SINTRAN III OS Installation¶
Installing the SINTRAN III operating system on a fresh disk from distribution floppies.
The install is a shared skeleton + per-version deltas. The phase documents below describe the general procedure once; the version pages record only what differs for each release; the golden-disk dumps are the verification reference.
The procedure at a glance (the phases)¶
| # | Phase | Doc | Primary source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Concepts & terminology (MACM, save-area, phases) | 00-INSTALL-CONCEPTS.md | install-log.txt |
| 1 | Disk devices & how they map to CREATE-DIRECTORY | 01-DISK-DEVICES.md | System initialisation.txt, K05 FLOPPY/readme |
| 2 | Bootstrap: load OS floppy → disk (MACM) | 02-BOOTSTRAP-MACM.md | SINTRAN-H/Admin/install-log.txt |
| 3 | File-system initialisation (users, files, segments) | 03-FILESYSTEM-INIT.md | System initialisation.txt |
| 4 | S3 configuration (system generation) | 04-S3-CONFIGURATION.md | S3-CONFIGURATION:PROG/CNFG on disk |
| 5 | Applying patches | 05-PATCHES.md | ND-PATCH-SIN-*.txt, PATCH-LOG.txt |
| 6 | Startup & runtime/terminal configuration | 06-STARTUP-AND-TERMINAL-CONFIG.md | HENT-MODE.txt, START-SINTRAN-MULTIUSER.TXT |
| 7 | Disk layout & what CREATE-DIRECTORY does | 07-DISK-LAYOUT-AND-CREATE-DIRECTORY.md | BIGDISK0-*.txt |
| 8 | Automatic boot: mode files & INITIAL-COMMANDS | 08-AUTOMATIC-BOOT-INITIAL-COMMANDS.md | HENT-MODE.txt (@CC HENT-MODE:MODE) |
Consolidated boot/startup guide + ready-to-use mode files. SINTRAN-BOOT-AND-MODE-FILES-GUIDE.md narrates phases 6 & 8 end-to-end (cold vs warm start, INITIAL-COMMAND chain,
HENT-MODE/LOAD-MODE, XMSG network config incl. include files, andDUMP-REENTRANT). Tailored, drop-onto-the-machine files are in mode-files/.
Cross-cutting dimensions¶
- CPU type / ID — TODO: source not yet located. Do not invent.
- Floppy file-system identity — each distribution floppy is itself a SINTRAN file
system; its "Directory name" (e.g.
N-220046K03--01D) is its identity. See floppy-contents/. - Command alignment — every command verb links to
../../Operations/SINTRAN/OPCOM-COMMAND-REFERENCE.mdand the System Supervisor manual.
Subfolders¶
| Folder | Contents |
|---|---|
| versions/ | Per-version install notes (H, K, K05, L, M) - see also the table below |
| floppy-contents/ | Golden-disk and distribution-floppy content dumps (the verification reference) |
| mode-files/ | Ready-to-use, tailored mode files (HENT-MODE, LOAD-MODE, XMSG-START, DUMP-REENTRANT) |
| SUBSYSTEM/ | Subsystem Package II (ND-210400) library-diskette documents |
| research/ | Temporary working research notes (HDD image findings) |
Per-version guides¶
Notes below are verified facts only (transcribed from the distribution archives). Blank = not yet verified.
| Version | Verified notes | Page |
|---|---|---|
| H | MACM banner MACM-1718-K; 2 floppies (DISKETTE-I/II); initialized for DISC-75MB / DISC-38MB |
versions/SINTRAN-H.md |
| K | golden disk BIGDISK0-K (PACK-ONE, 38400 pages); floppy VSXK1 carries MACM-1718L:BPUN |
versions/SINTRAN-K.md |
| K05 | FLOPPY\readme.txt: "D version" — no ST-506/Winchester, has SCSI |
versions/SINTRAN-K05.md |
| L | 3 VSX floppies (VSXL1/2/3); START-SINTRAN-MULTIUSER.TXT; XMSG symbols |
versions/SINTRAN-L.md |
| M | System initialisation-WD0.txt variant; HENT-MODE.txt; PATCH-LOG.txt; XMSG |
versions/SINTRAN-M.md |
Parent: ../README.md