A/UX 3.x install on IIfx hangs

[willmurray461]

I'm trying to install A/UX 3.x on my IIfx but can't get anything to work.

When I try booting from the Retail Floppy + Retail A/UX 3.0.0 CD, I get the error "loadshlibs: lib /shlib/libc1_s not found" after the "Welcome to A/UX. Launching..." prompt appears.

When I try booting from the Retail Floppy + Retail A/UX 3.0.1 CD, it just hangs at "Welcome to A/UX. Launching..." with no error.

I'm not using a real CD-ROM drive. Instead, I'm using a BlueSCSI V2. I heard A/UX is sometimes picky about CD-ROM drives. Could this be the source of the problem?

Has anyone here successfully installed A/UX 3 onto a IIfx or similar?

 

[Mk.558]

I installed A/UX 2.0, 2.0.1 and 3.0.1 (the WGS version or something, idk) on a IIci with no issues, aside from the learning curve associated with it. Can't recommend the floppy approach, but I did do that and the CD install with the BlueSCSI external.

Does A/UX 2.0 work?

 

[willmurray461]

I haven't tried 2.0.

However, since then I also tried the WGS 95 3.1 ISO, as well as a pre-made 3.1.1 AU/X disk image. Neither booted.

I'm beginning to think that either the IIfx isn't compatible with A/UX 3.x (contrary to existing documentation), or it needed a special release of A/UX. After all, the IIfx is a unique beast...

 

[aladds]

Have you tried booting a preinstalled image? https://mega.nz/folder/8hA3AQCJ#pWUq92L70yDXlogy9lk5Dg

 

[willmurray461]

... as well as a pre-made 3.1.1 AU/X disk image...

Yes, it did not work.

 

[cheesestraws]

I think you can interrupt boot and use sash (A/UX Boot I think it's called under 3.0?) to boot the install media single user. That might give you the ability to poke things like what filesystems are mounted; the error you posted initially suggests that something isn't being mounted that ought to be, perhaps.

 

[Mk.558]

In the link below is a BlueSCSI compatible image of A/UX 2.0.0. Try that and let me know how it turns out if you would.

A/UX is kind of a niche topic that isn't really well understood and there's probably only a tiny number of people who are both UNIX experts but also familiar with the "issues" that A/UX has. Most people have never used it in this community.

 

[Boctor]

Are you using the stock IIfx ROM and a reasonably small amount of RAM? I've gotten A/UX 3 to freeze while booting on a IIci before by either using a ROMinator SIMM or >32 megs of memory. Both would get it stuck for seemingly different reasons.

 

[Mk.558]

Hate to be that guy that says "it works for me" because that such a cookie-cutter Linux thing to say. The only issues I had with A/UX in the limited use I have with it is with 1.1.1 corrupting itself in Shoebill, 2.0.1 corrupting itself on a real machine. 3.0.1 and 2.0.0 have been fine, although using a BlueSCSI with a saved image (helps to have some utilities on the Mac Partition to FTP, AFP, MacBinary II and BinHex things, HDD repair stuff, few other things like NIC drivers and stuff) to just revert to a fresh installation if it nukes itself is nice.

 

[nathall]

I have an A/UX 3.1 install on my IIfx that works great. I did the install 10 or 15 years ago and have never had any problems with it. System has 32MB of RAM, standard ROM. I don’t recall having any issues with the initial install, either.

My IIfx is currently out of commission due to an unrelated, unidentifiable logic board fault, but I used the A/UX regularly until she went down.

I also have a A/UX 2.0.1 install on my IIsi.

Both installations were built from scratch. I never had any luck with pre-made “bootable” A/UX images.

 

[Unknown_K]

I just used the A/UX 3.x that came with my WGS 95 and it installed and worked fine. Don't recall how much RAM was in there.

 

[Boctor]

Hate to be that guy that says "it works for me" because that such a cookie-cutter Linux thing to say. The only issues I had with A/UX in the limited use I have with it is with 1.1.1 corrupting itself in Shoebill, 2.0.1 corrupting itself on a real machine. 3.0.1 and 2.0.0 have been fine, although using a BlueSCSI with a saved image (helps to have some utilities on the Mac Partition to FTP, AFP, MacBinary II and BinHex things, HDD repair stuff, few other things like NIC drivers and stuff) to just revert to a fresh installation if it nukes itself is nice.

If you've got that much memory working with a IIci, then at this point I have almost zero doubt that my problem was the particular SIMMs I used. Only makes me more curious about the specifics of OP's IIfx.

 

[willmurray461]

My IIfx has the stock ROM and 32MB of RAM.

I just spent the entire day trying to get 2.0.1 installed with no success. The computer just kept hanging or throwing strange errors during the install process, sometimes while formatting the disk, other times while copying files to the disk. I tried real SCSI disks as well as a BlueSCSI, neither worked. 2.0.1 is something I've already installed before, so I know it's not just me doing something wrong.

I never had problems with the machine whilst running and installing Mac OS, so I'm hesitant to say the computer has a hardware fault.

Either way, I'm giving up on this project for now. It's not really worth my time at this point...

 

[Mk.558]

Did you try the A/UX 2.0 image I referred to?

 

[David Cook]

Have you run MacTest Pro on the IIfx? It might be worth just double checking that there isn't a hardware issue.

MacTest Pro - Macintosh Garden

MacTest Pro is repair-oriented diagnostic software that can test logic boards, video cards, monitors, floppy drives, hard drives, and CD ROM drives. It can also detect software corruption problems, and the existence of multiple System Folders on a volume. MacTest Pro is intended for use by Apple...

macintoshgarden.org

 

[willmurray461]

Not yet, though that sounds like a good idea. The weirdness that I'm experiencing feels like a memory issue or something. Just weird that the computer never crash chimes and Mac OS boots fine. Maybe A/UX is just much more fragile to memory errors than Mac OS?

 

[finkmac]

a/ux is gonna be way pickier about memory. run mactestpro a few times, then run the memory tests a bunch and see if you get any errors.

 

[cgp]

Concerning memory .. I don't know about the IIfx but on my IIci, A/UX 3.1.1 is picky about RAM organization. When I put 64MB in Bank B, it ignores it. With 4MB in Bank A, it will use only that, reach single-user but then get stuck swapping. With 1MB in Bank A, it hangs launching. I have to put the 64MB in Bank A (which is contrary to the recommendation for optimum MacOS frame buffer performance).

 

[feeef]

I had success installing A/UX 3.1.1 on my IIfx using an internal BlueSCSI v2 and an external CD 300 drive. I haven't tried with a virtual CD from the BlueSCSI.

If you are using an external BlueSCSI, make sure that your internal SCSI chain is terminated. You could just attach an internal defective (or working) hard drive to the internal SCSI connector while disconnecting its power cable so it is just used as a terminator.

If you are using an internal BlueSCSI, make sure that it is set to "Target" and "TRM_ON". That is what works for me.

The IIfx seems to be a difficult machine regarding SCSI terminations. I think that if you have an internal terminated drive and no external device, you need to terminate the external chain anyway.