Installing Programs under P/OS

[Tom Lake]

I finally have my DEC PRO 350 up and running P/OS 3.2 ! Now, however, I'm
trying to install other software and I'm getting the message that some of
the files must be installed system-wide and I need a system administrator to
do that. There's only one account on the machine (SYSTEM) and it's a
privileged account. How can I install these programs system-wide? Is there
some trick to it?

TIA

Tom Lake

[Rob Brown]

Post by Tom Lake
I finally have my DEC PRO 350 up and running P/OS 3.2 ! Now,
however, I'm trying to install other software and I'm getting the
message that some of the files must be installed system-wide and I
need a system administrator to do that.

I have never used a P/OS, but it is derived from RSX which I am
familiar with. I have never heard the term "system-wide" used in the
way you describe it in RSX. What is the exact message?

In RSX, "install" means something different from what it does nowadays
in the MS Windows world. Perhaps you just need to type

Post by Tom Lake
INSTALL filespec

and perhaps add it to [1,2]STARTUP.CMD (or whatever it is that
configures everything at boot time).

Post by Tom Lake
There's only one account on the machine (SYSTEM) and it's a
privileged account.

That should be enough. There is not anything more.

Post by Tom Lake
Is there some trick to it?

Hopefully, some PRO pro will enlighten us shortly.

;-)

[Tom Lake]

I have never used a P/OS, but it is derived from RSX which I am familiar
with. I have never heard the term "system-wide" used in the way you
describe it in RSX. What is the exact message?

NOTICE
The application you are installing contains system-wide components
which must be installed from a privileged account on a Server or
Standalone system. These components may already be installed,
contact your system manager.

In RSX, "install" means something different from what it does nowadays in
the MS Windows world. Perhaps you just need to type

Post by Tom Lake
INSTALL filespec

Type if from where? I can't even get out of the menu system!

Tom Lake

[Rob Brown]

Evidently, P/OS is just too different from RSX for my knowledge to be
much direct use. Where is a PRO pro when you need one?

Post by Tom Lake
NOTICE
The application you are installing contains system-wide components
which must be installed from a privileged account on a Server or
Standalone system. These components may already be installed,
contact your system manager.

To me, this message seems to say that you are not privileged.

Can you verify that your account is privileged? In RSX, that meant
the UIC group number was 10 or less.

It might matter what your current directory or current UIC is. Make
sure that your current UIC is group 10 or less. Perhaps if you are
not in the right UIC or the right directory, your privilege "goes
away". Similar things happen to privileged users in RSX.

Obviously, I know nothing about P/OS so I don't know how these RSX
concepts transfer. I had no idea that you were locked into a menu
system.

Good luck.

- Rob

[Tom Lake]

Evidently, P/OS is just too different from RSX for my knowledge to be much
direct use. Where is a PRO pro when you need one?

I'm becoming one rapidly! I got those apps to install. What I did was
search
through all the menus and found an Add to Library menu. When I chose that
I noticed that one of the options was Add system-wide components to
Public Library. I tried that then installed the app as usual and it worked!
It's tough having only a manual for P/OS 2.0 when I have 3.2 installed.
The manual is no help at all and most of the menus in 3.2 are totally
different than in the older OS.

Thanks for your replies!

Tom Lake

[Lee K. Gleason]

Post by Tom Lake

I have never used a P/OS, but it is derived from RSX which I am familiar
with. I have never heard the term "system-wide" used in the way you
describe it in RSX. What is the exact message?

NOTICE
The application you are installing contains system-wide components
which must be installed from a privileged account on a Server or
Standalone system. These components may already be installed,
contact your system manager.

In RSX, "install" means something different from what it does nowadays in
the MS Windows world. Perhaps you just need to type

Post by Tom Lake
INSTALL filespec

Type if from where? I can't even get out of the menu system!

Until you install the Pro Tool Kit, you aren't getting out of the menus.
The Pro Tool kit adds a middlin' passable version of the RSX command line
environment. And, installing the Pro Tool Kit lets you run the single most
important program in all of RSX - RMD, invoked by the command SHO MEM. Its
hypnotizing vision of what's in memory and what's running has bedazzled many
a generation of PDP-11 programmers and system managers. Long have I stared
at it, as tasks leapt in and out of partitions, and pool went up and (more
usually) down. I don't knwo what it is about it, but it's my favorite system
status display, from any OS.

Sorry, can't help much with the installing of tasks for the menu system -
IMHO, the thing to do with a PRO is to set the Tool Kit as the task to run
on signon (done in the Environment Services menu, and get to the $ prompt
ASAP, so I can pretend I'm running RSX on a reall 11.

--
Lee K. Gleason N5ZMR
Control-G Consultants
***@comcast.net