Chronic DEC Hardware Problems

[utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!unix-wizards]

>From menlo70!sytek!rob at Berkeley Tue Nov 17 20:06:29 1981
Re: wales at UCLA-Security comments on chronic DEC ...

    How many times have we heard "If you were running VMS, we could look
at the ERRLOG ..." rhetoric.

    The current mainstay to the DEC preventive maintenance  program  for
field  support  via  DEC Support is VMS and UEPT if your are VAXen folk.
The first level support personnel's only connection to understanding the
11/780  or  11/750  hardware  problems  comes from the little diagnostic
messages from the VSM/OS or the UEPT diagnostic.  If  they  cannot  find
with these, they may even attempt to run stand alone diagnostics if they
know how.  (This may sound like a flame, but I am not joking).

    Now for additional fun  you  must  add  third-party  hardware  like,
National memory boards, Emulex and Able controllers and CDC disk drives.
Next mix the above 4.1BSD VM/UNIX  and  stir  until  your  DEC  CE  crys
*uncle*.  Sound familiar?

    Don't give up hope if you find yourself between the hard  place  and
the  rock.  The  only  thing  that is lacking for your local DEC support
types is a little UNIX education.  I have had  a  lot  of  success  with
showing  them  simple  things  like machine-check printouts and how they
dump all processor handbook registers.  For the lack of ERRLOG, why  not
lead  them  to  DMESG(8)  printouts  and  show them that UNIX does track
hardware errors.

    The point of the education is that UNIX is as mature  about  machine
operation  as VMS or RSX which will help in gaining CE understanding and
acceptance of your installation.

    Enjoy,
    Rob Cardoza <ucbvax!menlo70!sytek!rob>