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H Yes, there are a set of unsupported images that permit specific OpenVMS G Alpha versions to bootstrap on the Multia UDB system. These images and B the associated instructions are available at the OpenVMS Freeware website:
- Look in the Freeware V5.0 /multia/ directory.E Instructions are included IN the kits. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. PLEASE!
E Some of the restrictions involved when running OpenVMS on the Multia > system include (but may well not be limited to) the following:
G The Multia images are not included on the OpenVMS Freeware V4.0 CD-ROM C kit, the kit that was distributed with OpenVMS V7.2. (These images . became available after Freeware V4.0 shipped.)
; Other sources of information for OpenVMS on Multia include:
F OpenVMS Alpha is not supported on the AlphaPC 164LX and 164SX series, D though there are folks that have gotten certain of the LX series to ? load SRM and bootstrap OpenVMS. (The Aspen Durango II variant, specifically.)
C One problem has been generally reported: ATA (IDE) bootstraps will 8 fail; SCSI storage and a SCSI CD-ROM device is required.
@ Also see Section 14.4.2.1. F 14.4.2.1 on the NoName AXPpci33 system?
G Information on bootstrapping OpenVMS (using the Multia files described g in Section 14.4.1) on the (unsupported) NoName AXPpci33 module is available at:
2 Tips for using the Multia files with the AXPpci33:No.
G OpenVMS Engineering does not formally support the Alpha XL series, nor ; will OpenVMS (informally) bootstrap on the Alpha XL series.
B OpenVMS can not, will not, and does not bootstrap on the Alpha XL A series. The Alpha XL series was targeted for use (only) with the ' Microsoft Windows NT operating system.
B The Alpha XL platform does not resemble other supported platforms. \ 14.4.4 OpenVMS on the Personal Workstation -a and -au series?
F Though OpenVMS is not supported on the Personal Workstation -a series @ platforms, OpenVMS might or might not bootstrap on the platform.
G If you wish to attempt this, you must ensure that all graphics and all F I/O controllers in the system are supported by OpenVMS. You must also 6 ensure that you have the most current firmware loaded.
> Here are some salient differences within the various Personal Workstation series:
O See Section 14.4.4.2 for related details. [ 14.4.4.1 OpenVMS on the Whitebox Windows-Only series Alpha?
F Though OpenVMS is not supported on the "Whitebox" series of G Alpha platforms, OpenVMS might or might not bootstrap on the platform. H These systems were specifically configured, targeted and supported only 7 for use with the Microsoft Windows NT operating system.
G On some of the "Whitebox" systems, the following sequence of G console commands can potentially be used to convert the system over to D unsupported use by and for OpenVMS Hobbyist users. (But please note H that if you wish to attempt this, you must ensure that all graphics and D all I/O controllers in the system are supported by OpenVMS, and you E must ensure that you have the most current SRM firmware loaded. (For C information on locating and downloading the most current Alpha SRM k firmware, please see Section 14.3.7.1.) And you must realize that the F resulting Whitebox configuration will be entirely unsupported and may ! or may not be stable and useful.)
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" set os_type vms 2 cat nvram ! too see what is in this, if anything edit nvram 10 set srm_boot on 20 e init |
C If your nvram has other contents, you will need to change the line F numbers (10 and 20) to reflect the contents of your configuration. To H obtain documentation on the commands of the console editor, enter the ? command within the editor.
D The above sequence was reportedly tested on the DIGITAL Server 3300 E series, a relative of the AlphaServer 800 series. The DIGITAL Server G 3300 is not supported by OpenVMS, though the AlphaServer 800 series is @ a supported platform. The sequence may or may not work on other G platforms, and may or may not work on the DIGITAL Server 3300 platform.
; Also see Section 5.33. ] 14.4.4.2 OpenVMS and Personal Workstation ATA (IDE) bootstrap?
H OpenVMS will boot and is supported on specific Personal Workstation -au B series platforms, though OpenVMS will require a SCSI CD-ROM if the H Intel Saturn I/O (SIO) IDE chip is present in the configuration--- only @ the Cypress IDE controller chip is supported by OpenVMS for IDE A bootstraps. (Configurations with the Intel SIO are not generally $ considered to be supported systems.)
G If you have an -au series system, you can determine which IDE chip you # have using the SRM console command:
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" SHOW CONFIGURATION |
B If you see "Cypress PCI Peripheral Controller", you can ? bootstrap OpenVMS from IDE storage. If you see "Intel SIO : 82378", you will need to use and bootstrap from SCSI. E (A procedure to load DQDRIVER on the Intel SIO---once the system has H bootstrapped from a SCSI device---is expected to be included as part of C the contents of the DQDRIVER directory on Freeware V5.0 and later.)
C Many of the -a series systems will include the Intel SIO, and thus cannot bootstrap from IDE.
M See Section 14.4.4 for related details. H 14.4.5 On the Intel Itanium IA-64 platform?
? OpenVMS has been ported to the Intel IA-64 architecture; to HP > Integrity systems based on the Intel Itanium Processor Family.
B The first release of OpenVMS I64 was V8.0, with the first general E release of OpenVMS I64 known as V8.2. Yes, there was a V8.1 release, too.
G Some Intel and HP terminology: Itanium Processor Family is the name of G the current implementation; of the current Intel microprocessor family D implementing the IA-64 architecture. IA-64 is the name of the Intel G architecture implementing the VLIW (Very Long Instruction Word) design : known as EPIC (Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing).
B I64 is the name of a family of HP computer systems that use Intel B Itanium processors and that are supported by "HP OpenVMS for Integrity Servers" G (and itself more commonly known as "OpenVMS I64"); by one of < the HP operating systems that runs on HP Integrity hardware.
C The Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) is the name of the console F environment for Itanium systems, and the Baseboard Management Console F (BMC) and the optional Management Processor (MP) are the most typical , hardware interfaces into the system console. P 14.4.5.1 Where can I get Intel Itanium information?
A Intel Itanium Processor Family and IA-64 Architecture, Hardware, @ Software, and related docoumentation materials are available at:
D The Intel Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) console documentation:
\ Please see Section 14.4.5 for Intel Itanium terminology. v 14.5 What is the least expensive system that will run OpenVMS?
G The cheapest systems that are or have been recently offered by HP that < will run OpenVMS Alpha are the AlphaServer DS10 server, the G AlphaStation XP900 workstation, the AlphaStation VS10 workstation, and H the AlphaStation XP1000 workstation. Other companies sell Alpha-powered C systems and Alpha motherboards, some of which will run (and can be G purchased with) OpenVMS---see the OpenVMS Software Product Description E (SPD) for details on the supported systems and configurations. There B are also many used AlphaStation, AlphaServer, and DEC 3000 models H available which are quite suitable. For more experienced OpenVMS system ? managers, the (unsupported) Multia can bootstrap OpenVMS---see @ Section 14.4.1 for details.
@ Depending on the OpenVMS version and configuration, the OpenVMS 3 Software Product Description (SPD) is available at:
F When purchasing a system, ensure that the system itself is supported, H that the system disk drive is supported or closely compatible, that the D optical (CD or DVD) drive is supported or is closely compatable and A that (in the case of SCSI devices) it also specifically supports 512-byte block B transfers; no equivalent requirement exists for IDE devices. Also C particularly ensure that the video controller is supported. Use of E supported HP hardware will generally reduce the level of integration effort involved.
H A CD-ROM, CD-R or DVD drive is required for OpenVMS Alpha installations.
7 CD-ROM drive compatibility information is available at:
p1 HP operates an AlphaServer information center at:
> Alpha Technical information and documentation is available at:C Software Product Description (SPD) information, including platform support documentation:
/ Information on Multia hardware is available at:
8 Information on DEC 3000 series hardware is available at:
The NetBSD 5 folks maintain useful Alpha hardware information at:
{E The Alpha architecture is upward- and downward-compatible, and newer H instructions are emulated on older platforms, for those cases where the = compiler is explicitly requested to generate the newer Alpha instructions.
D In particular, OpenVMS Alpha V7.1 and later include the instruction B emulation capabilities necessary for the execution of newer Alpha D instructions on older Alpha microprocessors. (Instruction emulation G capabilities are available for user-mode application code, and are not ? available to device drivers or other similar kernel-mode code.)
D Alpha instructions are available in groups (or subsets). Obviously, A there is the base instruction set that is available on all Alpha A microprocessors. Then, the following are the current instruction D extension groups (or subsets) that are available on some of various recent Alpha microprocessors:
F The typical instruction subset that provides the biggest win---and of F course, your mileage may vary---is typically the instruction set that ? is provided by the EV56 and later; specifically, the byte-word = instruction subset. To select this subset, use the following:
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" ) /ARCHITECTURE=EV56/OPTIMIZE=TUNE=GENERIC |
C The /ARCHITECTURE controls the maximum instruction subset that the H compiler will generally use, while the /OPTIMIZE=TUNE controls both the H instruction-level scheduling and also the instructions generated inside F loops---any code resulting from /OPTIMIZE=TUNE that is specific to an H instruction subset will be generated only inside loops and will also be G "protected" by an AMASK-based test that permits the execution E of the proper code for the particular current Alpha microprocessor.
G Typically /OPTIMIZE=TUNE=GENERIC is the appropriate choice for tuning, B and the /ARCHITECTURE selects the minimum target architecture for * general use throughout the generated code.
F generated for later architectures and instruction subsets will run on D older Alpha systems due to the emulation, but if /ARCHITECTURE is a G significant benefit, then the emulation might be a performance penalty.
D Please see the OpenVMS Ask The Wizard area for the source code of a F (non-privileged) tool that looks at the instruction subsets available E on the particular Alpha microprocessor that the tool is run on. This F tool demonstrates the use of the Alpha AMASK and IMPLVER instructions.
Please see Section 10.22 and Section 14.10 for additional details and related considerations. ~ 14.8 What is the Accuracy of the Alpha Time of Year (BB_WATCH) Clock?
F The specification for maximum clock drift in the Alpha hardware clock B is 50 parts per million (ppm), that is less than ±0.000050 F seconds of drift per second, less than ±0.000050 days of drift E per day, or less than ±0.000050 years of drift per year, etc. G (eg: An error of one second over a day-long interval is roughly 11ppm, H or 1000000/(24*60*60).) Put another way, this is .005%, which is around - 130 seconds per month or 26 minutes per year.
H The software-maintained system time can drift more than this, primarily H due to other system activity. Typical causes of drift include extensive G high-IPL code (soft memory errors, heavy activity at device IPLs, etc) F that are causing the processing of the clock interrupts to be blocked.
k Also see Section 14.15, Section 4.2. g 14.9 So how do I open up the DEC 3000 chassis?
E After removing those two little screws, tilt the back end of the top , shell upwards---then you can remove the lid. V 14.10 What is byte swizzling?
H "Swizzling" is the term used to describe the operation needed D to do partial longword (i.e. byte or word) accesses to I/O space on G those systems that don't support it directly. It involved shifting the C offset into an address space by 5 (or 7 for one older system), and C ORing this into the base address. It then required the size of the - operation to be ORed into the low order bits.
E That is, because the EV4 and EV5 CPUs did not bring bits 0 and 1 off G the chip, to do programmed I/O for bytes/words, the information on the H size/offset of the transfer was encoded into the address data. The data D itself then had to be shifted into the correct "byte lane" ? ; into the required offset position within a longword transfer;
E The EV56 microprocessor supports byte/word instruction references in G memory space, however only specific EV56 systems can support byte/word B accesses into I/O space; device drivers may or may not be able to G utilize to byte/word instructions to access device registers. Further, D even on an EV56 system with hardware support for byte/word accesses G into I/O space, the relevant OpenVMS routines typically do not support byte/word access into I/O space.
G Systems based on the EV6 microprocessor (with the salient exception of B the AlphaServer GS60 and AlphaServer GS140 series, for reasons of C platform compatability) support a flat, byte addressable I/O space.
9 If a device driver uses CRAM or IOC$WRITE_IO/IOC$READ_IO, G then OpenVMS will correctly process the swizzling requirements without E requiring changes the driver; OpenVMS will transparently swizzle and H unswizzle the I/O space references, if needed for the particular target G platform. (Access and use of these routines may or may not be feasible A within the requirements for a particular device driver, with the H decision typically based on the target performance requirements and the H expected frequency of device references and thus the expected frequency - of calls to these or other similar routines.)
H To use byte/word operations on MEMORY, you need to tell the compiler to > use the EV56 or EV6 architecture (/ARCHITECTURE=EV56). Memory H operations did not swizzle, but the compiler would do long/quad access, D and extract/insert bytes as needed. Using /ARCHITECTURE=EV56 allows 9 smaller, more efficient byte/word access logic to memory.
E If the application is directly referencing I/O space access across a A range of Alpha systems such as is done with the X Windows device G drivers, then the driver will need to know how to do swizzling for old E platforms, and byte access for new platforms. Device drivers for new F graphics controllers can specifically target and specifically require G platforms based on EV6 and later Alpha microprocessors because of this requirement, for instance.
Please see Section 10.22 and Section 14.7 for additional details and related considerations.
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