I was at KRNO recently and whilst there was a center controller at OAK there was no tower at RNO. I announced my taxi intentions on unicom and whilst taxiing to the active runway contacted OAK center for clearance delivery. I was informed by the OAK controller to cease taxi immediately and contact NORCAL Approach on 133.95.
I had no idea that this was the protocol nor did I see anything resembling the NORCAL approach frequency in the VPilot window. Where do I find this info and protocols for start/taxi clearance when there is no controller at the local tower? Should I have called center for start/push/taxi?
The topdown philosophy is an integral part of VATSIM and explained extensively in the VATSIM Learning Center and the new member orientation course; that’s something you really should know before connecting to the network.
NorCal has a bunch of different frequencies; the frequency on your chart is not the NorCal frequency but just one of them. Due to certain rules and technical limitations, the frequency on the chart will often not conform with the one used by a controller on VATSIM, especially outside of the ADC environment; you’re better off looking at a map tool such as VATSIM Radar to gauge whether some controller might be responsible for your airspace (or, even better, check VATGlasses which will give you a definitive answer if the staff of the vACC responsible for the airspace has set it up correctly - unfortunately, the Oakland vARTCC doesn’t participate in this program though).
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Yeah but if a pilot is within range of a staffed tracon, that freq should appear in the vpilot client, and the OP said it didn’t?
Also, is RNO even under Norcal’s area? Oakland yes, but does approach extend that far east?
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The way OP phrased it suggests he was looking for one specific frequency (“the NORCAL approach frequency” instead of “a NORCAL approach frequency”) and not a login, so presumably the one listed on his charts.
KRNO charts list frequencies for NorCal Departure and NorCal Approach, so yes.
Dunno, I would think if he were looking at the staffed ATC positions list on vpilot and there was a “NorCal”, he’d probably figure that out 
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maybe center was referring to himself as norcal. much like approaches will call themselves departure depending on context.