NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/comp/os/vms/20053

Internet Message Format | 1992-12-29 | 3.5 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!olivea!charnel!rat!ucselx!crash!cmkrnl!jeh
From: [e-mail]
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: Re: What is XPDRIVER for?
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 30 Dec 92 02:56:22 GMT
References: <[e-mail]>
Distribution: world,local
Organization: Kernel Mode Consulting, San Diego, CA
Lines: 74

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Chris De Young) writes:
>     Booting a 4000/300 VMS 5.4-2, I get the following error early in the boot
> process:
>
>     %SYSGEN%W-NOMSG, Message number 00000910
>     [SYSEXE]XPDRIVER.EXE
>     %SYSGEN%W-NOMSG, Message number 00000910
>     [SYSEXE]XPDRIVER.EXE

XPDRIVER is associated with a device known as a PCL11.  I have no idea what a
PCL11 might be.

What is happening is that SYSGEN is finding a device in the Qbus at the address
normally associated with a PCL11.  Its normal action is to load the associated
device driver. However, no driver for the PCL11 is supplied with VMS, hence
the error message.

The SYSGEN Device Table in the _VMS Device Support_ manual says that the PCL11
lives at CSR address 764200, 764240, 764300, or 764340.  The "Device Addresses"
tables in my various old PDP11 handbooks state that this is at the lower end of
a "user reserved area".  I suspect that you have a non-standard device at one
of these addresses, and that the (non-DEC) driver for it is loaded sometime
later during the boot sequence.

> There is no XPDRIVER.EXE anywhere on the system that I can find, but there
> also is not on another VMS 5.4-2 system which does not exhibit this message.

Probably the other system doesn't have the device at the PCL11's address.

You can see what's on the Q-bus by

    $ run sys$system:sysgen
    SYSGEN> SHOW/UNIBUS
    SYSGEN> SHOW/CONFIG

The output from the first command tells you which addresses on the bus are
responding and what they respond with.  The second command relates these
addresses to configured I/O device names.

> What is the source of this message, and is it something I need to worry
> about?

You probably don't need to worry about it.

If you really want to get rid of the message, the best answer is to change the
device so that its address is somewhere else.  You'll also have to change the
SYSGEN CONNECT command (probably in your SYSTARTUP_V5.COM) that creates the
device(s) to reflect the new address.

However, if you are unfamiliar with Unibus/Q-bus address space, don't have a
PDP11 peripherals handbook handy with which to find unused space, etc., and
can't call on anyone locally who has the necessary experience, I wouldn't
advise this approach.

Another thing you could do is to modify the system startup procedure so that
it doesn't try to configure the "XP" device.  In SYS$COMMON:[SYS$STARTUP]
VMS$DEVICE_STARTUP.COM you will find a line that reads

    $sysgen autoconfigure all

edit it so that it looks like:

    $sysgen autoconfigure all/exclude=xp

If my analysis of the problem is correct, this should work.  However the
error message you're seeing isn't really a problem (unless you really do have
a PCL11!).  I'd leave it alone.

    --- Jamie Hanrahan, Kernel Mode Consulting, San Diego CA
drivers, internals, networks, applications, and training for VMS and Windows-NT
uucp 'g' protocol guru and release coordinator, VMSnet (DECUS uucp) W.G., and
Chair, Programming and Internals Working Group, U.S. DECUS VMS Systems SIG
Internet:  [e-mail], [e-mail], or [e-mail]
Uucp:  ...{crash,eisner,uunet}!cmkrnl!jeh