Links:

This is a multipart series which does a sysgen, then installs decnet, basic, and some other lanuages:
- https://pdp2011.sytse.net/wordpress/pdp-11/sessions/rsx-11m-plus/
- The first page describes copying the OS disk from a DQ RD54 to an RP06 disk pack, but that step does not work. Don’t care; the sysgen works fine on the source pack.
Version includes installation from scratch, including sysgen
Another alternative is on retrocmp:

SIMH:

Install from Github, as the Ubuntu version lags a lot
http://simh.trailing-edge.com/pdf/pdp11_doc.pdf

RSX-11 tips and tricks

Formatting (initializing) a disk using rsx-11 on simh

When adding a disk image to simh using “attach” simh will create the file if it does not yet exist- but it will be a file containing all zeroes - not a file system. This means it cannot be used by rsx-11 directly; it needs to be formatted.

Assume the following as simh setup:

set rq1 rd54
attach rq1 -i rsx11-1.dsk

When starting simh will create that file if it does not exist. After that we need to start rsx-11:

sim> boot rq0



RSX-11M-PLUS V4.6  BL87   1920.KW  System:"RSXMPL"
>RED DU:=SY:
>RED DU:=LB:
>RED DU:=SP:
>MOU DU0:"RSX11MPBL87"
>@DU:[1,2]STARTUP
>; 			PLEASE NOTE
>;
>;	If you have not yet read the system release notes, please do so
>;	now before attempting to perform a SYSGEN or to utilize the new
>;	features of this system.
>;
>;
>* Please enter time and date (HH:MM DD-MMM-YYYY) [S]: 16:15 16-may-2024
>TIME 16:15 16-may-2024
>ACS SY:/BLKS=1024.
>CON ONLINE ALL
>ELI /LOG/LIM
>CLI /INIT=DCL/CTRLC/DPR="<15><12>/$ /"
>INS LB:[1,1]RMSRESAB.TSK/RON=YES/PAR=GEN
>INS LB:[1,1]RMSLBL.TSK/RON=YES/PAR=GEN
>INS LB:[1,1]RMSLBM.TSK/RON=YES/PAR=GEN
>INS $QMGCLI
>INS $QMGCLI/TASK=...PRI
>INS $QMGCLI/TASK=...SUB
>QUE /START:QMG
>INS $QMGPRT/TASK=PRT.../SLV=NO
>QUE LP0:/CR/NM
>START/ACCOUNTING
>CON ESTAT LP0:
>QUE BAP0:/BATCH
>QUE BAP0:/AS:BATCH
>@ <EOF>
>

The device we want to initialize is rq1, which becomes du1 in rsx-11. We can see it using an rsx command:

>show dev du
DU0:	 Public Mounted Loaded Label=RSX11MPBL87 Type=RD54  
DU1:	 Loaded Type=RD54  
DU2:	 Loaded Type=RD54  
DU3:	 Loaded Type=RX50

First allocate the du1 device so that it becomes our “private” device, i.e. usable for our terminal only, then mount it, and finally initialize it:

This uses the dcl INITIALIZE VOLUME command, see the rsx reference for details.

Next, unmount and remount

We can now show the root directory for the new device:

Mounting the TCP/IP disk image

The RSX-11 TCP/IP stack can be found here: http://mim.stupi.net/tcpip.htm . You can download an rl02 disk image that should then be mounted in the simulator/machine.

To mount, first add the following lines to the simh config file (or type them in on the simh command prompt):

Make sure your sysgen has support for rl02 drives, if not redo it.

Now start rsx-11, then do the following after finishing startup:

To actually install TCP/IP we need to copy the disk to du0:

I should set the UIC to default, but that does not work:

So instead we start directly:

This runs a script. Answer the questions, and after that shutdown and restart.

To make tcp/ip run after the restart:

and after that

Output for these:

Once this is done we can see ip configuration: