Create NOS Disk Pack

In this article (and the next), we undertake:

• adding TWO NOS Disk Packs to a running PLATO system,
• adding Master Files to the newly created packs,
• adding those Master Files to PLATO,
• generating a new Deadstart Tape,
• deadstarting the newly configured system,
• adding the newly created Master Files to PLATO's “required Master Files” list.

Building from “the bottom up”, we prepare the HOST system, then NOS, then PLATO.

Assuming that you are using the ''NCC Distribution'', verify the equipment section contains the following, or at least closely resembles the following:

[equipment.nos287]
;----------------------------------------------------------------------
; Equipment definitions corresponding to CMRD01 and EQPD01 on the
; NOS 2.8.7 deadstart tape
;
; The format of each entry is:
;
;   type,eqNo,unitNo,channel,path
;
;----------------------------------------------------------------------

; 4x885 disk drives, default family
DD885,0,0,01,disks/DQ10
DD885,0,1,01,disks/DQ11
DD885,0,0,02,disks/DQ12
DD885,0,1,02,disks/DQ13
; 1x844 removable disk drive
DD844,0,0,11,*
; 6x885 disk drives for CYBIS auxiliary packs
; These are used only if CYBIS is installed
DD885,0,0,03,disks/DQ20_BINARY
DD885,0,0,04,disks/DQ21_CYB0
DD885,0,1,03,disks/DQ22_CYB1
DD885,0,1,04,disks/DQ23_PUB0
DD885,0,2,03,disks/DQ24_PUB1
DD885,0,2,04,disks/DQ25_UOL

; CDCNet Mainframe Device Interface
MDI,7,0,05

; System Console
CO6612,0,0,10

; Card Reader, Line Printer, Card Punch
CR3447,4,0,12
LP512,5,0,12,3555
CP3446,6,0,12

; 9-track Tape Drives
MT679,0,0,13,tapes/ds.tap
MT679,0,1,13
MT679,0,2,13
MT679,0,3,13

; 2-port mux
TPM,0,0,15

; Automated Cartridge Tape Drives
MT5744,0,0,23,localhost:4400/M0P0D0
MT5744,0,1,23,localhost:4400/M0P0D1
MT5744,0,2,23,localhost:4400/M0P0D2
MT5744,0,3,23,localhost:4400/M0P0D3

; Distributed Data Path
DDP,0,0,20

In particular, note the DD885 entries. We will need to add two more entries representing the new NOS DD885 Disk packs.

Channels 3 and 4 are configured to hold the chain of disk units (in this configuration) and we will continue that pattern by adding unit number 3 to each channel 3 and 4.

During deadstart, the hardware on the deadstart panel signifies the suffix of the CMRDECK that is processed during configuration of the system. Therefore we want to verify that the deadstart section looks like this:

[deadstart.nos287]
;----------------------------------------------------------------------
; Mainframe deadstart panel. This panel configuration causes the system
; to perform a level 0 deadstart from a tape drive on channel 13,
; equipment 0, unit 0. It selects CMRD01 as the CMR deck defining the
; hardware and operating system configurations.
;----------------------------------------------------------------------
0000
0000
0000
7553 DCN 13
7713 FAN 13,
0120        0120
7413 ACN 13
7113 IAM 13,
7301        7301
0000
0001 wxyy w=level, x=display, yy=cmrdeck
0000

In particular, take note of the switch settings on the row with the comment

wxyy w=level, x=display, yy=cmrdeck

The switch bank value should be 0001. The last two digits, 01 indicate the CMR Deck number that is to be loaded during deadstart. This value is expected later when we re-build the deadstart tape.

Add the following two DQ device statements to the equipment section. Note that the intention is to add packs, effectively dedicated to PLATO, whose names GEN1 and GEN2 signify our intention of making these Master Files of type GENERAL. When the NCC Distribution is first constructed, it is essentially identical to the Cybis Release 1 build. We will make changes and additions (in subsequent articles) which add content to the new

DD885,0,3,03,disks/DQ26_GEN1
DD885,0,3,04,disks/DQ27_GEN2

Save the file and start dtCyber using the MANUAL configuration. Note that the configuration of the section [manual] is distributed as:

[manual]
;----------------------------------------------------------------------
; Manual DtCyber configuration profile for NOS 2.8.7 PSR Level 871.
; Waits at the first CTI screen for operator intervention. Does not
; start or stop helper processes.
;----------------------------------------------------------------------
displayName=CybisR2.Prod (Manual)
model=CYBER865
deadstart=deadstart.nos287
equipment=equipment.nos287
npuConnections=npu.nos287
operator=operator.manual.nos287
clock=0
cpus=2
memory=4000000
esmbanks=16
pps=24
persistDir=persistence

Once dtCyber is started, the configuration is loaded and the packs will be allocated on-disk. We start with the MANUAL configuration because we need to make temporary modifications (at first) to the equipment deck and enable NOS to initialize the newly added Disk Packs.

Cross Reference to NOS Article

On dtCyber - make sure that the disks were properly detected/allocated:

At the NOS CONSOLE during DEADSTART:

• Press the BACKSPACE Key
• Press RETURN (CR)

Define the new equipment. Note that this is done through the dtCyber OPERATOR console which has the “enter_keys” support. Entering these commands using this method makes it much easier to prepare the commands EXTERNAL to the NOS Console and ensure they are all correctly entered ahead of time:

Continue the NOS Deadstart:

Now enter the DATE and TIME: