Tarzan's Power Supplies

Getting Started - Things You Need To Know

This section describes various aspects of the MicroVAX II operation. Console connection, console commands, error message codes, and boot procedures are detailed.

For a MicroVAX II to successfully boot, it must be able to find a bootable FILES-11 filesystem on a disk or tape device, or successfully connect through ethernet to another VAX (real or emulated) which serves as a boot server.

Preparation

Consult The MicroVAX II 630QB Technical Manual, AZ-GLBAA-MN
Prepare a console DB9 cord, and connect the MicroVAX II to a RS232 terminal, or to a terminal emulator running on some host machine (typically a PC).

Cable connection scheme is:

Pin 2 of the MicroVAX DB9F to pin 2 of the PC DB9F
Pin 3 of the MicroVAX DB9F to pin 3 of the PC DB9F
Pin 7 of the MicroVAX DB9F to pin 5 of the PC DB9F
This should be enough; for a strictly correct cord, connect also:
Pins 4,5,6 of the MicroVAX DB9F together
Pins 8,9 of the MicroVAX DB9F together
Pins 1,7,8 of the PCX DB9F together

If you suspect the order or the working state of any of the QBUS boards in the machine, you can take note of their positions and then remove all of them except the KA630 CPU, which must always be present in the first QBUS slot. The KA630 will execute the power-on self test, the KA630 message should appear on the console, the console commands can be tested, and the whole setup can be verified.

Power-Up

After power-up, the MicroVAX II is controlled by a console program. It is a little program that performs power-up diagnostic tests, reports errors, takes commands from the user, and transfers control to an operating system through a boot process.

Three modes of operation are possible after power-up. They are selected using two switches on the FUNCT SEL/SLU module:

Power Up Mode Select switch:

Position 0 (an arrow) – “Run”; the CPU attempts to bootstrap (start) an operating system
Position 1 (a face) – “Language Inquiry”; the user can select the interface language of the console program, which is then stored in battery-backed memory so the selection is saved when the machine is shut off. Normally after selecting, the switch should be returned to position 0
Position 2 (a “T” in a circle) – “Test”; console program performs a loopback test on the SLU. The TX and RX lines of the console port are shorted together when the switch is in this setting.

2. Halt Enable switch:

When HALT EN is selected (switch in the UP position, dot inside circle):
- Halts are enabled
- On a power-up or restart, the system enters console I/O mode (“>>>” prompt), waiting for user commands
When HALT EN is disabled (switch in the DOWN position, dot outside circle):
- Halts are disabled
- The system attempts to boot from one of the boot devices

The console RS232 baud rate is set using the Baud Rate switch. Eight baud rates are possible, they are 300, 600,1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200 and 38400 bps.

Booting

Once powered up and diagnostic tests completed successfully, and if

HALT EN switch is in the DISABLED position, AND either
- A “boot” command was issued at the “>>>” prompt, or
- The Power Up Mode Select switch is In the RUN position

then the MicroVAX II will attempt to boot. If not, then the MicroVAX II console program will sit at the “>>>” prompt forever, waiting for user input.

A boot command from the “>>>” prompt with no parameters (see below), or a power-up boot, use the following boot device search order:

1 MSCP (Disk)                          RQDX DUmn*
2 MSCP (Tape)                         TQK50 MUmn
3 PROM                                   MRV11            PRmn
4 Ethernet adapter DEQNA XQmn

* m = controller designator (A = first, B = second,etc.)

The Console SLU POST Status Indicator

A single hexadecimal digit display on the console SLU is used to indicate POST (Power On Self Test) status, and indicate possible causes of faults. The digit codes roll from F down to 0 after power-up, with the following definitions for each state:

Tests F to 8 – System self-tests
Tests 7 to 3 – CPU and RAM memory self-tests
Tests 2 and 1 – Bootstrap tests
Note that the four RED LEDs located on the KA630 front edge are showing the same digit in hexadecimal binary form (the Green LED is a “DC OK”, to the right of it are the LED indicators representing bits 8,4 2,1).

F       Waiting for DCOK
E       Waiting for POK
D       Running checksum test on CPU
C       Searching for RAM memory required for CPU ROM programs
B       Read KA630-A IPCR register (access Q22-Bus)
A       Testing the VCB01 video console display (if present)
9       Identifying console terminal
8       Language inquiry or CPU halted
7       Running data tests on RAM memory
6       Running address tests on RAM memory
5       Running tests that use Q22-Bus map to access local memory
4       CPU instruction and register tests
3       Running interrupt tests
2       Searching for bootstrap device
1       Bootstrap device found
0       Testing complete

Console Commands

At the “>>>” prompt, the following commands can be entered. Commands can be abbreviated to their first letter only.

This is a partial list, only a summary of the commonly used commands. Check out the manuals for a full reference.

>>>BOOT </qualifier > [device]
Boots the specified device.

Examples:

>>>BOOT DUA0                      ! boots from DUA0 disk drive
>>>B /00000000 DUA1           ! boots standalone backup from DUA1
>>>B XQA0                             ! boots from Ethernet device (first DELQA)

>>>CONTINUE
The CPU starts execution from the current program counter

Usage:
>>>C

>>>DEPOSIT [qualifier] <address> <data>

Deposits data into specified address.

The address may also be one of the following symbolic addresses:

PSL - The processor status longword
PC - The program counter (general register 15).
SP - The stack pointer (general register 14).
Rn - General register n. The register number is in decimal
+ - The location immediately following the last location referenced in an
EXAMINE or DEPOSIT command
- - The location immediately preceding the last location referenced in an
EXAMINE or DEPOSIT command
* - The location last referenced in an EXAMINE or DEPOSIT command.
@ - The location addressed by the last location referenced in an EXAMINE or DEPOSIT command.

The qualifier can be one of:

/b – data size is byte
/w – data size is word
/l – data size is longword
/v - address is in the virtual address space
/p - physical memory
/i - internal processor register
/g - general register
/u - access to console program memory

Examples:

>>>d/p/w 2000146a 20
>>>d/p/l 20088004 80000001

>>EXAMINE [qualifier] <address>

Displays the data at the given address. Qualifiers are the same as in the DEPOSIT command.

Example:
>>>E/P/W 2000146A

>>>INITIALIZE

Processor initialize.

Usage:
>>>i

>>>REPEAT <command>

Repeats the <command> until CTRL+C is pressed.

Example:
>>> R E/P/W 2000146A

>>>START <address>

Starts program execution at address <address>. If no address is given, the current program counter is used.

Note: sometimes running this command fails the first time, but succeeds when tried again.

Example:
>>>S 400

>>>TEST [test_number]

Invokes POST test [test_number]. Valid test numbers are 3 through 7

Example:
>>>T 7

>>>UNJAM

Performs an I/O bus reset.

Usage:
>>>U

Example of a KA630 boot, followed by (manual) entry into the UC07 control program:

KA630-A.V1.3

1) Dansk       7) Nederlands
2) Deutsch     8) Norsk
3) English     9) Português
4) Espanõl    10) Suomi
5) Français   11) Svenska
6) Italiano

(1..11): 3

Performing normal system tests.

7..6..5..4..3..

Tests completed.

>>> i
>>> u
>>> d/p/w 20001f40 20
>>> d/p/l 20088000 80000000
>>> d/p/l 20088004 80000001
>>> d/p/w 20001468 1
>>> d/p/w 2000146a 3003
>>> d/p/w 2000146a 4401
>>> s 80

?06 HLT INST
PC = 00000281
>>> s 80

                               Option Menu
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 - Format                               2 - Verify
3 - Format & Verify                      4 - Data Reliability
5 - Format, Verify, & Data Reliability   6 - Read Only
7 - List Known Units                     8 - Replace Block
9 - Write RCT                            10 - Optical Read all Diag Sectors
11 - Optical Write a Diag Sector          12 - Issue Mode Select
13 - Display Novram                       14 - Edit / Load Novram

Enter option number:

Console error messages and explanations

Hex Code	Message	Explanation
02	EXT HLT	Break was typed on the console, QBINIT or QHAL T was asserted.
04	ISP ERR	In attempting to push state onto the interrupt stack during an interrupt or exception, the processor discovered that the interrupt stack was mapped NO ACCESS or NOT VALID.
05	DBL ERR	The processor attempted to report a machine check to the operating system, and a second machine check occurred.
06	HLTINST	The processor executed a HAL T instruction in kernel mode.
07	SCB ERR3	The vector had bits <1:0> equal to 3.
08	SCB ERR2	The vector had bits <1:0> equal to 2.
OA	CHM FR ISTK	A change mode instruction was executed when PSL<IS> was set.
OB	CHM TO ISTK	The exception vector for a change mode had bit <0> set.
OC	SCB RD ERR	A hard memory error occurred while the processor was trying to read an exception or interrupt vector.
10	MCHK AV	An access violation or an invalid translation occurred during machine check exception processing.
11	KSP AV	An access violation or an invalid translation occurred during processing of an invalid kernel stack pointer exception.
15	CORRPTN	The console database was corrupted. The console program simulates a power-up sequence and rebuilds its database.
16	ILL REF	The requested reference would violate virtual memory protection, the address is not mapped, the reference is invalid in the specified address space, or the value is invalid in the specified destination.
17	ILL CMD	The command string cannot be parsed.
18	INV DGT	A number has an invalid digit.
19	LTL	The command was too large for the console to buffer. The message is issued only after receipt of the terminating carriage return.
1A	ILL ADR	The address specified falls outside the limits of the address space.
1B	VAL TOO LRG	The value specified does not fit in the destination.
1C	SW CONF	For example, two different data sizes are specified with an EXAMINE command.
1D	UNKSW	The switch is unrecognized.
1E	UNKSYM	The symbolic address in EXAMINE or DEPOSIT is unrecognized.
1F	CHKSM	The command or data checksum of an X command is incorrect. If the data checksum is incorrect, this message is issued, and is not abbreviated to 'Illegal command.'
20	HLTED	The operator entered a HALT command.
21	FND ERR	A FIND command failed either to find the RPB or 64 kilobytes of good memory.
22	TMOUT	During an X command, data failed to arrive in the time expected.
23	MEM ERR	Parity error detected.
24	UNXINT	An unexpected interrupt or exception has occurred.
40	NOSUCHDEV	No bootable devices found.
41	DEVASSIGN	Device is not present.
42	NOSUCHFILE	Program image not found.
43	FILESTRUCT	Invalid boot device file structure.
44	BADCHKSUM	Bad checksum on header file.
45	BADFILEHDR	Bad file header.
46	BADIRECTORY	Bad directory file.
47	FILNOTCNTG	Invalid program image file.
48	ENDOFFILE	Premature end of file encountered.
49	BAD FILENAME	Bad file name given.
4A	BUFFEROVF	Program image does not fit in available memory.
4B	CTRLERR	Boot device I/O error.
4C	DEVINACT	Failed to initialize boot device.
4D	DEVOFFLINE	Device is off-line.
4E	MEMERR	Memory initialization error.
4F	SCBINT	Unexpected SCB exception or machine check.
50	SCBZNDINT	Unexpected exception after starting program image.
51	NOROM	No valid ROM image found.
52	NOSUCHNODE	No response from load server.
53	INSFMAPREG	Invalid memory configuration.
54	RETRY	No devices bootable, retrying.