[Info-vax] MicroVAX/VMS newbie, couple of questions

[H Vlems]

On 24 sep, 02:12, Tone007 <tone... at gmail.com> wrote:
> Well, it sounds like thet 3400 has LANCE (ESA0) Ethernet on the
> processor board, which seems to be newer than DEQNA, so hopefully that
> doesn't rule it out.
>
> However, if the tape drive is out of order, I still might not be
> getting anywhere.  Are network installs possible?

Of course. It is very easy to download a VAX simulator (search for
simh). That will run on a pc (Windows, Linux whatever you like) and
boor from a regular VMS distribution cd. If you have difficulties
finding one, mail me at hvlems%at%zonnet%dot%nl and we'll work
something out.
On a system with two or more disks it would be easy to do a clean
install of VMS while preserving the original configuration. So you
might try and find a disk (or two) on eBay. You can set up the 3400 as
a cluster satellite and copy VMS via the ethernet.

A final remark: the current system has licenses loaded otherwise it
wouldn't be useful. Make sure you have all the license information
available on hardcopy. DEC built their systems well but nothing lasts
for ever.
Hans