TOPS-20 Monitor

This document is a student guide for the TOPS-20 Monitor Field Service Training course. It covers the following key areas of the TOPS-20 operating system:

• Software Introduction: Operating system principles and hardware/software interfaces.
• Monitor Overview: Monitor structures, system calls (JSYS), storage management, paging, scheduling, file systems, and interrupt handling.
• Coding Conventions: Standard macros, symbol definitions, and coding standards used in the TOPS-20 monitor.
• Troubleshooting: Diagnostic tools such as FILDDT, crash analysis, error reporting (SYSERR), and machine states.
• Disk and Magtape Service: Hardware configurations and PHYSIO software structures.
• Front End/Terminals: Terminal communication through the front-end processor (DTE).
• Storage Management: Detailed view of paging, page fault handling, and disk allocation.

The guide also includes appendices containing detailed monitor table descriptions and lists of system BUGHLTs, BUGCHKs, and BUGINFs for reference during maintenance and debugging.