I have recently installed AT&T System V/386 (SYSVR4 v 2.1) in Bochs. The base OS successfully installed and I can log in as root.
My questions are:
There are supplementary floppies including things like remote login, networking tools, and other applications. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to install them, however. They are not bootable, and all attempts to mount the floppy drive using what I know from Linux have failed (as have attempted google searches on this hoary old OS). I see:
# mount
/ on /dev/root read/write/setuid on Fri Sep 21 12:35:27 2012
/proc on /proc read/write on Fri Sep 21 12:35:27 2012
/dev/fd on /dev/fd read/write on Fri Sep 21 12:35:28 2012
/stand on /dev/dsk/0s10 read/write on Fri Sep 21 12:35:29 2012
"/dev/fd on /dev/fd" has me a bit wigged out. Presuming that is the floppy drive, it is not accessible as a normal mounted drive via that link.
Looking in /dev, I see:
# ls -al | grep fd
dr-xr-xr-x 2 root root 416 Sep 21 21:46 fd
brw-rw-rw- 3 root sys 1, 0 Mar 18 1991 fd0
brw-rw-rw- 3 root sys 1, 1 Mar 18 1991 fd1
crw-rw-rw- 3 root sys 1, 0 Mar 18 1991 rfd0
crw-rw-rw- 3 root sys 1, 1 Mar 18 1991 rfd1
So if I attempt to mount this to mountpoint /floppy:
# mount /dev/fd0 /floppy
mount: /dev/fd0 no such device
# mount /dev/fd /floppy
mount: /dev/fd not a block device
# mount /dev/fd1 /floppy
mount: /dev/fd1 no such device
# mount /dev/rfd0 /floppy
mount: /dev/rfd0 not a block device
# mount /dev/rfd1 /floppy
mount: /dev/rfd1 not a block device
This presumes I am even approaching this from the right direction. When installing the OS, I was prompted to create three separate accounts:
root
install
service
I am not sure what these other two accounts are used for but I wonder if that install account (which has a password assigned) is involved in installing these additional utilities.
NOTE: I installed the OS itself from floppies, so it does have the ability to read them.
What I'd *really like* is a pointer to documentation on this OS.
Does anyone remember / can anyone help?
And since someone is bound to ask: "Why are you installing a 20+ year old version of proprietary UNIX?" -- Curiosity. I want to see how much I can make it do and I am interested in the differences between it and Linux/modern xBSDs. For fun.
Thanks.
---EDIT: Got it installed---
In case anyone else is searching for this information:
AT&T UNIX System V/386 (SYSVR4) v2.1 for i386 systems
Emulation instructions by ArmyOfThePleroma (armyofthepleroma@gmail.com)
2012-Sep-21
Q: What is this package?
A: This is AT&T UNIX System V/386 (SYSVR4) version 2.1 for i386 (PC compatible) systems. It appears to be a Microsoft distribution.
Q: How can we run it in emulation?
A: These instructions are for Bochs 2.6 for Windows running under Windows 7. It may work fine with other combinations of Bochs versions and hosting platforms, but this is how I got it to run.
Q: Can it run under other emulators?
A: Sporadic success has been reported with VirtualBox, but I've had no luck. I have attempted, and failed, at running it with the following virtualization/emulation/simulation apps:
* Oracle VirtualBox
* QEMU
* KVM
* VMWare Player
========== A: PREPARATION ==========
The floppy images which comprise this archive are terribly out of order. I recommend you take the time to rename each image as follows. It will make your life easier. Should you decide not to do so, or if you get lost, the included README (in the archive) lists what each image is. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU RENAME THESE AS FOLLOWS TO AVOID CONFUSION.
A note about the .IMA extension. This does not require any kind of conversion to .img format, even though Bochs will look for .img files. Remember to change the file type in the file selector from:
Disk image files (*.img) to All files (*.)
Or Bochs won't see them. Still, it's probably best to just rename them. You'll be glad you did. Please be careful; as you will notice, the new names indicate that the original naming scheme resulted in some disks being out of logical order (and sometimes a number is skipped). Windows will complain about renaming the file extension. Do so with the anarchy and file extension agnosticism that burns deep in your soul.
[Required for Installation]:
U14.IMA --> Base - [01 of 10].img
U16.IMA --> Base - [02 of 10].img
U17.IMA --> Base - [03 of 10].img
U18.IMA --> Base - [04 of 10].img
U19.IMA --> Base - [05 of 10].img
U20.IMA --> Base - [06 of 10].img
U21.IMA --> Base - [07 of 10].img
U22.IMA --> Base - [08 of 10].img
U25.IMA --> Base - [09 of 10].img
U23.IMA --> Base - [10 of 10].img
U24.IMA --> Maintenance [01 of 02].img
U01.IMA --> Maintenance [02 of 02].img
[Optional]:
U02.IMA --> Remote Terminal Package [01 of 01].img
U03.IMA --> BSD Compatibility Package [01 of 02].img
U04.IMA --> BSD Compatibility Package [02 of 02].img
U05.IMA --> Networking Support [01 of 01].img
U06.IMA --> Xenix Compatibility Package [01 of 01].img
U07.IMA --> Framed Access Command Environment Package [01 of 01].img
U08.IMA --> Form + Menu Language Interpreter Package [01 of 01].img
U09.IMA --> Editing Utilities [01 of 01].img
U10.IMA --> Operations, Administration, and Maintenance package [01 of 03].img
U11.IMA --> Operations, Administration, and Maintenance package [02 of 03].img
U12.IMA --> Operations, Administration, and Maintenance package [03 of 03].img
U30.IMA --> 2 Users to 16 Users License [01 of 01].img
U29.IMA --> 16 Users to Unlimited Users License [01 of 01].img
U28.IMA --> Printer Package [01 of 03].img
U27.IMA --> Printer Package [02 of 03].img
U26.IMA --> Printer Package [03 of 03].img
[Unused/Not Needed]:
U13.IMA <- Foundation Set Base System Package / 2 User System (didn't use it during the install) - appears to be an earlier version/revision of U14.IMA
U15.IMA <- Part 2 of U13 (didn't use it either during the install).
========== B: INSTALL AND CONFIGURE BOCHS ==========
[B1]: Download and install Bochs:
http://bochs.sourceforge.net/
[B2]: Create a virtual folder for everything to live in. (Ex: D:\sysvr4)
[B3]: Create a virtual disk drive to install UNIX in. A 200MB virtual drive is appropriate. The [bximage.exe] utility can be found in the Bochs install directory. If you double-click to run it, it will create your virtual hard disk image in the Bochs install directory. You can do this and move the hard disk image into the directory you created in B2, or you can run it from the command line in the directory you created. I run it from the command line, so for me:
-----> Start Menu -> Run
-----> Open: cmd.exe
-----> Click OK.
-----> d:
-----> cd sysvr4
-----> "C:\Program Files (x86)\Bochs-2.6\bximage.exe"
bximage.exe runs. It will ask:
###### Do you want to create a floppy or hard disk image? Please type hd or fd [hd]
We want a hard disk image [hd], which is the default, so just press [ENTER].
bximage.exe will ask:
###### What kind of image should I create? Please type flat, sparse, or growing [flat]
Flat is fine, given how small the image we are creating is. That is the default, so just press [ENTER].
bximage.exe will ask:
###### Enter the hard disk size in megabytes, between 1 and 8257535 [10]
A 200 megabyte drive does the trick, and I am concerned that much larger sizes, given the size of hard drives at the time this OS was released, may cause problems. If you want to use 200MB, type:
-----> 200
And press [ENTER].
bximage.exe will ask:
###### What should I name the image?
You can call it whatever you like. I use:
-----> sysvr4.img
Press [ENTER].
Make a note of the information on your screen pertaining to the following:
* cylinders
* heads
* spt ("Sectors per Track")
You will need this information later, so write it down or paste into a text file. My 200MB drive was reported as:
* cylinders=406
* heads=16
* spt=63
At this point, make sure the virtual hard disk file has been created and is in the right directory. If necessary, move it to the directory you created in step [B2].
That's it for working at the Windows command line (if you chose to do it that way.) You can close your cmd.exe window.
[B4]: Run Bochs from your Start Menu. This next step involves configuring Bochs to use the virtual hard disk image you just created, and to boot from the first Base floppy, as well as setting up the boot order.
In order to set these options, select the setting you want to change in the EDIT OPTIONS list, and click the EDIT button on the left side in the CONFIGURATION section. The following need to be set:
[Disk & Boot -> Floppy Options tab]
* Type of floppy drive: 3.5" 1.44M
* First floppy image/device: U14.IMA or Base - [01 of 10].img (Use the browse button to browse to it. If you are still using the original .IMA image names, remember to switch from [Disk image files (*.img)] to [All files (*.)] in the file selector or the file selector won't see the floppy images.
* Type of floppy media: 1.44M
* Inserted - Add a checkmark here.
[Disk & Boot -> ATA Channel 0 tab -> First HD/CD on channel 0 subtab]
* Enable this device - Add a checkmark here.
* Path or physical device name: The hard disk image you created in step [B3]. In the example I used, it was:
-----> d:\sysvr4\sysvr4.img
* Fill out the cylinders, heads, and sectors per track (spt) information you wrote down or pasted into a text file in step [B3].
[Disk & Boot -> Boot Options tab]
* Boot drive #1: floppy
* Boot drive #2: disk
Click OK. You will be returned to the Bochs start menu.
[B5]: Save your configuration so you don't have to reconfigure this every time you want to boot into UNIX. Click the Save button in the Configuration section. I recommend you save the resultant .bxrc file in the same folder you created your hard disk image in. In the example, I used, this was:
-----> d:\sysvr4
You can just use the default name if you want, provided you won't be creating other config files in this same directory. The default filename is:
-----> bochsrc.bxrc
Note that .bxrc files are associated with Bochs in Windows, so you can just double-click the .bxrc file to load your configuration and Bochs in a single click.
========== C: BOOT FROM BASE FLOPPY IMAGE #1, PARTITION, AND CONFIGURE and UNIX ==========
Now comes the fun part, so take off your pants.
[C1]: From the Bochs start menu, choose [Load] to load the .bxrc file you just created in the previous step. If you have not exited out of Bochs, your configuration will still be loaded, so this isn't necessary. Once you're sure you're configured, click the [Start] button to start Bochs. If you get a "not bootable" error, check:
* Your boot order [Disk & Boot -> Boot Options tab]. Floppy should be first, disk should be second.
* Ensure there's a checkmark in the "inserted" box in the floppy drive configuration section. Without it, the system regards the floppy drive as empty.
* Make sure you selected U14.IMA or Base - [01 of 10].img to boot from. U01.IMA is not a boot disk, counterintuitively.
[C2]: The system boots from the floppy disk image. You will be prompted:
###### Please insert the UNIX System "Base System Package" Floppy Disk 2 and then strike ENTER.
On the top of your Bochs screen, you'll see an icon for Floppy A. Click it. Then just browse to the appropriate image. In this case it will be:
-----> U16.IMA or Base - [02 of 10].img
Click OK.
Hit [ENTER].
You will be prompted:
###### Please strike ENTER to install the UNIX System on your hard disk or DEL to cancel the installation.
Hit [ENTER].
You will be prompted:
###### WARNING: A new installation of the UNIX System will destroy all files currently on the system. Do you wish to continue (y or n)?
Hit:
-----> y
You will be prompted:
###### If you wish to use part of your hard disk for other operating system(s) other than the UNIX System, such as MS-DOS, that space MUST be reserved now. You are about to partition hard disk 0. Please strike ENTER when ready or DEL to cancel the installation.
Hit [ENTER].
You will be prompted:
###### The recommended default partitioning for your disk is: a 100% "UNIX System" partition. To select this, please type "y". To partition your disk differently, type "n" and the "fdisk" program will let you select other partitions.
Type:
------> y
And hit [ENTER].
The virtual hard disk image will now be partitioned. You will be asked which file system type you want:
###### Please select the File System Type for / (Root File System) from the following list: ufs, s5. Please press ENTER for the default type, ufs.
UFS will do, so press [ENTER].
You will be prompted:
###### Do you wish to create any optional disk slices of filesystems (y or n)?
Type:
------> n
And hit [ENTER].
The system will print the proposed hard drive layout. You will be prompted:
###### Is this correct (y or n)?
Type:
-----> y
And hit [ENTER].
You will be prompted:
###### Surface analysis will now be performed on your hard disk and UNIX System file systems will be created on your hard disk. This will overwrite all data in the UNIX System partition. Please strike ENTER to continue ot DEL to cancel the installation.
Hit [ENTER] to continue.
The system will list your hard drive (virtual hard disk image) parameters and you will be prompted to confirm:
###### Is this configuration acceptable (y/n)
Type:
------> y
And hit [ENTER].
At this point you will be prompted to reboot system. Before you do this, it is important to make sure there's no virtual floppy disk image in the virtual floppy drive, or else the system will return an error (since the second base floppy isn't bootable.)
[C3]: Click the A Floppy drive icon and uncheck the Inserted box.
========== D: REBOOT AND CONTINUE UNIX INSTALLATION ==========
[D1]: Click the [Reset] button to virtually reset the system now that you have emptied the virtual floppy drive in step [C3]. The system will now reboot. Provided you set the boot order correctly, the system will first try to boot from the floppy drive but as there is no floppy in the virtual drive, it will then attempt to boot from the virtual hard disk image.
[D2]: The system will ask you whether you want to install from a cartridge tape of floppy diskette. Since we are using floppy disk images exclusively, enter:
------> f
You will be prompted for the remaining Base System Package disks, starting from Disk 3 (U17.IMA or Base - [3 of 10].img). If you renamed the images as I suggested, it is clear what order to do these in. In case you didn't, here's the proper order (note that disks 9 and 10 are out of order):
Disk 3 of 10: U17.IMA or Base - [03 of 10].img
Disk 4 of 10: U18.IMA or Base - [04 of 10].img
Disk 5 of 10: U19.IMA or Base - [05 of 10].img
Disk 6 of 10: U20.IMA or Base - [06 of 10].img
Disk 7 of 10: U21.IMA or Base - [07 of 10].img
Disk 8 of 10: U22.IMA or Base - [08 of 10].img
Disk 9 of 10: U25.IMA or Base - [09 of 10].img
Disk 10 of 10: U23.IMA or Base - [10 of 10].img
For each disk, just click the A Floppy icon and change the path to the appropriate floppy disk image. Be sure the Inserted checkbox is checked, then Click OK. Then click [ENTER] in Bochs to continue. Repeat for each disk until the base install is complete.
The system will conclude it is 1991.
[D3]: You will be asked to create unique passwords for three accounts. I had some problems when I specified the same password for all three, so you will want to keep them unique. You will be asked to confirm by re-typing them each time.
The first account you will be prompted to set a password for is root, or super-user.
The second account you will be prompted to set a password for is the install user, and I have no idea what that is. Some sort of administrative account whose privileges are subsumed by root anyway, most likely, and
The third account you will be prompted to set a password for is the service user. Likewise, I have no idea what this is.
[D4]: You will be prompted to enter a system name. This is the hostname of the system, so you can call it whatever you like. Since we're rocking AT&T's UNIX - Ma Bell, y'unnerstand, I called mine IllComm ("Like Ma Bell, I've got the Ill Communication..."
The system will crunch a bit, rebuilding the kernel with the options you specified.
[D5]: You're going to be prompted to install Maintenance Disk #1. This is:
Disk 1 of 2: U24.IMA or Maintenance [01 of 02].img
Use the A Floppy icon to select the appropriate disk image.
Note that we've now transitioned from the basic installer to the package manager. It is, in fact, the package manager that is installing the Maintenance package, and it is the same package manager which we will run later manually to install the optional packages on the rest of the floppy disk images.
The package manager scans the floppy disk image for packages, then lists them and prompts you which to install. In this case, there's just one package spread across two floppies. The package manager says:
# The following packages are available: 1 basepat UNIX SystemV/x86 Release 4.0 Version 2.1 Maintenance Disk #1 (i386) 4.0 2.1
#
# Select package(s) you wish to process (or 'all' to process all packages). (default: all) [?,??,q]:
We want "all" in pretty much all cases, so just hit [ENTER], since that's the default (even though there's just one package here).
In a few seconds, you'll be prompted to install the second disk. Use the A Floppy icon to do this. This is:
Disk 2 of 2: U01.IMA or Maintenance [02 of 02].img
Type:
-----> go
And press [ENTER] as directed.
NOTE: You will have to reinstall the maintenance package again once you've installed some of the optional packages. Apparently, the maintenance package reads some of the configuration off of the hard drive image during its install process. If that configuration changes, the maintenance package needs to reinstall, taking the new changes into account. Remember this! You will use the same procedure to reinstall the maintenance packaage as you use to install the optional packages in the following sections (using the package manager).
You will be reminded of this:
###### If any of the following packages are ever installed or reinstalled, you must reinstall the UNIX System V/x86 Release 4.0 Version 2.1 Maintenance Disk #1:
######
###### LP Print Service Version 4.0 2.1
###### Networking Support Utilities Version 4.0 2.1
###### XENIX Compatibility Package Version 4.0 2.1
Make a note of this and press [ENTER].
[D6]: The base system is now installed and you will be prompted to reboot. But before we boot into the UNIX system, let's change the Bochs configuration so that it doesn't boot up with a floppy inserted into the drive, which will either return an error or will start the boot process over again, depending on which floppy disk image is loaded.
Click the [POWER] button. This will close Bochs entirely.
Reopen Bochs.
On the Bochs Start menu, click the [LOAD] button to load the .bxrc file which is saved in the folder your virtual drive image sits in, if you followed my suggestions. In the previous example, this:
-----> D:\sysvr4\bochsrc.bxrc
Select [Disk & Boot] and click [EDIT]:
[Disk & Boot -> Floppy Options tab]
* Inserted - Remove the checkmark from here so it is empty.
Click OK.
Click [SAVE] and overwrite your old .bxrc file. Now your default configuration boots with no floppy image in your virtual floppy drive, which will cause it to boot directly from the hard disk image.
Now it's time to get jiggy.
========== E: BOOT INTO YOUR BASE INSTALL FROM THE HARD DRIVE IMAGE ==========
[E1]: Click [START]. UNIX should boot and you should be looking at a Login prompt. If not, check to make sure the floppy image is NOT inserted. Also check to make sure your boot order is right:
[Disk & Boot -> Boot Options tab]
* Boot drive #1: floppy
* Boot drive #2: disk
Or, alternately, you can remove the floppy from this section entirely, leaving just:
* Boot drive #1: disk
[E2]: Login as root. Enter root as your login name and type the password you set in [D3].
Because the system clock will now be updated to your host system's time, your UNIX system will think decades have passed and it is time you get around to changing your password
You will be prompted to do so. Feel free to just retype the password you initially specified if you want, then again to confirm it. There are no apparent restrictions in place for re-using passwords.
You're now sitting at a shell.
[E3]: Futz around a bit.
Try typing:
-----> uname -a
and press [ENTER].
Which will show you some kernel information.
And hey! You probably have mail. VERY OLD mail!
Type:
-----> mail
and press [ENTER].
You can press [ENTER] again to quit back to the shell.
At this point many base UNIX commands those of you who know UNIX or Linux or Minix should be familiar with are available.
But the base install is still quite bare and some essentials are missing. In particular, you're stuck with ed for your text editor. You're going to want vi, space cadet.
This is where all those extra floppy images come in which we didn't use during the base install. These are optional packages and all are installed the same basic way -- via the package manager.
========== F: INSTALL OPTIONAL PACKAGES ==========
The package manager works by reading whatever floppy disk image is currently "inserted" using the A Floppy icon. It lists whatever packages it finds on the floppy, then asks you which you want to install, and prompts you for the attendant floppy disk images.
So, to install the ~1990 version of vi:
Click the A Floppy icon and select the appropriate image (remember to also check the Inserted checkbox since it is probably unchecked, currently.) The editor disk is:
U09.IMA or Editing Utilities [01 of 01].img
Click OK.
Then at the shell, run the package manager by typing, verbatim:
pkgadd -d diskette1
Then type "go" when ready and press [ENTER].
The package manager will now scan the floppy, where it will find the Editing package. Although there's just one package here, other disks may have multiple packages on them. Since it's the 21st century and we don't care about the paltry hard drive space ~1990-era binaries take, it is probably find to just hit [ENTER] when prompted:
###### Select package(s) you wish to process
The default is "all" and that's just swell for our purposes.
So hit [ENTER] to use the default of "all."
The package installs. You can insert another disk (which the package manager will re-scan for packages) and keep installing all of the optional packages on the remaining disks, or else you can hit Q to return to the shell if you're finished.
You can repeat this process for all of the rest of the supplemental disks.
Of particular interest are the licensing packages. The default install allows you two concurrent users. To get unlimited, first install the "2 to 16" license and then the "16 to unlimited" license, in that order. If you try to just jump to the "16 to unlimited" license, it will warn you that it requires the "2 to 16 users" license to be installed first.
(Can you imagine the days when things were priced this way for UNIX?)
For your convenience, then:
U30.IMA = 2 to 16 User License
U29.IMA = 16 to Unlimited User License
Good luck!
I cannot find TCP/IP anywhere, so it is unclear whether or not this versions of UNIX can connect to the Internet or not (much less through Bochs). There may be supplementary packages elsewhere providing this functionality. According to Wikipedia, TCP/IP was supposed to have been included/imported into this release of UNIX, but possibly not in this specific distribution.
I am very interested in getting networking up and running. Please let me know if you do.
PRAISE "BOB"!
