--- This is a report of an XP1000 workstation delivery by Compaq. There is a lot of text, because there are so many aspects, that need correction or that have been totally incompetently taken care of by Compaq. How Compaq makes an offer In March, 1999 we decided to buy a new workstation for molecular modelling and other scientific computing. We ended up with Compaq XP1000 as the most suitable for our purposes based on information on paper. The entire process really started on 29th of April, when we had a meeting with Compaq salesperson and we specified, what the workstation should include. We also agreed the delivery would be on week 26 (28.6 - 4.7.99). Here is the list of equipment we requested for the offer: * EV6 21264 500 MHz or better CPU * 1 GB of RAM * 4 x 9 GB, 7200 RPM UW-SCSI disks, all internal * DVD-drive, or if not possible, a CD-ROM * 21" monitor with 1600x1200 capability at 70 Hz or better * display adapter with full OpenGL support and 1600x1200 resolution or better * second display adapter with 1600x1200 resolution, no OpenGL needed * RAID controller, 2-channel, capable of RAID 5, 2 + 2 disks connected * floppy disk drive, 3,5" * DLT tape drive, 15 GB or better * Unix license and CD (media) * no installations of any software * manuals for all pieces of hardware equipment * keyboard and mouse * audio device, 44,1 kHz samplerate, 16-bit stereo or better We were told the PowerStorm 300 can do up to 1920x1600 resolution and that there is support for two adapters with PowerStorm models. However, they were not sure, whether two different models can be connected to the same computer (we asked for 4D20 or Elsa Gloria Synergy for the second one) and promised to find it out and inform us, when they send us their offer. Compaq promised the offer "in a few days". We waited a week and then we called back. After two or three more phone calls we finally received an offer from Compaq - two weeks later than promised. Here's the list of goods in the offer: * Compaq XP1000 Unix workstation, 500 MHz EV6 21264 * 1 GB of RAM * StorageWorks shelf for 8 disks * cable for the StorageWorks * 3-channel KZPAC RAID controller with battery backup * 4 x 9.1 GB 7200 RPM disks * PowerStorm 300 display adapter * Compaq P110 monitor, 21" 1600x1200 max. * tabletop DLT tape 35/70 GB * cable for the DLT * second SCSI-adapter for the DLT * country kit Looking at the offer, it is not what we requested for. We specifically asked _not_ to use any external boxes for the disks, but to install all disks internally to the XP1000 case - Compaq told us there is space for four drives in there, which is so. Then where are the CD-drive, floppy, audio, keyboard and mouse? We were able to guess the two latter are probably in the country kit. Then searching with Altavista, we found a document describing the XP1000 basic configuration and that includes the CD, audio and floppy. Also, the second display adapter was not there in this offer. They did not give any reason, why a DVD-drive could not be included. This kind of information should have been attached to the offer. Otherwise, it is not possible for the customer to decode the cryptic Compaq codes listed on the offer sheet. We had to spend about a day of extra work trying to search for information about the parts listed in the first offer. The price for the RAM was about $5000 and that of the DLT about $5500. These are outrageous prices for such equipment. Why on earth would we need a 35 GB DLT if we only have 27 GB of disk in the planned RAID configuration? Compaq did know this, we have a memo about the negotiations with Compaq on 27.4.1999. The RAM is more than three times more expensive than a reasonable street price for DIMM modules, which we did point out in a phone conversation with Compaq Finland Oy. Of course, we complained about the above offer and again, we waited for more than a week for a reply. Finally they replied with a new offer: * Compaq XP1000 Unix workstation, 500 MHz EV6 21264 * 1 GB of RAM, 8x128 MB modules * cable for the StorageWorks * 3-channel RAID controller * 4 x 9.1 GB 10000 RPM disks * PowerStorm 300 display adapter * Compaq P110 monitor, 21" 1600x1200 max. * tabletop DLT tape 20/40 GB * cable for the DLT * second SCSI-adapter for the DLT * country kit Again, the offer was not what we asked for. What are we going to do with the Storageworks cable, if we don't buy the Storageworks shelf? Also, why are the disks suddenly 10000 RPM and at twice the price (nearly $1000 apiece), when we specifically requested for 7200 RPM disks in the first place? The price for the DLT was in reasonable bounds, so we accepted the 20 GB model. Also, the RAM was only about 1,5 times more expensive than it should be, so we accepted that as well. The PS300 display adapter also suddenly cost about $300 more than in the previous offer. We accepted even that, since they told us it is the right price and the previous one was wrong. We thought this extra cost is not significant to the cost of the whole deal and accepted the explanation. At this point we were thinking if Compaq is even knowing themselves, what kind of machines they have and what are they trying to sell us. We also thought we must be crazy, when we deal with people like this, all bells were ringing and warning us this is going to be one big endless hassle. However, we still decided to pursue it, as we had arrived this far already. We wish to point out, that it is the task of the selling partner to keep contact with the customer and not vice versa. During the entire process, we have had to almost beg Compaq Finland to contact us and try to sell us something. They have been very much ignorant about our requests from the very beginning. We called Compaq for about the tenth time and asked, why is the extra cable still there? We also pointed out there was still no second display adapter in the offer. Then we asked why the more expensive disks? They couldn't give an answer and told us they'll look at it and call back later. We told them to change back the 7200 RPM drives and add a second display adapter, unless there are some technical problems with it. Compaq told us there is not. We never received any calls back, but heard only afterwards, that the disks are "part of the basic system" and the "offer would have to be completely rebuilt, if they were changed". Unfortunately, our order was placed (we were getting into a hurry) before we reached anyone, who knows some real answers and then we decided to let it be, the 10000 RPM disks _are_ faster, though not quite worth twice the price. The machine was still barely within the budget, however, we didn't _have_ to use all the money for the computer, but leave some for a slide scanner. Now, we couldn't buy the scanner at all, just some faster disks instead. The order was placed with on-site hardware installation included, not including any software installations. The warranty was extended to three years on-site, next day support. How Compaq delivers Week 26 came and went, but we did not receive the computer. We called them again asking why and got some explanations about transports, holidays, etc. etc. Then finally, the machine arrives on 8.7., but without monitor and keyboard. They arrive after a few phone calls to Compaq and five days later on 12.7. We call Compaq again and ask about the installation of the hardware. They promise to send an engineer. We wait again, but no engineer ever comes. Then we call the people in charge of this purchase and ask, whether we still wait or shall we open the case and install the parts. They tell us to go ahead and install. We open the cases and check all equipment and packing lists. Otherwise everything looks fine, but there are no microphone nor headphones, although the parts lists say they should come with the XP1000. When we call Compaq they tell us these parts are not necessarily included in all computers they sell. The question is, when are they and when not - how can one use the audio device without headphones, speakers or microphones? Why was this not told, when we ordered the computer? There were no manuals of any kind shipped with the computer, except a manual for "safe and comfortable working environment", which we really do not need for anything. The only CD-disk with the shipment was about a dozen versions old Multimedia Services CD. No O/S CD came with it, although we specifically agreed we will do all software installations ourselves. At this point, we guessed they have preinstalled the UNIX despite of our agreement and not shipped the media. Looking more carefully at the shipment, we found a slip stating, how the preinstallation was done - onto a single disk leaving half of the disk unused. At this point, alarm bells rings again. On a single disk? The machine is supposed to be in a RAID 5 configuration, how did they actually install the disks, how can the system even _find_ any disks, if they didn't install the software for the RAID? We boot the RAID configuration utility. It reports no disks are found. Then we go and open the case to see what's wrong in there. The solution is very simple: all disks had been connected into the motherboard SCSI-controller. There were no cables installed to the RAID controller. Also, the battery backup wasn't installed, but was sitting in a plastic bag in a separate packing. We installed the battery backup, but couldn't connect the disks to RAID controller, since we didn't have a second cable. Also, the motherboard controller type is LVD (which we find out by searching with Altavista) and the RAID card is single ended. The terminator at the end of the cable is different for these and we didn't have extra UW-SCSI terminators at hand. The worst of all, there were absolutely no useful manuals shipped with the system. All debugging and troubleshooting was done by searching on the Internet. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not. Compaq was of no help, they simply did not know anything useful. We e-mail Compaq and ask them to send an engineer with one internal SCSI-cable and two internal, single ended terminators and the UNIX CDs. They start telling us the RAID installation is separate from the machine and costs extra money. This sounds like cheating, it is like buying a car without tires installed and paying extra to get them installed. A week passes. We call Compaq again and they finally log a service request. The engineer calls next day and asks, what the problem is (again, we explain it, although we already sent them e-mail twice about the problem). The engineer orders the spare parts. Then he finally arrives (after a couple of days) and tells he only has one terminator. We tell him to get another one. He gets it during the same day (it _is_ possible to do something quickly and not always the next week or the one after) and arrives with the parts. He brings one _external_ SCSI-cable and two _external_ terminators! Is Compaq still thinking we have the StorageWorks box here? We call Compaq and ask for INTERNAL terminators (which we already did three times by e-mail and phone, but they still did not understand our writing or or words saying INTERNAL). They log the call and the same engineer comes the next day with the correct parts. He installs the cables, but is not able to configure the hard disks, because he has no information about them. We fetch the information from Internet, from Seagate home pages (the disks are Seagate 9LP) for him. Then he doesn't have any jumpers to set the disks to single-ended mode (they were of course in LVD mode, as they were in the motherboard controller; BTW, can you tell us, how do LVD disks operate with Tru64 UNIX?). We dig our spare part archives and give the serviceman some jumpers. Finally, we get the machine into a configuration, that we can start installing the UNIX and other software. But, there is just one problem: we do not have any UNIX CDs! They forgot to send them with the serviceman. How Compaq supports and services Again, we call Compaq to send the CDs. They send them the next day and we can start installing. First, we update the SRM Console (of course, it was an old version). Then we install UNIX and Open3D 4.9.3 and all the patches we can find on the Internet (duv0001 -set and security patches, that is). The display adapter stays at 640x480 resolution. We call Compaq and ask why, they don't know and UNIX or Open3D documentation tell us nothing. Then we go back to Altavista and search Internet. Surprise, Open3D does not include drivers for PowerStorm 300! We finally manage to get the drivers at some ftp-site, download the Open3D 4.9.5 and install it. Finally, we are able to get 1280x1024 resolution. However, we cannot get the card go up to 1600x1200 no matter what we do with -screen0 switches etc. undocumented methods, that we dig out of alpha-osf-managers mailing list archives on Internet. Once again, we call Compaq and ask why. They don't know. At this point, Compaq support is getting drastically worse. They decline almose any questions and stop replying e-mail messages in a decent time. Next, we search Internet again. In a small text in a PDF file we find, that PowerStorm 300 only supports up to 1280x1024. A $2000 card cannot do better and we were told it can do 1920x1600! And we have two of these in the machine in question. About the two monitor support, we cannot get windows to the other monitor, only the screensaver works on both CRTs. We install PanoramiX, after searching the Internet once again (Compaq didn't know anything, what to do). PanoramiX only gives an error message "Cannot find display adapters" or similar and monitors stay black in text mode. We call Compaq and they don't know anything. We search with Altavista and find a PDF-file. In that file, we find with a small print in a footnote: "PowerStorm 300 in Tru64 Unix only works as separate screens, PanoramiX is not supported." They sell us a system with no software support! Are we supposed to code the drivers ourselves? This information should have been very clear at the very beginning of the process. We would have saved about a week worth of work and many calls back to Compaq. In addition, we would not have ordered two display adapters, had we known there is really no support for them. We go on setting up the system, as it is late by months. The installation of the UNIX goes fine, but the installation of some subsets hang the machine up. We troubleshoot the machine for about a week, until we find out the CD-ROM is causing the problems. The machine does not reboot, but hangs to some strange CAM SCSI error messages, if CD-ROM is attached to the system. When we pull the data cable out of the IDE-controller, all problems vanish. We cannot imagine a reputable company like Compaq could ever plug an AT-IDE device into a $25000 computer system. This indicates a fair degree of incompetency. If the CD-drive is used under heavy load, the machine panics or hangs. This apparently happens, because the IDE CD inhibits the use of SCSI-bus. Then the use of swap is inhibited, the kernel thinks the disks are unaccessible and halts the system. Again, we call Compaq service and tell them to come and replace the CD-ROM to a SCSI CD-ROM. They do nothing. We e-mail again and they suggest us to install the latest patches. We tell them this was done before anything else. Only after some calls from our financial department they agree to change the CD. To date, they haven't sent any CD-drive nor engineers nor even contacted us, we are still waiting for them to repair this machine - almost two weeks has passed from their promises by the time of writing of this text. The display problem still persists. We cannot get anything onto the second monitor, because there isn't software support for it. Compaq hasn't done anything to fix that. We have given them two options: exchange the two PS300s to one PS350 _or_ get us a license of X-big-X (http://www.x-software.com/Software/Xbigx/info.english.html) software, which does have a driver to handle two screens. A third option is of course, that we return this workstation and get one from some manufacturer, who can do a more decent job with it. We wish the hardware was the only problem, but no. Many system libraries are missing and cannot be found anywhere on the installation CDs (libdps.so, libnls, for instance). A lot of software, that compile out of the box on EV56 21164 Tru64 Unix 4.0f, does not compile on XP1000 with the same O/S version. This is random, some packages compile fine, some do not. New problems are found almost every day and for some of them we have found workarounds. Software from Tru64 Unix 4.0e often does not work as such, but complains of some missing library or program symbol. In addition to that, the user interface is poor and its maintenance is a pain compared to any other vendor's CDE implementations. For instance, to update the bug-infested netscape shipped with the system to the latest version and integrate it to CDE, one has to go in and edit some Xresource files or unconditionally overwrite the system netscape installation. The latter is not a good choice, since it can inhibit patch installation or cause similar problems later. The above procedure is about as difficult as it can get - decent systems allow such changes by clicking some CDE icons and filling in graphical forms. Most of the administration tools under CDE are a bad joke, that gives cryptic error messages when started. Alternatively, they start a text window with a text based tool in it - what is the point, you could enter such commands from command line in a terminal window. Regarding CDE and user interface, Compaq is where others were in the days of the birth of CDE. The networking software in Tru64 Unix is almost unusable for any serious work. Automounter is archaic, there is no NFS buffering capability (CacheFS or equivalent), no routing possibility within the same subnetwork, no possibility to do NAT (IP masquerading) either, modem support is very poor, etc. etc. etc. CD-ROM support is archaic. First one looks at /dev -directory and guesses, which one of the cryptic rz-codes means cd-rom. Then you log in as root and mount the correct node manually, not forgetting the -o ro -switch, it is self evident, of course. When you mount the CD, you have to guess, whether there is a filesystem on some of the subpartitions or is it a filesystem directly on the raw device rz?c. Normally, there are no documentation or instructions how to do this. On competitive systems, you insert the CD and wait a few seconds. Then a file manager pops up on your screen and the CD is mounted somewhere, that you don't have to care about, you only access the files with your mouse clicks. When you finish, you press the eject button on the file manager, CD ejects automatically from the drive and file manager window disappears. As a last issue, Compaq Finland seems to know far less about Compaq equipment than we do. It is usually expected the manufacturer or importer is the main source of information in all technical matters regarding their equipment. In this case, this does not hold, but we have been forced to search for information everywhere else but Compaq Finland Oy. To summarize: the purchase of the XP1000 workstation was one big mistake and we are already considering of calling the deal and getting some other workstation in replacement. Compaq has: * failed several times to give us a proper offer according to our request * failed to state, whether there are technical problems in any configuration we requested for * directly lied us about the capabilities of the system in question in several aspects. In a courtroom, this would be deemed a fraud. * tried to sell us the most expensive equipment available even if a more economical solution is as good or better. We can also call this an attempt to fraud. * failed to correct their mistakes and repair the equipment * failed to fulfill the terms of our warranty agreement (on-site, next day support) * failed to deliver the equipment in time * failed to deliver all components (this hasn't been corrected even yet) * failed to supply us with necessary documentation * failed to supply us with software needed to run the equipment and that is included with the system * failed to install the hardware contrary to agreement * delayed all replies beyond reasonable amounts of time * failed to deliver the equipment in a working condition * refused to replace defective parts * failed to give us any useful support regarding hardware, software or any other matter concerning the equipment All this happened with Compaq Finland Oy and Novosys Oy, through whom Compaq delivered the machine. Novosys immediately called all responsibility and told us to contact Compaq Finland Oy in all questions. Yours, Arno Hahma University of Turku Department of Chemistry SF-20014 TURKU FINLAND E-mail: arno_at_utu.fi Phone: +358 2 333 6757 FAX: +358 2 333 6700 -- ArNO 2Received on Mon Aug 09 1999 - 20:15:59 NZST
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