Installing Ultrix 4.0 on SIMH

Installing Ultrix 4.0 is surprisingly pretty easy!

Requirements

• An Ultrix 4.0 tape image
• A running copy of SIMH

The tape

First you will need an Ultrix 4.0 tape image. Currently the only known place to obtain the peices is here. Download all the parts, then use the mkdisttap.pl script to create your tape image.

SIMH

Simh can be obtained from here, and of course from here. Building SIMH isn't in the scope of this document, just grab some binaries and let's go.

Installing

To start the install we'll need to setup an ini file. This is the settings that I know will work.

ultrix.ini

set cpu 16m
set tto 7b
set tti 7b
set cr dis
set lpt dis
set rl dis
set rq0 ra81
att rq0 ultrix.dsk
set rq1 dis
set rq2 dis
set rq3 dis
set ry dis
set ts dis
set tq tk50
att tq0 ultrix40.tap
;set xq dis
;att xq 1
;att nvr ultrix.nvr
;dep bdr 0
boot cpu

Now we are ready to run the emulator. Simply run "vax ultrix.ini" and you'll get this much:

VAX simulator V3.8-1
RQ: creating new file
TQ: creating new file
Loading boot code from ka655x.bin

←[c
KA655-B V5.3, VMB 2.7
Performing normal system tests.
40..39..38..37..36..35..34..33..32..31..30..29..28..27..26..25..
24..23..22..21..20..19..18..17..16..15..14..13..12..11..10..09..
08..07..06..05..04..03..
Tests completed.
>>>

Type in:

boot mua0:

And the tape will start to load and you'll see this:

  2..
-MUA0
  1..0..


Ultrixload (using VMB version 13)

Sizes:
text = 768800
data = 1248256
bss  = 945472

Rewinding tape ...
Starting at 0x4d4d

ULTRIX V4.0 (Rev. 160) System #3: Thu Apr  5 08:42:35 EDT 1990
real mem  = 16723968
avail mem = 11548672
Buffer configuration adjusted to run with small system page table
using 245 buffers containing 1672192 bytes of memory
♥♦KA655 processor with an FPU
        CPU microcode rev = 6, processor firmware rev = 83
Q22 bus
uda0 at uba0
uq0 at uda0 csr 172150 vec 774, ipl 15
klesiu0 at uba0
uq16 at klesiu0 csr 174500 vec 770, ipl 15
NO LOOPBACK
ra0 at uq0 slave 0 (RA81)
tms1 at uq16 slave 1 (TK50)
tms2 at uq16 slave 2 (TK50)
tms3 at uq16 slave 3 (TK50)
tms0 at uq16 slave 0 (TK50)
WARNING: clock gained 114 days -- CHECK AND RESET THE DATE!

*** STANDALONE ULTRIX ENVIRONMENT ***

If you select the BASIC Installation option from the list that follows,
the installation software creates file systems on default partitions on
your system disk and loads the mandatory ULTRIX software subsets.

If you require additional installation choices, select the ADVANCED
Installation option.

Select one of the following options:

        1) BASIC Installation
        2) ADVANCED Installation
        3) System management

Enter your choice:

There is a LONG pause on the "NO LOOPBACK" line.. be patient! From here it's quite simple, just hit 1 & enter.

Enter your choice: 1

*** SYSTEM DISK SELECTION ***

The installation booklet for your processor explains the following table
of system disk drives.  Select one of the devices below to contain the
root file system:

SYSTEM DISK TABLE

Selection   Device     ULTRIX     Device       Controller   Controller
            Name       Name       Number       Name         Number
----------------------------------------------------------------------
    1       RA81        ra0          0         RQDX3          0
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Enter your choice: