How to install ! RSTS-11 v4B on Ersatz-11?

We can run ! RSTS-11 v4B on the Ersatz-11 emulator. First, we need to download the ! RSTS-11 v4B image.

Downloads

tip

This tutorial covers how to use ! RSTS-11 v4B on Ersatz-11 emulator using a pre-installed image. If you want to manually install RSTS-11 v4B from its tape image, visit this page. That page covers installing it on SIMH, and not Ersatz-11, though.

You can download the image needed to run ! RSTS-11 v4B from here:

• ! RSTS-11 v4B image

Using ! RSTS-11 v4B

tip

If you have not already installed Ersatz-11 emulator, see the VirtualHub Setup tutorial on how to do so on Linux and Windows.

Create a folder somewhere to store the files for this VM, and move the file named RSTS11v4B.DSK into it.

Now we will create a config file for our VM. Create a text file called e11.ini with the following content in the VM folder:

set cpu 05
set memory 64
mount dk0: RSTS11v4B.DSK /rk05
boot dk0:

Now open a terminal and move to the VM folder. Run the following command to start the emulator:

e11

After the emulator starts, you will get a OPTION? prompt. Type START and press enter. Next, you will be asked for date. Provide the date in DD-MMM-YY format. For example, 05-JUN-74. Try entering a date before the year 2000, to avoid problems related to Y2K.

After that, you will be asked for time. Enter the time in HH:MM format. For example, 19:23. You will be asked if you want to enable crash dump. Type Y and press enter.

Now start PIP by executing RUN PIP. After PIP starts, you will get a # prompt. You can now type /DI followed by enter. It will list all the files available on the disk.

That's it! We used ! RSTS-11 v4B. We can create a shell script to make it easy to launch the VM.

Linux

Create a file called rsts-11-v4b.sh with the following content:

#!/bin/bash
e11

Now make the file executable:

chmod +x rsts-11-v4b.sh

Now you can start the VM using the shell script. For example, on KDE you can right-click the file and choose Run in Konsole or on GNOME, where you can right-click the file and choose Run as executable. The VM will start.

See the manuals section on the main ! RSTS-11 v4B page to learn how to use it.

Windows

Create a file called rsts-11-v4b.bat with the following content:

e11

Now you can start the VM by double-clicking the shell script. See the manuals section on the main ! RSTS-11 v4B page to learn how to use it.

Credits

• The disk image and other files used above are from https://iamvirtual.ca/PDP-11/RSTS-11/Install.htm.

Video tutorial

Do you want to follow the tutorial by watching a video? We will post a video on our YouTube channel soon.

Archives of this tutorial are available on Wayback Machine.