3B2-310 disk drive questions

[Trip Martin]

dart at cat33.cs.wisc.edu (UPL stuff) writes:

>In article <1953 at novavax.UUCP> rwright at novavax.UUCP (Ronald K. Wright) writes:
>		[ Description of various hardware failures ]
>>
>>Oh one other question now that I have your attention, how do you boot
>>this thing from floppy?  I cannot find that in my set of the fm's.
>>Perhaps I do not have them all.
>>-- 
>>R. K. Wright MD JD                     | office: uunet!medex2!medexam!rkw
>>Chief Medical Examiner, Broward County | nova:   novavax!rwright
>>Associate Professor Pathology          | home:   uunet!medex2!love1!rkw
>>University of Miami School of Medicine | fax:    305 765 5193

>	Could someone please post an answer to this seemingly easy question.  
>We have here a couple of sick 3b2/310s.  Evidently, /etc/getty got trashed.
>The system boots normally, but init complains "/etc/getty respawning too
>rapidly ...".  Evidently, all that needs to be done is install a sane
>/etc/getty and/or  /etc/gettydefs.  But how does one do this?  We
>have the original core pack disks, which are presumably bootable.  The
>fine manual describes how to boot the system from firmware mode.  
>However, it does not describe how to get into firmware mode from a dead
>start.  I've tried typing the firmware password at all possible times,
>including after pressing the reset button in back, but no response.  I
>have disconnected the battery to make sure that no-one changed the firmware
>password while I wasn't looking.

First start up the machine with the red switch.  Wait until you get
the message "DIAGNOSTICS", and hit the reset switch on the back.  
In a couple seconds, it should print "SELF-CHECK" again, and then
"FIRMWARE MODE".  Type in "mcp" (assuming the firmware password hasn't
been changed).

You'll then be prompted for a file to boot.  The default should be
"/unix", which is what you want.  And then choose the floppy for 
the boot device.  After a couple minutes, you'll then get a menu
of options which include full restore, partial restore, and upgrade.
Now comes the fun part.  Type in "magic mode", and the system will
respond with "Poof!".  The prompt will then be printed with an
additional option "shell".  Type that in and you will now have
a root shell running strictly off floppy.

The programs available are very limited.  As an example, there is
no "ls".  You have to use "echo *" to get a directory.  There's 
also no "mount", but you can use "fsys -m" for the same purpose.
BTW, does anyone know where the documentation is for "fsys"?  I
can't find it at all.
-- 
--
Trip Martin
night at pawl.rpi.edu