[Info-vax] grey screen of death

[Jan-Erik Soderholm]

Phillip Helbig (undress to reply) skrev den 2015-05-24 19:50:>
> No.  I have UPDATE5.  Normally, when there are problems, the first
> question is whether all patches are up to date.  Obviously, as a
> hobbyist I don't have access to newer patches (UPDATE10 is out now) and
> don't want to violate any terms of the hobbyist license.
>
> Of course, if someone responsible says that it is OK for me to install a
> newer patch and see what happens, then I'm willing to do that, but I
> would prefer to stick with the official hobbyist kit.
>
> Maybe someone with access to the 8.4 patch release notes can see if
> there is any thing related to looping processes involving CDE and/or
> DECwindows and if so let me know which patch it is in.

Nothing found using "DECW" or "CDE" when searching the UPDATE 6, 7,
8, 9 or 10 RELEASE_NOTES files. Not *one* single reference to either
of this character strings.

"decwindows" gets one hit in the 8.4 UPDATE patches:

"An event generated by the mouse such as scrolling the mouse wheel
while a USB mouse is being plugged-in or while DECwindows is
starting up, might cause a system crash.
This problem has been fixed."

But that is in UPDATE5 and you already have that one.

Also searched for "DECW" on the "Find OpenVMS patches" page at HP.
I get one hit in "DECset V12.8 ECO3 release for OpenVMS Alpha" if
I select VMS 8.4.

So, as I read it, there have been no updates or patches in regard
to DECwindows since the initial 8.4 release at all (apart from the
"mouse event" fix above).

Regards,
Jan-Erik.





   Maybe a newer
> UPDATE can then be made available for hobbyists.  Someone in this thread
> posted something about a looping DECW process on 8.4, which is what I
> have.
>
>> *) You are running TCPIP V5.7 ECO5 (or are in process to install ECO5)
>
> Yes.
>
>> *) You are running DECwindows MOTIF V1.2-7 w/o ECOs (because there are none)
>
> I don't recall the version, but it is that on the 8.4 distribution "CD"
> (I actually downloaded the .ISO, copied it to a disk, and booted from
> that for the upgrade).  It is a newer version than I had before the
> upgrade.
>
>> *) You are not running DECnet (neither Ph4 nor DECnet-Plus/DECnet-OSI/Ph5)
>
> No DECnet.
>
>> *) You have working DECwindows client, as you could prove with an X11 server
>> on a remote system (like another of your OpenVMS systems with a working
>> X11 server or like a PC with a X11 server like eXcursion or eXceed or ...)
>> but you have not done so
>
> I did do RUN SYS$SYSTEM:DECW$CLOCK on the 8.4 system with the display
> directed to a 7.3-2 system.  This works.
>
>> My suggestion is:
>> *) Get yourself a PC with a working X11 server (and login via SSH/Putty
>> and X11 forwarding enabled and then CREATE/TERMINAL/DETACHED to get a DTTERM
>> or use the XDM functionality of the X11 server to login via DTGREET/DTLOGIN)
>> and prove that your problem is only your OpenVMS DECW$SERVER_0 process
>
> I'll check this in more detail.  I do remember at one time bringing up
> not just a DECTerm window but the whole CDE login box on a remote
> display.
>
>> *) Complete your upgrade activities (including DECnet installation ;-)
>
> I think everyone agrees that DECnet is not relevant here.  I do plan to
> get it running, hopefully this year, but I think it's not a good idea to
> change too many things at once.
>
>> 	check SYS$STARTUP:DECW$SERVER_0_ERROR.LOG
>
> Nothing there.  Essentially the same as with 7.3-2.
>
>> 	check ACCOUNTING for data of DECW$SERVER_0 process (username SYSTEM)
>
> Have done so and posted the -F- message.
>
>> -) increase debugging info
>> 	by adding following lines to SYS$STARTUP:DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.COM
>> 	$ decw$server_connect_log == "T"
>> 	$ decw$server_dump == "T"
>
> I'll give that a try.
>
>> 	and by using AVAILMAN (and watch the process quotas)
>
> I don't think I have that installed.  Even if I did, I have no
> experience with it.
>
>> -) increase your (DECW$SERVER_0 process and system) quotas
>> 	by adding 2 lines to SYS$STARTUP:DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.COM
>> 	$ DEFINE/NOLOG DECW$SERVER_PAGE_FILE   <at least 370000>
>> 	$ DEFINE/NOLOG DECW$SERVER_WSQUOTA     <at least 12288>
>
> Will do if they aren't this high already.
>
>> 	and by considering the following lines for your MODPARAMS.DAT
>> 	MIN_LNMSHASHTBL=512
>> 	MIN_MAXPROCESSCNT=128
>> 	MIN_PQL_DBYTLM=32768
>> 	MIN_RESHASHTBL=512
>> 	MIN_TTY_ALTYPAHD=2064
>> 	MIN_TTY_ALTALARM=1600
>> 	MIN_TTY_TYPAHDSZ=2064
>
> Ditto.
>
>> -) reduce your X11 server to LOCAL transport only
>>          by changing the line in SYS$STARTUP:DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.COM
>> 	$ decw$server_transports == "LOCAL"
>> 	and see if it makes a difference
>
> OK.
>
> I'll probably try this all later tonight or tomorrow morning.  If none
> of this works, I probably won't have a chance to get it solved by
> tomorrow night, so will have to wait until the end of July.
>
> Again, someone did mention a looping DECwindows server in 8.4.  This
> seems like a typical thing a patch would correct.  I suspect that most
> 8.4 early adopters were not running DECwindows, so it might have been
> fixed after UPDATE5.  If someone can find something relevant in the
> release notes for newer patches, that would be the obvious avenue to
> explore, and maybe the hobbyists can get a newer update made available.
>