[Info-vax] init/maximum_files on VMS 8.3

[Phillip Helbig---undress to reply]

In article <kbvga6$o59$1 at online.de>, helbig at astro.multiCLOTHESvax.de
(Phillip Helbig---undress to reply) writes: 

> I've now done the most important thing: transferred my DISK$USER (9 GB
> of 2 decades of my life) from a 9-GB disk to a freshly initialized 18-GB
> disk.  (I couldn't let this shadow set grow with DDS and DVE since it
> was initialized with a too low value for /HEADERS.  This time, I took
> care that the value is appropriate even for 36 GB.)  I did a
> BACKUP/VERIFY from the 8.3 CD in a blue BA356.  The new disk is a 
> DEC RZ2ED-LS.  I'll now add a second member and then the third.

I also have enough spares to last me until I die.  Except for some 2-GB 
disks which are grey (i.e. 20 MB/s instead of 40---I only had a couple 
of 2-GB fast disks), all my disks are TopGun Blue (yes, that's the 
official name) 40 MB/s in blue BA356 machines.  The XP1000 can actually 
do 80 MB/s, but I don't have the appropriate disks.  Thus, I think I'll 
probably stay here for a while---it wasn't that long ago I was at 5 MB/s 
in BA353 boxes.  While I already have some better hardware, I doubt I 
could gather enough to have enough spares.

In fact, I think I have enough spares of EVERYTHING to last me until I 
die.  Thanks to all the folks over the years who have given me (or, 
occasionally, sold me cheaply) DEC hardware.  You know who you are!  
I've passed on some things I picked up but couldn't use, rather than 
seeing them go to the skip.  Those with ALPHAserver 2x00 machines know 
who you are, as does the chap with the PDP rack which I just barely 
managed to get into a Polo estate by moving the front seats as far to 
the front as possible.  Even had enough room for the software 
distribution on 10-inch floppies.  But I digress.

The only things I am actively looking for are 40 MB/s blue SBB disks in
sizes 2GB and 36 GB.  The 2.1-GB would probably be RZ1BB-CS and the
36.4-GB BC036122C3, though perhaps there are other model numbers as
well.  In the long term, I might want to grow my 18-GB shadow sets to 36
GB, and the 2.1-GB are nice because a full copy is faster, so for some
things where I might want a copy I would prefer a disk like this, rather
than a larger one. 

I don't want to mess with internal disks.  I'm happy that all are
external now, SBBs in BA356 boxes.  When I have time, I might experiment
with putting internal disks in cannisters which now have dead disks in
them, but that is probably more trouble than it is worth.  AFAIK one
needs the blue SBBs for 40 MB/s, but most of the dead disks are in grey
SBBs. 

I don't know how common the 36-GB SBB disks are.  I've only seen one, 
the one I have (it is now a member of an 18-GB shadow set using DDS).  
IIRC, this was the largest-capacity SBB disk in the traditional form 
factor.

Disks don't take up much room, so if anyone has any such spares let me 
know and I can try to collect them.  Apart from my regular travels in 
Europe I will probably be in the USA this autumn.  I am worried about 
customs wanting to collect a huge sum, though.  :-(  At least within 
Europe, shipping might not be out of the question if I can't come by 
soon enough.

Although I probably have enough machines as well, so many that I no 
longer collect older/slower stuff, not even for spares or tests, I would 
still consider XP1000, XP900, DS%% and better machines.  :-)

Having tested some DS10s recently, one seems dead---maybe I can play 
around with the reset switch, if that is the problem---and one regularly 
overheats because a fan is bad.  So, at best I can probably make 2 good 
machines (though with spare parts) from the 3, maybe just 1.