PROJECTS: E3 Hardware: DEC 200/MC
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DEC 200/MC serial terminal server (rack mountable): Kraken
A DEC 200/MC serial terminal server with the optional rack mountable case. It runs over ethernet, but uses the old Local Area Terminal (LAT) protocol instead of IP. I'm also the maintainer of the latd port for FreeBSD (necessary to get this old beast running). There's a blackhat hackers guide to the 200/MC from 1988, which is closest to a user manual I've found so far.
After much Google'ing, I found the meaning of the four status lights:
- D1 - power ON/OFF
- D2 - diagnostic (ON=self-test passed; OFF=fatal error or testing; blinking=non-fatal error)
- D3 - software download status (ON=software loaded, OFF=load in progress; BLINKING=load failed)
- D4 - network activity (percentage of time on indicates traffic levels)
I put together a little document compiled from the online help system, avaialable in a couple of different file formats: PDF, PostScript and the LaTeX original.
Setting up a 200/MC under FreeBSD
Setting up a 200/MC under FreeBSD is fairly easy. First, take care of the cabling: power and network (need an AUI to something useful converter, most likely). Attach a text terminal to a serial port via a null-modem cable -- I normally used port 8. Put the MAC address and host name of the 200/MC in /etc/ethers on the boot host. Put the host name and the IP address in /etc/hosts. Fire up rarpd with flags similar to the following in /etc/rc.conf:
rarpd_enable="YES" rarpd_flags="-a -s -v"
Enable tftp in /etc/inetd.conf and put the PR0801ENG.SYS file in /tftpboot/mop. Install the /usr/ports/net/mopd/ and the /usr/ports/net/latd/ ports. Start the mopd daemon (to server out the PR0801ENG.SYS file).
At this point the 200/MC is ready to boot. Fire it up at watch the lights ... a blinking D3 is a bad sign. If it comes up ok, try hitting the enter key on the text terminal to see if you get a prompt. If so, success :-)
Next you can try remotely connecting to the system. Run moprc -b hostname to connect over the network via the DEC MOP protocol (and using the -b(sd) backspace style commands) to the box named ``hostname''. This should work the same as if you were at the text terminal, though you may need to enter a password first.
The primary command to learn the help command, which enters the interactive help system. It's also worth knowing that set priv is like Unix su (it enters ``priviledged'' mode) and that both set and define are used for configuring the box. set sets something temporarily while define sets in in non-volatile memory for the next boot.
