This directory contains a 2.11BSD system image for use with the PDP-11 simulator included in SIMH. If using this image on a real PDP-11, note that 2.11BSD requires a PDP-11 with Supervisor Mode and requires a split I+D machine.
The major change in 2.11BSD was the addition of backported networking code from 4.3BSD on the VAX. It also incorporates a number of other small 4.3BSD changes like long filenames.
Otherwise, 2.11BSD is extremely similar to 2.10BSD. It retains the same 4.3BSD structure and system calls and the largely 4.3BSD user-land software. It also retains the same hardware support as 2.10BSD which added 22-bit QBus support, an MSCP driver, and etc.
This was the final BSD released for the PDP-11 and it feels remarkably modern.
In fact, the similarities are so strong that no user manuals were ever printed;
users were simply instructed to use 4.3BSD manuals from the VAX. 2.11BSD is
also the fastest BSD for the PDP-11, incorporating many backported
efficiency-related changes from 4.3BSD. For example, whereas ULTRIX-11 V3.0 on
a PDP-11/73 takes 1.1 seconds to start vi
, and 2.9BSD takes 0.9 seconds
(likely due to use of vfork
), the same vi
image takes only 0.2 seconds to
start from the main memory cache on 2.11BSD.
This 2.11BSD system is up to date, currently sitting at patch 450 released on
Mar 19, 2016. All patches were obtained from ftp://moe.2bsd.com/pub/2.11BSD/
or https://www.retro11.de/data/211bsd/patches/. The system was built (and
rebuilds itself) regularly on kryten.subgeniuskitty.com
, a real PDP-11/83.
Fully tested on SIMH 3.9-0 and a real PDP-11/83.
To power up a simulated PDP-11/73 and run this 2.11BSD disk image, simply un-gzip the disk image file and start up SIMH with the provided configuration file.
% gunzip disk0_ra90_211bsd.dsk.gz
% pdp11 simh.conf
PDP-11 simulator V3.9-0
Disabling CR
Disabling RK
Disabling HK
Disabling TM
.
.Select a kernel at the ':' prompt.
.For example, ': ra(0,0,0)unix'.
.At the first '#' prompt you are in single-user mode.
.Use Ctrl-D to logout and continue the boot.
.Login with username 'root' and password 'temppass'.
.Shut down with 'sync; sync; halt'.
.
73Boot from ra(0,0,0) at 0172150
:
The :
prompt is from the bootloader, to whom we must communicate a device and
file to continue the boot process. We’re booting from the first MSCP-compatible
disc, using the file /unix
, so type ra(0,0,0)unix
followed by ENTER
.
: ra(0,0,0)unix
Boot: bootdev=02400 bootcsr=0172150
2.11 BSD UNIX #1: Sat Aug 11 20:38:20 PDT 2018
root@curly.2bsd.com:/usr/src/sys/KRYTEN-NONET
ra0: Ver 3 mod 3
ra0: RA90 size=2376153
phys mem = 4186112
avail mem = 3990464
user mem = 307200
August 12 00:03:32 init: configure system
ra 0 csr 172150 vector 154 vectorset attached
cn 1 csr 176500 vector 300 skipped: No CSR.
cn 2 csr 176510 vector 310 skipped: No CSR.
cn 3 csr 176520 vector 320 skipped: No CSR.
cn 4 csr 176530 vector 330 skipped: No CSR.
erase, kill ^U, intr ^C
#
The system has now booted up to single-user mode and you are logged in as
root
. To continue booting to multi-user mode, simply type Ctrl-d
to log
out and system startup will proceed.
# Fast boot ... skipping disk checks
checking quotas: done.
Assuming non-networking system ...
checking for core dump...
preserving editor files
clearing /tmp
standard daemons: update cron accounting.
starting lpd
starting local daemons: sendmail.
Sun Aug 12 00:03:38 PDT 2018
2.11 BSD UNIX (curly.2bsd.com) (console)
login:
The system is in multi-user mode. Login as root
with password temppass
.
login: root
Password:
erase, kill ^U, intr ^C
#
That’s it! 2.11BSD is up and you’re logged in.
The system includes a full set of man pages to get you started. If the Bourne
shell used on the root account grows tiring, tcsh
(and others) are already
installed and include features like tab-completion.
To power off, assuming you are logged in as root
and the system is otherwise
inactive, use the sync
command to flush any buffers to disk and then halt
to halt the system. On the simulated PDP-11 this drops us back to SIMH’s
command prompt where we can exit the simulation.
# sync; sync; halt
syncing disks... done
halting
HALT instruction, PC: 000014 (MOV #1,10544)
sim> quit
Goodbye
Note that you can also press Ctrl-e
at any time and SIMH will halt the PDP-11
simulation and drop to the sim>
prompt where you can exit. However, doing
this is likely to corrupt a disk as it is equivalent to yanking the power cord
from the wall. To resume from the sim>
prompt, simply type go
and execution
will resume from where it left off..
The PDP-11/83 upon which this image normally resides includes a DEC DELQA-T ethernet card and this 2.11BSD image is configured to use it. The driver should work with any of the DEQNA, DELQA, or DELQA-T cards in a real PDP-11.
SIMH can also emulate a network card, though it requires libpcap
and some
manual configuration. Following these instructions will guide you through the
process:
http://www.retrocmp.com/how-tos/installing-211bsd-unix-on-pdp-1144/123-installing-211bsd-networking
The easiest way to transfer files to/from the running 2.11BSD instance is over
the network, via FTP. As discussed in the “Ethernet” section, the system is
preconfigured for network use if running on a real PDP-11 with compatible
network hardware or via emulation through SIMH. Simply login via FTP as a
normal user and GET
/PUT
/etc to transfer files.
If networking is unavailable, output to the line printer or input/output via
the paper tape are also an option. The relevant options to enable that hardware
in SIMH are present but commented out in simh.conf
.
This image is also configured to expect a DLV11-J compatible quad serial port
card installed at the base of the relevant CSR space. These ports, if actually
present, can be used to transfer files using kermit
, pre-included in this
2.11BSD image.