Thanks to those who responded:
Paul Sand
Jill Toth
Dr. Tom Blinn
All who responded have had success with updating a 2100 to 4.0F. They also
mentioned that the release notes are somewhat confusing in that even though
it says that the firmware will only update to 5.3, if you use the 5.4 CD,
you'll be OK. Attached are the responses from everyone.
Best regards,
--Blake Roberts
blarob_at_hbsi.com
==============
Original Question
==============
> I'm looking to do a clean OS install on a development server for a
project,
> and wanted to test out TU 4.0F on a AS2100. Looking at the 5.4 firmware
CD
> release notes, I noticed that 5.4 is required for 4.0F, however the latest
> firmware rev released for a AS2100 is 5.3.
>
> Has anyone tried to install 4.0F on a 2100? Have you had any success?
I'd
> like to know before I nuke a server. If I can't do it, then I'll probably
> install 4.0E and it's hundreds of patches.
===================
Paul Sand: pas_at_unh.edu
===================
I installed 4.0F on our AlphaServer 2100 4/200 yesterday, with the
firmware version on the latest CD. I'm not sure that the CD version
(5.4) and the SRM Firmware version (5.3) nevessarily have anything to
do with each other. In any case, things seemed to work OK here.
[Well... I actually had to download the firmware from ftp.digital.com,
because the LFU told me one of the images loaded off the CD was bad.]
======================
Jill Toth: tothjil_at_aquinas.edu
======================
I have a 2100 4/200 with 4.0f and the latest firmware for it - 5.3-2.
I tried 4.0e first on the server and had too many problems including
loading the patches.
==============================
Dr. Tom Blinn: tpb_at_doctor.zk3.dec.com
==============================
If the latest firmware version on the Firmware Update V5.4 CDROM media for
the
AlphaServer 2100 is rev 5.3, then that's the right firmware for Tru64 UNIX
V4.0F.
Although it might not be clear from the release notes (either those in the
CD
or those we ship with the UNIX product), the firmware revisions with which
the
Tru64 UNIX V4.0F software has been tested are the latest ones on the
Firmware
Update V5.4 CDROM media.
There are a NUMBER of firmwares on the Firmware Update V5.4 CDROM media that
have revision numbers that differ from "5.4". That's not important. All
that
matters is that you're using the then-current firmware when you update to
some
new UNIX version -- that is, use the firmware on the Firmware Update CDROM
media that shipped with the UNIX software. Using substantially older (or
for
that matter substantially newer) firmware than what was tested can, in a few
cases, lead to unpredictable or incorrect system software behavior, because
in
a few cases (and they are rare), there is some subtle interaction between
the
UNIX kernel and the firmware that depends on the right combination being on
the system. Since we don't test EVERY possible combination and attempt to
be
sure that EVERY such combination works, there is always the possibility that
an older firmware has a bug that has been fixed, and we don't work around it
in system software, and it's always possible that newer firmware has fixed a
bug that old system software tried to work around. (Don't ask how I've come
to know this stuff..)
Tom
Received on Thu Jul 22 1999 - 16:04:35 NZST