SCO

Last week our legacy SCO OpenServer 5.0.6 server started showing "panic" errors about bad blocks/sectors on hard drive. I ran the badtrack command which fully checked the disk, and it identified 2 LBA sectors as bad, and it was unable to recover some of the data. Apparently the lost data had something to do with the scoadmin functioning, because now scoadmin is "not found" when I try to invoke it from the command line.

My plan is to try and migrate the system to a VM and I have found a couple of ways to try - but before I do that I want to try and restore the data that was lost from my last backup tape. I also would like to connect via FTP from another LAN computer, so I can copy files over our network. Right now the FTP connection using the root account fails to let me login.

The main problems I'm having right now are not remembering how to do certain tasks from the command line. I ran an integrity check and created a report, but I can't remember how to print from the command line. I need to find out what printers are available and I don't know how to do that.

So here are my initial specific questions:
Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!

1. lpstat -t
2. I do not believe there is any mechanism to prevent a valid user with an unrestricted shell from logging in using ftp.
I suggest that you log in as root at the console, and try 'ftp localhost' and see if you can log in. It may be that there are more files missing than the ones you have already found.

---------- Post updated at 03:32 PM ---------- Previous update was at 03:29 PM ----------

1a. lp -d[destination] [filename]
You can leave out the -d option if you wish to print to the default printer.

So, ftp appears to be trying to connect. When I typed 'ftp localhost' it said it connected and asked me for a username/password. I entered root as the username, and the correct password (I know it is correct, because it lets me login to console) then it says "530 Login incorrect. Login failed" So is ftp rejecting the credentials, and if so what should I do?

Also - regarding the printing issue, I have tried the following command:
lp -d hp4200n int.report

The reply I get is this: request id is hp4200n-76122 (1 file)

But nothing gets printed to that printer. I got the printer name from lpstat -a

Is hp4200n a network printer, or locally attached?
Do you have another system with a ftp server? You may be able to log in to it and 'put' the files.
Is this the same hardware as your posts in 2015?

The hp4200n printer is a network printer, there are no printers locally attached to the server.

I don't think this hardware is the same as the hardware I was trying in 2015, I think I was trying to install the O/S on newer hardware then, because I knew the hardware I'm currently on now will not last a lot longer (as evidenced by the hd problem). The current hardware is "ancient" probably 10 to 12 years old at least. If you want specifics I'll try to remember.

I will see about trying to connect "out" via ftp from the Unix box.

Printing the results of my integrity check would help me a lot with trying to restore files from backup, would it not?

Thanks - Rob

Only if the results of the integrity are missing files.
Do you have a replacement disk? Does your backup copy the entire contents of the disk, or only the application? Are you able to quarantine the current disk and build a new one from the backup and the distribution media? My concern is that once a disk starts to fail continued use is likely to result in complete failure.

---------- Post updated at 04:41 PM ---------- Previous update was at 04:39 PM ----------

Depending on the terminal emulation you are using at your pc's you may be able to do a local print of the integrity report.

This is EXACTLY my concern as well, and I have a plan but I'm running into roadblocks all along the way. The best solution I can think of is to build a VM to run SCO OpenServer 5.0.6, which is my current licensed product. I have found an article using Google that explains how someone did this successfully in VM Workstation. The initial problem I'm running into there is getting access to a floppy with the BTLD driver that is supposedly compatible for the installation of the O/S to work in a VM. I have obtained the driver file, and created a unix floppy that may work, but all I have is a USB floppy drive and the VM will not recognize it, so I can't even try it. My second option is to create an .iso image of the floppy, which the VM should be able to use, but I can't get Windows XP to create an .iso file from the floppy - windows acts like the floppy is empty or unformatted. I have used my SCO box to create an .iso file from the floppy, but I can't get it copied out of SCO using ftp, or write it to another floppy - nothing seems to work.

I think my tape backup is the whole system, so if I could get a working installation of Openserver 5.0.6 either on newer hardware, or in a VM, then I could try restoring the backup and see what happens.

At this point I would be happy to just get something to work. The system holds our legacy software, so we really only want it for historical purposes. It helps us a lot if we can access the old files, and copy data out of them, in that regard it is not critical. However management has asked me to "do whatever possible" to try and keep the information accessible to us.

Any ideas or help you can offer me would be appreciated. Have you had success with installing 5.0.6 on a VM?