What do the letters AXP stand for?

When it came time to chose a "marketing name" for the Alpha AXP line, the company was in a quandary. The internal "code name" for the project, Alpha, was widely known and would seem the ideal choice, but it was already in common use by a number of other companies and could not be trademarked. A well-known "name search" firm was hired and was asked to come up with two lists of possible names. The first list was intended to evoke the feeling of "extension to VAX", while the second list was to suggest "not a VAX". Unfortunately, none of the choices offered were any good; for example, "VAX 2000" was found on the first list while the second list contained "MONDO" (later to be used for a kids' soft drink).

Shortly before announcement, a decision was made to name the new line ARA, for Advanced RISC Architecture. However, an employee in Israel quickly pointed out that this name, if pronounced in the "obvious" manner, sounded very much like an Arabic word with decidely unfortunate connotations. Eventually, AXP was selected; the architecture would be referred to as "Alpha AXP" whereas products themselves would use just "AXP".

Use of the AXP term has been phased out in favour of using Alpha. For example, OpenVMS AXP is now called called "OpenVMS Alpha".

What are the OpenVMS differences between VAX and Alpha?

• The default double-precision floating type on OpenVMS Alpha is VAX G_float, whereas on VAX it is usually D_float. D_float is available on Alpha, but D_float values are converted to G_float for computations and then converted back to D_float when stored. Because the G_float type has three fewer fraction bits than D_float, some applications may get different results. IEEE float types are also available on OpenVMS Alpha.
  
• Data alignment is extremely important for best performance on Alpha. This means that data items should be allocated at addresses which are exact multiples of their sizes. Quadword alignment will offer the best performance, especially for character values and those smaller than 32 bits. Compilers will naturally align variables where they can and will issue warnings if they detect unaligned data items.
  
• Compaq C is the only C compiler Digital offers on OpenVMS Alpha. It is compatible with DEC C on OpenVMS VAX, but is somewhat different from the older VAX C compiler most people are familiar with. Read up on the /EXTERN_MODEL and /STANDARD qualifiers to avoid the most common problems.
  
• The page size on Alpha systems is variable, but is at least 8K bytes. This can have some effect on applications which use the $CRMPSC system service as well as on the display of available memory pages. The page size is available from $GETSYI(SYI$_PAGE_SIZE).
  

Removed: no longer relevant

Seeking performance information for Alpha (and VAX) systems?

The following contain information on current Alpha and VAX products:

    http://www.compaq.com/alphaserver/products.html
    http://www.compaq.com/alphaserver/vax/

    http://www.compaq.com/alphaserver/archive/index.html
    http://www.compaq.com/alphaserver/performance/perf_tps.html

Also see CPU2000:

    http://www.spec.org/osg/cpu2000/
    http://www.spec.org/osg/cpu2000/results/cpu2000.html

Where can I get updated console firmware for Alpha systems?

       ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/Digital/Alpha/firmware/index.html
       ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/Digital/Alpha/firmware/
       ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/Digital/Alpha/firmware/readme.html

       ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/Digital/Alpha/firmware/interim/

        alpha_server@service.digital.com

  ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/DEC/Alpha/firmware/utilities/mkboot.txt
  ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/DEC/Alpha/firmware/utilities/mkbootarc.txt
  ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/DEC/Alpha/firmware/utilities/mkntboot.txt

                                          [Stephen Hoffman]

  $ write sys$output f$getsyi("console_version")
  $ write sys$output f$getsyi("palcode_version")
  SDA> CLUE CONFIG

                                          [Clair Grant]

How do I boot an AlphaStation without monitor or keyboard?

Will OpenVMS run on a Multia? AlphaPC 164LX? 164SX?

  http://www.openvms.compaq.com/freeware/multia/

Instructions are included IN the kits. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS.

Some of the restrictions involved when running OpenVMS on the Multia system include (but may well not be limited to) the following:

• The PCMCIA support was completely removed, because the Intel chip on the Multia was not compatable with the Cirrus chip on the Alphabook.
  This means, of course, that you will not see and cannot use any PCMCIA cards on a Multia.

• The Multia uses shared interrupts, and as a result, a special ZLXp-E series graphics device driver - one that does not use interrupts - is needed. This driver is provided in the kit.

• The serial lines don't work.

• If you have a Multia with a PCI slot, you can't use any PCI card that requires interrupts.

• The SRM console on this system is very old and very fragile. This SRM console was designed only and strictly for diagnostic use, and was not particularly tested or used with OpenVMS.)

• If things don't work for you, don't expect to see any OpenVMS updates, nor SRM console updates, nor any support.

The Multia images are not included on the OpenVMS Freeware V4.0 CD-ROM kit, the kit that was distributed with OpenVMS V7.2. (These images became available after Freeware V4.0 shipped.)

Other sources of information for OpenVMS on Multia include:

  http://home.earthlink.net/~djesys/vms/hobbyist/multia.html
  http://home.earthlink.net/~djesys/vms/hobbyist/mltianot.html
  http://home.earthlink.net/~djesys/vms/hobbyist/support.html
  http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/alpha/multiafaq.html

                                        [Stephen Hoffman]
                                        [David J. Dachtera]

Also see ALPHA13.

What is the least expensive system that will run OpenVMS?

Depending on the OpenVMS version and configuration, the OpenVMS Software Product Description (SPD) is available at:

  http://www.compaq.com/info/spd/

When purchasing a system, ensure that the system itself is supported, that the system disk drive is supported or closely compatible, that the CD-ROM drive is supported or is closely compatable and that it also specifically supports 512 byte block transfers, and particularly ensure that video controller is supported. Use of supported Compaq hardware will generally reduce the level of integration effort involved.

A CD-ROM drive is required for OpenVMS Alpha installations.

                                               [Stephen Hoffman]

Where can I get more information on Alpha systems?

  http://www.compaq.com/alphaserver/

  http://www.support.compaq.com/alpha-tools/documentation/current/chip-docs.html
  ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/DEC/Alpha/systems/
  http://ftp.digital.com/pub/Digital/info/semiconductor/literature/dsc-library.html

    http://www.compaq.com/info/spd/
    http://www.digital.com/info/lists/key-server_AL.HTM
    http://www.digital.com/info/lists/key-workstation_AL.HTM

  http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/alpha/multiafaq.html

                                        [Stephen Hoffman]

     http://www.alphapowered.com/alpha_tomorrow.html
     http://www.alphapowered.com/timeline.html
     http://www.alphapowered.com/ev7-and-ev8.html

  
  http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/alpha/models.html

What are the APB boot flag values?

>>> BOOT -FL root,flags

bit	Mnemonic	description
0	CONV	Conversational bootstrap
1	DEBUG	Load SYSTEM_DEBUG.EXE (XDELTA)
2	INIBPT	Stop at initial system breakpoints if bit 1 set (EXEC_INIT)
3	DIAG	Diagnostic bootstrap (loads diagboot.exe)
4	BOOBPT	Stop at bootstrap breakpoints (APB and Sysboot)
5	NOHEADER	Secondary bootstrap does not have an image header
6	NOTEST	Inhibit memory test
7	SOLICIT	Prompt for secondary bootstrap file
8	HALT	Halt before transfer to secondary bootstrap
9	SHADOW	Boot from shadow set
10	ISL	LAD/LAST bootstrap
11	PALCHECK	Disable PAL rev check halt
12	DEBUG_BOOT	Transfer to intermediate primary bootstrap
13	CRDFAIL	Mark CRD pages bad
14	ALIGN_FAULTS	Report unaligned data traps in bootstrap
15	REM_DEBUG	Allow remote high-level language debugger
16	DBG_INIT	Enable verbose boot messages in EXEC_INIT
17	USER_MSGS	Enable subset of verbose boot messages (user messages)
18	RSM	Boot is controlled by RSM
19	FOREIGN	Boot involves a "foreign" disk

If you want to set the boot flags "permanently" use the SET BOOT_FLAGS command, e.g.
>>> SET BOOT_OSFLAGS 0,1

What are Alpha console environment variables?

The specific environment variables differ by platform and by firmware version - the baseline set is established by the Alpha Architecture:

• AUTO_ACTION ("BOOT", "HALT", "RESTART", any other value assumed to be HALT)
• BOOT_DEV
• BOOTDEF_DEV
• BOOTED_DEV
• BOOT_FILE
• BOOTED_FILE
• BOOT_OSFLAGS
• BOOTED_OSFLAGS
• BOOT_RESET ("ON","OFF")
• DUMP_DEV
• ENABLE_AUDIT ("ON", "OFF")
• LICENSE
• CHAR_SET
• LANGUAGE
• TTY_DEV.

The contents of a core set of environment variables are accessable from OpenVMS using the f$getenv lexical and the sys$getenv system service. (These calls are first documented in V7.2, but have been around for quite a while.) Access to arbitary console environment variables is rather more involved, and not directly available.

                                        [Stephen Hoffman]

Will OpenVMS run on a NoName AXPpci33?

  http://www.jyu.fi/~kujala/vms-in-axppci33.txt

• You have to use the Multia kit and follow the directions in ALPHA8, but do not load the Multia SRM firmware into the AXPpci33. Rather, download and use the latest firmware for the AXPpci33 from the Compaq firmware website instead.
  
• 64 MB memory is generally necessary.
  
• you cannot use any PCI cards, and if you plan on networking, you need to find an ISA Ethernet card supported by OpenVMS.
  
• When the AXPpci33 board bootstraps, it will dump some stuff like a crash dump, but it will continue and - so far - this hasn't caused any particular hassles.
  
• The system shutdown and reboot procedures do not work properly.
  
• The serial console is reported to not work, though the serial ports apparently do work. The status of the parallel port is unknown.
  
• Rumour has it that you have one of the AXPpci33 motherboards with the PS/2 mouse and keyboard connectors and a VGA card (one that will work under DECwindows) and you can run DECwindows on the system.

                                      [Robert Alan Byer]

How do I reload SRM firmware on a half-flash Alpha system?

That said, this usually involves shuffling some files, and then getting into the AlphaBIOS firmware update sequence, and then entering "update srm" at the apu-> prompt.

To shuffle the files, copy the target SRM firmware file (AS200_V7_0.EXE is current) to a blank, initialized, FAT-format floppy under the filename A:\FWUPDATE.EXE

From the AlphaBIOS Setup screen, select the Upgrade AlphaBIOS option. Once the firmware update utility gets going, enter:

     Apu-> update srm

     Apu-> quit

Will OpenVMS run on the Alpha XL series?

OpenVMS can not, will not, and does not bootstrap on the Alpha XL series. The Alpha XL series was targeted for use (only) with the Microsoft Windows NT operating system.

For the list of boxes officially supported by OpenVMS, please see the OpenVMS Software Product Description (SPD).

       http://www.compaq.com/info/spd/

If you are very lucky, sometimes a particular unsupported Alpha box or motherboard will resemble a supported box sufficiently closely and can thus mimic that system and bootstrap. (No such family resemblances exist for the XL.) If you are exceedingly lucky, somebody here in OpenVMS Engineering will have put together a bootstrap kit - such as that for the Multia. (No Miata-like OpenVMS bootstrap kit exists for the XL.)

Describe Alpha instruction emulation and instruction subsets?

In particular, OpenVMS Alpha V7.1 and later include the instruction emulation capabilities necessary for the execution of newer Alpha instructions on older Alpha microprocessors.

Alpha instructions are available in groups (or subsets). Obviously, there is the base instruction set that is available on all Alpha microprocessors. Then, the following are the current instruction extension groups (or subsets) that are available on some of various recent Alpha microprocessors:

byte/word extension (BWX):

LDBU, LDWU, SEXTB, SEXTW, STB, and STW.

floating-point and square root extension (FIX):

FTOIS, FTOIT, ITOFF, ITOFS, ITOFT, SQRTF, SQRTG, SQRTS, and SQRTT.

count extension (CIX):

CTLZ, CTPOP, and CTTZ.

multi-media extension (MVI):

MAXSB8, MAXSW4, MAXUB8, MAXUW4, MINSB8, MINSW4, MINUB8, MINUW4, PERR, PKLB, PKWB, UNPKBL, and UNPKBW.

     /ARCHITECTURE=EV56/OPTIMIZE=TUNE=GENERIC

Typically /OPTIMIZE=TUNE=GENERIC is the appropriate choice for tuning, and the /ARCHITECTURE selects the minimum target architecture for general use throughout the generated code.

Code generated for later architectures and instruction subsets will run on older Alpha systems due to the emulation, but if /ARCHITECTURE is a significant benefit, then the emulation might be a performance penalty.

Please see the OpenVMS Ask The Wizard area for the source code of a (non-privileged) tool that looks at the instruction subsets available on the particular Alpha microprocessor that the tool is run on. This tool demonstrates the use of the Alpha AMASK and IMPLVER instructions.

What is the Accuracy of the Alpha Time of Year (BB_WATCH) Clock?

The software-maintained system time can drift more, primarily due to other system activity. Typical causes of drift include extensive high-IPL code (soft memory errors, heavy activity at device IPLs, etc) that are causing the processing of the clock interrupts to be blocked.

Also see VAX8, TIME6.

So how do I open up the DEC 3000 chassis?

                                           [Felix Kreisel]

What is byte swizzling?

That is, because EV4 and EV5 did not bring bits 0 and 1 off the chip, to do programmed IO for bytes/words, the information on the size/offset of the transfer was encoded into the address data. The data itself then had to be shifted into the correct "byte lane" (i.e. it's actual position within a longword).

EV56 (though not EV5) had byte/word operations, but OpenVMS did not directly support this for IO. EV6 systems (with the exception of the AlphaServer GS60 and AlphaServer GS140 series, for reasons of platform compatability) all support a flat byte addressable IO space.

If device driver uses CRAM or IOC$WRITE_IO/IOC$READ_IO, then OpenVMS will do the right thing without changing the driver - OpenVMS will swizzle and unswizzle as needed.

To use byte/word operations on MEMORY, you need to tell the compiler to use the EV56 or EV6 architecture (/ARCHITECTURE=EV56). Memory operations did not swizzle, but the compiler would do long/quad access, and extract/insert bytes as needed. Using /ARCHITECTURE=EV56 allows smaller more efficient byte IO logic to memory. Beware: a few Alpha systems have EV56, but do not support byte/word to I/O space.

If the application is directly doing IO access across a range of Alpha systems (like the graphics servers), then the driver will need to know how to do swizzling for old platforms, and byte access for new platforms.

                                        [Fred Kleinsorge]

What commands are available in the Alpha SRM console?

1. Format a FAT floppy, and insert it into the AlphaStation floppy drive.
2. Perform the following at AlphaStation SRM Console : >>> show * > env.dat >>> show conf > conf.dat >>> cat env.dat > fat:env.dat/dva0 >>> cat conf.dat > fat:conf.dat/dva0
3. You may use the SRM "ls" to display the contents of the floppy. >>> ls fat:env.dat/dva0 >>> ls fat:conf.dat/dva0
4. You can now transfer the FAT-format floppy to another system.

How do I switch between AlphaBIOS/ARC and SRM consoles?

A typical sequence used for switching over from the AlphaBIOS graphics console to the SRM console follows:

1. Press <F2> to get to the AlphaBIOS setup menu.
2. Pick the "CMOS Setup..." item.
3. Press <F6> to get to the "Advanced CMOS Setup" menu.
4. Change the "Console Selection" to "OpenVMS Console (SRM)".
5. Press <F10>, <F10>, then <Enter> to save your changes.
6. Power-cycle the system.

    Apu-> update

    Apu-> update ARC
    Apu-> verify
    Apu-> quit
    Power-cycle the system

    Apu-> update SRM
    Apu-> verify
    Apu-> quit
    Power-cycle the system

    >>> b -fl 0,A0 ddcu
    BOOTFILE: firmware_boot_file.exe

    Apu-> update ARC
    Apu-> verify
    Apu-> quit
    Power-cycle the system

If you have a "full-flash" system and want to select the SRM console from the AlphaBIOS or ARC console environment, select the "Switch to OpenVMS or Tru64 UNIX console" item from the "set up the system" submenu. Then power-cycle the system. If you have a "full-flash" system with the SRM console and want to select AlphaBIOS/ARC, use the command:

   >>> set os_type NT

Information on enabling and using the failsafe firmware loader for various systems - this tool is available only on some of the various Alpha platforms - is available in the hardware documentation for the system. This tool is used/needed when the firmware has been corrupted, and cannot load new firmware.

OpenVMS on the Personal Workstation -a and -au series?

OpenVMS and Personal Workstation IDE bootstrap?

If you have an -au series system, you can determine which IDE chip you have using the SRM console command:

  SHOW CONFIGURATION

Which terminal device name is assigned to the COM ports?