[Info-vax] MicrovaxStation 3100 CDROM

[Stephen Hoffman]

On 2022-06-01 17:13:32 +0000, Dave Barter said:

> I have a 3100 unit that I need to load software onto. At the moment it 
> only has VMS 7.1 and a TK50 tape drive. I don't have access to another 
> drive. Maybe a dumb question, but can I purchase a cheap external SCSI 
> CDROM drive and use this to move files across? The 3100 has a SCSI 
> connector at the back, it's probably DEC proprietary but I'm hoping 
> there is a connector out there that might work.
> 
> Other option is to file transfer via the serial console but I'm not 
> sure if VMS comes with anything like Kermit out of the box.

Boot an OpenVMS Alpha or OpenVMS I64 box running "recent" OpenVMS, and 
configure Host-based InfoServer there, and boot the VAX remotely from 
that. Any "S-VAX" will boot from InfoServer, and yours is an S-VAX.

Or swap some SCSI disk to another OpenVMS system, and load the kit there.

Or yeah, a 512-byte-capable SCSI CD-ROM.  DEC RRDs, most (all?) SCSI 
Plextor drives, and most Sun CD-ROM drives can support 512-byte 
sectors, or be reconfigured to support 512-byte sectors.

Links:
https://docs.vmssoftware.com/vsi-openvms-system-management-utilities-reference-manual-volume-i-a-l/#INFOSERV 

http://hoffmanlabs.com/vmsfaq/
http://hoffmanlabs.com/vmsfaq/vmsfaq_026.html#cddvddev



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