Trying to get RSX-11M+BQ online

[Daan Muller]

Hi,

I have installed my Pidp11 and following the book PiDP11 a minicomputer in the office have managed to get RSX11MP (and both 2.11BSD) online.

I have a wifi and an ethernet connection, and in all 3 boot.ini files I commented out the attach xu eth0 line and added:

att xu nat:gateway=192.168.178.1,dns=192.168.178.1,network=192.168.178.245

RSX -11 MP was online right away after that. Installed RPM using ftp and that's all working fine.

I tried to get the RSX11M+BQ online first with the standard boot.ini file and with the same edit as for the other boot.ini file, but I get the same result both times.

The script for setting up BQTCP/IP starts and I follow along with the book, and when I get to the actual TCP/IP part after 2 questions, both I just press return, I get an error and drop out of the setup script.

>* Option [S R:1-1 D:"A"]:
>;
>; *** Section 1 - Basic configuration ***
>;
>* Size of IP pool [D R:64.-1024. D:256.]:
>* Log directory [S R:0.-30. D:"LB:[IPLOG]"]:

AT.T0  -- Bad range or default specification
.ift ask .asks ['MINV'.:'MAXV'.:'VAR'] 'VAR' 'Q'
.ift ASK .asks [1.:30.:$HOST] $HOST Hostname
>

Any help would be appreciated as I would like to get this version of RSX up and running also. Please bear in mind that most of this stuff is way above my pay grade in technical terms and I mostly follow along with the book or get where I need to be with some help from ChatGPT.

Cheers, Daan

[Johnny Billquist]

Hi. Thanks for the report. I can reproduce it and will fix it
immediately. I'll get back shortly when a new version is available.

Johnny

On 2026-05-09 15:05, Daan Muller wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have installed my Pidp11 and following the book PiDP11 a minicomputer
> in the office have managed to get RSX11MP (and both 2.11BSD) online.
>
> I have a wifi and an ethernet connection, and in all 3 boot.ini files I
> commented out the attach xu eth0 line and added:
>
> att xu nat:gateway=192.168.178.1,dns=192.168.178.1,network=192.168.178.245
>
> RSX -11 MP was online right away after that. Installed RPM using ftp and
> that's all working fine.
>
> I tried to get the RSX11M+BQ online first with the standard boot.ini
> file and with the same edit as for the other boot.ini file, but I get
> the same result both times.
>
> The script for setting up BQTCP/IP starts and I follow along with the
> book, and when I get to the actual TCP/IP part after 2 questions, both I
> just press return, I get an error and drop out of the setup script.
>

> />* Option [S R:1-1 D:"A"]:

> >;
> >; *** Section 1 - Basic configuration ***
> >;
> >* Size of IP pool [D R:64.-1024. D:256.]:
> >* Log directory [S R:0.-30. D:"LB:[IPLOG]"]:
>
> AT.T0  -- Bad range or default specification
> .ift ask .asks ['MINV'.:'MAXV'.:'VAR'] 'VAR' 'Q'
> .ift ASK .asks [1.:30.:$HOST] $HOST Hostname

> >/
> /
> /

> Any help would be appreciated as I would like to get this version of RSX
> up and running also. Please bear in mind that most of this stuff is way
> above my pay grade in technical terms and I mostly follow along with the
> book or get where I need to be with some help from ChatGPT.
>
> Cheers, Daan
>

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "[PiDP-11]" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
> an email to pidp-11+u...@googlegroups.com
> <mailto:pidp-11+u...@googlegroups.com>.
> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/
> pidp-11/54848bee-20dd-4920-aa93-8576b2faed27n%40googlegroups.com
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pidp-11/54848bee-20dd-4920-
> aa93-8576b2faed27n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

--
Johnny Billquist || "I'm on a bus
|| on a psychedelic trip
email: b...@softjar.se || Reading murder books
pdp is alive! || tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol

[Johnny Billquist]

Well, fixed now. I also did some improvements and tweaks while I were at it.

And tested way more than I've done before. Turned out that using this
image on a Qbus system didn't work without answering a few questions,
and I wanted it to actually run without any human interaction, if
needed. Added some defaults to get through things more easily, if
desired as well.

Also added a section on initial config about setting up automatic DST
changes, which I had on my todo-list for a long time.

Let me know of any issues.

Johnny

[Daan Muller]

Thanks! Will reinstall and let you know how it goes.

Cheers, Daan

Op zaterdag 9 mei 2026 om 17:33:43 UTC+2 schreef b...@softjar.se:

[Daan Muller]

Yes, the install script works now and I can see it all the way through. Still not online I get this message after booting:

9-MAY-26 17:54  From   PIDP::TT0:       to ALL:

"System is running. Please log on."

BYE

>

 >@LB:[1,2]SYSLOGOUT.CMD

>

 17:54:52  Logout user                [1,54] TT0:

Have a Good Afternoon

09-MAY-26 17:54   TT0:  logged off PIDP   

>

 17:54:56  RESACP - Error talking to 192.168.178.1 - marked as bad

17:54:56  NTPDATE - No host to connect to...

But after some time and doing nothing really got this message:

17:59:56  RESACP - Server 192.168.178.1 removed from bad list

And now I am online and I can ping stuff, no Idea how that came about.

Cheers, Daan

Op zaterdag 9 mei 2026 om 17:35:14 UTC+2 schreef Daan Muller:

[Johnny Billquist]

Thanks for the confirmation.

Your RESAPC message - That's because your DNS server did not respond to
a query despite multiple attempts.
When that happens, that specific DNS server stops being queried for a
while. Under the assumption that there is no point sending queries to a
DNS server that isn't responding anyway.

After a while, it is again considered worth trying to talk to.

Any reason why that DNS server isn't responding? Do you have any
additional ones you could point to?

Johnny

> msgid/ <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/>
> >> pidp-11/54848bee-20dd-4920-
> aa93-8576b2faed27n%40googlegroups.com <http://40googlegroups.com>
> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/
> pidp-11/54848bee-20dd-4920- <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/
> pidp-11/54848bee-20dd-4920->
> >> aa93-8576b2faed27n%40googlegroups.com
> <http://40googlegroups.com>?

> >> utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.
> >
>
> --
> Johnny Billquist || "I'm on a bus
> || on a psychedelic trip
> email: b...@softjar.se || Reading murder books
> pdp is alive! || tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol
>

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "[PiDP-11]" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
> an email to pidp-11+u...@googlegroups.com
> <mailto:pidp-11+u...@googlegroups.com>.
> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pidp-11/

> bf550c80-df94-4e17-80fd-20aa22d65356n%40googlegroups.com <https://
> groups.google.com/d/msgid/pidp-11/bf550c80-
> df94-4e17-80fd-20aa22d65356n%40googlegroups.com?

[Daan Muller]

Ah, I think that must because it's not so much a DNS servers as my router address, I will change the DNS server to a regular DNS server in the boot.ini and see what that does.

Op zaterdag 9 mei 2026 om 18:15:37 UTC+2 schreef b...@softjar.se:

[Johnny Billquist]

Uh. The DNS server is set inside RSX. You can change it by running
@[IP]IPCONFIG and answer the right bit there. Also, note that you can
list multiple servers, comma separated. And remember that for this you
need to use IP addresses, and not host names.

Johnny

> > msgid/ <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ <https://
> groups.google.com/d/msgid/>>
> > >> pidp-11/54848bee-20dd-4920-
> > aa93-8576b2faed27n%40googlegroups.com <http://40googlegroups.com>
> <http://40googlegroups.com <http://40googlegroups.com>>

> > >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ <https://
> groups.google.com/d/msgid/>

> > pidp-11/54848bee-20dd-4920- <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/

> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/>
> > pidp-11/54848bee-20dd-4920->
> > >> aa93-8576b2faed27n%40googlegroups.com <http://40googlegroups.com>

> > <http://40googlegroups.com <http://40googlegroups.com>>?

> > >> utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.
> > >
> >
> > --
> > Johnny Billquist || "I'm on a bus
> > || on a psychedelic trip
> > email: b...@softjar.se || Reading murder books
> > pdp is alive! || tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol
> >
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> > Groups "[PiDP-11]" group.
> > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it,
> send
> > an email to pidp-11+u...@googlegroups.com
> > <mailto:pidp-11+u...@googlegroups.com>.
> > To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/

> pidp-11/ <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pidp-11/>
> > bf550c80-df94-4e17-80fd-20aa22d65356n%40googlegroups.com
> <http://40googlegroups.com> <https://
> > groups.google.com/d/msgid/pidp-11/bf550c80- <http://
> groups.google.com/d/msgid/pidp-11/bf550c80->
> > df94-4e17-80fd-20aa22d65356n%40googlegroups.com

> <http://40googlegroups.com>?
> > utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.
>
> --
> Johnny Billquist || "I'm on a bus
> || on a psychedelic trip
> email: b...@softjar.se || Reading murder books
> pdp is alive! || tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "[PiDP-11]" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
> an email to pidp-11+u...@googlegroups.com
> <mailto:pidp-11+u...@googlegroups.com>.
> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/

> pidp-11/39998ee2-5e8c-4678-a46a-00ae254f14cbn%40googlegroups.com
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pidp-11/39998ee2-5e8c-4678-
> a46a-00ae254f14cbn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

[Daan Muller]

I do think that the line I added to boot.ini instead of attach xu eth0 has something to do with, I now changed that line to:

att xu nat:gateway=192.168.178.1,dns=8.8.8.8,network=192.168.178.245

And now it works without that error message, I can ping google.com.

Will run @[IP]IPCONFIG also and see what's in there.

Cheers, Daan

Op zaterdag 9 mei 2026 om 18:24:13 UTC+2 schreef b...@softjar.se:

[Johnny Billquist]

Hmm. You are running with NAT, which can always affect things. But
basically, that line shouldn't really make a difference here.

But when you have a DNS server that is somewhat poor at responding,
you'll have the effect you observed. And it's not very predictable when
it happens or not, so you can't that easily confirm if it's solved or not.

But the RSX system is/was configured to do DNS queries to 192.168.178.1,
and if you hardcoded that, it will still be that no matter what you did
in your boot.ini.

But if you configured RSX to pick up the DNS server via DHCP, it might
make a difference.

Johnny

> > >  17:54:56  RESACP - Error talking to 192.168.178.1 -marked as bad

> groups.google.com/d/msgid/> <https://
> > groups.google.com/d/msgid/ <http://groups.google.com/d/msgid/>>>

> > > >> pidp-11/54848bee-20dd-4920-
> > > aa93-8576b2faed27n%40googlegroups.com
> <http://40googlegroups.com> <http://40googlegroups.com
> <http://40googlegroups.com>>

> > <http://40googlegroups.com <http://40googlegroups.com>
> <http://40googlegroups.com <http://40googlegroups.com>>>
> > > >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ <https://

> groups.google.com/d/msgid/> <https://
> > groups.google.com/d/msgid/ <http://groups.google.com/d/msgid/>>

> > > pidp-11/54848bee-20dd-4920- <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/>

> > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ <https://groups.google.com/d/
> msgid/>>
> > > pidp-11/54848bee-20dd-4920->
> > > >> aa93-8576b2faed27n%40googlegroups.com
> <http://40googlegroups.com> <http://40googlegroups.com
> <http://40googlegroups.com>>
> > > <http://40googlegroups.com <http://40googlegroups.com>

> <http://40googlegroups.com <http://40googlegroups.com>>>?
> > > >> utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.
> > > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Johnny Billquist || "I'm on a bus
> > > || on a psychedelic trip
> > > email: b...@softjar.se || Reading murder books
> > > pdp is alive! || tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol
> > >
> > > --
> > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> > > Groups "[PiDP-11]" group.
> > > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it,
> > send
> > > an email to pidp-11+u...@googlegroups.com
> > > <mailto:pidp-11+u...@googlegroups.com>.
> > > To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/

> msgid/ <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/>
> > pidp-11/ <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pidp-11/ <https://
> groups.google.com/d/msgid/pidp-11/>>
> > > bf550c80-df94-4e17-80fd-20aa22d65356n%40googlegroups.com
> <http://40googlegroups.com>
> > <http://40googlegroups.com <http://40googlegroups.com>> <https://
> > > groups.google.com/d/msgid/pidp-11/bf550c80- <http://
> groups.google.com/d/msgid/pidp-11/bf550c80-> <http://

> > groups.google.com/d/msgid/pidp-11/bf550c80- <http://
> groups.google.com/d/msgid/pidp-11/bf550c80->>
> > > df94-4e17-80fd-20aa22d65356n%40googlegroups.com
> <http://40googlegroups.com>

> > <http://40googlegroups.com <http://40googlegroups.com>>?
> > > utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.
> >
> > --
> > Johnny Billquist || "I'm on a bus
> > || on a psychedelic trip
> > email: b...@softjar.se || Reading murder books
> > pdp is alive! || tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol
> >
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> > Groups "[PiDP-11]" group.
> > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it,
> send
> > an email to pidp-11+u...@googlegroups.com
> > <mailto:pidp-11+u...@googlegroups.com>.
> > To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/

> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/>
> > pidp-11/39998ee2-5e8c-4678-a46a-00ae254f14cbn%40googlegroups.com
> <http://40googlegroups.com>
> > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pidp-11/39998ee2-5e8c-4678-
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pidp-11/39998ee2-5e8c-4678->
> > a46a-00ae254f14cbn%40googlegroups.com?
> utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer <http://40googlegroups.com?

> utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>>.
>
> --
> Johnny Billquist || "I'm on a bus
> || on a psychedelic trip
> email: b...@softjar.se || Reading murder books
> pdp is alive! || tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "[PiDP-11]" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
> an email to pidp-11+u...@googlegroups.com
> <mailto:pidp-11+u...@googlegroups.com>.
> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/

> pidp-11/18a075cc-40e4-4422-9ada-07b38bb4a9a6n%40googlegroups.com
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/
> pidp-11/18a075cc-40e4-4422-9ada-07b38bb4a9a6n%40googlegroups.com?

[Paulo Rebordão]

Hi Daan,

This thread might help me solve some TCP/IP issues I've been having with my PiDP-11.

Looking at your "att xu nat" statement, what IP does the network part refer to ?

Also, the gateway IP is a defult one or the one from your router ?

Thanks

Paulo

[Daan Muller]

Hi Paulo

The network part is a free ip address on my network that gets assigned to the pidp-11 (I think, I just copy this from a book) I just picked a free address. The gateway address is the address of my router. 

Cheers, Daan

Op zondag 10 mei 2026 om 10:38:20 UTC+2 schreef pjreb...@gmail.com: