MAME and SIMH
From MAMEDEV Wiki
History Simulator (SIMH) recreates a range of historically important computing systems, including DEC PDP-11. System console terminal for a PDP-11 system would usually be one of DEC's video- or printing terminals (DEC VT100 or LA36 "DECwriter II", for example). SIMH lets its user work with simulated system from a real terminal (attached to physical serial port), or via a terminal emulator of their choice, such as MAME.
You will need:
- SIMH 3.9 or newer -- prebuilt Windows binaries: https://github.com/simh/simh/releases/download/v3.9-0/simhv39-0-exe.zip or https://github.com/simh/Win32-Development-Binaries
- MAME 0.177 or newer
- Distribution media for RT-11 5.3 operating system -- via http://gunkies.org/wiki/Installing_RT-11_5.3_on_SIMH
- Optional: user manuals
Step 1: Configure DEC VT240 terminal emulator
- start MAME ('mame vt240') and wait for self-test to complete ("VT240 OK" screen)
- press F3 to enter setup menu. Use cursor keys and keypad Enter key to navigate and change options.
- reset terminal to factory default settings -- choose "Default" in "Set-Up Directory" menu.
- set serial port speed to 9600 -- enter "Comm" menu and change from "Transmit=4800" to "Transmit=9600", then exit this menu "To Directory"
- save settings to terminal NVRAM ("Save") and exit MAME.
Step 2: Configure PDP-11 simulation
- follow the gunkies.org guide, but alter inst.ini -- replace "boot rl1" with "set console telnet=1123" in inst.ini. This will configure a remote console on TCP port 1123, and disable automatic boot of simulated system.
Step 3: Install RT-11
- start SIMH -- expected output is:
Listening on port 1123 sim>
- start MAME with null modem cable 'attached' to SIMH and wait for it to boot to "VT240 OK" screen:
mame vt240 -bitb socket.localhost:1123
- start simulation in SIMH -- from sim> console enter:
boot rl1
- follow the installer's prompts.
