About two weeks ago (Mon, 18 Sep 95) Barrett Flake posted a message that
commented that he had difficulties after upgrading to Digital UNIX V3.2C
using his PXG graphics option.
I checked with my colleagues in the graphics support space, and I gather
that we introduced a bug in Digital UNIX V3.2C that prevented the Open3D
support already present in the DEC Open3D V2.6 kit (which supports V3.2 and
later releases) from working with the PXG option under Digital UNIX V3.2C.
We are working to correct this defect in Digital UNIX V3.2C, and expect a
patch to Digital UNIX V3.2C to correct this binary level incompatibility
will be available early in November.
If you have DEC 3000 (Turbochannel) Alpha system with PXG graphics, do not
upgrade to Digital UNIX V3.2C until you have obtained the patch. We are
planning to include the patch in a future maintenance release, but I would
assume most of the readers of this list have access to patches through one
of the usual methods. (Please don't ask me what the methods are, I'm not
intimately familiar with them.)
As a reminder (or first notice for those who don't read the release notes)
we are planning to retire PXG graphics support in the next major release of
Digital UNIX (probably V4.0 but it's hard to be sure what the name will be
until we get closer), which is due out early next calendar year (1996). A
statement to this effect is in the V3.2C release notes, section 8.12, on
page 8-4.
That section states that DEC Open3D discontinued support for the PXG option
effective June 1995. However, the DEC Open3D software released for use
with Digital UNIX V3.2 should work correctly with Digital UNIX V3.2C and
it was a bug in Digital UNIX V3.2C that broke PXG support.
To summarize: If you've got a PXG graphics option, don't try to upgrade to
V3.2C until you have the patch. Plan now for what you will do when the next
major release of Digital UNIX comes out -- either stay with V3.2C or get a
new graphics option (there a several available with better performance) to
use with new releases of Digital UNIX and DEC Open3D.
Tom
Dr. Thomas P. Blinn, UNIX Software Group, Digital Equipment Corporation
110 Spit Brook Road, MS ZKO3-2/U20 Nashua, New Hampshire 03062-2698
Technology Partnership Engineering Phone: (603) 881-0646
Internet: tpb_at_zk3.dec.com Digital's Easynet: alpha::tpb
Worry kills more people than work because more people worry than work.
My favorite palindrome is: Satan, oscillate my metallic sonatas.
-- Phil Agre, pagre_at_ucsd.edu
Opinions expressed herein are my own, and do not necessarily represent
those of my employer or anyone else, living or dead, real or imagined.
Received on Mon Oct 02 1995 - 17:37:07 NZDT