[geeks] Tru64 licensing/availability...

[Eric Dittman]

> > No, the only difference between an "a" and "au" is the peripherals
> > that were shipped with the system. 
> I know.
> 
> > Any "a" can be converted very easily to an "au". 
> > No dirty tricks required. 
>
> I heared that the "a" has no opton in the AlphaBIOS / ARC to switch to
> SRM. I think Bjrn Ramqvist wrote this on port-alpha at netbsd.org. See his
> reply...

The "a" does have an option to switch to SRM.  I've done this to
a couple of "a" systems myself, as have several others (check
GoogleGroups).  Island Computers even sells an "a" conversion
kit, which consists of two compatible SCSI controllers, video
card, SCSI CDROM drive, 2MB Bcache module, and SCSI cables.
You can add all those yourself if necessary (the SCSI controllers
aren't needed with the later model "a" systems).  The Bcache
may be a little hard to find, but you don't need it if you
are willing to take a slight performance hit.  In fact, not
all "au" systems came with the Bcache module.

The option to switch to SRM is in the Advanced Setup section
of the Setup menu (the option refers to changing the operating
system).

> > All later model "a" and "au" systems had a Qlogic ISP1040 UW
> > SCSI adapter built-in (although the SRM will call it an ISP1020,
> > which is Fast-Wide).
>
> I don't know if it is a 1020 or 1040, it Just Works. :-)
> It may be a earlier version, since I have the earlier version of the
> main board. 

If the SCSI controller isn't on the slot board, then you
have an earlier model.  Another way to tell you have an
earlier model is if you don't have USB ports.  The earlier
models also had an Intel controller for IDE, etc., while
the later models had a Cypress controller (which allows
SRM to boot from IDE devices).
-- 
Eric Dittman
dittman at dittman.net
Check out the DEC Enthusiasts Club at http://www.dittman.net/