[Info-vax] Infoserver 150

[Johnny Billquist]

On 2012-10-21 15:07, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
> In article <k60kaa$r0l$1 at iltempo.update.uu.se>,
> 	Johnny Billquist <bqt at softjar.se> writes:
>> On 2012-10-21 00:52, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
>>> Success!!
>>>
>>> I have my Infoserver running.  Problem was the bootflags.  Default
>>> is not 0 and the battery in this box is, obviously, dead.  Set BFLG
>>> to D000000 and it boots just fine.  Also found the Operations Manual
>>> online so I was able to get by not knowing the password.  Learned
>>> quite a bit already, like I can have a pagefile on the Infoserver
>>> for my VXT Xterminal.  I wasn't even aware this was possible.  Might
>>> make it even more usable than it already was.  Now to see if I can
>>> figure out how to boot other devices. One of my first testis going
>>> to be trying to load a XINU Kernel into a PDP-11 over the ethernet.
>>>
>>> Let the fun begin!!
>>
>> I wonder if you'll have much luck loading Xinu that way. I would suspect
>> that the MOP server in the Infoserver does not serve random binaries,
>> but they need to be in some understood format, since the MOP protocol as
>> such pass some additional packets with various information, as well as
>> each data packet being in a specific format with some metadata.
>>
>> Also, I doubt Xinu would be very impressed by being netbooted, but that
>> would be a secondary question.
>>
>> But this is all speculation on my part from half forgotten memories
>> about how the MOP protocol looks like.
>
> Thanks.  Guess I need more information on MOP.  Might not meet my
> requirements but it will still be fun to play with.

Thinking a bit more (more fogged memories floating), I'm pretty sure 
that your MOP server needs a deep understanding of the image it is about 
to serve.
The free MOP implementation that exists for Unix systems knows how to 
read most Unix style binary formats. The MOP server in RSX understands 
the RSX task image file. (And the DECserver 100/200/300 images are also 
RSX task image files.)

MOP itself sends data packets, which also holds information about what 
kind of image it is, and for each data block tells on which address it 
is supposed to be loaded, and a few more bits and pieces.

More information can easily (I suppose) be gathered by reading the spec 
for MOP.
Your Xinu image might be servable, as it is, from the Unix MOP 
implementation. Don't know if the Infoserver code can read such a 
binary. I suspect the Xinu kernel might be in something akin to the aout 
format. (Nobody uses straight binary blobs with no information 
whatsoever in them, which is the only possible think MOP could ever 
serve if it didn't try to understand anything about the image it is 
serving...)

	Johnny

-- 
Johnny Billquist                  || "I'm on a bus
                                   ||  on a psychedelic trip
email: bqt at softjar.se             ||  Reading murder books
pdp is alive!                     ||  tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol