=;The OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)D

The OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)



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14.19 Which video monitor works with which graphics controller?



G To determine the answer to the "will this video monitor or this G LCD panel work with this graphics controller?" question, please > first locate the resolution(s) and the frequencies that are I possible/supported at both ends of the video cable (on the display and E on the graphics controller, in other words), and then determine if C there are any matching settings available. If there are multiple H matches, you will need to determine which one is most appropriate for your needs.

AYou will also need to determine if the video monitor or graphics Acontroller requires the 3 BNC signaling with the synchronization Fsignals on the green wire, or the 5 BNC signaling common on many PCs, Gor other connections such as the DB15 video connector or USB connector Bused on various systems. (BNC signaling is comparatively old, but >prevalent with many older hobbyist AlphaStation or VAXstation configurations.)

HIf there are no matches, you will likely need to change the hardware at $one or both ends of the video cable.

=The refresh frequencies for many devices have been posted to Fcomp.os.vms and/or other newsgroups. Search the archives for details. Also see:



HLCD-based and plasma-based flat-panel displays are generally compatible =with all recent OpenVMS Alpha systems and supported graphics Econtrollers. For best results, you should generally set the graphics Dcontroller to match the native LCD or plasma display resolution and G(for LCD displays) also set the controller refresh rate to 60Hz. Check @your graphics controller and your display documentation for any Bdevice-specific requirements and/or configuration recommendations.

ASome of the older graphics controllers around do not necessarily Fgenerate stable signals at 60 Hz, if the controller can even generate Fthat refresh rate; you may end up upgrading to a less-old controller. 9(At least some of the PowerStorm 3D30 and PowerStorm 4D20Fseries controllers, for instance, are not necessarily the best choice Efor 60 Hz operations with an LCD, based on empirical testing with an :AlphaStation XP1000, PowerStorm 3D30, and a TFT2025 series?LCD. Degraded or mismatched signals produce degraded displays, @obviously. The newest graphics controllers compatible with your Fparticular system are generally better choices here for use with LCD; theE Radeon 7500 series is a good choice for most EV6-class AlphaStation  systems, for instance.

;Also see Section 14.18.m

14.20 Where can I get information on storage hardware?



CInformation on various HP (Compaq, DIGITAL) OpenVMS and other disk Gstorage hardware and controllers, and related technical information on ,SCSI, device jumpers, etc., is available at:





/  
Note

Fthe aquascape website appears to have become unavailable, and the FAQ Emaintainer is unaware of a new or replacement server. You may or may Gnot have some success looking for this or of any other now-unavailable 'sites using the world-wide web archives at:
p

14.21 Why does my LK401 keyboard unexpectedly autorepeat?



#There are several modes of failure:

~

14.22 Problem - My LK411 sends the wrong keycodes or some keys are dead



CCheck the firmware revision on the keyboard. Hardware revision B01 Fintroduced an incompatability with the device driver which causes the Gkeyboard to not be recognized correctly. There is a patch available to Hfix this problem: [AXPDRIV06_061] - the fix is also included in OpenVMS GV6.2. The rev A01 keyboard, and the LK450 should work without problems.

FIf you are working from another operating system platform, please see Cthe DECxterm tool and related information on OpenVMS Freeware V5.0.r

14.23 Which DE500 variant works with which OpenVMS version?



HEnsure you have a version of the Alpha SRM console with support for the BDE500 series device. Apply ALL mandatory ECO kits for the OpenVMS Eversion in use, and also apply the CLUSIO, ALPBOOT, and ALPLAN kits, 8and apply any available ALPCPU ECO kit for the platform.



FTo check the DE500 device hardware id from OpenVMS, use the following command:

 

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$ ANALYZE/SYSTEM SDA> SHOW LAN/DEVICE=EWc: 




3The "hardware version" will be displayed.

HTo set the DE500 speed and duplex settings via the associated Alpha SRM Zconsole environment variable, see Table 14-4.

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Table 14-4 DE500 Speed and Duplex Settings
EWx0_MODE setting Meaning
 Twisted-Pair 10 Mbit/sec, nofull_duplex
 Full Duplex, Twisted-Pair  10 Mbit/sec, full_duplex
AUI 10 Mbit/sec, nofull_duplex
BNC 10 Mbit/sec, nofull_duplex
Fast ! 100 Mbit/sec, nofull_duplex
 FastFD (Full Duplex)  100 Mbit/sec, full_duplex
 Auto-Negotiate $ Negotiation with remote device


.To override the console setting and use LANCP:

 

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$ RUN SYS$SYSTEM:LANCP #LANCP> SET DEVICE EWA0/SPEED=10 &LANCP> DEFINE DEVICE EWA0/SPEED=10 0LANCP> SET DEVICE EWA0/SPEED=100/full_duplex 3LANCP> DEFINE DEVICE EWA0/SPEED=100/full_duplex 




CFast Ethernet (100Base, 100 megabit) controllers such as the DE500 @series have a pair of connections available---while traditional DEthernet (10Base, 10 megabit) is inherently a half-duplex protocol, DFast Ethernet can be configured to use one or both of the available Dconnections, depending on the controller. Fast Ethernet can thus be <half- or full-duplex depending on the configuration and the Gcapabilities of the network controller and the Ethernet network plant. HSome Fast Ethernet controllers can also operate at traditional Ethernet Gspeeds, these controllers are thus often refered to as 10/100 Ethernet controllers.v

14.24 How do I set the speed and duplex on OpenVMS I64?



BOpenVMS I64 on Integrity servers does not provide a console-level Fenvironment variable akin to the SRM console variables used to manage Athe network speed and duplex settings on OpenVMS Alpha and Alpha Fsystems. On OpenVMS I64 on Integrity servers, LANCP is used to manage <the speed and the duplex setting of the network controllers.

 

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$ RUN SYS$SYSTEM:LANCP #LANCP> SET DEVICE EWA0/SPEED=10 &LANCP> DEFINE DEVICE EWA0/SPEED=10 0LANCP> SET DEVICE EWA0/SPEED=100/full_duplex 3LANCP> DEFINE DEVICE EWA0/SPEED=100/full_duplex 




GThe EFI-level network bootstrap operations for a network-based upgrade Bor a network-based installation of OpenVMS I64 require the use of 6autonegotiation and a switch capable of supporting it.

OSee Section 14.23 for a related discussion.|

14.25 Third-party or Unsupported disk/tape/controllers/SCSI/widgets?



FA wide variety of third-party and formally-unsupported widgets---SCSI Eand ATA/ATAPI (IDE) disks and tapes, graphics controllers, etc---are >obviously widely available, and are used on various platforms.

FIf you purchase third-party or unsupported or generic SCSI, ATA/ATAPI F(IDE) storage devices, you and your device vendor will be responsible Dfor the testing and the support of the devices. In general, you can Eexpect that HP will address non-standards-compliance problems within BOpenVMS (changes that will also not prevent operations with other Gsupported devices, of course), but you and/or the device vendor and/or Hthe device manufacturer are responsible for finding and fixing problems @in the particular third-party device and or controller involved.

BIn particular, realize that neither SCSI nor ATA/ATAPI (IDE) is a ?particularly standard interface, these interfaces tend to be a @collection of optionally-implemented and standardized interface Efeatures. You should not and can not simply assume that all SCSI nor HATA/ATAPI (IDE) storage devices are interchangeable. If you want to try Gto use a generic SCSI device, use V6.2 or later, or (better) V7.1-2 or Hlater. If you wish to try to use ATA/ATAPI (IDE), use OpenVMS V7.1-2 or later.

kOn older OpenVMS releases, see the disk capacity limits ( Section 9.5).

CWith SCSI disks on releases prior to V6.2, ensure that you have theG ARRE and ARWE settings configured correctly (disabled). (If not, you < will see DRVERR fatal drive errors and error log entries.)

BSome SCSI disks set the medium type byte as part of the SCSI size Efield---this is a SET CAPACITY extension to SCSI specs. This problem #also applies to VAX V7.1 and later.

EDisks with SCSI disk sizes past 8.58 GB and/or with the SET CAPACITY Eextension require ALPSCSI07 ECO or the OpenVMS Alpha V7.1-2 or later Srelease. (See Section 9.5 for further details.)

CBased on the displays of the (undocumented) SYS$ETC:SCSI_INFO tool;1 this tool is present in OpenVMS V6.2 and later:

 

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BIssuing 6-byte MODE SENSE QIOW to get current values for page 01h '       Page Code ................. 01h =       Page Name ................. Read-Write Error Recovery '       Saveable .................. Yes &       Size ...................... 10 ;       Hex Data .................. E6 08 50 00 00 00 08 00 )                                   00 00 




-The E6 shown indicates that the AWRE and ARREJ bits are set, and this is incompatible with OpenVMS versions prior to G V6.2. Further along in the same SCSI_INFO display, if you also see:

 

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EIssuing 6-byte MODE SENSE QIOW to get changeable values for page 81h '       Page Code ................. 01h =       Page Name ................. Read-Write Error Recovery '       Saveable .................. Yes &       Size ...................... 10 ;       Hex Data .................. C0 08 50 00 00 00 08 00 )                                   00 00 




)The C0 value means that the AWRE and ARREG values can be changed on this particular SCSI device. (This is not G always the case.) If the bits are set, you can use RZDISK from the 4 OpenVMS Freeware, and can reset the E6 flag byteH to hexadecimal 26 (or whatever the remaining mask when you remove bits  C0) on page one.

EEach SCSI and ATA/ATAPI (IDE) host contains non-trivial SCSI and IDE driverE software, and each device contains equally non-trivial firmware--- E taken together with the mechanical and electronic components, this J software and firmware will determine whether or not a particular device  will function as expected.

E Also note that various devices---such as various SCSI CD-R devices H ---can implement and can require vendor-specific protocol extensions, C and these extensions can require modifications to OpenVMS or the A addition of various utilities. In various of these cases, theseB devices perform functions that will require them to use SCSI or 0 ATA/ATAPI (IDE) commands that are (hopefully) I architecturally-compatible SCSI or ATA/ATAPI (IDE) command extensions. q (Also see Section 7.1 and Section 9.7.)

GSome SCSI tapes lack odd-byte transfer support, making operations with BOpenVMS problematic at best, as OpenVMS expects odd-byte support. AExamples of such include LTO-1 devices such as the HP Ultrium 230series tape, and the DLT VS80< series tapes. Due to the lack of odd-byte transfer support,F LTO-1 devices are not supported by OpenVMS. LTO devices in the LTO-2 E and later series do reportedly presently all have odd-byte transfer D support, and operations are reportedly rather easier. Do check for  formal support, of course.

@In order for OpenVMS to officially support a particular device, Dintegration and testing work is mandated. There can be no certainty Fthat any particular device will operate as expected in any particular ?configuration without first performing this (non-trivial) work.

HIt is quite possible to find two devices---both entirely compliant with <applicable standards or interface documents---that will not interoperate.

AThe same general statement holds for OpenVMS bootstrapping on an Bunsupported VAX or Alpha platform. It might or might not work. In Fparticular, please see the OpenVMS Software Product Description (SPD) ?for the list of platforms supported by OpenVMS. OpenVMS is not Gsupported on the Personal Workstation -a series, on the Digital Server Cseries platforms, on the AlphaServer 2100 series 5/375 CPU, on the GMultia, on the AlphaServer DS20L, and on a variety of other platforms. D(You might or might not see success booting OpenVMS on any of these platforms.)R

14.25.1 Lists of third-party widgets on OpenVMS?



BVarious folks have successfully used common third-party disk disk Edevices with OpenVMS, such as the ATA (IDE) and SCSI variants of the $Iomega Zip250 removable disk device.

HCommon SCSI CD-R/CD-RW devices such as the Plextor PlexWriter 12/10/32S SCSIB series and the HP DVD200i series (recording CD-R) have also been I successfully utilized with various AlphaStation and VAXstation systems, @ and with tools such as CDRECORD. (A Plextor PlexWriter burn of I 614400000 bytes (300000 sectors) requires just over six minutes at 12x, H using an AlphaStation XP1000 666 MHz EV67 system UltraSCSI host.) (See h Section 9.7 for detailed discussions of recording optical media on # OpenVMS, and the available tools.)

EIf you choose to attempt to use third-party devices, ensure that you Fhave the most current OpenVMS version and the most current ECO kit(s) Dapplied. In the specific case of the ATA (IDE) Iomega Zip250 drive, ?ensure that you have the most current revision of SYS$DQDRIVER installed.Y

14.25.2 Are the 2X-KZPCA-AA and SN-KZPCA-AA LVD Ultra2 SCSI?

HYes. Both of these controllers are Ultra2 low-voltage differential (LVD) SCSI controllers.I

14.25.3 Resolving DRVERR fatal device error?



HIf this is on an OpenVMS version prior to V6.2, please see the AWRE and XARRE information included in section Section 14.25.d

14.26 Looking for connector wiring pin-outs?



HThe DECconnect DEC-423 Modified Modular Jack (MMJ) appears similar to a Ctelphone or network modular jac, though with the key offset to one mside. The DECconnect MMJ connector pin-out is listed in Table 14-5, Fwith an end-on view of the connector pins and the connector key shown below.

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Table 14-5 DEC MMJ Pin-out
Pin Description
 1  Data Terminal Ready (DTR)
 2  Transmit (TXD)
 3  Transmit Ground (TXD-)
 4  Receive Ground (RXD-)
 5  Receive (RXD)
 6  Data Set Ready (DSR)


 

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   +------------------+    | 1  2  3  4  5  6 |    +------------+    ++                 +____+ 




DThe BC16E-nn (where the "-nn" indicates the cable length) cabling andF keying "flips over" or "crosses-over" the signal C wires, and this allows all DECconnect MMJ connections to be wired > identically; the ends of the BC16E are symmetrical and fully E interchangeable, and allows either end of the cable to be connected C either to the terminal or to the host. Specifically, the BC16E-nn # cross-over wiring looks like this:

 

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.        Terminal                         Host -        MMJ                              MMJ  9     DTR 1 --->---------->----------->--- 6 DSR 9     TXD 2 --->---------->----------->--- 5 RXD ,         3 ------------------------------ 4 ,         4 ------------------------------ 3 9     RXD 5 ---<----------<-----------<--- 2 TXD 9     DSR 6 ---<----------<-----------<--- 1 DTR 




@DECconnect parts and connections are available from HP, and MMJ Ecrimping dies for use in typical telco-style crimping tools, and MMJ 'connectors, are available from Blackbox1 and from other communications equipment vendors.

The PC-compatible DB9G connector pin-out found on Alpha and Integrity COM serial ports---and X on most PC systems is listed in Table 14-6.

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Table 14-6 PC DB9 Pin-out
Pin Description
 1  Data Carrier Detect (DCD)
 2  Received Data
 3  Transmit Data
 4  Data Terminal Ready (DTR)
 5 Ground
 6  Data Set Ready (DSR)
 7  Request To Send (RTS)
 8  Clear To Send
 9  floating


The MicroVAX DB9G console connector pin-out predates the PC-style DB9 pin-out (adapters f discussed in Section 14.27), and uses a then-common (and older) ' standard pin-out, and uses the EIA-232Xseries standard signals shown in Table 14-7.

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Table 14-7 MicroVAX DB9 Pin-out
Pin Description
 1  Protective Ground
 2  Transmited Data
 3  Received Data
 4  Request To Send (RTS)
 5  Data Terminal Ready (DTR)
 6  Data Set Ready (DSR)
 7  Signal Ground
 8 9 Shorted to pin 9 on MicroVAX and VAXstation 2000...
 9 1 ...series systems, otherwise left floating.


DWhen pin 8 is shorted to pin 9, this is a BCC08 (or variant) cable, ?most commonly used as a console cable on the MicroVAX 2000 and ?VAXstation 2000 series. (Other systems may or may not tolerate connecting pin 8 to pin 9.)

The BN24H looks like this:

 

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     MMJ       RJ45        1---------8       2---------2       3---------1       4---------3       5---------6       6---------7 




The BN24J looks like this:

 

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     MMJ       RJ45        1---------7       2---------6       3---------3       4---------1       5---------2       6---------8 




Also see:






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