Odd issues 'building' software

[Ken Hansen]

So, I've decided to try building the PiDP-8 software on my Pi Zero 2 W, running the previous version of Raspbian OS - Buster.

NOTE: New hardware, old OS.

So I flash my microSD card with Buster-lite, do an update & upgrade, then I follow the install steps labeled "copy-and-paste instructions" from the website... I first install the required components, the I do the "if you just want to install on a Pi 3 or older" steps, but the ./configure file abends (abnormally ends for all you non-mainframers out there ;^) and asks me to install:

Python3 pexpect and pyyaml

And provides me with the commands to do so.

Is this normal?

Shouldn't the 'required' steps section be amended to include these packages (and any dependencies)?

After all of the above, the software appears to work OK, I'll give it a better test tomorrow - I was able to get the SimH environment to run on my ssh session on login, and query the drive directories...

So far, new hardware is running the old software (previous version of Raspbian OS) and the emulator just fine.

Ken

[August Treubig]

Ken,
You may have to put a heat sink on the cpu on zero 2 w.

Aug
AG5AT

Sent from my iPad

> On Nov 28, 2021, at 9:58 PM, Ken Hansen <n2...@w5fc.org> wrote:
>
> So, I've decided to try building the PiDP-8 software on my Pi Zero 2 W, running the previous version of Raspbian OS - Buster.

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[Steve Tockey]

"Is this normal?"

I ran into the exact same issue myself in the last couple of days. I'm doing my cycle-realistic PiDP-8/I SIMH development on a Pi 3B+ running Bullseye but needed to port the code to another PiDP-8/I that's still running Stretch (I have 3 PiDP-8/Is) to test the TSS-8 boot behavior. I also got the Python3 pexpect and pyyaml message on the Pi running Stretch.

"Shouldn't the 'required' steps section be amended to include these packages (and any dependencies)?"

In the long run, yes. The most recent release of PiDP-8/I software post-dates the Copy-and-Paste instructions by a fair amount of time. Maybe as much as 2 years or more. As well, Oscar's website is maintained by himself whereas most of the PiDP-8/I code development is being driven through Tangentsoft which is maintained by others. That those two got somewhat out of synch is not surprizing, IMHO, given the amount of other things Oscar has to deal with these days. It will happen eventually. Just likely not in the short term.

Congrats on getting it running. It will be even more fun when you've completed the whole kit.

-- steve

[Ken Hansen]

Steve,

I'm looking forward to it - I built up Oscar's PiDP-11 kit a few weeks ago, and cleverly installed every toggle switch upside-down. Argh. (I have only myself to blame - I didn't watch Oscar's linked video on soldering the switches, I didn't take a break before proceeding, and I re-defined "lowest common denominator" for his instructions. In other news, the kit *looks* great...

When I realized that desoldering the switches was not going to be a quick and enjoyable exercise, I decided to work on the PiDP-8 kit before returning to the PiDP-11 desoldering project.

I appreciate the advice about the heatsink... so far the Pi Zero 2 W looks stable, and the software doesn't really tax the CPU too much (according to the tangentware (?) site), so who knows. I put an A+ in the PiDP-11 kit, I very much liked the fit and features it offered in a slightly smaller case - no RJ45 or USB connectors to cover with electrical tape.

Ken