=;The OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)D

The OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)



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5.15 Why do I get extra blank pages on my HP Printer?



HFor information on configuring telnet print symbiont, on device control Hlibraries such as SYSDEVCTL.TLB, and for ways of dealing with the extra Bblank pages that can arise on various HP printers, please see the EOpenVMS Ask The Wizard area, starting particularly with topic (1020):



HFor additional information on the OpenVMS Ask The Wizard (ATW) area and Bfor a pointer to the available ATW Wizard.zip archive, please see 0Section 3.8.

CThere are a variety of discussions of this and of related printing ?topics in the Ask The Wizard area, in addition to topic (1020).

;Also see Section 5.34.s

5.16 Drivers and Configuration of New Graphics Controllers?



BThis section contains information on various graphics controllers Fsupported by OpenVMS Alpha, and specifically information on where and Dhow to obtain device drivers for specific early OpenVMS releases--- Ddevice drivers for controllers are integrated into and shipped with GOpenVMS Alpha, but versions of these device drivers are sometimes made 0available for specific earlier OpenVMS releases.:

5.16.1 The ELSA GLoria Synergy



COn OpenVMS Alpha V7.1-2, V7.2, and V7.2-1, acquire the appropriate 9GRAPHICS PCSI kit, and all prerequisite OpenVMS ECO kits:



>The ELSA GLoria Synergy is the PBXGK-BB; the PowerStorm 3D10T.@Please ensure you have the most current ECOs for this and other Bgraphics controllers installed; check for and install the current lGRAPHICS kit. (See Section 4.3.2 for some unexpectedly related details.)

?On OpenVMS Alpha V7.2-1, the files necessary for this graphics <controller are located in the distribution CD-ROM directory:

 

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DISK$ALPHA0721:[ELSA.KIT] 




.Also check for any available (later) ECO kits.

GAn earlier kit (ALP4D20T01_071) (for V7.1, V7.1-1H1, and V7.1-1H2) was Gonce available, but has been superceded and is not recommended. Use of HV7.1-2 or later (and use of one the above GRAPHICS kits as required) is typically the best approach.

@OpenVMS V7.2-2 and later mainline releases directly support the controller.

GAdditional information is available in topics (3419) and (5448) in the Ask The Wizard area:



HFor additional information on the OpenVMS Ask The Wizard (ATW) area and Bfor a pointer to the available ATW Wizard.zip archive, please see 0Section 3.8.

CSupport for the ELSA GLoria Synergy is integrated into all current OpenVMS Alpha releases.J

5.16.2 PowerStorm 300, PowerStorm 350



DThe PowerStorm 300 is the PBXGD-AC, while the PowerStorm 350 is the PBXGD-AE.

>For support of the PowerStorm 300 and PowerStorm 350 graphics Bcontrollers, acquire and install the following available ECO kits:

For OpenVMS Alpha V7.1-2:



For OpenVMS Alpha V7.2-1:



BSupport for the PowerStorm 300 and PowerStorm 350 series graphics >controllers is integrated into current OpenVMS Alpha releases.M

5.16.3 PowerStorm 3D30, PowerStorm 4D20



6PowerStorm 3D30 (PBXGB-AA), PowerStorm 4D20 (PBXGB-CA)Binformation is available in Ask The Wizard topics including topic (2041):



HFor additional information on the OpenVMS Ask The Wizard (ATW) area and Bfor a pointer to the available ATW Wizard.zip archive, please see 0Section 3.8.4

5.16.4 Radeon 7500



HInstall the current GRAPHICS ECO kit for OpenVMS Alpha V7.2-2 or V7.3-1 for support of the Radeon 7500(series PCI and AGP graphics controllers.

ESupport for this controller (without an ECO kit) is first integrated Finto and available in OpenVMS Alpha V7.3-2. (Please do always install Fthe most current GRAPHICS ECO kit whenever one is available, however.)p

5.17 How can I acquire OpenVMS patches, fixes, and ECOs?



FYou can acquire and download kits containing OpenVMS fixes (ECOs) for Avarious releases, as well as related support information, via theITRC support center:



GSome systems with Internet firewalls may/will have to use passive mode GFTP to access the above sites. Assuming recent/current versions of the :TCP/IP Services package, the DCL FTP command necessary is:

 

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4$ DIRECTORY/FTP/ANONYMOUS/PASSIVE ftp.itrc.hp.com:: 




AYou can subscribe to an email notification list at the ITRC site.

>For a list of OpenVMS ECO kits recently released, you can use:



CExamples and ECO kit installation instructions are included in the Fcover letter. For ECO kit email notifications, lists of available ECO @kits, cover letters and other associated documentation, look in:



YFor additional information, please see Section 5.17.

GDo NOT attempt to install a VMSINSTAL-based OpenVMS ECO kit on OpenVMS HAlpha V7.1-2 and later. While VMSINSTAL itself remains available, it is Fnot used for OpenVMS Alpha ECO kits starting in OpenVMS Alpha V7.1-2. =OpenVMS Alpha V7.1-2 and later use PCSI for OpenVMS ECO kits.

[See Section 5.30 for information on ECO kit checksums.f

5.18 How do I move the queue manager database?



0To move the location of the queue database, the HSYS$QUEUE_MANAGER.QMAN$QUEUES and SYS$QUEUE_MANAGER.QMAN$JOURNAL files, to a disk that is fast(er), hasAplenty of free space, and that is not heavily used. If the queue Bdatabase is on a (busy) OpenVMS system disk, you can and probably ;should move it off the system disk to another disk spindle.

To move the queue database:

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  1. Checkpoint the journal file. This reduces the file size to the ; in-memory database size. This will cause the noted delay.

     

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    $ RUN SYS$SYSTEM:JBC$COMMAND JBC$COMMAND> DIAG 0 7 
    
    
    

  2. Stop the queue manager

     

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    $ STOP/QUEUE/MANAGER/CLUSTER 
    
    
    G

  3. Backup the .QMAN$QUEUES and .QMAN$JOURNAL files from the present  location for safety.

     

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     D$ backup SYS$COMMON:[SYSEXE]SYS$QUEUE_MANAGER.QMAN$*  DISK:[DIR]    
    
    
    F

  4. Create a new directory for the queue database. Insure that this I disk is accessible to all nodes that can run the queue manager. If the J /ON list for the queue manager is "/ON=(*)", the disk must be ' available to all nodes in the cluster

     

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    $ CREATE/DIR fast_disk:[qman] 
    
    
    H

  5. Copy the .QMAN$QUEUES and .QMAN$JOURNAL files to the new directory

     

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    E$ copy SYS$COMMON:[SYSEXE]SYS$QUEUE_MANAGER.QMAN$*  fast_disk:[qman] 
    
    
    $

  6. Delete the old queue database.

     

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    7$ DELETE SYS$COMMON:[SYSEXE]SYS$QUEUE_MANAGER.QMAN$*;* 
    
    
    <

  7. Restart the queue manager pointing to the new location

     

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    '$ START/QUEUE/MANAGER fast_disk:[qman] 
    
    
    

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5.19 How do I delete an undeletable/unstoppable (RWAST) process?



G"Undeleteable" jobs are usually "undeleteable" for Da reason---this can track back to insufficient process quotas, to a Ckernel-mode error in OpenVMS or a third-party device driver, or to other odd problems.

EThese undeletable jobs typically become of interest because they are @holding onto a particular resource (eg: tape drive, disk drive, Hcommunications widget) that you need to use... If the particular device Gsupports firmware, ensure that the device firmware is current -- TQK50 Fcontrollers are known for this when working with old firmware. (That, and the infamousG"MUA4224" firmware bug.) If this device has a driver ECO kit Cavailable, acquire and apply it... If the particular relevant host +component has an ECO, acquire and apply it.

EUseful tools include SDA (to see what might be going on) and DECamds G(which increase and thus potentially fix quota-related problems). (nb: =Applications with quota leaks will obviously not stay fixed.)

GIf the stuck application is BACKUP, ensure you have the current BACKUP BECO and are directly following the V7.1 or (better) V7.2 or later Bprocess quota recommendations for operator BACKUP accounts. Quota <details are in the OpenVMS System Manager's Manual.

DIf the firmware and ECO levels are current, the best approach is to Ctake a system crashdump, and pass a copy of the dump file along to =whomever is maintaining the device driver for the particular Ddevice/widget/driver involved, with any details on how you got into Dthis situation. (The reboot involved with taking the crashdump will obviously clear the problem.)

EThere was some kernel-mode code (typically for OpenVMS VAX) that can Greset the device ownership field, but that is rather obviously only an Einterim solution---the real fix is avoiding the loss of the IRP, the Dprocess quota leak, or whatever else is "jamming up" this particular process..._

5.20 How do I reset the error count(s)?



HThe system reboot is the only supported approach prior to V7.3-2, but a Areboot is obviously undesirable in various situations---there is @presently no supported mechanism to reset error counts once the Herror(s) have been logged on these older releases. On V7.3-2 and later, you can use the DCL command:

 

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$ SET DEVICE/RESET=ERROR_COUNT 




CAs for an unsupported approach---and be aware of the potential for Gtriggering a system crash, you need to determine the system address of Ethe error count field. For a device, this is at an offset within the Gdevice's UCB structure. On VAX, the field is at an offset symbolically Gdefined as UCB$W_ERRCNT. On Alpha, this field's offset is symbolically Gdefined as UCB$L_ERRCNT. The former is a word in size; the latter is a longword.

GYou now need to locate the system address of the UCB$%_ERRCNT field of Hthe device you wish to reset. Enter SDA. In the following, you will see Gdesignations in {} separated by a /. The first item in braces is to be Eused on the VAX and the second item should be used on an Alpha. (ie. {VAX/Alpha})

 

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$ ANALYZE/SYSTEM 6SDA>  READ SYS${SYSTEM/LOADABLE_IMAGES}:SYSDEF.STB 4SDA>  ! SHOW DEVICE the device with the error(s) #SDA>  SHOW DEVICE <ddnc:> 'SDA>  EVALUATE UCB+UCB${W/L}_ERRCNT :Hex = hhhhhhhh   Decimal = -dddddddddd         UCB+offset 




1Record the hexadecimal value 'hhhhhhhh' returned.

HYou can now exit from SDA and $ RUN SYS$SHARE:DELTA or do what I prefer to do, issue the following:

 

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"SDA> SPAWN RUN SYS$SHARE:DELTA 




COn both VAX and Alpha, the DELTA debugger will be invoked and will @ident- ify itself. On Alpha, there will be an Alpha instruction Hdecoded. For those unfamiliar with DELTA, it does not have a prompt and Fonly one error message---Eh? (Well, for sake of argument, there might Ebe another error produced on the console if you're not careful. This 7second error is more commonly known as a system crash.)

*If you are on a VAX, enter the command: [W

*If you are on Alpha, enter the command: [L

HThese set the prevailing mode to word and longword respectively. Remem- %ber the UCB${W/L)_ERRCNT differences?

Now issue the command 1;M

DELTA will respond with 00000001

FYou are now poised to ZAP the error count field. To do so you need to Den- ter the system address and view its contents. The format of the "command to do this is of the form:

 

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IPID:hhhhhhhh/ 




HFor an IPID, use the IPID of the SWAPPER process. It is always: 00010001

.Thus, to ZAP the error count, you would enter:

 

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00010001:hhhhhhhh/ 




@When you enter the / SDA will return the content of the address Hhhhhhhhh. This should be the error count (in hexadecimal) of the device Gin question. If it is not, you did something wrong and I'd suggest you Etype a carriage return and then enter the command EXIT to get out of 4DELTA. Regroup and see where your session went awry.

GIf you entered your address correctly and the error count was returned -as in the following example, you can proceed.

 

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200010001:80D9C6C8/0001   ! output on VAX, 1 error 




 

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800010001:80D9C6C8/00000001   ! output on Alpha, 1 error 




@You can now ZAP the error count by entering a zero and typing a carriage return. For example:

 

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G00010001:80D9C6C8/0001 0[return]   ! output on VAX. 1 error 




 

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M00010001:80D9C6C8/00000001 0[return]   ! output on Alpha, 1 error 




0Now type the command EXIT and a carriage return.

!Alternatively, reboot the system.v

5.21 How do I find out if the tape drive supports compression?



6For various SCSI-based MK-class magnetic tape devices:

 

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3$ Devdepend2 = F$GETDVI("$n$MKcxxx:","DEVDEPEND2") $ Comp_sup = %X00200000 $ Comp_ena = %X00400000 2$ IF (Devdepend2.AND.Comp_sup).EQ.Comp_sup THEN - -    WRITE SYS$OUTPUT "Compression supported" 2$ IF (Devdepend2.AND.Comp_ena).EQ.Comp_ena THEN - +    WRITE SYS$OUTPUT "Compression enabled" 


t

5.22 Can I copy SYSUAF to another version? To VAX? To Alpha?



CThe format of the SYSUAF.DAT, RIGHTSLIST, and associated files are Hupward-compatible, and compatible across OpenVMS VAX, OpenVMS Alpha and EOpenVMS I64 systems. (This compatibility is a a basic requirement of Hmixed-version OpenVMS Cluster configurations and OpenVMS upgrades---for Especific support information, please see the OpenVMS Cluster rolling Fupgrade and mixed-version requirements.) That said, it's the contents Hof the SYSUAF and RIGHTSLIST files that will make this more interesting.

FThe same basic steps necessary for moving RIGHTSLIST and SYSUAF files Dto another node are rather similar to the steps involved in merging Dthese files in an OpenVMS Cluster---see the appendix of the OpenVMS FCluster documentation for details of merging files. (You might not be Emerging the contents of two (or more) files, but you are effectively Fmerging the contents of the files into the target system environment.)

Considerations:



EThe lattermost case---resolving the identifier values---is often the Dmost interesting and difficult part. If you find that an identifier Dvalue (or identifier name) from the source RIGHTSLIST collides with Dthat of an identifier existing on the target system, you must first Ddetermine if the two identifiers perform the same function. In most Dcases, they will not. As such, you will have to find and chance all Breferences to the identifier value(s) (or name(s)) to resolve the "collision".

EIf you encounter a collision, changing both of the identifier binary Evalues (or names) involved in the collision to new and unique values =can prevent security problems if you should miss a couple of Eidentifiers embedded somewhere on the target system during the whole Fconversion process---rather than the wrong alphanumeric value for the Hidentifier being displayed, you'll simply see the binary format for the Hidentifier displayed, and no particular access will be granted. And any CDCL commands or such that reference the old alphanumeric name will Dfail, rather than silently (and potentially erroneously) succeeding.

CSimilar requirements exist for UIC values, as these too tend to be Fscattered all over the system environment. Like the binary identifier Fvalues, you will find UIC values associated with disks, ACLs, queues, and various other structures.

FFor a list of the various files shared in an OpenVMS Cluster and that Hcan be involved when relocating an environment from one node to another B(or merging environments into an OpenVMS Cluster), please see the ESYLOGICALS.TEMPLATE file included in OpenVMS V7.2 and later releases.

DProcedures to extract the contents of a (potentially corrupt) queue Fdatabase are provided on the OpenVMS Freeware (V5) and can be used to Ccombine two queue databases together while shuffling files between OpenVMS Cluster hosts.

HFor related discussions of splitting a cluster into two or for removing Ga node from cluster (political divorce, etc), see topics (203), (767), ,(915) and others in the Ask The Wizard area:



HFor additional information on the OpenVMS Ask The Wizard (ATW) area and Bfor a pointer to the available ATW Wizard.zip archive, please see 0Section 3.8.f

5.23 How do I delete (timeout) idle processes?



EThere is no such command integrated within OpenVMS, though there are H(optional) timers available within certain terminal servers and similar Hdevices, and there is an integrated time-of-day mechanism that provides ,control over when a user can access OpenVMS.

CAs for available tools, there are DECUS, freeware, and third-party Ctools known variously as "idle process killers" (IPK) or G"terminal timeout" programs, as well as various other names. 9Examples include: Saiga Systems Hitman, Watchdog, MadGoatDWatcher (via the MadGoat site or the OpenVMS Freeware), Kblock, the CNetworking Dynamics tool known as Assassin, and the Zap tool. Also @available is the XLNperformance system management utility, from XLNsystems.

9A related package (for DECwindows sessions) is xtermlock.

HIf the forgetful users are in an application menu environment, the menu 7can potentially be extended to provide this capability.p

5.24 Do I need a PAK for the DECevent (HP Analyze) tool?



ADECevent and HP (Compaq) Analyze are available to customers with Gsupport contracts. The PAK is required only for the advanced functions Fof DECevent, the basic bits-to-text translation of the error log does Gnot require a license PAK. Ignore the prompt, in other words. (The PAK Fshould be available to you if you have a hardware support contract or Fwarrantee, and the PAK enables the use of the advanced error analysis /and notification capabilities within DECevent.)

;Please see the following website for details and downloads: Analyze)



Also see the+tool that is available on V7.3-2 and later.

 

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$ ANALYZE/ERROR/ELV 


k

5.25 INITIALIZE ACCVIO and ANSI tape label support?



CA change was made (back in 1988) to (as it was then known) VAX/VMS DV5.1-1 that added support for the then-new ANSI X3.27-1987 magnetic Etape label standard. Prior to the ANSI X3.27-1987 standard, the date Ffield in the ANSI HDR1 record permits dates only as far as the end of HYear 1999. With ANSI X3.27-1987, dates through Year 1999 and dates from !Years 2000 to 2099 are permitted.

BVersions of INIT.EXE and MTAACP.EXE from VAX/VMS releases prior toHV5.1-1 will potentially have problems properly processing ANSI magnetic tapes when Y2KFand later dates are involved---the DCL INITIALIZE command is known to +encounter access violation (ACCVIO) errors.

DThe available solutions include upgrades, or setting the date back. EDirect initialization of the tape with the new headers (via $qio) is Galso clearly possible, though the limitation within the old MTAACP.EXE 2magtape ACP image is not nearly so easy to bypass.d

5.26 How do I recover from INSVIRMEM errors?



=Prior to OpenVMS Alpha V7.0 and on all OpenVMS VAX releases, GVIRTUALPAGECNT and PGFLQUOTA limit the amount of virtual address space "that is available to each process.

CFurther limiting the amount of address space is the size of system Hspace (S0 and S1 space). On OpenVMS Alpha versions prior to V7.0 and on Dall OpenVMS VAX releases, VIRTUALPAGECNT and MAXPROCESSCNT together Gdetermine the size of the page table data structures that occupy large @tracts of system space. When no system virtual address space is Gavailable for the stuff that needs it---this includes the page tables, Bnon-paged pool, and various other structures---then the values of 5VIRTUALPAGECNT and MAXPROCESSCNT cannot be increased.

EIn OpenVMS Alpha V7.0 and later, the page table data structures have Hbeen moved out of S0 and S1 space and into page table space. In OpenVMS GAlpha V7.2 and later, certain large data structures found in non-paged Bpool (eg: lock management structures) have been moved into 64-bit Espace, thus freeing up room in non-paged pool and in S0 and S1 space F(where non-paged pool resides) while also permitting much larger data structures.




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