The Answers:
- What do I do if I try to mount my removable disk and get the following
error message:
"%SYSTEM-W-NOSUCHDEV, no such device available"?
First, make sure your drive is in the slot and spun up, i.e. the little
light above the slot has gone from amber to green. At the $ prompt in one of
your DECterm windows, currently logged in to the same machine you are trying to
mount the drive on, type the word SLOT and hit return. This is a special command
created to cause the system to recognize any drives that are physically mounted.
- How can I avoid doing a build each time I log into a data taking machine when
I haven't changed any of the front end software?
Most of you rarely if ever modify the user*.h files that control the front end computer.
Yet, whenever you sit down at a workstation to begin a run, you have to do a build to recompile
the front end code. To address this, there are two new commands:
a. savefront -- This will first ask you for a filename without an extension. It
will then add a .hex extension to that name and store the front end code under that filename
in your data directory. This is the code that resulted from your last build operation.
The file is usually less than 2000 blocks in size, so doesn't take up that much space.
b. loadfront -- This performs the reverse operation. It asks for the filename
(again without extension) that you used with savefront then copies that file to the proper
download directory on the workstation. It can then be loaded into the front-end by a restart
cold or by pushing the red restart button, as usual.
Typically, you would run savefront once after doing a build, then use loadfront at the start
of each experiment thereafter that uses the same front end code.
- What if I don't remember which data directory I'm using on the removable disk?
If you haven't taken data for some time, you can forget which data directory you are
currently using. This results in staring blankly at the screen when the xsys startup dialog
asks you to tell it the name of your data directory. If that should happen to you, CTRL-C
out of the xsys procedure (or better yet, think of this before typing xsys!) and type
diskquery
This will ask for the label of the disk in the leftmost slot. Don't worry if the disk is
mounted or not, the procedure checks for that. It will then give you a complete list of all
directories on that disk, one page at a time, with the date they were created. For some
groups, this may be a long list, but you should still be able to jog your memory and find
the correct data directory.
- What do I do if I can't mount my removable disk because it says another disk
is mounted, but there is no disk in that slot?
The only solution for this problem is to reboot the system. Call Kevin at 2-2662.
If he's not around, and only if you absolutely have to use the computer right then,
you can do an emergency reboot by pushing the square button behind the door below the
CD drive on the VAXStation, then typing a B and hitting return at the prompt on the
screen.
To avoid this problem, always dismount the drive with a $DISMOUNT DATA:, or
$DISMOUNT DATA2:, for example, before spinning down the disk. If there are
files open on the disk from some other session, such as someone logged in remotely
from a PC, the DISMOUNT command will fail with an error message. Make sure the
dismount is successful before spinning down the disk (pressing the button above the
slot and watching the status light turn from green to amber).
- After typing an EVOP TAPE command, I get a Waiting message that never returns
to the prompt. What do I do?
Just hit a Ctrl-C. It won't cause any problems.
- What do I do if I get a "send: broken pipe" error message in the VRCTL window?
The VRCTL window (the one with the rctl> prompt) is actually running a program
called vrctl that communicates with the front end computer via a TCP/IP ethernet connection.
If that connection is interrupted for some reason (most commonly by a "restart cold", or
by hitting return several times in the window), there is no immediate error message from
the vrctl program. However, the next time you try to execute a command in that window,
the "broken pipe" message will be given. If the program hasn't dumped you back to the
VMS prompt ($), hit a CTRL-C. Then, hit an up arrow to recall the last command, which
should be vrctl. Hit return, and you should be back in business. If not, it means that
the program on the front end computer has stopped somehow, and you'll have to push the
red restart button on the front end computer itself. If that's necessary, follow the
usual procedures about hitting "gs" and "go" in the Kermit window, then getting out of
the old vrctl session and rerunning the vrctl program.
- How do I open up DECTerm windows on my PC to VAXStations other than Auger?
The departmental computer shop has now provided us with an easy package to make
DECTerm sessions available on all VAXStations. Go to the Start menu on your PC, select
Programs, Main, and WinINSTALL 7.0 User's Menu. One of the options on the menu that comes
up under WinINSTALL is "Exceed VMS Shortcuts User". If there isn't already a check mark to
the left of this entry, double click on it, highlight it's name on the window that pops up,
and click OK. This will place a folder on your desktop entitled VMS Machines, as well as
make it available under the Start -> Programs -> Hummingbird Connectivity V7.0 menu.
Double clicking on the entry in that folder for the machine of your choice will bring up
the usual login screen. Remember that Auger, Rydbrg, Balmer, Lamb, and Zeeman are the
networked machines that allow easy access to the User and User2 disks. The standalone
data taking machines are Geiger, Hertz, Stark, Stern, and Hahn.
- How do I open multiple DECTerms on my PC?
After clicking on one of the VAX icons in the VMS Machines folder and logging in,
type the following from the newly opened DECTerm:
$CREATE/TERMINAL/DETACH
This will create another DECTerm. The command may be repeated for as many windows
as needed. Do not try to create additional DECTerms from the VAX icon in the VMS
Machines folder, as the XSYS graphical display will not work properly in those
windows.
- What if the VAXStation screen goes black with some strange white window
outlines and error messages displayed?
On older VAXes, there was a separate, hard copy terminal used for printing
"console", system type messages. Since there is only one terminal hooked up
to the VAXStation directly, any console error messages are now displayed on
that terminal. Unfortunately, displaying such an error message leaves the
terminal in "console mode". To restore the screen to your normal windowing
interface, press Ctrl-F2 (simultaneously hold down the Ctrl key and the F2 key).
- Is there a name for the middle slot on the removable disk drive enclosures on
the VAXStations?
On the data taking machines (Geiger, Hertz, Stark, Hahn, and Stern), the
middle slot is already occupied with a "scratch" disk defined as user.
There are already individual directories defined on that disk, such as
user:[prichard] or user:[lcocke], but the whole disk can be written to or
files erased by anyone logged in as ONLINE. Do not spin down or remove
those disks! On the analysis machines (Lamb, Rydbrg, Balmer, and
Zeeman), the middle slot is available for you to insert your removable data
disks. Its name is, not surprisingly, DATA1.
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