[Info-vax] SimH with framebuffer and hobbyist kit?

[Hans Vlems]

On 2 apr, 08:31, Steven Schweda <sms.antin... at gmail.com> wrote:
> > This is a rather limited system! [...]
>
>    A _real_ VAXstation (or MicroVAX) 2000 is a rather limited
> system, especially if you don't have the 12MB memory card.
>
> > From what I've read, it really wants VMS 4.x or so, [...]
>
>    A real VAXsta/muVAX 2000 was probably shipped with VMS
> V4.x, but my real VAXsta 2000 (with its 6MB of memory) runs
> V5.5-2 (slowly).
>
> > [...] but unfortunately all I have is the current 7.3
> > hobbyist kit. Is it at all possible for VMS 7.3, with
> > DECwindows, to run in this emulator?
>
>    The VMS V7.3 SPD should say which systems (and
> configurations) are supported.  I know nothing, but, if your
> emulator has the maximum memory for a real 2000 system (14MB?
> 16MB?), then I'd guess that it could run V7.3.  ("is
> supported" and "works" are spelled differently for a reason.)
> If the emulator can have even more memory than a real 2000
> system, then so much the better.
>
> > [...] Or, is there another framebuffer emulator option that
> > I don't know about?
>
>    I've done very little with VAX emulators, so I know not.
>
>    If I wanted to do any useful work, then I'd probably try
> installing V7.3.  Anything older than V5.5-2 has so many
> limitations (in my opinion) that I wouldn't bother.  If you
> really want a VMS kit older than V7.3 for hobbyist use, then
> someone here could probably supply a CD-ROM image or some
> BACKUP save sets.

My first computer at home in 1988 was a VAXstation 2000 with 6 MB
memory.
It came with VMS 4.7 and VWS. That was a useful, productive
configuration.
Of course I wanted an upgrade to VMS V5.1, and used a VT320 ever
after.
In daily use it got replaced with a VAXstation 3100-48 after a while.
The emulated VS2000 may perhaps run faster than real hardware ever
did,
otherwise I'd recommend you don't repeat the same mistake I made 23
years ago.
Other than that I've no more knowledge to offer than Steven Schweda...
Hans