PDP11/23 - prompt?

[John A. Dundas III]

At 5:07 PM +0200 6/15/05, Philipp Hachtmann wrote:
>Hi,
>
>I am just getting a PDP11/23plus. The CPU is already at home and I 
>have powered the machine up. Makes noise, turns fans, etc. If I 
>start the machine (running indicator lit) it gives me a dollar sign 
>('$') prompt
>which seems to accept two character until it starts a new line.
>
>Here a few (perhaps totally stupid - but I've never used such a toy 
>before) questions:
>
>What's that?
>What can I do from there?
>Is it normal?

Sounds like the bootstrap of a device controller, not the KDF boot 
ROMs.  You can probably type type characters for controller name and 
another for device number, e.g., DU0.

You need to carefully inventory your boards and determine what you have.

Then look around (bitsavers, e.g.) for appropriate documentation.

John