--- keywords: ["TSS/8", "PDP-8", 1960s, 1968] image: ./TSS8-B.webp description: 'We can run ! TSS/8 on the SIMH PDP-8 emulator. First, we need to download the ! TSS/8 kit. You can download the kit needed to run ! TSS/8 on the SIMH PDP-8 emulator from the "SIMH Legacy" website:' sidebar_position: 1 sidebar_label: "! TSS/8 on SIMH" --- # How to install ! TSS/8 on SIMH? ![SIMH PDP-8 emulator with ! TSS/8](./TSS8-B.webp) We can run [! TSS/8](/1960s/1968/tss8) on the SIMH PDP-8 emulator. First, we need to download the ! TSS/8 kit. ## Downloads You can download the kit needed to run ! TSS/8 on the SIMH PDP-8 emulator from the ["SIMH Legacy" website](http://simh.trailing-edge.com/): - [! TSS/8 kit](http://simh.trailing-edge.com/kits/tss8.zip) ## Using ! TSS/8 :::tip If you have not already installed SIMH PDP-8 emulator, see [the VirtualHub Setup tutorial on how to do so](https://setup.virtualhub.eu.org/simh-pdp8/) on Linux and Windows. ::: Extract the kit you downloaded. Inside you will find several files. Create a folder somewhere to store the files for this VM and move the files named `tss8_init.bin` and `tss8_rf.dsk` into it. Now we will create a config file for our VM. Create a text file called `pdp8.ini` with the following content in the VM folder: ```ini load tss8_init.bin set rf enabled set df disabled attach rf tss8_rf.dsk attach ttix 4000 run 24200 ``` ![pdp8.ini](./TSS8-1.webp) Now open a terminal and move to the VM folder. Run the following command to start the emulator: ```bash pdp8 ``` ![pdp8](./TSS8-2.webp) After the emulator starts, type `START` and press enter. When asked, enter the date in `MM-DD-YY` format. Year should be between 74 and 85. Then enter time in `HH:MM` 24-hour format. Press enter until you get a `.` prompt. Then type the following: ```bash LOGIN 2 LXHE ``` There will be no output on screen as you type this, but it is being typed. Press enter after you are done. Here, 2 is the username and `LXHE` is the password. There are other users too. You can learn about them from Manuals and site listed below. Finally, you will get to this screen: ![Login Successful](./TSS8-3.webp) Type `R CAT` and press enter. It will list all the files available on the disk. ![List of files in ! TSS/8](./TSS8-4.webp) That's it! We used ! TSS/8. We can create a shell script to make it easy to launch the VM. ### Linux Create a file called `TSS8.sh` with the following content: ```bash #!/bin/bash pdp8 ``` Now make the file executable: ```bash chmod +x TSS8.sh ``` Now you can start the VM using the shell script. For example, on KDE you can right-click the file and choose `Run in Konsole` or on GNOME, where you can right-click the file and choose `Run as executable`. The VM will start. See the [manuals section](/1960s/1968/tss8/#manuals) on the [main ! TSS/8 page](/1960s/1968/tss8/) and [this website](https://raymii.org/s/articles/Running_TSS_8_on_the_DEC_PiDP-8_i_and_SIMH.html) to learn how to use it. ### Windows Create a file called `TSS8.bat` with the following content: ```bash pdp8 ``` Now you can start the VM by double-clicking the shell script. See the [manuals section](/1960s/1968/tss8/#manuals) on the [main ! TSS/8 page](/1960s/1968/tss8/) and [this website](https://raymii.org/s/articles/Running_TSS_8_on_the_DEC_PiDP-8_i_and_SIMH.html) to learn how to use it. ## Credits - The disk image and other files used above are from a kit available on [SimH "Classic" website](http://simh.trailing-edge.com/). ## Video tutorial Do you want to follow the tutorial by watching a video? Here it is:
Archives of this tutorial may be available on [Wayback Machine](https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://virtualhub.eu.org/1960s/1968/tss8/simh/).