HP/DEC/Compaq

Hi...

it has been a while since i've tinkered with older computers. i bought an ibook and it *just worked*. i have had a few alphas over the years. a 275mhz cabriolet, a couple of multias and a couple of PWS 500s

recently i picked up an alpha up2000+ motherboard with 2 833mhz 4mb cache cpus. 512MB memory is a bit shy but there is room for more. there are a couple of adaptec scsi cards in PCI slots however, i am using the onboard scsi connection. and lastly, one 2mb mach64, and a matrox g200 on order. i hope it works. this board is in the original PowerRac 320 case with floppy and IDE cdrom.

when i boot up, i have to hit the reset button once after power on in order to get the srm prompt. then i can enter commands like *show dev* and get correct responses. then i was successful in installing debian 5.0.3 until the machine reboots and then asks for login. this is where the keyboard does not work.

i am guessing the console needs to be set to graphics? and the correct command would be - set console graphics ? (somewhere i was thinking it was - set_console graphics). if so, can i do this after i do the boot with the reset button, or would i need to change the variable with a dedicated serial port connection?

lastly, if this fails an i hosed? or would this board default back to a serial port console? i don't see any of the old monitor ports to reflash with.

thanks for any info.
jeff

It indeed looks like SRM console is configured to use a serial console, but will accept input from glass console if asked nicely (i.e. with the reset button).

If you get a >>> SRM prompt, the command to switch console back to glass console is ``set console graphics'', and you'll need to power-cycle afterwards.

I'd suggest doing ``show console'' first to see what the current settings are - the SRM could be configured for glass console but not like your keyboard and fail to initialize it the first time.

After `set console graphics`, you should just be able to run `init` actually.

indeed the console was set to serial. one oddity i noticed and should have mentioned earlier is my srm prompt looks like this P00> is this cause for concern?

entering init restarted the machine and i got the usual mouse error and testing on restart. i could not log in to debian, however this may be due to the keyboard problems when i installed debian originally.

thanks.
jeff

I would not be too worried about it. You can change it if you do not like it. (Looks normal to me.)

here is an answer to my question:

On multiprocessor machines, you will see 'P00>>' instead, or possibly some other number depending on which processor SRM is running.

i found this on the alphalinux.org wiki.

Glad someone found something on the wiki. (Notice my avatar, I created the wiki and 99% of its content.)

You should create a user account on the wiki and help contribute something. Also, get on IRC on Freenode in #alpha. My nick is the same.

And it's also possible to switch which processor is in the console (in real-time). Same with multiproc Suns.

Note that DEC OSes don't like Matrox cards very well, although I don't think that the µP2k runs VMS. Keep the other card if you ever want to try out Tru64.

the guy i picked this up from was running OpenVMS on several of these boxes. i do not know if Tru64 can be installed in the same manner as his OpenVMS workaround. i would like to try Tru64, but i cannot find the hobbyist license on the HP website any more. more than likely discontinued.

i am not very familiar with how Tru64 licensing works, but i got the feeling that it is machine specific. in that case it might not work on this board. or maybe it will see the board as a DS20.

for now i will toy around with debian or gentoo linux. that is what i am familiar with. i am just a hobbyist and i'm decorating my apartment in *turn of the century* computers.

jeff

There are a lot of people running Gentoo on their alphas in #alpha and #gentoo-alpha on Freenode. Join us!

Tru64 is natively supported AFAIK - I think this is the same box as a DS20L. From a technical standpoint the licensing is similar to OpenVMS - it uses LMF and requires a valid PAK, which is legally linked with a specific machine though not technically (doesn't use serial number locking). This is good for hobbyists, as you can use your old license key on a new Alpha if you upgrade.

Rumor has it that if you know who to go to you might be able to get an Enthusiast Pack still, but the last time I heard that was over a year ago. HP isn't pushing it, since they no longer sell Alpha hardware.

i stopped by yesterday in my mid morning. both channels were quiet. surely everybody is busy doing things. i know i am, so i couldn't stick around. thanks mattst88 for the wiki on alphalinux.org. it was helpful to me. lots of other resources have long since disappeared since i last played with alphas.


i missed an opportunity. maybe one will come up on ebay or something. of course, unless you know the part number you are at a loss to know what you are buying.

jeff

Just leave your client connected (who shuts down their desktop?)

Resetting the console to graphics fixed the problem. i can enter text at the login screen and navigate around debian. /proc/cpuinfo shows the sytem as a single CPU machine, so i will have to recompile the kernel for SMP. i have not compiled a kernel in years ............ this should be interesting at my skill level. i do remember compiling a kernel on one alpha to make use of the sound card before the kernels became modular.

thanks to those who verified the set console command.

now to fix the fan in the power supply and swap out the mach64 for the matrox g200.

You should check out Gentoo.

Debian is dead on alpha.

I've contacted my local HP office twice in the last year trying to get a hobbyist Tru64 kit with licence, but they never got back to me. And I think the Irish office was the one that ran the entire Tru64 hobbyist program Perhaps local reps in other countries may still be able to pull some strings though.

Keep the BSD on DEC heritage going! Several variants run well on Alphas.

The BSDs are an option as i have never used any of the flavors much. I am looking for some sort of distributed computing effort such as boinc or distributed.net (others welcome) once i get the kernel compiled for dual cpu. any suggestions on distributed computing efforts welcome.

when running single cpu in debian this machine drinks 240watts. i can only imagine what the meter will say when 2 are running.

The other CPU is already drawing power even if the kernel doesn't use it.

Ahh good point. In comparison my IBM Intellistation dual opteron 248 (2.2ghz) workstation uses 250W.