Hi Tru64ers
My questions were about Y2k compliance of the DEC3000-M400 and
related to that whether a firmware upgrade was really needed
to upgrade to OS version 4.0E.
Thanks to Danielle Georgette, Alan Davis, Thomas Stranden,
Michael Bradford, Peter Reynolds, Olle Eriksson, Psarras Nikos,
Toby Bluhm, Dr. Tom Blinn and John Klapp for their replies.
On the subject of Y2k compliance:
There is Y2k compliance information for these machines on
the web site. Using the part number CTCREXAAA I got:
DEC 3000/400 w/ Peripherals Part #: CT-CREXA-AA
Year 2000 Status: R - Will not be made Year 2000 ready. Removed
from active status on or before 31 March 1998.
I'm still not sure if that means they're definitely not compliant
or just that Compaq aren't certifying them or providing any upgrades.
Alan said:
> There are a few older ethernet controllers that won't be Y2K compliant.
> AFAIK, that's the only hardware-related issue.
Since these are just about the oldest alphas I'm thinking they might
have a problem. Without networking they'd be as good as useless.
On the subject of the firmware:
Almost everyone recommended upgrading to revision 7.0. Some have
already done it successfully. However Dr. Tom suggested it might
not be necessary.
I'd like to avoid it if possible because a failed firmware upgrade
can render a system useless and these systems aren't covered by
maintenance.
The release notes for version 7.0 of the firmware say this:
DEC 3000 Firmware Information
A.1 Bug Fixes
Version 7.0 of the DEC 3000 firmware includes the following
changes or fixes:
o No changes with this release.
There is no other mention of any new features or other changes
between 6.9 and 7.0.
Some people said it's not necessary to go to 4.0E for Y2k
compliance since 4.0D+patches is compliant. Unfortunately
this makes no difference since firmware revision 7.0 is
required for 4.0D also.
If I decide to go ahead with this I'll upgrade the OS first
and only attempt a firmware upgrade if there are problems.
However since the hardware may not be compliant there might
not be any point in making the OS compliant.
Regards
Ian
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
_/ Ian Mortimer _/
_/ ian_at_physics.uq.edu.au ,-_|\ Department of Physics _/
_/ Tel: +61 7 3365 3436 / *\ University of Queensland _/
_/ Fax: +61 7 3365 1242 \_,-._/ St. Lucia, Brisbane _/
_/ v Queensland, Australia 4072 _/
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Disclaimer: Speaking only for myself.
Original Question:
Firstly:
Checking Digital's Y2k compliance information at:
http://ww1.digital.com/year2000/status.asp
I couldn't find any information about the DEC3000-M400.
I assume that means that Compaq regards them as too old to be
worth worrying about.
Does anyone have any theories on whether there are going to be
any problems with these machines next year?
Secondly:
Before I upgrade these machines to 4.0E I have to upgrade the
firmware - or maybe not. They have firmware revision 6.9 and
the latest release (5.3) has firmware revision 7.0.
I can't find out which firmware version is needed. It's not in
the 4.0E release notes and the 4.0E documentation CD has the
installation guide for 4.0B (I checked several copies and the
4.0D CD as well).
So my questions are:
Does anyone know which firmware revision is needed to run
4.0E on a DEC3000-M400?
Or has anyone successfully upgraded to 4.0E on a machine running
firmware revision 6.9?
Or has anyone successfully upgraded one of these machines to
firmware revision 7.0 (release 5.3)?
I'd like to avoid upgrading the firmware on these machines
if possible because they're no longer covered by maintenance.
Received on Sun Apr 11 1999 - 04:49:17 NZST