Why 2.11BSD?
There are quite a few UNIXes available on PDP-11. 2.11BSD Unix is the latest and most powerful Unix ported to PDP-11. It is a nice platform for further work because
- it is easy to operate, since it resembles modern Unixes
- it has full TCP/IP support, so the PDP-11 can exchange data with the rest of the modern world in high speed.
(Do not waste time to get TCP/IP on Ultrix-11 working .. the TCP/IP stack there is buggy.) - On the other hand, many drivers for DEC tapes and drives are build in. So with 2.11BSD running, you can easily read and write drive and tape images with “dd” and transfer them over ftp into the modern world.
Installation of 2.11BSD is well documented, see the setup here[link]. Many people have described their experiences ... I will be no exception!
My approach
My installation differs from the main stream:
- My system disk is a RM03-like SMD disk. It is controlled by an Emulex Sc31 controller, who is not support by XXDP bad sector utility. The drive has many bad spots, which must not be used for the Unix installation.
- For many reseons, I first install onto a virtual PDP-11/44 mdoelled with SimH. Then I transfer the virtual system disk image onto the physical RM03 disk.
Since VTServer is no working on my 11/44, I install not from virtual tape onto the real disk.
I use the “disk image” windows in PDP11GUI for this task.