PMAX serial console

[Boris Maryshev]

Hi all!

I'm trying to build serial console to my PMAX (unfortunately I don't have any
other options).

I looked at http://q.dyndns.org/~blc/DS3100/pinouts.html (thanks Benson!) and
at Bill Sherman's guide to serial cable wiring
(http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/VR/Info/serial_info.html) and did it like this:

PMAX MMJ-6<->RS-232 DB9
1. DTR <-> db9-9
2. TD (+) <-> db9-2
3. TD (-) <
-> db9-7
4. RD (-) <
5. RD (+) <-> db9-3
6. DSR <-> db9-6

With this kind of setup all I could get from PMAX's "Printer" port is random
symbols. "Serial" is silent.
Then I thought that I should actually make null modem, so i did it like this:

PMAX MMJ-6 <-> RS-232 DB9
1. DTR <-> db9-6
2. TD (+) <-> db9-3
3. TD (-) <
-> db9-7
4. RD (-) <
5. RD (+) <-> db9-2
6. DSR <-> db9-9

This way I don't even get any random signals anymore :)

PMAX itself should be ok (leds 0 to 6 are all on, so this should only mean
that OS is missing, right?)

I think I'm too lame to make it myself, anyone could help? One idea is that
maybe I should have been using db9-ibm...

Thanks,
Boris

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[Boris Maryshev]

Post by Boris Maryshev
maybe I should have been using db9-ibm...

Damn, it looks very much like this :(

So, right way would be:

PMAX MMJ-6<->RS-232 DB9
1. DTR <-> db9-6
2. TD (+) <-> db9-2
3. TD (-) <
-> db9-5
4. RD (-) <
5. RD (+) <-> db9-3
6. DSR <-> db9-4

Right?

Boris

[blc+ (Benson Chow)]

Hi,

Thanks for finding my pages useful. I'd like to mention that though the
data's there I haven't actually verified them all on my machine and I've
been updating the page as I find out more about my machine and its OS (and
I finally have my pmax again!). I've still yet to find one of those mmj
connectors and just about *this* close ripping out the mmj connectors and
putting in regular 6p6 rj11s. (Anyone in the US know a place that I can
get MMJ connectors on cable ends cheap? Gosh, I don't even want to know
how much the crimper costs!)

Anyway, I believe you should be hooking up the serial console to the
printer port, and that's why you were getting some garbage, it was trying
to do something with it. Maybe the serial settings are off (9600bps or
whatever has been set in the nvram)? Do you have both RX- and TX- hooked
up to GND/Common?

There's a schematic here that looks like it's pretty close (and ties off
more signals so that you won't have to worry about handshake problems.)

http://www.lammertbies.nl/comm/cable/RS-232.html#mmjs

Good luck and let me know when you get it working!

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[Skylar Thompson]

Post by Boris Maryshev
Hi all!
I'm trying to build serial console to my PMAX (unfortunately I don't have any
other options).
I looked at http://q.dyndns.org/~blc/DS3100/pinouts.html (thanks Benson!) and
at Bill Sherman's guide to serial cable wiring
PMAX MMJ-6<->RS-232 DB9
1. DTR <-> db9-9
2. TD (+) <-> db9-2
3. TD (-) <
-> db9-7
4. RD (-) <
5. RD (+) <-> db9-3
6. DSR <-> db9-6
With this kind of setup all I could get from PMAX's "Printer" port is random
symbols. "Serial" is silent.

What kind of PMAX machine are you using? All the DEC models I've worked
with use the first serial port as the console port by default, and require
a null modem for operation. Are you sure your terminal isn't frobbed?

[Boris Maryshev]

Hi! I made cable as described in this link and then used RS-232<->RS-232
console cable with it and it actually seems to work when I connect it to
the "printer" port, but unfortunately I don't get prompt.

What I get is this:
KN01 V7.02

7..6..5..4..3..2..
??
And that's all, it doesn't take any input, just prints ??, then refreshes
screen and loops it this way...

Any idea what am I dealing with?

Thanks for your help!
Boris

Post by blc+ (Benson Chow)
Hi,
Thanks for finding my pages useful. I'd like to mention that though the
data's there I haven't actually verified them all on my machine and I've been
updating the page as I find out more about my machine and its OS (and I
finally have my pmax again!). I've still yet to find one of those mmj
connectors and just about *this* close ripping out the mmj connectors and
putting in regular 6p6 rj11s. (Anyone in the US know a place that I can get
MMJ connectors on cable ends cheap? Gosh, I don't even want to know how much
the crimper costs!)
Anyway, I believe you should be hooking up the serial console to the printer
port, and that's why you were getting some garbage, it was trying to do
something with it. Maybe the serial settings are off (9600bps or whatever
has been set in the nvram)? Do you have both RX- and TX- hooked up to
GND/Common?
There's a schematic here that looks like it's pretty close (and ties off more
signals so that you won't have to worry about handshake problems.)
http://www.lammertbies.nl/comm/cable/RS-232.html#mmjs
Good luck and let me know when you get it working!

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[Kirk Russell]

Post by Boris Maryshev
Hi! I made cable as described in this link and then used RS-232<->RS-232
console cable with it and it actually seems to work when I connect it to
the "printer" port, but unfortunately I don't get prompt.
KN01 V7.02
7..6..5..4..3..2..
??
And that's all, it doesn't take any input, just prints ??, then refreshes
screen and loops it this way...
Any idea what am I dealing with?

http://q.dyndns.org/~blc/DS3100/bootrom.html

I don't think the decstation 3100 will boot without a working ethernet
link.



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[Jochen Kunz]

On Sat, 18 Sep 2004 16:50:50 +0300 (EEST)

Post by Boris Maryshev
Another challenge for me and my PMAX would be
setting up Plan 9 on it, I'll be posting more on that soon.

SPRITE may be an interresting project too:
http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/projects/sprite/retrospective.html
http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/projects/sprite/
--
tschüß,
Jochen

Homepage: http://www.unixag-kl.fh-kl.de/~jkunz/


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[Maciej W. Rozycki]

Post by Boris Maryshev
Guys, thanks a lot! I've got it working!!! Thank you Benson, Skylar and
Kirk! Now I think I need to set-up tftp server and try to install NetBSD
on this machine... Also I might give Linux MIPS a try, although
NetBSD/PMAX documentation seems much more consistent and up-to-date than
docs for Linux/MIPS... Another challenge for me and my PMAX would be
setting up Plan 9 on it, I'll be posting more on that soon.

Please note that, regrettably, Linux support for the PMAX is severely
inadequate, unlike with the TURBOchannel members of the DECstation family.
There is no SII SCSI nor framebuffer driver and the serial driver does not
support attaching a keyboard (the latter should be resolved soon, but
tested with a 3MAX only). What should work is the system core (the R2k
CPU is fully supported as well as the PMAX-specific handling of the
writeback buffer), the serial console and the LANCE network driver, so you
should be able to run Linux in an NFS-root setup. Unfortunately, due to
the lask of hardware for testing the support wasn't checked for quite some
time and is recently based on specs only. Thus there may be stupid bugs
that actually prevent the setup from working. I had an opportunity to get
a free PMAX last year, but I missed it. I hope I'll be able to get one
eventually, but meanwhile if you are really interested in Linux, I'd be
happy to provide help and appreciate any feedback from you.

I can build a reasonably recent kernel (that is known to work at least
for the 3MAX+, the 4MIN and the 4MAX+) and make it available for you if
you'd like to give it a shot. You can take a suitably recent userland
from elsewhere (mine is a development environment only and hardly useful
for anything else, e.g. no startup scripts, only inittab), e.g. Debian
provides support for the little-endian MIPS. You can also try the Debian
installation kernel, initially -- perhaps it'll work out of the box.

Maciej

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[Boris Maryshev]

Post by Maciej W. Rozycki
that actually prevent the setup from working. I had an opportunity to get
a free PMAX last year, but I missed it. I hope I'll be able to get one
eventually, but meanwhile if you are really interested in Linux, I'd be
happy to provide help and appreciate any feedback from you.

Sure. I'll make you an account when I get it installed if you want
to do some development.

Post by Maciej W. Rozycki
I can build a reasonably recent kernel (that is known to work at least
for the 3MAX+, the 4MIN and the 4MAX+) and make it available for you if
you'd like to give it a shot. You can take a suitably recent userland
from elsewhere (mine is a development environment only and hardly useful
for anything else, e.g. no startup scripts, only inittab), e.g. Debian
provides support for the little-endian MIPS. You can also try the Debian
installation kernel, initially -- perhaps it'll work out of the box.

I've got my PMAX from hardcore hardware collectioner Meelis Roos from
Tartu University. He's got many DECstation variants and from what he said
I understand that 2.6 linuxes do not work on 3100 models yet.

Yeah, Debian is probably the only choice, I don't want Gentoo on this
machine :)

Post by Maciej W. Rozycki
Maciej

Boris

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[Maciej W. Rozycki]

Post by Boris Maryshev

Post by Maciej W. Rozycki
that actually prevent the setup from working. I had an opportunity to get
a free PMAX last year, but I missed it. I hope I'll be able to get one
eventually, but meanwhile if you are really interested in Linux, I'd be
happy to provide help and appreciate any feedback from you.

Sure. I'll make you an account when I get it installed if you want
to do some development.

You may call yourself lucky if you get that far and of course I wish you
that.

Maciej

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[Boris Maryshev]

BTW, as topic says, i'm trying to connect to my PMAX=DECstation 3100. I
don't have any other options, other than serial console. I've taken VRAM
out of the machine (have heard somwhere that this way it will switch to
serial console output). Right now I do get something from it using
"printer" port as described below, but no more than that... If I should
use "serial" port, then what wiring you would suggest?

Post by Boris Maryshev
Hi! I made cable as described in this link and then used RS-232<->RS-232
console cable with it and it actually seems to work when I connect it to the
"printer" port, but unfortunately I don't get prompt.
KN01 V7.02
7..6..5..4..3..2..
??
And that's all, it doesn't take any input, just prints ??, then refreshes
screen and loops it this way...
Any idea what am I dealing with?
Thanks for your help!
Boris

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[Boris Maryshev]

Guys, thanks a lot! I've got it working!!! Thank you Benson, Skylar and
Kirk! Now I think I need to set-up tftp server and try to install NetBSD
on this machine... Also I might give Linux MIPS a try, although
NetBSD/PMAX documentation seems much more consistent and up-to-date than
docs for Linux/MIPS... Another challenge for me and my PMAX would be
setting up Plan 9 on it, I'll be posting more on that soon.

Here I go:
KN01 V7.02

7..6..5..4..3..2..1..0

24Mb..........0

KN01 V7.02
08-00-2b-1b-bd-3e
0x01800000

Post by Boris Maryshev
help

CMD:

auto
boot [-f FILE] [-n] [ARG...]
cat FILE...
ctrs
d [-(b|h|w)] ADDR VAL
disable DEV
dump [-(b|h|w)] [-(o|d|u|x|c|B)] RNG
e [-(b|h|w)] ADDR
enable DEV
fill [-(b|h|w)] [-v VAL] RNG
go [PC]
help [CMD]
? [CMD]
init
passwd -(c|s|u)
printenv [EVAR...]
setenv EVAR STR
test [ARG...]
unsetenv EVAR
warm

RNG:
ADDR#CNT
ADDR:ADDR
Cheers,
Boris Maryshev,
The Estonian IT College,
Autonomous Robotics Lab

Post by Boris Maryshev
Hi! I made cable as described in this link and then used RS-232<->RS-232
console cable with it and it actually seems to work when I connect it to
the "printer" port, but unfortunately I don't get prompt.
KN01 V7.02
7..6..5..4..3..2..
??
And that's all, it doesn't take any input, just prints ??, then refreshes
screen and loops it this way...
Any idea what am I dealing with?

http://q.dyndns.org/~blc/DS3100/bootrom.html
I don't think the decstation 3100 will boot without a working ethernet
link.

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