berger@datacube.UUCP (08/08/86)
Is there a configuration of MicroVax II that could easily boot either
VMS or Ultrix/Unix? Could we have two winchesters, one with Unix
and one with VMS and at boot time select which one the system would boot
on?
I need this so we can port to the Vax under either VMS or Unix.
Ideally I'd like to run both concurrently, but I'd settle for selecting
which environment I was using at Boot time.
Bob Berger
Datacube Inc. 4 Dearborn Rd. Peabody, Ma 01960 617-535-6644
ihnp4!datacube!berger
{seismo,cbosgd,cuae2,mit-eddie}!mirror!datacube!bergergreg@vecpyr.UUCP (08/09/86)
Yes you can use both VMS and Ultrix on the same microvax II.
We have two rd53s, one VMS and one Ultrix.
To boot VMS just take the Ultrix disk offline, and vice versa.
Greg Millar
...{ucbvax,decwrl}!dual!vecpyr!greg
Visual Engineering, Inc.
2680 N. First
San Jose, CA 95134
(408) 945-9055mike@mipos3.UUCP (08/10/86)
In article <90600001@datacube> berger@datacube.UUCP writes: > >Is there a configuration of MicroVax II that could easily boot either >VMS or Ultrix/Unix? Could we have two winchesters, one with Unix >and one with VMS and at boot time select which one the system would boot >on? Yes. We were doing this at one time during our transition to Ultrix. It's fairly simple, all you need are two RD53's, one with Ultrix, the other with VMS. When booting, you can specify which device you want to boot from. For example, if you have Ultrix on drive 0 and VMS on drive 1, you would boot Ultrix with >>> B DUA0 or VMS with >>> B DUA1 The tricky part is loading the OS on the disks because the DEC distribution kits only allow you to build a bootable system on DUA0 (the lowest numbered drive). I got around that by physically swapping the two disks. It's easier to build VMS on disk 0 and then move it to disk 1 since VMS can autoconfigure itself to boot off any drive. Ultrix needs to have the kernel rebuilt and the /etc/fstab file changed if you move it to a different drive after building the system. I don't remember the exact way I did it, but we had a system with floppy disks which made it a little more complicated, but once you've done it, it's really simple to switch operating systems. Unfortunately, the disks are not accessible from the other OS. Also, we did not mount the VMS disk from Ultrix, and mounted the Ultrix disk as foreign from VMS. If you have never taken the cover off a MicroVAX, then I suggest you be careful about moving the drives; although it's fairly straightforward, the connectors are fragile and you have to be gentle with them. They are a bit tight and hard to get to, but if you slide the drives half way out, they are more accessible. --Michael Bruck Intel CAD, Santa Clara ...{decwrl,amdcad,hplabs,oliveb}!intelca!mipos3!mike
davidsen@steinmetz.UUCP (Davidsen) (08/15/86)
In article <90600001@datacube> berger@datacube.UUCP writes: > >Is there a configuration of MicroVax II that could easily boot either >VMS or Ultrix/Unix? Could we have two winchesters, one with Unix >and one with VMS and at boot time select which one the system would boot >on? I'm told that DEC does have a product which allows you to have bootable partitions of VMS and UNIX on the same device. I heard it from Helen Wagoner in the DEC Albany NY office. -- -bill davidsen ihnp4!seismo!rochester!steinmetz!--\ \ unirot ------------->---> crdos1!davidsen chinet ------/ sixhub ---------------------/ (davidsen@ge-crd.ARPA) "Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward"