S03E38 - Slackware Linux Raspberry Pi install over a vintage DEC VT320

We take a look at the DEC VT320 and use it to conduct a Slackware installation on the Raspberry Pi4.
Unix TTY demystified: www.linusakesson.net/programm...
#slackware #linux #rpi #raspberrypi #retro #technology #sysadmin #unix #opensourcecommunity #opensourcesoftware
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00:00 Title seq.
00:43 Introduction
02:28 The VT320
04:59 Comms setup
05:45 Terminals
13:26 TTYs
19:24 Writing the Slackware Installer to SD card
21:49 Booting: Slackware Installer
23:04 Accessing the Installer over the VT320
29:11 Beginning the Installation
30:58 Post Installation Configuration
34:16 Booting: Slackware Operating System
35:00 Editing /etc/inittab
36:24 Logging in: VT320
38:25 Adding a pleb user
41:10 Starting X on the Virtual Console
41:40 Outtro

[@MrWaalkman]

Slack is Back! The last time that I installed it I think that it took 37 1.44M floppies. Been a minute... :)

[@oberoiddroidus2114]

Legend Dec. Also kudos for the x300.

[@Shahinc0]

thanks for your video, It was nice to see old Terminal Client to work :)

[@richardamullens]

I learnt Macro-11 and RSX-11/M at Fountain House in Reading where DEC had its training centre.

[@E.T.sByteLab-jy8gi]

The yellowish color could be a sync interference effect between the camera and the monitor.

[@VAX1970]

Those DEC terminals are built like a tank, you can take the keyboard in the shower for a clean and then dry it out with a hairdryer on a low setting .. it will be fine! The keyboards were always having drinks spilled in them at my university.

[@slackwarearm]

It's true! The keyboard stopped working after I cleaned it with baby wipes - I guess too much of the liquid dripped from the wipes. I left it atop the radiator and we were back in business!

[@munocat]

I currently run slackware 3.0 on my 486 DECpc, I have 2 Sun ultra 5, 2 2x ultra 1, 2 x ultra 6, SparcStation LX, SparcStation 2, 2 x Sunblade 100 and a Sun Ultra 40, all operational

[@asystole_]

I'd love to get my hands on a VT320 or any terminal of a similar vintage really. I never really see them on eBay.

[@cetx]

Nice! This is so cool.

[@richardamullens]

One solution to converting TTL level signal to RS232 is MAX3232 chip.

[@fra4455]

Great✌

[@timsoft3]

25pin-9pin :-)

[@andrewbird3691]

Regarding your login spurious characters, I see you have XON/XOFF flow control disabled on the terminal and you have no hardware RTS/CTS cable. Perhaps you are overrunning the input buffer in the terminal. Try turning on the XON/XOFF in the terminal settings, I think getty should respond accordingly.

[@slackwarearm]

Thanks Andrew! I set it to 'XOFF at 64' and it works!

[@markkazdad381]

Do you get the behavior with the strange characters if you boot the Pi with Raspberry Pi OS? The answer might help determine if the problem is caused by settings in the terminal itself or a config on the Linux side. You might also just try the ASCII character set or ISO-Latin 1 instead of the United Kingdom character set as a test. There is an option in the vt320 setup to display control codes instead of interpreting (executing) them. This can be helpful in debugging what the host is sending to the terminal. This could be really interesting to apply to that split screen effect where only the bottom half was scrolling. I read in the manual that the VT320 supports two concurrent sessions which can be displayed in a “stacked” mode or in a side-by-side mode, and I wonder if this is related to the effect you saw.

[@felderup]

there's only one thing preventing me from getting slackware onto my pinebook pro, not knowing enough about grub. i want to do the install differently than the docs say, the writer of the install doc has their nose firmly in the air for the way i'd do it.

[@IkarusKommt]

Why would you install Slackware, which installs tons of junk, on a low-end device?

[@felderup]

@@IkarusKommt everyone, a challenge, tell me you've never actually installed slackware without telling me you've never installed slackware.