RSX-20F Nov81

This document is a reference manual (AA-H352B-TK, November 1981) for RSX-20F, an operating system designed to run on PDP-11/40 front-end processors of KL-based (TOPS-10/TOPS-20) computers.

Primary Functions of RSX-20F: Its main purpose is to reduce the load on the KL main processor by handling critical front-end tasks, including:

• Loading KL microcode.
• Configuring main and cache memory.
• Loading boot programs.
• Performing system diagnostics.
• Providing device handling for unit record equipment (for TOPS-20 and 1091 systems).

Target Audience: The manual is intended for Software Support Specialists, Field Service personnel, system programmers, and system operators who are familiar with PDP-11 hardware, RSX-11 operating systems, and either TOPS-10 or TOPS-20.

Manual Organization: The document is structured into several parts:

1. System Overview: Introduces PDP-11 hardware, the RSX-11-based operating system, and the Files-II file structure, along with a glossary of RSX-20F terms.
2. System Software: Describes the command processor (PARSER), KL initialization software (KLINIT), and various front-end utility programs.
3. System Internals: Details the resident RSX-20F monitor, nonresident system tasks, communication between the KL and PDP-11 using the DTE-20 interface, and terminal handling (for both direct and dial-up lines).
4. Error Detection and Logging / Error Debugging: Covers error reporting, system error messages, and tools for debugging system crashes.
5. Appendices: Includes lists of system error messages (stop codes and I/O error codes), procedures for transferring files between the KL and PDP-11, a list of front-end system tasks, information on the KLINIK access dialog for remote diagnostics, and EIA pin definitions.