DECwindows CDE works in E9.2-3

[dmjb]

A few months ago, there were a number of threads where people discussed attempts to run CDE on V9.2-1 (and -2) but ran into errors - specifically the DTFILE application crashing with an ACCVIO. Using a fresh install of E9.2-3, I was able to get a CDE session to start:

For what it's worth, the steps I used were:

1. Started up xming on my host
2. SSHed into the VMS virtual machine and ran:
a. `SET DISPLAY/CREATE/NODE=<IP of my windows host>/TRANSPORT=TCPIP/EXEC`
b. `MCR DECW$STARTLOGIN`
3. Logged in with username/password

EDIT: Removed incorrect assumption about the cause of the problem in V9.2-1 and V9.2-2

[whcox53]

I can confirm that it does work. Thanks for the heads up and the clear steps to get it going.

I am running a VirtualBox VM on a windows host with xming.

[pustovetov]

I believe the issue which prevented CDE from running previously is the CRTL issue described in this thread: https://forum.vmssoftware.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9138

No, the ACCVIO in the DTFILE application was another issue.

[dmjb]

No, the ACCVIO in the DTFILE application was another issue.

Thanks for the correction. Do you have any details on what caused the DTFILE crash?

[pustovetov]

Thanks for the correction. Do you have any details on what caused the DTFILE crash?

There were issues with the C++ compiler on x86. The DTFILE refers to a library written in C++.

[raymii]

Chirping in with my screenshots:

https://raymii.org/s/inc/img/openvms-cde-1.png

https://raymii.org/s/inc/img/openvms-cde-9.png

Lets see if I can compile Tetris now.

[babydr]

@raymii , Quite a chuckle when going to the url's you posted ...

"I am not a teapot

719 - I am not a teapot
Espresso Web (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) at raymii.org"

[dmjb]

It's worth noting that the latest VSI release of OpenSSH (V8.9-1I01) supports X forwarding, and I can confirm that it works after upgrading one of my virtual machines.

One interesting issue I observed is that running `SYS$SYSTEM:DECW$STARTLOGIN.EXE` over SSH with X forwarding gave me the following error:

Code: Select all

X11 connection rejected because of wrong authentication.

(FWIW, the X server used was Xephyr running on Fedora 40)

Doing some reading, I learned from this old HP forum post that running DECW$STARTLOGIN interactively is not recommended. The post instead suggested the following DCL script:

Code: Select all

$!***************************************
$!START_CDE.COM *
$!***************************************
$ define sys$output sys$login:startcde.log
$ set noverify
$ SPAWN/NOWAIT MCR CDE$SYSTEM_DEFAULTS:[BIN]DTHELLO
$ @CDE$SYSTEM_DEFAULTS:[BIN]XSESSION.COM
$ LOGOUT

I can confirm this works. Whether the specific error I encountered is a problem with my configuration, or a limitation with DECW$STARTLOGIN is not clear, but I do not plan to investigate further since it is apparently not the correct approach.

[raymii]

I managed to compile Tetris (from 1992) on OpenVMS x86 E9.2-3:



I'll follow up with a guide soon. I used the same game on my AXPbox remote desktop article: https://raymii.org/s/blog/OpenVMS_CDE_D ... xpbox.html - but that had a compiled EXE for Alpha. A few minor C code changes were all that was needed to get this up and running!

[raymii]

As promised, here is the guide on compiling Tetris for x86: https://raymii.org/s/blog/Tetris_from_1 ... _2024.html