linux-vax-www-commit Mailing List for Linux/VAX Porting Project (Page 3)

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<H2><A NAME="s1">1. General Info</A></H2>

<P>
<A NAME="geninfo"></A> <H2><A NAME="ss1.1">1.1 Whats a VAX?</A>
</H2>

<P>
<P>VAXes were 32-bit computer systems from Digital Equipment Corporation
(or DEC). They enjoyed huge popularity throughout the 1980's and early 
1990's. The VAX was the 32 bit computer that
the ancestors of  modern UNIXes were made on, and was the standard computer
architecture (like the IBM PC is now) of its day. The VAX was also one of the
major testbeds for the early Internet.
<P>
<P>VAXes come in several shapes and sizes, ranging from the small room sized
VAX 11/780 (1970's) through to the desktop sized microVAXes and VAXStations
of the 1990's. The VAX architecture and Digital's VAX/VMS operating system 
are mutually intertwined, so for a review of VAXes see
<P>
<A HREF="http://www.vaxarchive.org/">The VAX Archive</A><P>
<A HREF="http://www.openvms.compaq.com/openvms/20th/vmsbook.pdf">VMS 20th  anniversary special</A><P>
<H2><A NAME="ss1.2">1.2 Is that the same as a DECstation?</A>
</H2>

<P>
<P>No. The DECstations use the MIPS processor, and have names like 
<UL>
<LI>DECstation 5000/200</LI>
<LI>DECstation 5000/240</LI>
<LI>Personal DECstation</LI>
</UL>
<P>These use the R3000 or similar MIPS CPU. Many of the peripherals are similar
to those found in later model VAXstations, but they are not the same.
<P>These were a stopgap for a few years while DEC developed what would become 
the Alpha processor. I've got one, but I'm not an expert on them, so please
don't ask us questions about them.
<P>
<P>The DECstations ran ULTRIX/Mips as the only offering from DEC. They never
ran VMS. If you have one of these, you can also run;
<UL>
<LI>
<A HREF="http://decstation.unix-ag.org/">Linux/MIPS for DECstations</A></LI>
<LI>
<A HREF="http://www.netbsd.org/">NetBSD/pmax</A></LI>
</UL>
<P>
<H2><A NAME="ss1.3">1.3 What Operating Systems/Software runs on a VAX?</A>
</H2>

<P>
<P>The following Operating Systems run on a VAX;
<UL>
<LI>
<A HREF="http://www.openvms.compaq.com">Compaq OpenVMS/VAX</A></LI>
<LI>Compaq ULTRIX/VAX</LI>
<LI>
<A HREF="http://www.netbsd.org">NetBSD/VAX</A></LI>
<LI>
<A HREF="http://www.linux-vax.org">Linux/VAX</A></LI>
</UL>
<P>
<H2><A NAME="ss1.4">1.4 Where do I buy one?</A>
</H2>

<P>
<P>The VAX system line has been discontinued, so DEC, now owned by Compaq,
no longer sell them. However, occasionally systems
for sale do come up on EBay and other on line auction houses. Also look out
for companies "upgrading" their VAXes to something more newfangled.
Occasionally port-vax (The NetBSD mailing list) or linux-vax (our mailing
list) will have notices of VAXes up for grabs.
<P>
<H2><A NAME="ss1.5">1.5 Whats the difference between a VAXserver and a VAXstation?</A>
</H2>

<P>
<P>Practically speaking, for the 3100 series, a keyboard, a mouse, a monitor,
and the little switch in the back in the other position. VAXstations were 
designed for graphical work, and tended to come with better graphics cards.
VAXservers just sat there, and used a terminal as the console. 
<P>
<P>For more information about such details see, for example,
<A HREF="http://www.vaxarchive.org">The VAX archive</A><P>
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<H2><A NAME="s1">1. General Info</A></H2>

<P>
<A NAME="geninfo"></A> <H2><A NAME="ss1.1">1.1 Whats a VAX?</A>
</H2>

<P>
<P>VAXes were 32-bit computer systems from Digital Equipment Corporation
(or DEC). They enjoyed huge popularity throughout the 1980's and early 
1990's. The VAX was the 32 bit computer that
the ancestors of  modern UNIXes were made on, and was the standard computer
architecture (like the IBM PC is now) of its day. The VAX was also one of the
major testbeds for the early Internet.
<P>
<P>VAXes come in several shapes and sizes, ranging from the small room sized
VAX 11/780 (1970's) through to the desktop sized microVAXes and VAXStations
of the 1990's. The VAX architecture and Digital's VAX/VMS operating system 
are mutually intertwined, so for a review of VAXes see
<P>
<A HREF="http://www.vaxarchive.org/">The VAX Archive</A><P>
<A HREF="http://www.openvms.compaq.com/openvms/20th/vmsbook.pdf">VMS 20th  anniversary special</A><P>
<H2><A NAME="ss1.2">1.2 Is that the same as a DECstation?</A>
</H2>

<P>
<P>No. The DECstations use the MIPS processor, and have names like 
<UL>
<LI>DECstation 5000/200</LI>
<LI>DECstation 5000/240</LI>
<LI>Personal DECstation</LI>
</UL>
<P>These use the R3000 or similar MIPS CPU. Many of the peripherals are similar
to those found in later model VAXstations, but they are not the same.
<P>These were a stopgap for a few years while DEC developed what would become 
the Alpha processor. I've got one, but I'm not an expert on them, so please
don't ask us questions about them.
<P>
<P>The DECstations ran ULTRIX/Mips as the only offering from DEC. They never
ran VMS. If you have one of these, you can also run;
<UL>
<LI>
<A HREF="http://decstation.unix-ag.org/">Linux/MIPS for DECstations</A></LI>
<LI>
<A HREF="http://www.netbsd.org/">NetBSD/pmax</A></LI>
</UL>
<P>
<H2><A NAME="ss1.3">1.3 What Operating Systems/Software runs on a VAX?</A>
</H2>

<P>
<P>The following Operating Systems run on a VAX;
<UL>
<LI>
<A HREF="http://www.openvms.compaq.com">Compaq OpenVMS/VAX</A></LI>
<LI>Compaq ULTRIX/VAX</LI>
<LI>
<A HREF="http://www.netbsd.org">NetBSD/VAX</A></LI>
<LI>
<A HREF="http://www.linux-vax.org">Linux/VAX</A></LI>
</UL>
<P>
<H2><A NAME="ss1.4">1.4 Where do I buy one?</A>
</H2>

<P>
<P>The VAX system line has been discontinued, so DEC, now owned by Compaq,
no longer sell them. However, occasionally systems
for sale do come up on EBay and other on line auction houses. Also look out
for companies "upgrading" their VAXes to something more newfangled.
Occasionally port-vax (The NetBSD mailing list) or linux-vax (our mailing
list) will have notices of VAXes up for grabs.
<P>
<H2><A NAME="ss1.5">1.5 Whats the difference between a VAXserver and a VAXstation?</A>
</H2>

<P>
<P>Practically speaking, for the 3100 series, a keyboard, a mouse, a monitor,
and the little switch in the back in the other position. VAXstations were 
designed for graphical work, and tended to come with better graphics cards.
VAXservers just sat there, and used a terminal as the console. 
<P>
<P>For more information about such details see, for example,
<A HREF="http://www.vaxarchive.org">The VAX archive</A><P>
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<H2><A NAME="s2">2. General Info about the port</A></H2>

<H2><A NAME="ss2.1">2.1 What is the current status? </A>
</H2>

<P> 
<A NAME="status"></A> <P>
<H3>Kernel</H3>

<P>
<A NAME="kernelstat"></A> <P>The kernel boots and works, in a somewhat basic fashion, on a subset of
VAX systems.
<P>
<P>We currently know that we boot to shell on the following VAXen:
<UL>
<LI>VAXstation 3100m30 (KA42 CPU)</LI>
<LI>VAXstation 3100m38 (KA42 CPU)</LI>
<LI>VAXstation 3100m76 (KA43 CPU)</LI>
<LI>VAXstation 4000/60 (KA46 CPU)</LI>
</UL>
<P>We have, in the past, at least partially booted on the following:
<UL>
<LI>VAXstation 3500 (KA650 CPU)</LI>
<LI>VAXstation II/GPX (KA630 CPU)</LI>
<LI>MicroVAX 3400 (KA640 CPU)</LI>
<LI>VAXserver 4000-200 (KA660 CPU)</LI>
<LI>VAXstation 3100m85 (KA55 CPU)</LI>
</UL>
<P>We have drivers for the console, ethernet and SCSI on the;
<UL>
<LI>VAXstation 3100m76 (KA43 CPU)</LI>
<LI>VAXstation 3100m38 (KA42 CPU)</LI>
<LI>VAXstation 4000/60 (KA46 CPU) (not SCSI yet)</LI>
</UL>

and works in progress for the SCSI and ethernet on the
<UL>
<LI>VAXstation 4000/60 (KA46 CPU)</LI>
<LI>VAXstation 3100m85 (KA55 CPU)</LI>
</UL>
<P>So at present, if you want the most complete Linux/VAX experience,
get hold of a VAXStation 3100m30/38 or 76.
<P>
<H3>Compilers, binutils, etc...</H3>

<P>
<P>The initial ELF toolchain has been completed. This is now based on 
egcs-1.1.2. We will move to track gcc-3.0 as soon as glibc and the
kernel are happy with it (and we get the time).
<P>
<H2><A NAME="ss2.2">2.2 What do I need to help? </A>
</H2>

<P> 
<A NAME="help"></A> <P>
<P>A VAX, an unix system, (preferably Linux/i386 box), a terminal
or terminal emulator like minicom, and a network or shared SCSI
disk.
<P>
<P>In theory, you should be able to cross compile anywhere you can 
run GCC, GNU make, GNU binutils and regular Unix shell and text 
utils.  However, most of us cross-compile on Linux/i386.  Let us
know if you get it working on another combination.
<P>
<P>We don't yet support any graphics hardware on these VAXen, so you'll
need some sort of serial terminal (or terminal emulator) to boot
the VAX.  Most newer (post-1986-ish) VAXen have DEC MMJ (modified 
modular jack) connectors.  Older one will have either standard 25-pin
RS232 connectors or DEC's 9-pin RS232 (different from IBM's 9-pin
RS232 as used on the PC).  See the 
<A HREF="http://www.openvms.digital.com/wizard/openvms_faq.html#MISC1">OpenVMS FAQ</A>
for details of pinouts.
<P>In order to get the kernel image over to the VAX in order to boot it,
you've got two options: MOP or SCSI.
<P>
<UL>
<LI>Put your PC and VAX on the same ethernet segment.  Install mopd
(Maintainence Operations Protocol Daemon) on the PC.  Point mopd
at the vmlinux.SYS image and tell your VAX to boot from the 
network (usually BOOT XQA0 or BOOT ESA0)</LI>
<LI>Put a SCSI card with an external SCSI connector into your PC.
Connect your VAXstation, a hard disk and your PC together on
one SCSI chain.  Then dd the vmlinux.dsk image to the disk and
tell the VAX to boot from that disk.</LI>
</UL>
<P>
<H2><A NAME="ss2.3">2.3 Explain your CVS setup.</A>
</H2>

<P>
<P>We use sourceforge to supply our CVS services. We are maintaining several
packages (modules) in CVS. The CVS is always the definitive source for the 
latest version of the code. We've pretty much given up making snapshots of
the toolchain and kernel code, as most people seem happy with CVS access.
<P>The main modules are;
<UL>
<LI> kernel - The 2.2/2.3 series kernel. Dont use it....</LI>
<LI> kernel-2.4 - The current 2.4 series kernel. This is the one that 
we are actively working on.</LI>
<LI> tools - This is the toolchain. If you download this via cvs, just use
the ./build-vax.sh script to build a cross compilation environment for 
Linux/VAX (tested on Linux/i386 and Linux/MIPS only AFAIK, but should
work on other unixes).</LI>
<LI> uClibc - The micro libc from lineo. We're concentrating on moving
to glibc soon, but at the moment, this is the libc we use. </LI>
<LI> usr - various useful programs, busybox, mopd, asbl..</LI>
</UL>
<P>Access to CVS is via the standard sourceforge method. 
<P>
<H3>Can I get write access?</H3>

<P>
<P>Sure. Join the mailing list, tell us what you want to work on, and show us some
sample patches. If they look ok, you get write access. You'll need to 
tell us your sourceforge account name. If you don't have one, you'll need
to sign up for one.
<P>
<P>
<H3>I dont want to got through all of that, what now?</H3>

<P>
<P>Send the patch, and one of us will apply it. 
<P>
<H2><A NAME="ss2.4">2.4 I have a mumbleVAX, is it supported?</A>
</H2>

<P>
<P>See section 
<A HREF="#kernelstat">Kernel</A> for details about which
VAXes are currently supported. If you want to help out by adding support for
your VAX, feel free. You will need to check the kernel source code out of 
the CVS repository at sourceforge, and have a look at the <CODE>cpu_xxx.c</CODE>
files in the <CODE>arch/vax/kernel</CODE> directory to get an idea of what you
need to implement for a machine vector. 
<P>   
<P>
<H2><A NAME="ss2.5">2.5 How do I get started? </A>
</H2>

<P> 
<A NAME="started"></A> 
Read Documentation/vax/README at 
<A HREF="ftp://linux-vax.sourceforge.net/pub/linux-vax/README.vax">ftp://linux-vax.sourceforge.net/pub/linux-vax/README.vax</A>. 
This describes howto download the compiler and kernel, and set up the MOP boot.
<P>
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<H2><A NAME="s2">2. General Info about the port</A></H2>

<H2><A NAME="ss2.1">2.1 What is the current status? </A>
</H2>

<P> 
<A NAME="status"></A> <P>
<H3>Kernel</H3>