Annotation of www/vax.html, Revision 1.106
1.106 ! bentley 1: <!doctype html>
! 2: <html lang=en id=platform>
! 3: <meta charset=utf-8>
! 4:
1.1 deraadt 5: <title>OpenBSD/vax</title>
1.3 fn 6: <meta name="description" content="the OpenBSD/vax page">
1.99 tb 7: <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
8: <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="openbsd.css">
1.100 tb 9: <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.openbsd.org/vax.html">
1.3 fn 10:
1.106 ! bentley 11: <style>
! 12: .scsi {
! 13: color: var(--green);
! 14: }
! 15: </style>
1.99 tb 16:
1.106 ! bentley 17: <h2 id=OpenBSD>
1.99 tb 18: <a href="index.html">
1.106 ! bentley 19: <i>Open</i><b>BSD</b></a>
! 20: vax
1.99 tb 21: </h2>
22: <hr>
1.106 ! bentley 23:
! 24: <table><tr><td>
1.39 miod 25: <p>
26: OpenBSD/vax runs on a large set of the VAX computers manufactured by
27: <a href="http://www.digital.com">Digital</a> (then Compaq, now Hewlett-Packard).
1.106 ! bentley 28:
1.98 deraadt 29: <p>
1.39 miod 30: A mailing list dedicated to the OpenBSD/vax port is available at
1.106 ! bentley 31: <a href="mailto:vax@openbsd.org">vax@openbsd.org</a>.
1.39 miod 32: To join the OpenBSD/vax mailing list, send a message body of <b>"subscribe
33: vax"</b> to <a href="mailto:majordomo@openbsd.org">majordomo@openbsd.org</a>.
34: Please be sure to check our <a href="mail.html">mailing list policy</a> before
35: subscribing.
1.106 ! bentley 36:
1.98 deraadt 37: <p>
1.106 ! bentley 38: <strong>The OpenBSD/vax port was discontinued after the 5.9 release.</strong>
1.39 miod 39:
1.106 ! bentley 40: <td>
! 41: <a href="images/vax.jpg">
! 42: <img src="images/vax.jpg" width="350" height="467" alt="VAX">
! 43: </a>
! 44: </table>
1.1 deraadt 45:
1.3 fn 46: <hr>
1.91 bentley 47:
1.106 ! bentley 48: <h3 id="history"><strong>History:</strong></h3>
1.28 hugh 49:
1.12 ericj 50: <p>
1.32 hugh 51: VAX has been a supported OpenBSD architecture since early 2000, when code was
52: synchronized with NetBSD's port. Being the second architecture to run BSD Unix
53: (in 1979!), it seems appropriate that these venerable vaxen should still have
1.39 miod 54: a modern OS.
55:
56: <p>
57: The current codebase is mostly from Berkeley, with contributions of free
58: code from Digital, Mt Xinu, NetBSD, OpenBSD and others.
1.12 ericj 59:
60: <p>
1.53 jolan 61: After the port was synchronized with the NetBSD codebase, fixes and improvements
62: were made, such as support for 16 partitions per drive, support for more VAX
1.39 miod 63: models, improved emulation of unimplemented instructions, and so on.
1.28 hugh 64:
1.39 miod 65: <p>
66: Development is ongoing, and changes are shared among VAX hackers even to
67: this day. The result of this work is an operating system that is stable
68: and familiar to any OpenBSD user.
69:
70: <hr>
1.91 bentley 71:
1.106 ! bentley 72: <h3 id="status"><strong>Current status:</strong></h3>
1.39 miod 73:
74: <p>
75: Currently, all the hardware listed in the
1.55 nick 76: <a href="#hardware">supported hardware</a> section below boots
1.39 miod 77: multi-user, and supports enough of the on-board devices to be generally
1.54 pedro 78: usable.
1.39 miod 79: Some models can only run diskless at the moment, though.
1.35 hugh 80:
81: <p>
1.65 miod 82: As of OpenBSD 4.0, most of the VAXstation frame buffers are
1.74 miod 83: supported.
1.64 miod 84:
85: <p>
86: Of course, regardless of frame buffer support, a complete set of X clients
87: and utilities is available, allowing OpenBSD/vax machines to behave as X11
88: font servers, or run X clients on remote display.
1.35 hugh 89:
1.39 miod 90: <p>
91: There a few problems still left in the OpenBSD/vax port, though:
1.35 hugh 92: <ul>
1.39 miod 93: <li>The current compiler sometimes has optimizer issues (i.e. gcc -O2
94: produces incorrect code, while -O1 or -O0 work). They are slowly being
95: worked on as we are aware of them. Most code should work nowadays.
96: <li>Addressing limits in the pmap module. This can cause the kernel to panic.
1.42 david 97: Some of these situations have been taken care of and fail gracefully,
1.39 miod 98: but there might be unfixed cases.
99: </ul>
1.28 hugh 100:
1.39 miod 101: <hr>
1.91 bentley 102:
1.106 ! bentley 103: <h3 id="hardware"><strong>Supported hardware:</strong></h3>
1.16 hugh 104:
105: <p>
1.39 miod 106: The list of supported hardware below is not meant to be exhaustive.
1.74 miod 107: Due to a limited inventory of systems available to developers,
108: not all hardware combinations have been tested.
1.39 miod 109:
110: <p>
111: As a result, OpenBSD/vax may actually run on your machine even if it's not
1.32 hugh 112: listed here, and we rely on your testing and feedback to keep this list up
1.39 miod 113: to date.
1.106 ! bentley 114: To help us improve the accuracy of this list, <strong>PLEASE</strong>
1.39 miod 115: <a href="faq/faq4.html#SendDmesg">send your dmesg</a> after installation
116: to <a href="mailto:dmesg@openbsd.org">dmesg@openbsd.org</a>.
117:
118: <h4>Supported models</h4>
1.12 ericj 119:
1.39 miod 120: <ul>
1.64 miod 121: <li>VAXstation 2000
1.106 ! bentley 122: <li>VAXstation 3100/{30,40} (<span class=scsi>SCSI</span>)
! 123: <li>VAXstation 3100/{38,48} (<span class=scsi>SCSI</span>)
! 124: <li>VAXstation 3100/76 (<span class=scsi>SCSI</span>)
! 125: <li>VAXstation 35x0 and 38x0 (<span class=scsi>SCSI</span>)
! 126: <li>VAXstation 4000/VLC (<span class=scsi>SCSI</span>)
! 127: <li>VAXstation 4000/60 (<span class=scsi>SCSI</span>)
! 128: <li>VAXstation 4000/90 (<span class=scsi>SCSI</span>)
! 129: <li>VAXstation 4000/90A (<span class=scsi>SCSI</span>)
! 130: <li>VAXstation 4000/96 (<span class=scsi>SCSI</span>)
1.64 miod 131: <li>MicroVAX 2000
1.106 ! bentley 132: <li>MicroVAX 3100/{10,20}{,e} (<span class=scsi>SCSI</span>)
! 133: <li>MicroVAX 3100/{30,40} (<span class=scsi>SCSI</span>)
! 134: <li>MicroVAX 3100/80 (<span class=scsi>SCSI</span>)
! 135: <li>MicroVAX 3100/85 (<span class=scsi>SCSI</span>)
! 136: <li>MicroVAX 3100/90 (<span class=scsi>SCSI</span>)
! 137: <li>MicroVAX 3100/95 (<span class=scsi>SCSI</span>)
! 138: <li>MicroVAX 3100/96 (<span class=scsi>SCSI</span>)
1.39 miod 139: <li>MicroVAX 3300
1.106 ! bentley 140: <li>VAX 4000 100 (<span class=scsi>SCSI</span>)
! 141: <li>VAX 4000 105 (<span class=scsi>SCSI</span>)
! 142: <li>VAX 4000 106 (<span class=scsi>SCSI</span>)
1.39 miod 143: <li>VAX 4000 200
144: <li>VAX 4000 300
145: <li>VAX 4000 {400,500,600}
146: <li>VAX 4000 {500A,700A}
1.65 miod 147: <li>VXT2000 and VXT2000+
1.101 tedu 148: <li>Emulated SIMH VAX
1.39 miod 149: </ul>
150:
1.64 miod 151: <h4>QBUS devices</h4>
152:
153: <ul>
154: <li>KFQSA MSCP DSSI controller
1.106 ! bentley 155: (<a href="https://man.openbsd.org/vax/uda.4">uda</a>)
1.64 miod 156: <li>Emulex UC08 MSCP SCSI controller
1.106 ! bentley 157: (<a href="https://man.openbsd.org/vax/uda.4">uda</a>)
1.64 miod 158: <li>CXY08 DHV-11 emulating serial ports
1.106 ! bentley 159: (<a href="https://man.openbsd.org/vax/dhu.4">dhu</a>)
1.64 miod 160: <li>DELQA Ethernet
1.106 ! bentley 161: (<a href="https://man.openbsd.org/vax/qe.4">qe</a>)
1.64 miod 162: </ul>
163:
164: <h4>Ethernet controllers</h4>
165:
166: <ul>
167: <li>on-board MicroVAX or VAXstation LANCE Ethernet
1.106 ! bentley 168: (<a href="https://man.openbsd.org/vax/le.4">le</a>)
1.64 miod 169: <li>DEC SGEC
1.106 ! bentley 170: (<a href="https://man.openbsd.org/vax/ze.4">ze</a>)
1.64 miod 171: </ul>
172:
173: <h4>SCSI controllers</h4>
174:
175: <ul>
176: <li>NCR5380
1.106 ! bentley 177: (<a href="https://man.openbsd.org/vax/asc.4">asc</a>)
1.64 miod 178: on-board SCSI
179: <li>NCR53C9x
1.106 ! bentley 180: (<a href="https://man.openbsd.org/vax/ncr.4">ncr</a>)
1.64 miod 181: on-board SCSI
1.74 miod 182: <li>SII
1.106 ! bentley 183: (<a href="https://man.openbsd.org/vax/sii.4">sii</a>)
1.74 miod 184: on-board SCSI on VAXstation 35x0/38x0 I/O module
1.64 miod 185: </ul>
186: <p>
1.74 miod 187: Either one of the first two controllers are found onboard most 3100s and
188: VAXstation 4000s, as well as the VAX 4000 10x series.
1.64 miod 189:
190: <h4>Serial ports</h4>
191:
192: <ul>
193: <li>DZ*11 or compatible serial ports
194: (<a
1.106 ! bentley 195: href="https://man.openbsd.org/vax/dz.4">dz</a>)
1.64 miod 196: <li>SC26C94 serial ports on VXT2000
1.106 ! bentley 197: (<a href="https://man.openbsd.org/vax/qsc.4">qsc</a>)
1.64 miod 198: </ul>
199:
1.65 miod 200: <h4>Frame buffers</h4>
1.64 miod 201:
202: <ul>
203: <li>VAXstation 3100 on-board monochrome frame buffer
1.106 ! bentley 204: (<a href="https://man.openbsd.org/vax/smg.4">smg</a>)
1.64 miod 205: <li>VAXstation 3100/{30,38,40,48} color frame buffer option
1.106 ! bentley 206: (<a href="https://man.openbsd.org/vax/gpx.4">gpx</a>)
1.70 miod 207: <li>VAXstation 3100/76 SPX frame buffer, also available as an option for
208: VAXstation 3100/{30,38,40,48}
1.106 ! bentley 209: (<a href="https://man.openbsd.org/vax/lcspx.4">lcspx</a>)
1.74 miod 210: <li>VAXstation 35x0/38x0 frame buffer
1.106 ! bentley 211: (<a href="https://man.openbsd.org/vax/legss.4">legss</a>),
1.74 miod 212: without the 16 planes option
1.64 miod 213: <li>VAXstation 4000/60 and 4000/VLC frame buffer
1.106 ! bentley 214: (<a href="https://man.openbsd.org/vax/lcg.4">lcg</a>)
1.64 miod 215: <li>VAXstation 4000/90 color frame buffer
1.106 ! bentley 216: (<a href="https://man.openbsd.org/vax/lcspx.4">lcspx</a>)
1.64 miod 217: <li>VXT2000 color frame buffer
1.106 ! bentley 218: (<a href="https://man.openbsd.org/vax/lcspx.4">lcspx</a>)
1.64 miod 219: </ul>
220:
221: <p>
1.74 miod 222: The VXT2000 monochrome frame buffer, the LEGSS 16 plane option and the
223: SPXg/SPXgt options for VAXstation 4000s are not supported yet.
1.64 miod 224:
1.65 miod 225: <h4>Input devices</h4>
1.64 miod 226:
227: <ul>
228: <li>LK201 and LK401 keyboards
1.106 ! bentley 229: (<a href="https://man.openbsd.org/vax/lkkbd.4">lkkbd</a>)
1.64 miod 230: <li>VSxxx mouse
1.106 ! bentley 231: (<a href="https://man.openbsd.org/vax/lkms.4">lkms</a>)
1.64 miod 232: </ul>
233:
1.3 fn 234: <hr>
1.91 bentley 235:
1.106 ! bentley 236: <h3 id="hwdocs"><strong>Documentation wanted:</strong></h3>
1.40 miod 237:
238: <ul>
1.64 miod 239: <li>Programming info for LCG, SPX, and SPXg/SPXgt framebuffers
1.40 miod 240: <li>Software references for SHAC DSSI
241: <li>Any edition VARM
242: </ul>
243:
244: <hr>
1.91 bentley 245:
1.106 ! bentley 246: <h3 id="install">
1.40 miod 247: <strong>Getting and installing OpenBSD/vax:</strong>
1.106 ! bentley 248: </h3>
1.40 miod 249:
250: <p>
1.104 tj 251: The last supported OpenBSD/vax release was
1.95 sthen 252: <a href="58.html">OpenBSD 5.8</a>.
1.40 miod 253: Here are the
1.102 tb 254: <a href="https://ftp.OpenBSD.org/pub/OpenBSD/5.8/vax/INSTALL.vax">
1.103 tb 255: OpenBSD/vax 5.8 installation instructions</a>.
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