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HP OpenVMS Systemsask the wizard |
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The Question is: I wish to switch from AlphaBios to VMS ver 7.2-1 on a Digital Server 5000 Model 5305, Console v5.8-2. Is this possible? If so, how? and if not why not? I am completely new to AlphaBios commands etc. but have done some work on Alphas under VMS. The Answer is : Support has time and monetary costs to OpenVMS Engineering, costs which must be reasonably recouped. You too are also cost-driven and also wish to reasonably recoup your costs, hence your question. Put in simplest terms, this Alpha platform is not supported by OpenVMS. There are no commercial OpenVMS license options generally sold for this system, though you might be able to purchase a right-to-use without support -- the OpenVMS Wizard will thus assume this is a hobbyist usage. Details of what might or might not work and what might or might not be stable are not known to the OpenVMS Wizard. Differing operating systems make differing demands on the hardware platform. There are one or more problems with this current configuration (qv: your question), problems which may or may not be reasonably resolvable through OpenVMS or hardware changes. There are insufficient details provided for the OpenVMS Wizard to determine the specific cause of the problem being reported. This platform and other so-called "whitebox" or -a series platforms were configured, tested, priced, and sold for use with Microsoft Windows NT. Only. For details of attempting to bootstrap OpenVMS (with hobbyist licenses) on unsupported platforms and on unsupported I/O configurations, and for details of switching to SRM, please see the OpenVMS FAQ. Depending on the I/O controllers present, details of motherboard components, firmware, and other details, hobbyists may or may not be able to successfully bootstrap OpenVMS on an unsupported system. Some of these unsupported Alpha systems have hardware that is not supported by OpenVMS, systems including various "whitebox" DIGITAL Server systems, DIGITAL Personal Workstation -a series, or other Windows NT (only) systems with motherboards with (but not limited to) revisions of the Pyxis chip and the use of the Intel SIO chip (see the FAQ for the latter), restrictions which can prevent the operation of some of or all of OpenVMS. Some unsupported Alpha systems were tested, and were found to be incompatible with stable OpenVMS operations. Some systems "simply" have unsupported EISA or PCI controller hardware, unsupported SCSI hardware, or other such "correctable" restrictions. The OpenVMS Wizard cannot and does not recommend the use of any unsupported platform for any (inexperienced) hobbyist users. Hobbyist users without extensive experience with hardware and without knowledge of the costs and effort involved in platform testing and integration efforts should purchase and use only officially supported platforms and controllers. The vendor testing and integration that is a central part of vendor support is of value to users that are not able, not familiar, or not willing to provide local testing and integration and support.
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