IBM

Hi all !

I got from the flea market an BULL DPX/20 100 pizza-box. Googling for it i discovered that is really an IBM RS/6000 with MicroChannel architecture, model 7011-250. Cpu PowerPC 601 66Mhz (max 80), 16Mb of ram (max 256Mb), narrow scsi (1Gb disk installed), max AIX supported is 5.1.

It has no video card so i connected a console to Serial1 and it starts, it flashes numbers on the lcd panel and it boots some version of AIX (it doesn't say which), it fscks, it starts all daemons'n'stuff and that's it - it wasn't set to ask for a login on the either serial ports

I cannot even think to add some generic PC videocard as it has only 2 MCA slots and a funky video mezanine connector. No ISA, no PCI.

Does anyone has any experience with MCA RS/6000 boxes and can tell me what to do from here ? On the IBM site all info about the 7011 series has vanished except a 32USD Service Manual in the store.

Thank you very much.

Only AIX will run on any MCA-based RS/6000.
With 16M of RAM, it must be running AIX 3.x, as AIX 5.1 won't even boot with that little.

Do you have the key to the system? What happens if you put it in service mode? (the little wrench)

Hey pipeline, what do you do...

Interesting Avatar of Schistosoma Mansoni, do you work with these bugs?

Is there no video connector at all or possibly a video connector with just 3 mini bnc connectors(the w3 part of 13w3)?

Also, from the terminal, when it powers up it should go through all the motions and display the keyboard/scsi/speaker/mouse or whatever...after keyboard you should be able to hit F1/F2/1/2 on the keyboard to get into the firmware...1/2 are usually on the serial console, but which depends on the system. The maintance mode is rather a fast track to that.

Vagabondo wrote: Hey pipeline, what do you do...

Interesting Avatar of Schistosoma Mansoni, do you work with these bugs?

No, I'm just a parasite.

Sorry for the delayed answer.

pipeline: Surely I will try to upgrade the ram as i want to install 5.1. 16Mb is far too little

I have the key, i tried booting with the key in service mode, the little led display stopped at 200 (i think) and there was no output on the serial console. I will try-it again as i might have had an incorrect speed set for the console at that time (19200 8n1 works)

wolflord: No video at all, the slot on the back has a blanking plate, the card is missing (from the differences in the thickness of the dust inside it looks like there originally was a video card but it was removed some time ago).

There is no ouptut on the serial console while the numbers are showing on the led display. When the led display clears, the kernel seems to be already loaded and the startup scripts run. I'll try pressing some keys

Thank you all very much. I'll keep you posted on what i succeed.

@psergiu : If you haven't got a graphics adapter at all and want one, then I've got one that might suit. I can't remember the model number, but it was a reasonably standard MCA card out of my old 7012 model 36T - it'll only support 8-bit colour depth, but better than nothing.
If you're interested, let me know - you can have it for the cost of trans-Pacific postage. I'll email you the specs first (the card is in the office and I'm at home at the moment).
Btw on my machine (50 MHz PPC) AIX 5.1 was too slow to use interactively (even with 256 MB RAM), so I dropped back to 4.1.5 which fine - so don't be too disappointed with performance.

The 7011 saga continues
I put inside 4 additional 64Mb simms from an i2
I connected an external SCSI Pioneer 4x cdrom (SCSI ID 4, 512b/sect)
Inserted CD labaled "LCD4_1061_01 Volume1"
Connected an 19200 8n1 serial console to S1
Moved the key to service mode & power on
Lo & Behold, the system boots directly into diagnostics which i run and everything seems OK except the simms from the I2 which are not detected.
Moving the key to Normal, the system boots from the HDD.
I have 5 CDs which are suposed to be the AIX 5.1 Kit:

CD Volume label (marker scribbles on the cd):

LCD4_1061_05_VOLUME1 (1451 1)
LCD4_1061_05_VOLUME2 (1521 2)
LCD4_1061_05_VOLUME3 (1526 3)
LCD4_1061_05_VOLUME4 (1533 4)
LCD4_1061_05_VOLUME5 (1538 5)

- Are those the right cds ?
- Which one is the install cd ? (CD2 does not seem bootable at all)
- How can i start the installation ? (i know it won't work with 16Mb of ram, i just want to see it trying to boot)
- Any SIMM reccomendations ?
- Any 7011 Manual ? (on the IBM's site the history starts with 7012)

Thank you all very much.

Probably too recent, but may offer something?? : Problem Solving and Troubleshooting in AIX 5L (pdf)

Good luck.
Nick

psergiu wrote: The 7011 saga continues
I put inside 4 additional 64Mb simms from an i2
I connected an external SCSI Pioneer 4x cdrom (SCSI ID 4, 512b/sect)
Inserted CD labaled "LCD4_1061_01 Volume1"
Connected an 19200 8n1 serial console to S1
Moved the key to service mode & power on
Lo & Behold, the system boots directly into diagnostics which i run and everything seems OK except the simms from the I2 which are not detected.
Moving the key to Normal, the system boots from the HDD.
I have 5 CDs which are suposed to be the AIX 5.1 Kit:

CD Volume label (marker scribbles on the cd):

LCD4_1061_05_VOLUME1 (1451 1)
LCD4_1061_05_VOLUME2 (1521 2)
LCD4_1061_05_VOLUME3 (1526 3)
LCD4_1061_05_VOLUME4 (1533 4)
LCD4_1061_05_VOLUME5 (1538 5)

- Are those the right cds ?

Hmm - I don't know about that, the ones that I've had in the past haven't had labels like that on them. I've not actually got mine at hand at the moment, but the next time I'm in the office I'll check them for you.

- Which one is the install cd ? (CD2 does not seem bootable at all)
- How can i start the installation ? (i know it won't work with 16Mb of ram, i just want to see it trying to boot)

Well the first thing you need to ensure is that you've got a CD-ROM drive that the compatible. I spent months getting one that booted with 512 Byte sectors that would work. Even some IBM drives, that had jumper settings on them that allowed me to configure 512 Byte sectors, would not work. The symtom was always that the machine would boot to the maintenance menu, instead of the boot/install menu. In the end, just through trial and error, I discovered an old Plextor drive that was acceptable - it took me months, and it was very much a pain in the arse.

- Any SIMM reccomendations ?

I was lucky in this respect, in that I was able to get one of the special riser cards that was compatible with my old machine when I got it. I'm really not at all sure which types of SIMMs they take. I'll have a look amoungst the references I've got here though and let you know if I find anything. The guy I got it from was based in Deutschland, and I'll give you his online-address too if you wish.

- Any 7011 Manual ? (on the IBM's site the history starts with 7012)

Can't hep you there, I've only got a 7012 machine.

DraconianTimes: Thank you very much - a very useful document - it covers my machine also;
yarrumevets: Thank you for the cdrom info ... Unfortunatelly all my scsi cdroms seem to exhibit this "boot to maintenance menu" (alltrough they are all sgi-happy) ... i'll try some others.

psergiu wrote: DraconianTimes: Thank you very much - a very useful document - it covers my machine also;
yarrumevets: Thank you for the cdrom info ... Unfortunatelly all my scsi cdroms seem to exhibit this "boot to maintenance menu" (alltrough they are all sgi-happy) ... i'll try some others.

OK mate, I've got some more information for you:
- The CDs that came with my machine when I got it say "5765-393 AIX TM 4.1.5 for Server for G5 Processors". There are two discs that make up the distribution. I think I mentioned before that I put 5.1 on it and it was so slow that it was inoperable.
- As for the memory, the SIMMs have a sticker on them that says "32G7699A 68X6357 98A 3 227" and the actual on-chip designation says "0169250 IBM 9898 JAPAN 9303 2396". These ones are 8 Mbytes in size.
- When it comes to CD-ROM drives, it's a real lottery as I said. Here's a link that might help though: http://www.tecnopolis.ca/pipermail/aixt ... 00051.html
- Just found this too, when I was looking for something else ( http://members.cox.net/rs6kseller/inv/rs6kseller.htm ), I've not dealt with them before, but if you need memory you might be able to score here.

Sorry that I haven't yet got a shipping price for you on that framebuffer card, but I've been tied up marking examination papers for the past several days. I'll get on to it soon.

Hi, as far as I know "5765-393 AIXTM 4.1.5 for Server for G5 Processors" was AIX for S/390 Mainframes (with G5 CPUs) ...

Regards, Alex

alix wrote: Hi, as far as I know "5765-393 AIXTM 4.1.5 for Server for G5 Processors" was AIX for S/390 Mainframes (with G5 CPUs) ...

Regards, Alex

Yes, well it may well be some sort of multi-platform support thing - but I can tell you for a fact that this very distribution installs on an RS/6000 Model 36T (which is a 50MHz PPC machine with MCA). I've installed it twice from CD-ROM, no problems (with an acceptable CD-ROM drive as per above).
Cheers,
Steve

Never dealt with one that old, but the 7012-3xx and 7030 series use proprietary IBM 40-bit wide SIMMS. Got a bunch from a dead 3CT (16 MB beasties, no they don't work reliably in anything else.)

Regarding the console question- it seems RS6ks need more than the standard 3-wire cable, per Usenet:

"c32 is the last thing you should see before your graphics display comes
alive so I can only assume your adapter is somehow incompatible with your
monitor. FYI on your 530 without graphics the last thing is c33
I suggest you try to get a serial console working. The trick with these
RS232 cables is that the RS6000 expects a signal on pin 8 (DCD), usually
from pin 20 on the terminal, not sure what this is on a 9 pin, to work as
a console at boot time, it's a lot less fussy the rest of the time and
will work with a normal 2, 3 & 7 pin cable with 2 & 3 crossed over. Plug
into S1 most of the time.

Below is the pinouts for what IBM called a Printer/Terminal interposer.
This was a little silver D25 way Male - Female device, about 2" long that
plugged onto the end of a straight through cable that IBM used to supply
with every RS6000 plus the interposer. The straight though cable therefor
used pins 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 20 & 22.

The interposer then :

Female Signal Male
1 Shield Ground Shell
2 TxD 3
3 RxD 2
4 RTS 5
5 CTS 4
6, 8 DSR, CD 20
7 Signal Ground 7
20 DTR 6, 8

You need to work out how this is applied to 9 way, or buy a commercially
available 9 - 25 way adapter then build a cable based on the interposer
above.

Try booting in normal mode but if this fails turn the key to service.

You don't say if you have boot media, I hope you do. A CD, Aix install
tape, mksysb tape or if they're very old Aix 3.2.5 systems boot floppies.
I also hope you have the key. Turn the key to Service and reboot. All
attached terminals should get a message with a "Press key 1 to make this
terminal console"

Depending on the version of Aix loaded you should get to an install menu,
all slightly different, which also has a maintenance shell option. From
here you are effectively in single user mode and you can set the console.

Hope this helps, an RS232 interfaker is invaluable for these types of
problems.

Assuming you get past this stage the next issue I suspect will be your
root password, but that's another news message for another day.

Kindest Regards & Good Luck

John McQue "

Scott Quinn

CD 1 is the bootstrap one, remember for IBM RS/6k stuff you'll probably
need an IBM CD-ROM, the machines expect IBM firmware.

With a machine of that age, you will probably want AIX v4.3.3. It's from the "standardized era", so it's not too weird. 4.3.3 doesn't have the "L", but GNU stuff does build O.K., and I have a "AIX toolbox for Linux applications on POWER systems" CD, indicating that IBM did support it somewhat. AIX 5.1 is even slow on a 3CT with 512MB RAM, so I don't know what it would be like on a 7011.

Hello all ! Thank you all very much for your replies.

I finally managed to:
- get an USB-Serial adapter 100% supported by OSX (connected though an old 25-9 adapter from a serial mouse)
- upgrade the ram from 16 to 64 Mb (found a bag of IBM 8Mb parity SIMMs at a flea market)
- find a SCSI cdrom willing to boot (Plextor UltraPlex 40max)
- replace the original 1Gb disk with a 2Gb one (will be replaced with a larger one later)
- boot from the CD (key in service mode)

I installed AIX 5.1 (minimal install), the installation progress reaches 96%, (Creating boot image.) it reboots from the hdisk0, but instead of the Installation Assistant menu i get:

if i try to login as root it will dump me straight back to the login: prompt - no password asked.
after typing furiously root i maganed to make him spit out something like:

... it gave me the # prompt for about 1/2 of a second then back to login:

I booted then to Maintenace -> Access a Root Volume Group -> #
passwd -> changed the password -> no luck
install_assist -> Accepted all the licences, changed the root password & timezone -> i still get the dreaded useless login:

Help AIX hates me And as AIX 5.1 is the only one i could find ...

Thank you !

Do you have the 5.1 install guide? Mine is called "aixinsgd.pdf". It definitely thinks 64Mb is a low water mark.

Step 1. Completing the Prerequisites
Before starting the installation, complete the following prerequisites:
* All requisite hardware, including any external devices (such as tape drives, CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drives), must be physically connected. If you need further information, refer to the hardware documentation that accompanied your system.
* The installation media must be loaded in the boot device.
* The system you are installing must be set to boot from the device in which the installation media is loaded. On machines with system keys, turn the key to the Service position. For machines that do not have system keys, refer to the hardware documentation that came with your system to set the boot device.
* Other users who have access to your system must be logged off before you begin the installation.
* The machine on which you are installing must have 64 MB of memory. Machines with less than 64 MB of memory might not be able to boot from the installation media.
* There must be adequate disk space available for AIX 5.1. See the AIX 5.1 Release Notes for disk space requirements.
* If the system you are installing is currently running, create or locate a backup of the system. For instructions on how to create a system backup, refer to the Installation Guide for the version of the operating system currently installed on your system.
* If the system you are installing must communicate with other systems and access their resources, determine the following information for this host: network interface, IP address, hostname, and route to the network. If you do not know this information, contact the system administrator for this host.

Thank you - I found a on-line copy HERE . I will read-it end-to-end
Unfortunatelly google does not seems to be able to find the "AIX 5.1 Release Notes" so i can get an ideea of the disk space requirements. I will try to install on a larger hard-drive (4 or 9Gb) in a few days and i'll tell you if this helps .
As the 7011 will refuse to accept anything except IBM 72 pin simms (i tried with HP, SGI & Cisco ones with no luck) i'm stuck with 64Mb (the site yarrumevets pointed out does not have 7011 compatible ram and does not ship here in Elbonia )

Thank you all very much.

psergiu wrote: i'm stuck with 64Mb

This is a 7043-140 system running 5.1 with not much going on but xdm sitting idle and an sshd session.