[Info-vax] 8.4 and DECwindows CDE login box not coming up

[johnwallace4 at yahoo.co.uk]

On Thursday, 21 May 2015 01:02:33 UTC+1, Phillip Helbig (undress to reply)  wrote:
> In article <21ae8e29-9b57-4080-8195-cea761c5f9f3 at googlegroups.com>,
> johnwallace4 at yahoo.co.uk writes: 
> 
> > Given that the problem is reproducible on demand, have you tried logging
> > on to the problematic system via network and, from that network session,
> > using your favourite system tools to watch what's happening as you
> > attempt to start DECwindows?
> 
> No, but, at your suggestion, from the console.
> 
> > Also, VMS has a handy thing called Accounting, which doesn't have an
> > equivalent on many other allegedly 'modern' OSes.
> > 
> > A well-informed VMS admin can use Accounting to help diagnose issues
> > which potentially involve things like unexpected process termination,
> > quota problems, and such like.
> 
> Alas, I am not well informed!  :-|
> 
> > Is accounting enabled on the system in question? 
> 
> Yes.
> 
> > Have you looked at
> > the accounting records of the relevant processes, specifically at
> > the process' final status, and perhaps also at the quotas (anything
> > at or near its limits may be of interest).
> 
> Good idea.
> 
> SYSTEM-F-IMGDMP at subprocess termination.
> 
> > See where I'm headed here? I know nothing about the specifics of the
> > problem but these are some of the tactics I would be thinking about if
> > I had this particular kind of problem. 
> 
> Maybe I can learn something about accounting in the process!
> 
> On a whim, I increased the number of global sections, and the loop now 
> lasts longer before it stops.

OK, excellent. Let's continue your journey towards enlightenment :)

hb has already noted the possible significance of IMGDMP and subprocesses,
and some possible actions.

"IMGDMP at subprocess termination"?

It doesn't instinctively sound like it should be happening, but maybe it
is expected behaviour. We may be able to check, see later.

Anything "interesting" in the quotas and such like in that accounting
record, if you go for the /FULL record rather than the one-liner? If
you're not sure what would be interesting, post the detail here?

To help answer those questions, have a look at comparable accounting
records from a box where DECwindows does start OK. If that also has
"IMGDMP..." I'll be surprised. If only the broken one has "IMGDMP...",
that's a hint. But it could still be a red herring.

I don't do VMS 8.4 yet. What follows may be outdated (but I'd hope not).

Historically, as this is VMS and not a 'modern' OS, one might have
expected that the IMGDMP status would be documented where all the
others are documented, maybe in HELP /MESSAGE, or maybe in the System
Messages and Recovery Procedures manual.

If the IMGDMP status remains relevant, then intuitively an informed 
person might think it'd be worth looking for a corresponding image
dump file, and if one exists, using ANALYZE/PROCESS_DUMP to see what
(if anything) it reveals. This being VMS and not a 'modern' OS, there
is documentation for ANALYZE /PROCESS_DUMP (e.g. in the DCL dictionary).

I've lost track of where the VMS documentation lives on HP's website,
and Google's preferred offering for "System Messages and Recovery
Procedures" on the HP site takes me to a manual for OpenVMS AXP 1.5
(1993). There is no IMGDMP status documented in that manual. Further
digging (e.g. in more recent manuals or HELP /MESSAGE) recommended.

Searching for things related to IMGDMP also reveals that there is an
8.4 UPDATE kit (V0500) which doesn't explicitly mention IMGDMP as a
status but does mention an updated version of 
o  [SYSLIB]IMGDMP.EXE (new image)

         Image Identification Information

         Image name: "IMGDMP"
         image file identification:  "X-71"
         image file build identification:  "0100000002"
         linker identification:  "Linker I02-37"
         Link Date/Time: 12-AUG-2010 14:58:21.00
         Overall Image Checksum: DF125D99

HP having 'modernised' their VMS webs again recently, you may not
easily find this document on HP's website. Google found me a link,
which was unresponsive, but Google still has the cached text-only
content. 

Hard to know whether it's relevant or not at this stage, and as a
hobbyist do you have access to the UPDATE kit anyway?

Is that (and hb's suggestion) enough to keep you occupied for a
little while? I need to do some other stuff.

Have a lot of fun.