RT-11

This document is the RT-11 System Message Manual (AA-5284D-TC), published in March 1983 by Digital Equipment Corporation. It serves as a comprehensive guide for all RT-11 users, providing a summary of error conditions that may occur during system use and offering recommended recovery procedures. This version supersedes the previous AA-5284C-TC manual.

The manual is structured to help users diagnose and resolve issues by detailing:

• General Hard Error Conditions (Section 2.0): Covers hardware-related problems for devices like video and hard-copy terminals, display processors, line printers, magtapes, and disks, along with corrective actions.
• Increasing Storage and Memory Resources (Section 3.0): Provides guidelines and procedures for optimizing storage space and memory when system resources are insufficient.
• System Failures (Section 4.0): Explains different types of system failures (return to keyboard monitor, monitor halts, program looping) and offers diagnostic steps, including examining program counters, stack pointers, and memory locations.
• Specific Message Sections (Sections 5.0 - 9.0): Dedicated chapters list and explain error messages from:
  • FORTRAN IV (including compilation and runtime errors)
  • BASIC-11 (runtime errors and memory issues)
  • The RT-11 Operating System (general system messages, bootstrap errors, and various utility messages from programs like BATCH, DUP, LINK, PIP, etc.)
  • MACRO-11 Assembler
  • Editors (EDIT, KED, and the single-line editor)

Each message entry describes the condition that caused the error and outlines steps for recovery. The manual also defines error severity levels (Information, Warning, Error, Fatal/Severe, Unconditional Abort) and their implications for program execution. For persistent or unresolvable errors, it advises users to submit a Software Performance Report (SPR) to Digital.

The operating system covered is RT-11 Version 5.1, with specific software references to FORTRAN IV Version 2.5 and BASIC-11 Version 2.0.