UNIX on Revision 5 VAX 11/750 CPU's

[Hans Albertsson]

>>>> Mike Williams asks:
1 How is the RAM micro code loaded in VMS? Has anyone done anything about this
  in UNIX? How does ULTRIX (DEC UNIX) deal with this? My own thoughts are that
  the easiest way to do this loading in UNIX is to introduce a new system call.
  Loading micro code hardly seems to merit a special device and a driver! A
  small program in /etc/rc should suffice.
>>>>>
	The microcode patches are in a file PCS750.BIN, which is loaded to
	PCS by a special program. This program is delivered to you on a 
	cassette, in object-module form, and should be linked by DEC field
	service personnel on installation. They leave this cassette around,
	and given VMS,PATCH,DEBUG + a few weeks time, a working UNIX-variant
	should be JUST possible. I'm imagining fixing the environment, to be
	able to run the result of a link on the object module UNDER UNIX, or
	alternatively writing a loader for UNIX following the model given by
	the VMS program. EUNICE might be a help in this respect.

>>>>>> Mike Williams asks:
2 In what format will the patches be available? Will I just be able to copy
  the relevant patch file from a VMS machine?
>>>>>>
	They'll be sent on a cassette, in binary format, a fixed record, no
	format file, if my memory serves me well.  

{decvax,phillabs}!mcvax!enea!log-hb!hans