Talk:VAXstation 100 firmware notes - Revision history

Jnc: /* Hardware vs firmware? */ Makes sense

2023-02-27T16:43:04Z

Hardware vs firmware?: Makes sense

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:43, 27 February 2023
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	: The hardware registers are documented in the Engineering Specification, but exactly how the firmware treats them is not. These are my running notes to understand how the firmware works at runtime, in particular information useful for making an emulator. Maybe in the end some stuff can be moved over. [[User:Larsbrinkhoff\|Larsbrinkhoff]] ([[User talk:Larsbrinkhoff\|talk]]) 17:23, 27 February 2023 (CET)		: The hardware registers are documented in the Engineering Specification, but exactly how the firmware treats them is not. These are my running notes to understand how the firmware works at runtime, in particular information useful for making an emulator. Maybe in the end some stuff can be moved over. [[User:Larsbrinkhoff\|Larsbrinkhoff]] ([[User talk:Larsbrinkhoff\|talk]]) 17:23, 27 February 2023 (CET)

			:: Yeah, how the firmware treats them definitely belongs here. [[User:Jnc\|Jnc]] ([[User talk:Jnc\|talk]]) 17:42, 27 February 2023 (CET)

Larsbrinkhoff: Maybe...

2023-02-27T16:23:39Z

Maybe...

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:23, 27 February 2023
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	Some of the stuff that just got added (register definitions, etc) seems like it might be hardware, which maybe should go into [[VAXstation 100]]? [[User:Jnc\|Jnc]] ([[User talk:Jnc\|talk]]) 17:06, 27 February 2023 (CET)		Some of the stuff that just got added (register definitions, etc) seems like it might be hardware, which maybe should go into [[VAXstation 100]]? [[User:Jnc\|Jnc]] ([[User talk:Jnc\|talk]]) 17:06, 27 February 2023 (CET)

			: The hardware registers are documented in the Engineering Specification, but exactly how the firmware treats them is not. These are my running notes to understand how the firmware works at runtime, in particular information useful for making an emulator. Maybe in the end some stuff can be moved over. [[User:Larsbrinkhoff\|Larsbrinkhoff]] ([[User talk:Larsbrinkhoff\|talk]]) 17:23, 27 February 2023 (CET)

Jnc: /* Hardware vs firmware? */ new section

2023-02-27T16:06:19Z

Hardware vs firmware?: new section

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:06, 27 February 2023
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	::: He says the tapes have already been read. I don't know in what form the data is stored now. Maybe untarred file trees, or something. Fingers crossed, we will see soon. [[User:Larsbrinkhoff\|Larsbrinkhoff]] ([[User talk:Larsbrinkhoff\|talk]]) 06:30, 19 February 2023 (CET)		::: He says the tapes have already been read. I don't know in what form the data is stored now. Maybe untarred file trees, or something. Fingers crossed, we will see soon. [[User:Larsbrinkhoff\|Larsbrinkhoff]] ([[User talk:Larsbrinkhoff\|talk]]) 06:30, 19 February 2023 (CET)

			== Hardware vs firmware? ==

			Some of the stuff that just got added (register definitions, etc) seems like it might be hardware, which maybe should go into [[VAXstation 100]]? [[User:Jnc\|Jnc]] ([[User talk:Jnc\|talk]]) 17:06, 27 February 2023 (CET)

Larsbrinkhoff: Renamed to .txt to reflect it's not source code.

2023-02-19T16:27:53Z

Renamed to .txt to reflect it's not source code.

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:27, 19 February 2023
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	Do you have any of the code (in any form) which was down-loaded into them once they had booted? [[User:Jnc\|Jnc]] ([[User talk:Jnc\|talk]]) 23:48, 18 February 2023 (CET)		Do you have any of the code (in any form) which was down-loaded into them once they had booted? [[User:Jnc\|Jnc]] ([[User talk:Jnc\|talk]]) 23:48, 18 February 2023 (CET)

	: I'm adding comments to this as I go: https://github.com/larsbrinkhoff/absolutely-not-a-vaxstation100-emulator/blob/stuff/firmware-5.00.~~src~~		: I'm adding comments to this as I go: https://github.com/larsbrinkhoff/absolutely-not-a-vaxstation100-emulator/blob/stuff/firmware-5.00.txt
	: I haven't added labels etc, so it's not in any shape to be reassembled. I have done plenty of source code reconstructions for ITS binaries, but I'm not sure I'll make the effort for this one. My main priority will be to get old X versions running; Jim Gettys seems willing to let go of his old tape files which should be interesting.		: I haven't added labels etc, so it's not in any shape to be reassembled. I have done plenty of source code reconstructions for ITS binaries, but I'm not sure I'll make the effort for this one. My main priority will be to get old X versions running; Jim Gettys seems willing to let go of his old tape files which should be interesting.

Larsbrinkhoff: /* Source? */ Tapes already read.

2023-02-19T05:30:32Z

Source?: Tapes already read.

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:30, 19 February 2023
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	:: Thanks for indulging my curiosity! Yes, that's too much code to be worth the effort to do a good job.		:: Thanks for indulging my curiosity! Yes, that's too much code to be worth the effort to do a good job.
	:: It will be interesting to see what's on Gettys' old tapes! Who's reading them, BTW? [[User:Jnc\|Jnc]] ([[User talk:Jnc\|talk]]) 00:45, 19 February 2023 (CET)		:: It will be interesting to see what's on Gettys' old tapes! Who's reading them, BTW? [[User:Jnc\|Jnc]] ([[User talk:Jnc\|talk]]) 00:45, 19 February 2023 (CET)

			::: He says the tapes have already been read. I don't know in what form the data is stored now. Maybe untarred file trees, or something. Fingers crossed, we will see soon. [[User:Larsbrinkhoff\|Larsbrinkhoff]] ([[User talk:Larsbrinkhoff\|talk]]) 06:30, 19 February 2023 (CET)

Jnc: /* Source? */ It will be good to see Gettys' stuff.

2023-02-18T23:45:44Z

Source?: It will be good to see Gettys' stuff.

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:45, 18 February 2023
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	: X10 R3 and R4 have binary VS100 blobs. I know someone who has X10R4 running on a real VS100 and VAX, so I know it's in good shape. [[User:Larsbrinkhoff\|Larsbrinkhoff]] ([[User talk:Larsbrinkhoff\|talk]]) 00:04, 19 February 2023 (CET)		: X10 R3 and R4 have binary VS100 blobs. I know someone who has X10R4 running on a real VS100 and VAX, so I know it's in good shape. [[User:Larsbrinkhoff\|Larsbrinkhoff]] ([[User talk:Larsbrinkhoff\|talk]]) 00:04, 19 February 2023 (CET)

			:: Thanks for indulging my curiosity! Yes, that's too much code to be worth the effort to do a good job.
			:: It will be interesting to see what's on Gettys' old tapes! Who's reading them, BTW? [[User:Jnc\|Jnc]] ([[User talk:Jnc\|talk]]) 00:45, 19 February 2023 (CET)

Larsbrinkhoff: /* Source? */ Not source, just diassembly with comments.

2023-02-18T23:04:33Z

Source?: Not source, just diassembly with comments.

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:04, 18 February 2023
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	Do you have any of the code (in any form) which was down-loaded into them once they had booted? [[User:Jnc\|Jnc]] ([[User talk:Jnc\|talk]]) 23:48, 18 February 2023 (CET)		Do you have any of the code (in any form) which was down-loaded into them once they had booted? [[User:Jnc\|Jnc]] ([[User talk:Jnc\|talk]]) 23:48, 18 February 2023 (CET)

			: I'm adding comments to this as I go: https://github.com/larsbrinkhoff/absolutely-not-a-vaxstation100-emulator/blob/stuff/firmware-5.00.src
			: I haven't added labels etc, so it's not in any shape to be reassembled. I have done plenty of source code reconstructions for ITS binaries, but I'm not sure I'll make the effort for this one. My main priority will be to get old X versions running; Jim Gettys seems willing to let go of his old tape files which should be interesting.

			: X10 R3 and R4 have binary VS100 blobs. I know someone who has X10R4 running on a real VS100 and VAX, so I know it's in good shape. [[User:Larsbrinkhoff\|Larsbrinkhoff]] ([[User talk:Larsbrinkhoff\|talk]]) 00:04, 19 February 2023 (CET)

Jnc: Code source?

2023-02-18T22:48:52Z

Code source?

New page

==Source?==

I assume the source for the firmware has been lost? Given that this is the bootstrap, I'm going to guess that it was originally in assembler? Do you have a dis-assembled version?

The results of dis-assembly can be quite tasteful; [http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/unix/rlboot.s here] and [http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/unix/rluboot.s here] are two [[RL11]] bootstraps for which the source had been lost; I dis-assembled and commented (to make them readable/understandable; I checked that the assembler output matched the binary I started with) them, and I think they are pretty good. The first is commented a little better; I read through the code in the second in order to be able to turn the magic numbers in the disassembled code into named constants, but I didn't do much more than that to make it readable.

Do you have any of the code (in any form) which was down-loaded into them once they had booted? [[User:Jnc|Jnc]] ([[User talk:Jnc|talk]]) 23:48, 18 February 2023 (CET)