8    Administering Legacy Hardware

This chapter describes the procedures for adding and configuring certain legacy hardware devices or options as follows:

8.1    PCMCIA Support

Certain processors are able to support PCMCIA (PC cards) as stated in the owner's manual and the QuickSpecs of a given release of the operating system. Only a small number of cards are qualified, but if the card adheres closely to standards it might work.

The steps involved in configuring a PCMCIA card are as follows:

  1. Verify that your hardware and operating system support PCMCIA (PC cards). Consult the information from the adapter vendor and card vendor for any additional configuration steps that are necessary and contact the vendor if you are uncertain.

  2. Determine the bus type, which can be ISA or EISA. This step determines the method of console configuration you are using.

  3. Install the adapter and configure it using the appropriate console commands.

  4. Configure a custom kernel and create the device special files. This step might be unnecessary if an adapter is installed and a card is inserted during initial installation and configuration of the operating system. In this case, the operating system detects the card and creates the kernel configuration entries and device special files. See the System Administration manual for information on kernel configuration and Section 1.5 for information on device special files.

  5. Update the /etc/remote file.

  6. Insert and eject the card as required.

See pcmcia(7) for specific information on configuring cards and on any current restrictions in a given release. See modem(7) and the Network Administration: Connections manual for information on modem connections.

8.2    CalComp Graphics Tablet

Certain processors are able to support the CalComp DrawingBoard III Tablet as stated in the Owner's Manual and the QuickSpecs of a given release of the Tru64 UNIX operating system. Other input devices supported by the Xinput extension to the Xserver might work using a similar configuration. When the software for the tablet is installed on your system, you can configure it to emulate a system mouse.

The steps involved in configuring a tablet are as follows:

  1. Ensure that the /usr/var/X11/Xserver.conf file contains a line similar to the following:

    input <
    <_dec_xi_db3  lib_dec_xi_db3.so  XiDb3Init /dev/tty00:1:12:12:16:\
    1:8:1000:1:1 >
    >
    

    The tty that is specified is the serial port (COMM) where the tablet is connected to your system.

  2. Specify settings for the tablet in the last line of this file by using the following syntax:

    device:mode:tabletWidth:tabletHeight:numbtns:corePointer:mouseScale:\
    resolution:Xincrement:Yincrement
    

    See calcomp(7) for an explanation of the data fields.

  3. Connect the tablet to your system and turn it on.

  4. Enter the following command to restart the Xserver so that the Xinput extension can recognize the tablet:

    # /usr/sbin/shutdown -r +5 \
    "Turning on support for the Calcomp Drawingboard III tablet" 
    

    When the restart completes, the tablet is configured into the Xserver and ready to use.

See calcomp(7) for more information and for restrictions on use.

8.3    Support of the CI and HSC

The Computer Interconnect (CI) bus is a high-speed, dual-path bus that connects processors and Hierarchical Storage Controllers (HSCs) in a computer room environment. An HSC is an I/O subsystem that is a self-contained, intelligent mass storage controller that provides access to disks and tapes from multiple host nodes attached to the CI bus.

Note

The Tru64 UNIX implementation has the following limitations:

Tru64 UNIX supports the System Communication Architecture (SCA) for CI port adapters and HSCs. SCA implements port and class driver support, and standardizes the ways in which TMSCP (tms) and MSCP (ra) devices are handled. SCA separates features into different architectural layers, thus minimizing the effect that software changes to one layer have on other layers.

8.3.1    Hardware Setup, Restrictions, and Revision Levels

For information on physical components and setup, refer to the HSC hardware documentation and the hardware documentation for your processor and supported devices. Only processors with CI adapters can support HSC configurations.

When setting up the HSC controller hardware, attach a terminal to the HSC in order to use commands to get or set HSC parameters, to monitor connections between remote systems, and to identify the disk or tape status.

The maximum number of hosts on a CI bus is 16. The host number for any host on the CI bus must be between 0 and 15.

Note

Two parameters of particular importance are the system ID and the system name. Do not duplicate any system identification or names of nodes on the star coupler.

8.3.2    Software Installation and Restrictions

The installation software assists you in identifying and configuring the components of your system. Familiarize yourself with the basic installation instructions for your processor before starting the actual installation.

During installation of the Tru64 UNIX software, each accessible MSCP (ra) disk device must be uniquely identified by its unit plug number as follows:

8.3.3    Configuration File Entries

The installation software ensures that your HSC components are configured into the kernel and are included in the /usr/sys/conf/NAME system configuration file, where NAME specifies your system name in uppercase letters.

The System Administration manual provides information on the following entries that correspond to a CI or HSC configuration:

8.3.4    Booting an HSC Controller or an HSC Disk

The Tru64 UNIX software supports booting an HSC disk on the DEC 7000 and DEC 10000 processors. If an HSC controller fails, any disks connected to that HSC controller are inaccessible. Attempts to access those disks will cause the accessing system to hang until the HSC reboots completely. Refer to your processor hardware documentation for explicit instructions on booting an HSC disk.

8.3.5    Sharing Disk and Tape Units Among Several Hosts

Although an HSC can be shared among several hosts, there is no software interlocking mechanism to prevent concurrent write operations to the same partition by multiple Tru64 UNIX systems. The following restrictions must be observed:

You should coordinate disk unit ownership among the hosts on the CI bus; for example, assign a range of disk unit numbers to each host. The HSC controller can also be directed to limit disk access to an exclusive host system. This limitation protects the disk from accidental access by another host on the CI bus. For more information, see radisk(8), in particular the -e and -n options.

Tape drives that are attached to an HSC controller can be shared. This feature is recommended and provides greater use of tape drives. Be aware that the access mechanism provides serial sharing of the drives, not simultaneous access.