Some time ago I posted the following question:
-----> begin old posting <-----
I am about to upgrade my unpatched DU4.0A system to DU4.0C. I was
wondering if anyone out there had any advice to offer. Are there any
unforseeable problems or issues I should think about? Or should I expect
the upgrade to go smoothly?
Also a related question: I understand that the 'C' level system represents
mostly hardware related (drivers, etc) upgrades from the 'B' level system.
If that is so, then would it be appropriate or desirable to apply patches
designed for DU4.0B to an installed DU4.0C system?
-----> end old posting <-----
I got quite a few responses (credits below). Thank you all for your
comments. This list is a great resource. The summary is as follows:
The DU4.0C CD-ROM contains a full copy of DU4.0B as well. The 4.0C parts
are only in support of certain new hardware platforms that don't apply to
me. If I use this CD-ROM, however, it will simply install 4.0B normally.
That is fine with me as I might be interested in upgrading to 4.0B if that
is the latest version (or I might just wait for something newer; I know
4.0B has been out for a while). In any case the 4.0A to 4.0B upgrade using
the 4.0C CD-ROM apparently works without problems. This is explained in
the release notes that accompany the CD-ROM (although release notes
sometimes leave out important things. :-)
Since the installation of 4.0B from the CD-ROM will be a "normal" 4.0B
installation, it *is* applicable to apply 4.0B patches to the
resulting system.
Dr. Tom Blinn had this to add:
"The only problem I've personally seen with the V4.0C kit is that on a
number of systems with non-Digital branded CDROM readers, you may not
be able to boot from the CD to get to single-user system management in
a crisis. The older V4.0B CDROM always works (on the older systems it
supports), but some changes were made in V4.0C to support using newer
CDROM drives that happen to only support 2048 byte mode, and it broke
the support for older drives using the older kernel databases (in the
older kernel, the default was 512 byte mode, in the newer kernel it's
2048 byte mode, but when you boot the CD on an old system, what you
get is the new kernel's database with the new default and the older
V4.0B install kernel that doesn't know how to read a CDROM in 2048
byte mode -- don't ask how this slipped through the cracks and got
into manufacturing, it's not a pretty picture)."
Thanks to:
From: Alan Rollow <alan_at_nabeth.cxo.dec.com>
From: Knut Hellebx <Knut.Hellebo_at_nho.hydro.com>
From: <gege_at_cal.enst.fr>
From: Ran Zahor <ran_at_wiztec.co.il>
From: Jim Wasden <wasden_at_swvs40.orl.lmco.com>
From: Martin Moore <martin_at_decatl.alf.dec.com>
From: Kevin Oberman <oberman_at_es.net>
From: Robert L. McMillin <rlm_at_syseca-us.com>
From: Joshua Rowe <rowe_at_eksystems.com>
From: Dr. Tom Blinn <tpb_at_zk3.dec.com>
From: Mike Hatz <mhatz_at_raven.phs.com>
*****************************************************************************
Peter
http://twilight.vtc.vsc.edu/~pchapin
pchapin_at_twilight.vtc.vsc.edu Paganism: Ancient beliefs in a modern world
Received on Mon Sep 15 1997 - 22:37:27 NZST