different aspects of RT usage.
One of the lists concerns questions dealing with the hardware aspects of the
RT processor, common to all supported operating systems. Also included in the
hardware FAQ is a little history and backround on the IBM RT, its orgins,
and some notes on its folklore. The other FAQ I post covers the RT running
the AIX V2 operating system. Those FAQ's are also posted to this group with
the same frequency.
This list is organized as a digest for newsreaders that can handle it.
Each "digest page" generally covers one topic or Question/Answer.
You can jump to a particular topic by searching for that index key
(such as S.1) in position 1 of this list.
Direct inclusions of information by some submitters is framed with a
line of "==**==**" repeating across the page.
In order to build up a better FAQ base, E-mail your contributions.
I will respond back to you via mail on your submission.
This FAQ is a work in progress. Some entries are incomplete, and other
information may be missing. Places with ????? denote areas needing
more work or information. Areas that I have made personal comments
on are enclosed in square brackets [].
Input is always welcomed for making this a better list.
Style, grammar and spelling notes are also welcome. Sometimes
it seems that my brain operates faster than my fingers can type. :-)
This FAQ is archived by the news.answers automatic archivers.
The archive file names for ALL the RT FAQ files are:
General non-OS specific RT hardware ....... ibm-rt-faq/hardware
RT AIX FAQ Index, notes (this posting)..... ibm-rt-faq/aix-v2/index
RT AIX OS specific harware issues ......... ibm-rt-faq/aix-v2/os-hardware/part1
RT AIX software issues and usage .......... ibm-rt-faq/aix-v2/software/part1
ibm-rt-faq/aix-v2/software/part2
ibm-rt-faq/aix-v2/software/part3
RT AIX common questions and answers ....... ibm-rt-faq/aix-v2/misc/part1
ibm-rt-faq/aix-v2/misc/part2
RT AIX Porting software notes ............. ibm-rt-faq/aix-v2/porting/part1
RT AOS topics have the archive name........ ibm-rt-faq/aos
One of the many archive sites is ftp.uu.net, filed as:
~/usenet/news.answers/ibm-rt-faq/aos
For AIX RT submissions E-mail to: aix...@antimatr.hou.tx.us
For AOS RT submissions E-mail to: aos...@antimatr.hou.tx.us
For MACH RT submissions E-mail to: mac...@antimatr.hou.tx.us
For general Q&A submissions (hardware and other stuff) E-mail to:
faq...@antimatr.hou.tx.us
Other comments and correctons should be sent to the author:
Mark Whetzel
DOMAIN addr: ma...@antimatr.hou.tx.us
BANG address: ..!uhnix1!lobster!antimatr!markw
Daytime work number 8AM-5PM M-F CST VOICE: (713) 963-2544
___--___---___--___---___--___---___--___---___--___---___--___---___--___
Changes for this June posting:
2) Added new A.15 question about AOS memory reports.
1) Added new A.16 question about what other OS are available for RT.
___--___---___--___---___--___---___--___---___--___---___--___---___--___
------------------------------
Index to the RT FAQ family of postings.
Note: The entire hardware index is entered here.
The answers in the hardware FAQ for these topics give the common
non-OS specifc answers. Topics with an astrisk have been given more
specific information in this FAQ on that area as related to the
AOS operating system usage. AIX Subtopic listings are in the AIX
FAQ. Section 5 is unique to this FAQ and covers only AOS topics.
1.0 General Hardware questions with AOS specific extensions.
* H.1 What is an IBM RT and some of its history?
H.2 What types of processors were made?
H.3 How fast are the different models of RT?
H.4 Can you upgrade from one processor type to another?
H.5 How can I tell what kind of processor type is installed?
H.6 Where can I get parts for RT systems?
* H.7 What adapter cards are supported in an RT running AOS.
H.8 What IBM perhiperials were available?
H.9 What cables are available?
H.10 What is the pinout of the 6150 serial ports?
How do I make my own RS232 cables compatible for use with AOS.
H.11 What is the pinout of the 6150/6151 Mouse/Tablet port?
H.12 What is the pinout of the 6150/6151 keyboard port?
H.13 Can I use a Non-RT keyboard on an RT?
* H.14 How do I get a parallel printer attached to an RT?
H.15 What are the switches on the Megapel adpater for?
Technicial information on Megapel adapter and display.
H.16 AT Co-Processor information.
H.17 How can I get the maximum data on a 6157 tape drive?
(Also covers different types of tapes to use.
flags for 'backup' and 'tar'.)
* H.18 What hard disks can be used in an RT running AOS?
What value is the ESDI terminator resistor for an E70 drive?
Switch settings and meanings for E70, E114 and E310 drives.
H.19 What is the difference between an R70 and an E70 disk drive?
H.20 What are the characteristics of the various IBM RT disk drives?
* H.21 What SCSI devices can be attached?
* H.22 What do the LED codes mean during power on.
* H.23 What does LED code xx mean (during AOS runtime)?
H.24 What is different about the RT I/O slots.
What cards will run in slot 8.
H.25 How do I run diagnostics.
* H.26 Serial port cards maximums and limitations.
H.27 What are the switches on the 3278/79 adpater?
H.28 Jumper location and information on AT Fixed disk adapter.
H.29 Jumper locations and information on ESDI adapter.
H.30 Jumper locations and information on EESDI adapter.
H.31 Jumper locations and information on the 'PORTED' EESDI adapter.
H.32 IBM 9332 Disk drive information.
H.33 Pin connections and technical information on 6153, 6154 and
6155 monitors.
H.34 IBM 5081 Display technical information.
H.35 Jumpers and documentation on the Ungermann-Bass/IBM
ethernet board.
H.36 RT Token Ring card jumpers and addressing.
H.37 What are the differences between the 032, APC and EAPC
processor types.
H.38 Speed and capability of the Floating Point options for
the RT computers. FPA, MC68881, AFPA.
H.39 Where can I obtain a replacement battery?
2.0 AIX Specific Software issues.
3.0 AIX Specific question and answers.
4.0 AIX Specific Porting questions.
5.0 AOS Specific Software issues.
A.1 What is AOS?
A.2 What is the difference between AOS and AIX?
A.3 How do I get AOS?
A.4 What is the current version of AOS?
A.5 What patches are available for AOS? How do I get them?
A.6 What are the different C compilers for AOS?
A.7 How do I make new SAUTIL and Installation Miniroot diskettes?
A.8 Where can I find an AOS device driver for:
A.9 Where can I get X11R5 for AOS and how do I get it running?
A.10 What other operating systems are available for the RT?
A.11 Using non-IBM ESDI drives with AOS.
A.12 Using a Non-IBM SCSI adapter with AOS.
A.13 Modifying AOS to support higher serial port speeds.
A.14 Creating boot records on ESDI disk drives.
A.15 How is memory reported/used with AOS.
A.16 What other Operating Systems are available for the RT.
9.0 Credits, Acknolowgements, and other information.
X.1 Acknolowegements and copyright information.
X.4 Credits for AOS.
------------------------------
H.1 - What is an IBM RT?
More about this RT's history and information may be found in the
RT hardware FAQ. under this section heading. A partial summary of
that entry is included here.
The IBM RT is a RISC based processor designed by IBM, and unique to
that platform. The RT was first announced by IBM in January 1986.
The processor is generally refered to as 032 processor. In some
documentation it is also refered to as the 'ROMP' processor.
The RT PC Advanced System Processor has a 32-bit Reduced Instruction
Set Computer (RISC) architecture developed by IBM and implemented in
a 1-micron CMOS technology. It has sixteen 32-bit general purpose
registers and uses 32-bit addresses and data paths. The
microprocessor is controlled by 118 simple 2- and 4-byte
instructions. An IBM-developed advanced memory management chip
provides virtual memory address translation functions and memory
control. It provides a 40-bit virtual address structure capable of
addressing one terabyte of virtual memory. Internal processor
organization enables the CPU to execute most register-to-register
instructions in a single cycle.
The model 115/125 RT PC with their FAST ECC memory, is capable
of providing the processor with a 32-bit word of data plus ECC each
100 nsec cycle. This memory consists of 40 1-megabit IBM RAM chips.
These chips are the same megabit technology used in the IBM 3090.
------------------------------
H.7 - What adapter cards are supported in an RT running AOS.
The IBM RT has what is called in the industry a ISA bus. Based on
the original IBM PC AT bus in design, the RT has 8 I/O slots in the
tower (6150 model), and 6 slots in the desktop (6151 model).
Slot 3 and 6 on the tower model and slot 1 on the desktop models are
eight bit style slots. Slot 8 on the tower and slot 5 on the desktop
model are wired slightly different than standard. See the hardware
FAQ for more information.
All adapters listed in this section on the hardware FAQ are
supported by AOS. Other adapter cards can be used with the proper
device drivers configured into the system.
Technically, any adapter that conforms to ISA standards would work
provided there are appropiate device drivers AND no conflicts with
existing adapters registers and bus addresses.
The RT diagnostics program disks IBM supplied are unfortunately
rather particular about OEM cards that attempt to emulate IBM adapters.
This can sometimes lead to problems running diagnostics, where the AOS
system will otherwise run fine under regular operation.
Unknown adapter cards will be ignored.
[ More needed on AOS support of OEM interface boards. - MW ]
------------------------------
H.18 - What hard disks can be used in an RT with AOS?
At this time the hardware FAQ lists all known drives supported
by IBM with an RT running AOS.
To use a NON-IBM ESDI drive on an RT with the IBM Extended ESDI
controller, it will need a feature called a 'short index pulse'.
More notes on AOS drive useage can be found in section A.11 and A.14.
[ Are there any other disk drive hardware problems unique to AOS? -MW ]
------------------------------
H.21 - What SCSI devices can be attached?
The regular IBM suported SCSI adapter is slightly different from most
workstation adapters. IBM chose to implement their adapter with the
'Differential Driver/Receiver option' and with the 'Alternative 2
connector' as per the proposed ANSI standard SCSI-1. The SCSI
interface conforms to (then) proposed ANSI standard X3T9.2/82-2
Revsion 17B.
Two wires are used for each signal lead in a push-pull signaling
method also called 'differential-ended'. What this boils down to
is that the IBM SCSI card is electriclly incompatible with a lot
of the off-the-shelf SCSI drives. Most drives for other workstations
and PC's use a 'single-ended' SCSI implementation.
IBM officially supported only one device attached to the SCSI
interface card, the IBM 9332 'Athens' disk drive.
Using a Non-IBM SCSI adapter and single ended disks is possible with
AOS using a different SCSI card, and additional device driver support.
See question A.12 on how to add this support.
[ More information is needed on AOS support of SCSI disks. - mw ]
------------------------------
H.22 - What do the LED codes mean during power on.
The initial IPL sequence of LED codes are listed in the hardware FAQ.
After LED code 22 and 26 is displayed control is passed to the
loadable boot code. When AOS is starting up, a 00 is placed in
the display.
------------------------------
H.23 - What does LED code xx mean (during AOS runtime)?
==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**
Submitter: Christopher J. Vandemore
Subject: AOS LED Numbers
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1993 22:31:11 -0800
The FAQ asks about run-time LED codes. What follows is a
direct transcription from "IBM Academic Information Systems
4.3 for the IBM RT PC Volume II" (C) IBM 1985, 1986, 1987.
LED Numbers
The LED displays show the following numbers during a boot
of the 4.3/RT system:
o 00,01,03,09,10,14,15,16,17 - part of the internal power-on
sequence.
o 22-29 - booting from diskette.
o 22, with diskette drive light flashing - not an IBM RT PC boot
diskette in drive, or drive door not closed.
o 94 - kernel stack overflow.
o 96 - unsupported memory configuration.
o 98 - /boot not found on hd0a.
o 99 - key is in locked position.
If no numbers are displayed, the system has been halted by
/etc/halt.
When 4.3/RT is running, the LED display shows the "load average"
for the system. A lightly loaded system will display numbers
ranging between "00" and "15" (meaning 0.0 and 1.5). A heavily
loaded system will display numbers greater than "50" (5.0).
==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**
Submitter: Mark Dapoz Bergen Scientific Centre, Bergen, NORWAY
>I'm wondering if anyone using BSD knows what a blinking 89 on the
>LED means on bootup.....???
Sure, from led.h:
/* kernel warning LED value */
#define LED_NO_SCREEN 0x99 /* no output screen found */
/* non-recoverable kernel errors */
#define LED_BAD_SP 0x94 /* bad kernel stack */
#define LED_INT_SP 0x96 /* bad kernel stack (interrupt) */
#define LED_MEM_CONFIG 0x97 /* invalid memory configuration */
/* standalone errors */
#define LED_NOBOOT 0x98 /* bootxx could not find /boot */
/* other known values for the led's (from ROS) */
#define LED_KEY_LOCK 0x99 /* key is in lock position */
#define LED_MC_CHECK 0x88 /* machine check during machine check ?? */
#define LED_PC_CHECK 0x89 /* program check during program check ?? */
==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**
------------------------------
H.26 - Serial port cards maximums and limitations.
With special kernel modifications, AOS can exceed the rated 19.2Kb
speeds published by IBM.
More details on this can be found in section A.13.
------------------------------
5.0 AOS Specific Software questions
A.1 - What is AOS?
Submitter: Keith Moore date: Mon Apr 12 17:14:45 1993
The IBM Academic Operating System is a port of 4.3 BSD to the RT,
with a few extra features (like NFS) that weren't included in 4.3
BSD. It was only distributed to universities as an alternative
to AIX.
------------------------------
A.2 - What is the difference between AOS and AIX?
AOS is a port of BSD 4.3 directly to the RT hardware, whereas AIX V2
is a SYSV base system with BSD 4.2 merged and additional BSD 4.3
support added later. AOS does not require VRM, as it is in
direct control of the hardware.
[ More needed on the differences. - MW ]
------------------------------
A.3 - How do I get AOS?
==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**
Submitter: Keith Moore date: Mon Apr 12 17:14:45 1993
You can't. At least, not unless the organization you work for
is already one of the licensees...perhaps in another department.
Then you just have to find them and convince them to give you the
tapes and the manuals.
==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**
------------------------------
A.4 - What is the current version of AOS?
The last release was dated December 22, 1988.
NOTE: More is needed on information related to AOS releases and
patches.
[ I'm leaving this following query intact in this section in hopes of
discovering more about other releases of AOS and information. - MW ]
==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**
From: dav...@engin.umich.edu (David Snearline)
Subject: Dec. 1990 AOS release for 6152
Date: 7 Sep 93 02:25:39 GMT
Does anyone have the Dec. 1990 release tape of AOS for the 6152 RT
(crossbow in PS/2 Academic System)?
I currently have the Sep. 1988 release, and am looking for the later
release so as to put multiple crossbow cards in a single [ 6152 ] RT.
I've checked around here, but the Dec. 1990 AOS we have left is for
the 6150 style RTs -- no PC code. No idea where the 6152 tape went...
==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**
------------------------------
A.5 - What patches are available for AOS? How do I get them?
==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**
Submitter: Keith Moore date: Mon Apr 12 17:14:45 1993
Several patches were made available by IBM through their uucp
machine 'ibmsupt', and later on, to the Usenet newsgroup
comp.sys.ibm.pc.rt. (Sorry, 'ibmsupt' was shut down a long
time ago.)
ftp.cis.ufl.edu (128.227.100.252) replaces bikini.cis.ufl.edu (now
out of service) and has most of the "official" patches, along with a
few other files, available for anonymous ftp in the directory
"ibm-rt-fixes". See the file "Index" in that directory for descriptions.
Also check out jim.ultra.nyu.edu, directory "rtfixes". This
contains official patches to AOS plus several other random files
full of useful info.
Also, several 4.3BSD patches were posted to the Usenet newsgroup
"comp.bugs.4bsd.ucb-fixes"; these are available for anonymous ftp
from vangogh.cs.berkeley.edu, directory 4.3/ucb-fixes, and also
from several other sites.
==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**
------------------------------
A.6 - What are the different C compilers for AOS?
==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**
Submitter: Keith Moore date: Mon Apr 12 17:14:45 1993
Three different C compilers came with the Dec 1988 release of AOS:
"hc" is the MetaWare High C compiler, version 2.1n.
"hc1.4" is an old version of MetaWare High C.
"pcc" is a port of the Portable C Compiler (dating back to Unix V7
days) to the RT. It does not generate very good code, but is
sometimes useful to work around hc bugs.
Each of the compilers is useful sometimes; none of them suffices
for every occasion. The MetaWare compilers generate reasonably good
code, but are notorious for optimizer bugs. They recognize a language
which is almost, but not quite, ANSI C. (One of its worst sins is
#defining __STDC__ when the language it accepts is not ANSI C;
adding a -U__STDC__ to the command line cures all kinds of evil.)
Pcc is sometimes good for compiling old code that the MetaWare compiler
barfs on, when you don't care about performance.
In fact there were at least three versions of hc2.1 available at
various times...hc2.1n was supplied with the Dec 1988 system, and
hc2.1s and hc2.1y were available via uucp from 'ibmsupt' later on.
Hc2.1n is buggy enough that you'll have trouble, say, building a
working copy of X11R? with it. Unfortunately, even the latest of
these (hc2.1y) had bugs in code generation which caused kernels
based on this compiler to break. In general, however, you can use
hc2.1s or hc2.1y.
To find out what version you have, compile a small program and look
at the resulting .o file. Like so:
echo 'main() {printf ("hello,world\n"); }' > foo.c
cc -c foo.c
nm foo.o | grep hc2.1
...and you'll see something like
00000000 A .oVhc2.1y
Here's a small hack that allows me to use these interchangably:
===========================================================
#include <stdio.h>
/*
* hc-hack.c
*
* This program allows you to install several different versions
* of hc and run each of them by name (e.g. "hc2.1s").
* This is useful because no version of hc yet produced compiles
* everything without significant brain damage.
* To install, copy this binary to somewhere in the
* search path (perhaps "/usr/bin"), and create a link for every
* version of hc you have (example: "ln hc-hack hc2.1n").
* Then create a directory for each version of hc in /usr/lib
* (example: /usr/lib/hc2.1n), and place the appropriate versions
* of hc1com and hc2com in that directory.
* One of these directories will probably contain links to the copies
* of hc[12]com in /usr/lib, which hc uses by default.
*
* Now you can run hc2.1n, hc2.1s, or hc2.1y as you need to.
*/
main (argc, argv)
char **argv;
{
char *basename;
char *strrchr (char *, char);
char **new_argv;
char hc_lib_dir[1024];
char *calloc (unsigned int, unsigned int);
int i;
basename = strrchr (argv[0], '/');
if (basename == NULL)
basename = argv[0];
else
basename = basename + 1;
sprintf (hc_lib_dir, "-B/usr/lib/%s/", basename);
new_argv = (char **) calloc (argc + 2, sizeof (char *));
new_argv[0] = "hc";
new_argv[1] = hc_lib_dir;
for (i = 1; i < argc; ++i)
new_argv[i + 1] = argv[i];
new_argv[argc + 1] = NULL;
fprintf (stderr, "%s", new_argv[0]);
for (i = 1; i < argc + 1; ++i)
fprintf (stderr, " %s", new_argv[i]);
fprintf (stderr, "\n");
execv ("/bin/hc", new_argv);
perror ("/bin/hc");
exit (1);
}
===========================================================
In addition to the compilers above, gcc 2.x can generate code
for the RT. It is availble for anonymous ftp prep.ai.mit.edu,
directory pub/gnu, and from other GNU/FSF archive sites.
==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**
------------------------------
A.7 - How do I make new SAUTIL and Installation Miniroot diskettes?
==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**
Submitter: Keith Moore date: Mon Apr 12 17:14:45 1993
Become "root" and do the following:
% cd /usr/sys/dist
% make MINIROOT
% make diskette
% sautil
+ "make MINIROOT" creates a MINIROOT kernel by munging a copy of
the system GENERIC kernel config file and doing a make.
It takes a long time.
+ "make diskette" copies the necessary files for an Installation
Miniroot diskette to a 1.2 Mbyte 5 1/4 inch floppy disk.
+ "sautil" creates a bootable standalone utilities disk on a
360K 5 1/4 inch floppy disk.
Both "make diskette" and "sautil" will format the disk for you.
Be sure and use the right kind of disk for each.
==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**
------------------------------
A.8 - Where can I find an AOS device driver for:
+ WD8003 ethernet card
Anon ftp to ftp.cis.ufl.edu (128.227.100.252),
directory ibm-rt-fixes, file wd8003e.tar.Z
+ Adaptec SCSI
Anon ftp to ftp.cis.ufl.edu (128.227.100.252),
directory ibm-rt-fixes, file scsi.tar.Z
------------------------------
A.9 - Where can I get X11R5 for AOS and how do I get it running?
[Someone needs to fill this one in...particularly the stuff
about the different X servers like the one for the megapel that
didn't come with the MIT code. - MW ]
------------------------------
A.10 - What other operating systems are available for the RT?
At the time of this posting, the following operating systems
have been available for the RT processor. Availablility of these
systems is unknown and unfortunately problematic.
[ This section needs LOTS of work! - MW ]
AIX V2 - Advanced Interactive Executive
Vendor: International Business Machines
Systems: IBM PC RT 6150 and 6151
Announced: Jan 1, 1986 (AIX V1.0)
Available: Not generally, discontinued on June 1, 1991.
Last Version: V2.2.1
Distribution: Binary format only, on installp disks.
See section S.5 in the AIX FAQ for more information.
Information source: IBM announcement letters 286-004,
286-011 and 286-259
Note: Other versions of AIX exist for other platforms:
AIX V1.3 - IBM PS/2 and compatible 80386 processors.
AIX/ESA - IBM 3090 series mainframes
AIX V3.2 - IBM Risc/System 6000 processors.
AOS - Academic Operating System
Vendor: IBM
Available: Not generally. Originally from IBM, but most academic
instutions that have RT systems and Berkley source
liscenses were able to get the full source.
Last Version: AOS43 Dec88 ?
Distribution: Source
Information: IBM Announcement letter xxx-xxx,
RPQ P83008 Program Number 5799-WZQ
and usenet news information.
BSD/RENO - ?
Vendor: Berkley?
Available: Unknown. This version is a combination of the AOS
drivers and low level support routines, with the
RENO distribution of BSD. Never made generally
available. Found at academic instutions that have
access to both AOS and RENO sources.
Version: Reno?
Distribution: Source?
Information source: Netnews discussions.
MACH - ?
Vendor: Mt. Xinu ?
Available: ?
Version: msd 2.6 ?
Distribution: ?
Information source: Gleaned from Netnews posting May 21, 1991
PICK - (Named after author Dick Pick, of PICK Systems, Inc.)
Licensee: Seattle OS, Inc., PICK Systems, Inc. Major shareholder.
Systems: IBM Series/1 and IBM PC RT
Completed: 1982 and 1987, respectively
Processor: IBM series/1 and PC RT
Available: Unknown
Version: ?
Distribution: Unknown, Binary system images?
Information source: Exploring the PICK Operating System
By Jonathan E. Sisk and Steve VanArsdale
Hayden Books, Second Edition 1989
ISBN 0-672-48412-9
Note: PICK is available for a variety of processor hardware and
platforms including, but not limited to:
IBM PC/XT/AT/RT/Series-1 and IBM 4331/4361/303x/9370 (PICK/370),
Intel 8086/80286/80385, Motorola MC68000/68020 (several vendors),
Zilog Z8000 (ADDS Mentor), HP 3000, Microdata, Nixdorf 8890 VM.
------------------------------
A.11 - Using non-IBM ESDI drives with AOS.
Needs filling in. ?????
- procedure steps for formatting, adding, managment, ect..
------------------------------
A.12 - Using a Non-IBM SCSI adapter with AOS.
Using a Non-IBM SCSI adapter and single ended disks is possible with
AOS using a different SCSI card, and additional device driver support.
Needs filling in. ?????
- procedure steps for formatting, adding, managment, ect..
------------------------------
A.13 - Modifying AOS to support higher serial port speeds.
==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**
Submitter: peter honeyman <ho...@citi.umich.edu>
Subject: replacement asy.c driver for faster line speeds.
The center for information technology integration at the university of
Michigan modified the asy driver to support speeds up to 57.6 kbps.
The major changes are:
1) Simply to drain the fifo into a private buffer before handing
characters to the upstream line discipline.
2) hardware flow control.
AOS source licensees may request driver modifications from:
in...@citi.umich.edu
A bundle consisting of asy.c and asyreg.h is about 35k.
I have not made diffs against the original files.
==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**
------------------------------
A.14 - Creating boot records on ESDI disk drives.
==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**
Submitter: Mark Dapoz <m...@bsc.no>
Date: 19 Feb 94 16:37:54 GMT
Organization: Bergen Scientific Centre, Bergen, NORWAY
In article <0hNMLv=0Bwxd...@transarc.com> Pat_B...@transarc.com writes:
>I'm trying to craft an AOS boot block (like /usr/mdec/hd114eboot)
>for a 3rd-party ESDI disk, to boot an RT off of it. All of the boot
>blocks are subtly different, but only in a few bytes (most are
>different from each other in less than 10 bytes). How can I make a
>boot block for a new device? I can't seem to find the sources for the
>boot blocks themselves anywhere - I've looked in /sys/standca which
>seemed to be the obvious place, but found nothing useful. Help?
There are no utilities provided with AOS that let you create the boot
blocks. I hacked together the program below when I had to create a
boot block for an oddball drive. Perhaps you can use it as a starting
point for what you need to do.
/*
mkbrec.c - build a boot record for the RT for various ESDI disks
Mark Dapoz (m...@bsc.no)
*/
#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <rtio/hdconfig.h>
main(argc, argv)
int argc;
char **argv;
{
extern char *optarg;
extern int optind;
int ch;
char *progname=argv[0];
char *model=NULL;
int pcyl=0, hd=0, sec=0;
while ((ch = getopt(argc, argv, "m:c:h:s:")) != EOF) {
switch(ch) {
case 'm':
model=optarg;
break;
case 'c':
pcyl=atoi(optarg);
break;
case 'h':
hd=atoi(optarg);
break;
case 's':
sec=atoi(optarg);
break;
case '?':
default:
usage(progname);
exit(0);
}
}
argc -= optind;
argv += optind;
if ((model != NULL && (pcyl || hd || sec)) ||
(model == NULL && (!pcyl && !hd && !sec))) {
usage(progname);
exit(0);
}
if (model != NULL) {
if (!strcmp(model, "hd114e"))
mk_boot_rec(915, 7, 35, 0, 0xb4, 0, 0, 1); /* hd114e */
else if (!strcmp(model, "hd70e"))
mk_boot_rec(583, 7, 35, 2, 0x30, 0, 0, 1); /* hd70e */
else if (!strcmp(model, "hd70r"))
mk_boot_rec(566, 7, 36, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0); /* hd70r */
else if (!strcmp(model, "hd310h"))
mk_boot_rec(1189, 15, 34, 1, 9, 0, 0, 1); /* hd310h */
else if (!strcmp(model, "hd310e"))
mk_boot_rec(1225, 15, 33, 1, 0x2c, 0, 0, 1);/* hd310e */
else if (!strcmp(model, "hd442c"))
mk_boot_rec(1412, 15, 36, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1); /* hd442c */
else {
models(); /* unknown */
exit(0);
}
} else
mk_boot_rec(pcyl, hd, sec); /* user specified */
}
usage(cmd)
char *cmd;
{
fprintf(stderr, "%s: [-m model] | [ -c num_cyl -h num_hd -s num_sec ]\n", cmd);
}
models()
{
fprintf(stderr, "Only the following disk models are known: hd70e hd70r hd114e hd310h\n");
fprintf(stderr, " hd310e hd442c\n");
}
mk_boot_rec(pcyl, hd, sec, r11, r12, r13, r14, r21)
int pcyl, hd, sec; /* disk geometry */
short r11, r12, r13, r14, r21; /* misc reserved values */
{
struct boothdr hdr;
bzero(&hdr, sizeof(struct boothdr));
hdr.boot_check=0x459; /* constant for ESDI disks */
hdr.boot_lastcyl=pcyl-2;
hdr.boot_lasttrack=hd-1;
hdr.boot_lastsect=sec;
hdr.boot_sectorsize=512; /* constant for ESDI disks */
hdr.boot_interleave=0; /* mostly constant */
hdr.boot_sectorcount=(pcyl-1)*hd*sec;
hdr.boot_formatdate=0;
hdr.boot_cyl=0; /* constant */
hdr.boot_track=4; /* constant for ESDI disks */
hdr.boot_sector=1; /* constant */
hdr.boot_length=(hd-hdr.boot_track)*sec+15;
hdr.boot_entry=0;
hdr.boot_vrmminidisk=0;
hdr.boot_llp=0;
hdr.boot_vrmlength=0;
hdr.boot_ibma[0]=0xc9; /* IBMA in ebcdic */
hdr.boot_ibma[1]=0xc2;
hdr.boot_ibma[2]=0xd4;
hdr.boot_ibma[3]=0xc1;
hdr.boot_reserved1[0]=r11; /* not sure what these are */
hdr.boot_reserved1[1]=r12;
hdr.boot_reserved1[2]=r13;
hdr.boot_reserved1[3]=r14;
hdr.boot_reserved2[0]=r21; /* constant? */
hdr.boot_reserved2[1]=0x00;
hdr.boot_reserved2[2]=0x00;
write(1, &hdr, sizeof(struct boothdr));
}
------------------------------
A.15 - How is memory reported/used with AOS.
==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**
Submitter: Roger Florkowski
Subject: Why does my RT see only 6M out of 8?
Date: 27 Jun 94 07:30:26 GMT
> I have an RT 115 with 8Meg of enhanced memory.
> AOS reports that it has 8M installed, but only 6M available!
Lesse, you see something like (but w/ smaller numbers, I have 16 meg
in mine) :
Memory summary: total 16384K (0x1000000), available 14020K (0xdb1000)
There is a simple answer..... the kernel takes up 2 meg of memory !!!
The number AOS reports for available memory is the amount of memory
left *after* the kernel has loaded and finished its initialization.
==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**
------------------------------
A.16 - What other Operating Systems are available for the RT.
At the time of this posting, the following operating systems
have been available for the RT processor. Availablility of these
systems is unknown and unfortunately problematic.
[ This section always needs more work! - MW ]
AIX V2 - Advanced Interactive Executive
Vendor: International Business Machines
Systems: IBM PC RT 6150 and 6151
Announced: Jan 1, 1986 (AIX V1.0)
Available: Not generally, discontinued on June 1, 1991.
Last Version: V2.2.1 Update level 1779 (opsys).
Distribution: Binary format only, on installp disks.
See section S.5 below.
Information source: IBM announcement letters 286-004,
286-011 and 286-259
Note: Other versions of AIX exist for other platforms:
AIX V1.3 - IBM PS/2 and compatible 80386 processors.
AIX/ESA - IBM 3090 mainframes
AIX V3.2 - IBM Risc/System 6000 processors.
AOS - Academic Operating System
Vendor: IBM
Available: Not generally. Originally from IBM, but most academic
instutions that have RT systems and Berkley source
liscenses were able to get the full source.
Last Version: AOS43 Dec88 ?
Distribution: Source
Information: IBM Announcement letter xxx-xxx,
RPQ P83008 Program Number 5799-WZQ
and usenet news information.
BSD 4.3 RENO
Vendor: Academic/IBM
Available: This version is a combination of the AOS
drivers and low level support routines, with the
RENO distribution of BSD. Never made generally
available. Found at academic instutions that have
access to both AOS and RENO sources and internal IBM.
Version: BSD 4.3 RENO (June 1990 release)
Distribution: Source
Information source: Netnews discussions.
BSD 4.4
Vendor: Not announced. (We're working on it NOW!)
Available: Not yet. The entire operating system and
applications are at the 4.4 level except for
the kernel VM and filesystems. Work that needs
to be done before this can be released to the
general public is: 1) finish the kernel work,
2) get gcc to compile a running kernel, 3) verify
the origins of the IBM specific device drivers,
and 4) wait for BSD 4.4 lite to be released and
pickup that level of code.
Version: BSD 4.4 (June 1993 release)
Distribution: Source
MACH - ?
Vendor: Mt. Xinu ?
Available: ?
Version: msd 2.6 ?
Distribution: ?
Information source: Gleaned from Netnews posting May 21, 1991
PICK - (Named after author Dick Pick, of PICK Systems, Inc.)
Licensee: Seattle OS, Inc., PICK Systems, Inc. Major shareholder.
Systems: IBM Series/1 and IBM PC RT
Completed: 1982 and 1987, respectively
Processor: IBM series/1 and PC RT
Available: Unknown
Version: ?
Distribution: Unknown, Binary system images?
Information source: Exploring the PICK Operating System
By Jonathan E. Sisk and Steve VanArsdale
Hayden Books, Second Edition 1989
ISBN 0-672-48412-9
Note: PICK is available for a variety of processor hardware and
platforms including, but not limited to:
IBM PC/XT/AT/RT/Series-1 and IBM 4331/4361/303x/9370 (PICK/370),
Intel 8086/80286/80385, Motorola MC68000/68020 (several vendors),
Zilog Z8000 (ADDS Mentor), HP 3000, Microdata, Nixdorf 8890 VM.
------------------------------
9.0 Credits, Acknowledgements and other information.
X.1 - Acknolowgements and copyright information.
This file is provided AS IS with no warranties of any kind as to the
usefullness/correctness of these procedures/questions. The author
shall have no liability with respect to the infringement of copyrights,
trade secrets or any patents by this file or any part thereof. In no
event will the author be liable for any lost revenue or profits or
other special, indirect and consequential damages.
IBM, AIX, AT, XT, RT, RT PC and RT Personal Computer are trademarks of
International Business Machines Inc.
UNIX is a registered trademark of American Telephone & Telegraph in the
United States of America and other countries.
Any other trademarks not specifically mentioned are owned by their
respective companies.
X.4 - Credits for AOS:
The following people have either submitted articles for inclusion,
made suggestions, or had parts of old articles included within
re-arranged information. I wish to thank them for their assistance.
If you want your name dropped please let me know.
Keith Moore <mo...@cs.utk.edu> BITNET: moore@utkvx
Mark Dapoz <m...@bsc.no>
Peter Honeyman <ho...@citi.umich.edu>
Roger Florkowski ~!cs.utexas.edu!taliesin!roger
Christopher J. Vandemore <vand...@notrump.mis.tandem.com>
========================= end of FAQ ibm-rt-faq/aos ===========================
Mark Whetzel | My own RT system.. My own thoughts..
DOMAIN: ma...@antimatr.hou.tx.us | IBM RT/135 running AIX 2.2.1
UUCP ..!menudo!lobster!antimatr!markw | comp.sys.ibm.pc.rt FAQ maintainer