From: tadamsmar

> Just want to do data backups on DVD preferably.,

The secret is out (at last). Well, BACKUP alone can't do it, and if
you'd like to preserve the RMS file attributes, you may wish to start by
finding a suitable LDDRIVER to make your disc images. Depending on how
much work you'd like to do, and how many data you'd like to archive, it
may be useful to slip Zip compression into the flow, too.

> Does anyone know a specific hardware and software solution for an
> AlphaServer DS10?

Not I. I gather that the DS10 has IDE, so an easier-to-find (and
cheaper) IDE DVD writer should be possible. I had trouble with a
Toshiba-Samsung drive, but managed to write a DVD using a drive which
calls itself a "SONY DVD RW AW-Q170A 1.73", although that was on an
XP1000 (with its very slow, CPU-consuming IDE interface) and on VMS
V8.3. (Is the IDE interface in a DS10 as bad as the one in the XP1000?)

> I suppose I can just stumble though it as try stuff. I posted on
> this earlier and got some leads, but I was not really confident
> that it can be done on 7.2-1.

I'd guess that you'll need to do some of that stumbling, as V7.2-1 is
too old for most folks to care much about testing on it. (I don't have
it on any of my systems, for example.)

> 7.2.-1 does not have CDRECORD in SYS$MANAGER, but it is there
> on our 7.3-2 systems.

I wouldn't expect that cdrecord to know what a DVD is. Around here:

ALP $ write sys$output f$getsyi( "version")
V7.3-2

(Copy+paste solves the confusing punctuation problem, you'll note.)

ALP $ mcr cdrecord -version
Cdrecord 1.10 (Alpha/VAX-CPQ-VMS/OpenVMS) Copyright (C) 1995-2001 Jvrg Schilling

(Of course, copy+paste on this Mac xterm seems to lose umlauts.
Everything's complicated.)

I seem to have one of these installed now:

ALP $ cdrecord -version
Cdrecord-ProDVD-ProBD-Clone 2.01.01a42 (Alpha-HP-VMS/OpenVMS) Copyright (C) 1995
-2008 Jvrg Schilling

I'd give mine a better chance of chance of handling a DVD than I would
version 1.10. (I don't know if I've written a DVD with it since about
"a38", but the changes since then are probably relatively minor. What
could go wrong?) Let me know if you can't get it built on your antique
VMS version.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steven M. Schweda sms@antinode-info
382 South Warwick Street (+1) 651-699-9818
Saint Paul MN 55105-2547