[Info-vax] DEC Multia (UDB) issues

[John Wallace]

On Aug 22, 9:46 pm, MG <marcog... at SPAMxs4all.nl> wrote:
> On 22-8-2011 21:32, John Wallace wrote:
>
> > If it's not recognised by the SRM console you can't boot off it.
>
> What isn't?  Or do you mean in the general sense?


Any device not recognised by the SRM cannot be a bootable device. Any
clearer? Doesn't matter, you worked it out anyway.

>
> > I also wouldn't dismiss the lack of battery quite so quickly as others
> > have done. The Multia built in SCSI adapter is an NCR810 (KZPAA-
> > compatible). The Multia SRM console is pretty much the same as others
> > from the era and various SCSI settings are configurable from the
> > console; if misconfigured you may well see devices at the>>>  but they
> > may well not work right if something is misconfigured. I can't
> > remember if these settings are lost at reset/power-cycle if the
> > battery is dead but it would not be a surprise if they were.
>
> Thank you for the useful information, that's good to know.
>
> > Get a new battery, check all the SCSI-related settings make sense, and
> > see where that leads.
>
> If one manually boots, from the SRM, is a new battery truly needed?
> (Aside from certain configurations, as you mentioned above.)
>
>   - MG

Depends on whether you can boot with the default settings it reverts
to when it loses power. If saving the settings does need battery power
and the default settings don't work (I can't remember, I haven't had
an Alpha Multia for a while) then you have to re-enter them each time
by hand and boot by hand.

Wrt the question of a load device, and indeed avoiding the SCSI in
general: have you considered having the Multia as a cluster satellite
node? It's not going to be fast but I guess you knew that anyway.