🚀 go-pugleaf

   Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 13:40:40 -0400 (EDT)
   From: "Christopher Oliver" <oliver@fritz.traverse.com>

   I just got an XL1201, and I'm happily stuffing the wisdom of Docex
   into my meager brain, but I am worried that my disks might
   evaporate of their own accord or due to my stupidity.

If you have more than one disk, the first thing I'd do is make sure
you can boot off either one.  Use :Copy Flod Files to copy the flods
and kernel and set up the boot sector, :Copy World to copy a
distribution world over, and :Create FEP File to set up a paging file.
Test it to make sure you can boot off the newly set up disk.  Also,
make sure your autoboot.boot file will get the machine up to where it
can be reached from the network in case the console dies.

Since disks are cheap these days, you might consider buying an extra
one, set it up as above, and stick it someplace safe.

   In reading the Genera 8.1 Software Installation Guide, I see that
   it's possible to put ones life thegether using CD, but only if one
   reads "Symbolics Genera 8.foo CD-ROM XL Bootstrap Tape."  Is this
   simply a FEP kernel on a SCSI tape file?

For the 3600s, it is more complicated than that.  I never had occasion
to build an XL breath-of-life tape.  If you want, I can send you to
3600 tape-generating code and you could play around with it.

   Would a FEP kernel written to a DC600 or DC6150 tape with Linux DD
   and read from a Tandberg drive work for disaster recovery, or can
   FEP only talk to QIC-100/gammamat?  Assume for this exercise that
   your disks have nothing on them.

I'd assume any SCSI tape drive would work, but I've only seen XL
breath-of-life tapes in the mini-cartridge (DC2120?) format.

Also, some of the newer PROMS have a "load a FEP kernel from CD-ROM"
option.  Never tried that one, though.

--David