This module contains a simulator for the AT&T 3B2 Model 400 microcomputer.
The following devices are simulated. The SIMH names for the simulated devices are given in parentheses:
To boot the 3B2 simulator into firmware mode, simply type:
sim> BOOT CPU
You will be greeted with the message:
FW ERROR 1-01: NVRAM SANITY FAILURE
DEFAULT VALUES ASSUMED
IF REPEATED, CHECK THE BATTERY
FW ERROR 1-02: DISK SANITY FAILURE
EXECUTION HALTED
SYSTEM FAILURE: CONSULT YOUR SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION UTILITIES GUIDE
NVRAM and Time of Day can be saved between boots by attaching both devices to files.
sim> ATTACH NVRAM <nvram-file> sim> ATTACH TOD <tod-file>
If you have no operating system installed on the hard drive, on subsequent boots you will instead see the message
SELF-CHECK
FW ERROR 1-02: DISK SANITY FAILURE
EXECUTION HALTED
SYSTEM FAILURE: CONSULT YOUR SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION UTILITIES GUIDE
Once you see the SYSTEM FAILURE message, this is actually an invisible prompt. To access firmware mode, type the default 3B2 firmware password mcp, then press Enter or carriage return.
You should then be prompted with:
Enter name of program to execute [ ]:
Here, you may type a question mark (?) and press Enter to see a list of available firmware programs.
UNIX SVR3 is the only operating system available for the 3B2. To boot UNIX, attach the first disk image from the 3B2 “Essential Utilities” distribution.
sim> ATTACH IF <floppy-image> sim> BOOT CPU
Once you reach the SYSTEM FAILURE message, type mcp to enter firmware mode. When prompted for the name of a program to boot, enter unix, and confirm the boot device is FD5 by pressing Enter or carriage return.
Enter name of program to execute [ ]: unix
Possible load devices are:
Option Number Slot Name
---------------------------------------
0 0 FD5
Enter Load Device Option Number [0 (FD5)]:
To install SVR3 to the first hard disk, first, attach a new image to the ID0 device:
sim> ATTACH ID0 <hd-image>
Then, boot the file idtools from the “3B2 Maintenance Utilities - Issue 4.0” floppy diskette.
From idtools, select the formhard option and low-level format integrated disk 0. Parameters are:
Drive Id: 5
Number cylinders: 925
Number tracks/cyl: 9
Number sectors/track: 18
Number bytes/sector: 512
After low-level formatting integrated disk 0, boot the file unix from the first diskette of the 3B2 “Essential Utilities” distribution, and follow the prompts.