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Part 4: Install Domain/OS

1) When the prompt comes back, type RE to reset the system and press Enter 3 or 4 times.
2) Type di c and press Enter.
3) Type ex domain_os and press Enter, then wait through the longest load yet. Eventually the kernel will come up.
4) If it says "the calendar is more than a minute slow", just choose Y to proceed, it's harmless.
5) It will ask if you wish to replace the system software on your disk. Choose Y to continue, and the system will copy the installer files to the HDD.
6) You'll see the message "Apollo Phase II Environment Revision 10.4 RBAK version Jan 25, 1992 12:58:22 pm" and a ) prompt. Type go and press Enter to start up the installer, or shut to cleanly shut down the system and continue later.
7) An HP logo will appear and the windowing system will come up. Login as user and just press Enter for the password.

NOTE: the windowing system has very odd keyboard and mouse focus behavior; it's best to avoid moving the mouse during the install procedure lest you lose keyboard focus. In general if you do lose it, move the mouse to right after the MINST> prompt and click once.

8) It will ask if you wish to continue with MINST, type continue and press Enter.
9) It will ask if you want novice or expert mode, type novice and press Enter.
10) It will ask for the pathname of the Authorized Area, press Enter to accept the default.
11) Also press Enter to accept the default for the target pathname.
12) When asked if you wish to install Domain/OS type yes and press Enter.
13) When prompted for media type, type ct and press Enter.
14) It will give instructions for reading the release notes, just press Enter at the MINST> prompt to skip that.
15) When asked what package configuration to install, type 11 and press Enter to get a full install of both the traditional Domain/OS stuff and the BSD userland they'd been merging into it (not always comfortably).
16) It will ask "Are you sure?". Type yes and press Enter.
17) Use MESS's File Manager in the Tab menu to insert tapes 1, 2, 3, and 4 and press Enter as prompted. (The boot tape is not one of those 4).
18) It will then ask if you want to read the online manuals; press Enter to skip.
19) When asked if you want to select or quit MINST, type select and press Enter. This will run for several minutes creating the main filesystem via hard links to the various files the previous steps dumped onto the HDD.
20) When it says the install is finished, click where it says "Command" and type shut and press Enter. The system will shut down cleanly and exit back to the boot PROM prompt.
21) Quit MESS and restart without mounting a ctape, just -disk1. Press Enter a few times and type ex domain_os to launch Domain/OS, or change the System Configuration Service/Normal switch to Normal to autoboot.

Using Domain/OS is beyond the scope of this guide (and I don't know a lot about it myself), but good luck ;-)

Bitsavers has manuals, and there are some tips on the MESS wiki.

The default login is user with no password. See "How to create the registry in Domain/OS" on the MESS wiki page to enable the root account and have some real fun.


WARNING: If you ever shut down the system without using 'shut' and waiting for it to end, the hard disk will be corrupted and need fixing. You do this by mounting the boot ctape again and doing di c and ex salvol to run "Salvage Volume", which can usually fix the errors.