[comp.os.vms] Internals Tricks

rod@CHEETA.ISI.EDU (Rod Van Meter) (05/06/88)

I've been thinking about putting together a small document on
useful internals tricks. I'm interested in whatever any of you have,
including hints on analyzing crash dumps, or figuring out what resource
an RWASTed process is waiting on, how to do uncouth things like zero
the error count of a running device, or time in a disk that's been timed
out, etc.

I've done the last two, along with figuring out how to disable the FPA from
a program, or tell if it's actually being used (the VAX Architecture
Handbook is WRONG, by the way, at least where the 750 is concerned).

So you see, I'm looking for stuff to fit in between the System Manager's
Reference (which doesn't go into internals) and theInternals and Data 
Structures book (which leans a little too heavily on theory for my tastes).

Somebody mentioned a while back a way to speed up the RAM Disk driver 
(PDDRIVER) by factor of four with a simple patch. Anybody have any details?

SEND ME ANYTHING YOU THINK WOULD BE USEFUL. No internals trick is too
obscure... (of course, much of this may be invalidated by VMS 5.0, but
I'm sure many of us will be running 4.x for a long time to come).
YOU WILL BE CREDITED, unless you ask to remain anonymous.

If I actually get enough interesting material, and people are interested, I can
mail it or post it, as warranted. 

Thanks,

		--Rod

		rod@ISI.Edu

iglesias@ORION.CF.UCI.EDU (05/13/88)

I'd be interested in your Tricks of the VMS Masters when you get it
together.


Mike Iglesias
University of California, Irvine