Mag Tape routines and interface planning for SAC Interface Box

So little free time this weekend I could only do some quick reading and thinking in short breaks.

TAPE DRIVE SUPPORT FOR 1130

I have successfully assembled the mag tape subroutine and interrupt handler code necessary to use tape drives attached to the 1130 system, resolving any open questions about implementation specs for the SAC Interface Box. I now can implement the support, which is a subset of the Selector Channel RPQ plus adapter logic to make my 9 track drives behave as if they were 2400 series units.

Quite a few functions of a selector channel are not used by the subroutine - thus won't need to be implemented. Command Chaining, Transfer in Channel, Test IO, Halt IO, Data Chaining and Program Controlled Interrupts won't be supported, therefore. The only CCW flag that is used is Suppress Length Indication.

The subroutines I am using, an FDP distributed as program 0.03.003 for the 1130, were written for use with DMS Version 1, not V2. As such I have to make modifications for their use on V2. The original code made use of ISS number 5, which was not used in DMS V1 but is in conflict with the interrupt service subroutine for disk in V2.  I modified it to use ISS 15 for mag tape. I also had to rebuild the ILS04 they provided, since it did not include support for devices such as 2501 which were not supported in DMS V1.

The subroutine MAGTZ intended to allow use in FORTRAN requires a change to at least one run-time routine, SIOF, but also modifications to the Fortran compiler itself to recognize the IOCS device MAGNETIC TAPE and to support that on logical unit 11 in the program. The modifications to the compiler are not shown in the documentation I have and in any case would be unusable as they refer to the very old version of the compiler found in DMS V1.

I can support the new device type on the IOCS card by a source modification to kforph01 but I would either need to reload the system or turn it into a patch that can be applied to the existing load module on disk. I have not yet figured out the place to update where it will allow 11 as a logical unit number when tape was specified.

The fortran support via MAGTZ (using READ/WRITE commands) is not a priority and involves the work I described above. Fortunately, a slightly more cumbersome means is available for FORTRAN programs to use tape, via the subroutine MAGTA., Instead of READ/WRITE, the user issues CALL MAGTA statements and must do all data formatting operations that are otherwise performed by Fortran IO and FORMAT statements.