[Info-vax] PCVMS
VAXman- at SendSpamHere.ORG
VAXman- at SendSpamHere.ORG
Wed Nov 25 09:31:06 EST 2020
In article <5f162652-d0ea-49a0-860f-61f117c63141n at googlegroups.com>, "sigma.r... at gmail.com" <sigma.research at gmail.com> writes:
>On Sunday, November 22, 2020 at 4:57:14 PM UTC-5, VAXman- wrote:
>> In article <rpe6lq$rcq$1... at panix2.panix.com>, klu... at panix.com (Scott Dorsey) writes:
>> >On Sat, 21 Nov 2020 22:52:51 -0500, Supratim Sanyal wrote:
>> >>
>> >> (just also posted at HECnet)
>> >>
>> >> It appears once upon a time there was some sort of a VMS-like shell on
>> >> DOS called PCVMS from Wendin Software. Sampsa asked for it from the last
>> >> person to work on it 11 years ago at
>> >> http://personallyinteresting.blogspot.com/2009/04/computer-archeology.html
>> >>
>> >> Wondering if Sampsa or anyone has floppy images.
>> >
>> >Email me, I have a copy of the kit. It is absolutely awful. Just totally
>> >useless. The resulting command language is just enough like DCL to make
>> >you wonder why none of the commands you're used to actually work.
>> It should have been called PCDCL (Pretty Crappy DCL).
>> --
>> VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)ORG
>>
>> I speak to machines with the voice of humanity.
>
>William Gallant here --
>VAXman-,
>Stumbled upon an old 2017 post somewhere..
>You mention you have digitalized copies of Wendin manuals
>on decus libraries. Did you ever find them? And if so, where>
There are no *electronic* copies of manual. I do know that *somewhere* I did
have brochures, etc. from Wendin but it'd take me a month of Sundays to locate
them in my pack rat cache. ;) The following is the README file from the .ZIP
archive. There's also a "HELP" file.
PLEASE READ ME BEFORE USING YOUR NEW
PCVMS PERSONAL OPERATING SYSTEM (V1.08)
FROM WENDIN, INC.
===============================================================================
THIS FILE DESCRIBES THE BRIEF STEPS NECESSARY to unload the large quantity of
on-disk source code and executable utilities that comes with PCVMS, your new
multitasking, multiuser operating system. Because the PCVMS operating system
is too large to fit on a single disk, and contains many source files, we have
put the entire source code onto one library (on DISK 2), from which you may
extract your copy of the source code, if you wish to use it. PCVMS does not
need its source code to run. It's included just for your recreation. Here is
the procedure for installing PCVMS on your computer system.
First, decide where all your executable files will reside. Whatever directory
you now use for MS-DOS utilities is just fine, since that will allow PCVMS
to automatically find those utilities as well as the PCVMS utilities. Let's
suppose for the sake of illustration that your utilities directory is "C:\BIN".
First, copy the files on DISK 1 into the following directories:
LOGIN.EXE -- Must be copied into the root directory of your boot disk.
other .EXE files -- Should be copied into your utility directory.
SYSSTART.BAT -- Must be copied into the root directory of your boot disk.
There are more utilities on DISK 2, all .EXE files, and they should be copied
into the same utility directory as the others.
Next, EDIT THE SYSSTART.BAT file, changing the line below to reflect the name
of the directory you will have all your MS-DOS and PCVMS utilities in:
DEF /SYS SYS$SYSTEM SYS$ROOT:xxx\
For example, if we were going to use the BIN directory to hold all the
utilities, then the line should look like this:
DEF /SYS SYS$SYSTEM SYS$ROOT:BIN\
Or, if you want to place all of your utilities in the root directory, use this:
DEF /SYS SYS$SYSTEM SYS$ROOT:
NOTE: You don't need the extra backslash in this case.
Next, copy the HELPLIB.HLB file on DISK 3 into your SYS$HELP directory. You
can tell PCVMS which directory that is by changing your SYSSTART.BAT file
that you just copied over to your hard disk. We suggest a directory like
"C:\HELP", or just the utilities directory, "C:\BIN".
To do this, change the line below in the SYSSTART.BAT file to indicate the
new directory and filename for the help library:
DEF /SYS SYS$HELP SYS$SYSTEM:HELPLIB.HLB
This example would tell PCVMS to look for the file in your utilities directory,
under the name HELPLIB.HLB. (This is the recommended place for the file).
For passwords to operate correctly, you must make an ETC directory under the
root directory of your hard disk. To do this, use the following MS-DOS command:
MKDIR \ETC
Then you should copy the PASSWD file from DISK 3 into this directory:
(insert disk 3 in drive A)
COPY A:PASSWD \ETC
We suggest that you try PCVMS and decide if your directories are set up
properly, and the way you want them to be, before you begin browsing the
source files for PCVMS. Here is the procedure for unpacking the source
files from the library on DISK 2 called VMSSRC.ARC, when you desire to do it.
To access this library, you can use the free, PUBLIC DOMAIN library utility
called ARC.EXE on DISK 2. Please observe its signon message when using it
or giving it to others. That single program is the only information in this
software package that is PUBLIC DOMAIN and FREE. All other information,
including source and object code, is the property of Wendin, Inc. We hope you
enjoy using this utility, and suggest that you add it to your growing
collection of utilities.
1. Put DISK 2 in a floppy disk drive,
like drive A:, for example.
2. Set up a subdirectory on your hard disk to copy all of the
files into. There will be slightly under 50 source files when
you get done with this procedure.
3. Copy all of the files (there should be a library file plus
a ARC.EXE utility, plus this file) into your directory.
4. You can then use the ARC command to UNPACK your copy of
the PCVMS source code using these commands:
C> ARC -x vmssrc
.... messages will appear here ....
C> DIR
6. Perform the same steps with DISK 3 and the HEADERS.ARC file.
7. You should now have all of the source files unpacked in your
directory. If not, call us at 509/235-8088, and we can help
you. Before you call, make sure that you copied the files
VMSSRC.ARC and ARC.EXE from DISK 2.
8. Fill out our registration form and return it to us, so that
we can provide you with UNLIMITED, FREE, technical support.
Actually, we would help you anyway, but it's nice to know
a little more about people like you who are doing innovative
things in computer science.
9. TURN NOW TO YOUR PCVMS MANUAL, AND BEGIN USING YOUR NEW
MULTITASKING, MULTIUSER, PERSONAL OPERATING SYSTEM!
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING AND EXPLORATION INTO THE WORLD OF PCVMS:
We've included a free 300K help file which works with HELP.EXE,
both under MS-DOS and PCVMS. We suggest that you browse through it,
to learn about new commands that we've added since the first printing
of the PCVMS reference manual.
Hint: Under MS-DOS, you must rename the help file to the name:
SYS$HELP
because MS-DOS doesn't know about logical names. You can run HELP
under MS-DOS just by typing HELP (even on your release disks, although
you should definitely make a copy of them first!).
HELP US: LET US KNOW HOW TO IMPROVE PCVMS!
We are constantly improving PCVMS by adding utilities and making it
more bullet-proof. However, a system of its size cannot be fully
error-free tested, even with hundreds of beta testers. Please report
any bugs you find to this address:
Wendin, Inc.
PCVMS Bug Report
Box 266
Cheney, WA 99004
We are also looking for new utilities to add to PCVMS. If you have
a good utility for PCVMS, we'd love to include it in our package, and
give all the credit to you! Send all submissions to:
Wendin, Inc.
New PCVMS utilities
Box 266
Cheney, WA 99004
WE CAN HELP YOU:
You can get software upgrades by calling Wendin at 509/235-8088,
giving your license number, and asking for an updated product. You
must be prepared to give your version number over the phone.
We also provide AUTHOR SUPPORT for those really complicated technical
support questions. Just join our electronic user's group on the
Whole Earth Software Catalog's VAX 11/750, via 1200 baud modem.
Charges are $8.00/month and $2.00/connect hour. The system runs
Berkeley UNIX 4.2 BSD and also runs a conferencing menu-like system
which you can use to talk to other Wendin customers and ask questions
about PCVMS, by sending mail to username WENDIN. The phone number is:
415/332-6106
Let us know if you have any difficulty signing on.
--
VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)ORG
I speak to machines with the voice of humanity.
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