Jerome — Thanks for jumping in here. All good questions, and here’s what my plan is.
I bought the H11 as a project. I have a soft spot for the PDP-11, after owning (and donating) an 11/34 to the RICM. This unit needed a lot of physical TLC but was believed to be functional (it was). The original configuration was the CPU card (DEC), two 16kw memory boards (Heath; with appropriate memory hole at the top) and a single SLU (Heath). I located two more SLUs (all Heath), an extra memory board (32kw; unbranded) and a parallel board (Heath; not installed). After lots of cleaning, then qualifying the power supply, and confirming the board jumpers were set properly, I fired it up, using PDP11GUI as the console, and I got the ODT prompt. So, good news there. My unit did not come with Heath’s RX01-equivalent (and no software or manuals), so there’s no method of storage. I stumbled upon the TU58EM program and since I had two SLUs configured properly, I thought I’d give it a try as an alternative to nothing. I really don’t have the room for a real RX01, so I though this was a fair compromise. What am I going to do with this setup? I don’t know. Right now it’s fun reacquainting myself with DEC after about 10 years without one. Rich -- Rich Cini http://www.classiccmp.org/cini http://www.classiccmp.org/altair32 On 3/11/16, 9:21 PM, "cctalk on behalf of Jerome H. Fine" <cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org on behalf of jhfined...@compsys.to> wrote: > >On Thursday, February 10th, 2016 at 12:51:30 - 0500, Richard Cini wrote: > >>Is there a listing somewhere of what versions of RT-11 work with which CPUs? >>The Heath H11 uses the LSI-11 which I think is an 11/03 equivalent. Is there >>a specific version (or maximum version) designed for this CPU? >> >>I tried v4 using a method I found on-line (modifying with SIMH to make it >>bootable as a TU58 image rather than an RK) but it doesn't work so I wanted >>to first eliminate the system version as the potential problem. >> >Sorry for the delay in my answer. I was out of town for the last >36 hours, so I just noticed this thread. > >For maximum flexibility, I would suggest V05.03 of RT-11. It is >just about the most widely available and has the benefit of probably >being completely legal to use on a non-commercial basis with SimH. > >V04.00 of RT-11 will probably run equally well, but obviously >without some of the many additional features found in V05.03 >of RT-11. In addition, you might want to check even later >versions of RT-11, all of which still run on a PDP-11/03 CPU. > >Under V05.03 of RT-11, you can use either distributed >Unmapped Monitor, RT11SJ or RT11FB. The size will be >larger than from V04.00 of RT-11, but I suggest that the >additional features are more than worth while. Since you >have all 32 KW or memory or 64 KB, you will not have >any problem booting RT-11. > >If you have any specific questions using Ersatz-11 with >a PDP-11/03, just ask. That will make sure that the >configuration and the boot device is set up correctly. > >Just for practice, you might try using Ersatz-11 with V05.03 >of RT-11 with SET CPU 03. You will find that Ersatz-11 >is trivial to use and that it supports emulation of all types of >disk drives including TU-58, RK05, RL02 and SCSI, named, >respectively, DD:, RK:, DL: and DU:, the same as DEC names >them. Be warned that after you practice with Ersatz-11, you >may find that an LSI-11, also called a PDP-11/03, is a bit >slower than running with Ersatz-11, even on a 486. My >experience with just a 750 MHz Pentium III is that RT-11 >runs about 15 times as fast as a PDP-11/93. On a current >I7 from Intel, I expect speeds more than 100 times as fast >as a PDP-11/93. > >If you provide some of the information requested below, a >version of RT-11 might be suggested which is a better fit. >Otherwise, my assumption at present is that you want to >use RT-11 since it is the only reasonable choice out of >RT-11, RSX-11 and RSTS/E, although I am reasonably >sure that RSTS/E can't run on a PDP-11/03. Further, you >want to run RT-11 to be able to show that you can run >RT-11 on the PDP-11/03 hardware that you have. That >is quite different from the original reason a PDP-11/03 >system was purchased, namely to run specific application >programs which were able to run under RT-11. If I >am incorrect, please let me know and advise otherwise. > >It does sound like you have the Heath Kit version of the hardware. >If so, then you probably don't have a hard disk drive. A complete >list of the actual hardware will be helpful. In addition, even more >important from my point of view is why you want to use the hardware >that you have to run RT-11 (most likely because it will not run anything >else very easily) and then which specific application programs will be >run after you are successful in getting RT-11 to run. Just as important >is how you will interface with the PDP-11/03 and move the results >from the PDP-11/03 to either printed output or a system that can >share the results via the internet. > >Jerome Fine