OpenVMS ALPBOOT12_062 Alpha V6.2 BOOT ECO Summary
NOTE: An OpenVMS saveset or PCSI installation file is stored
on the Internet in a self-expanding compressed file.
The name of the compressed file will be kit_name-dcx_vaxexe
for OpenVMS VAX or kit_name-dcx_axpexe for OpenVMS Alpha.
Once the file is copied to your system, it can be expanded
by typing RUN compressed_file. The resultant file will
be the OpenVMS saveset or PCSI installation file which
can be used to install the ECO.
Copyright (c) Digital Equipment Corporation 1998. All rights reserved.
OP/SYS: DIGITAL OpenVMS Alpha
COMPONENT: BOOT
SOURCE: Digital Equipment Corporation
ECO INFORMATION:
ECO Kit Name: ALPBOOT12_062
ECO Kits Superseded by This ECO Kit: ALPBOOT11_062
ALPBOOT10_062
ALPBOOT09_062
ALPBOOT08_062
ALPBOOT07_062 (Never Released
for Consumption)
ALPBOOT06_062
ALPBOOT05_062
ALPBOOT04_062
ALPBOOT03_062
ALPBOOT02_062
ALPBOOT01_062
ALPAPB01_062 (ALPAPB)
ECO Kit Approximate Size: 1350 Blocks
Kit Applies To: OpenVMS Alpha V6.2, V6.2-1H1, V6.2-1H2, V6.2-1H3
System/Cluster Reboot Necessary: Yes
Rolling Reboot Supported: Yes
Installation Rating: 3 - To be installed on all systems running
the listed versions of OpenVMS which
are experiencing the problems described.
Kit Dependencies:
The following remedial kit(s) must be installed BEFORE
installation of this kit:
ALPCLUSIO01_062
In order to receive all the corrections listed in this
kit, the following remedial kits should also be installed:
None
NOTE: There are no new ECO problem corrections in this kit. If you
have installed the ALPBOOT10_062 or ALPBOOT11_062 remedial kit,
you do not need to install the ALPBOOT12_062 remedial kit.
ECO KIT SUMMARY:
An ECO kit exists for BOOT on OpenVMS Alpha V6.2 through V6.2-1H3.
This kit addresses the following problems:
Problems Addressed in the ALPBOOT12_062 Kit:
o The formatting of the section titled "Support the use of the
"dump_dev" environmental variable." was incorrect, which made
the section unreadable. This formatting has been fixed.
Problems Addressed in the ALPBOOT11_062 Kit:
o The ALPBOOT10_062 remedial kit required that the ALPCLUSIO01_062
kit be installed. If the user tried to install the ALPBOOT10_062
kit on a system that had both the ALPCLUSIO01_062 and OpenVMS Alpha
Y2K remedial kits installed, the ALPBOOT10_062 kit did not recognize
that the ALPCLUSIO01_062 kit had been installed. This caused the
ALPBOOT10_062 installation to fail.
Problems Addressed in the ALPBOOT10_062 Kit:
o Some images in the the ALPBOOT09_062 kit had an installation
conflict with the ALPCLUSIO01_062 remedial kit. This kit resolves
that conflict. Since the ALPCLUSIO01_062 kit contained newer images,
the images in question have been removed from the ALPBOOT10_062 kit.
Problems Addressed in the ALPBOOT09_062 Kit:
o If a system is upgraded from V6.1 from V6.2, the KITINSTAL.COM
procedure in kits that require the ALPCLUSIO01_062 remedial kit
to be installed first do not properly verify that the
ALPCLUSIO01_062 remedial kit has previously been installed.
o While booting, the system crashes during driver loading. This
is caused by a corrupt driver prologue table for a previously
loaded driver.
Problems Addressed in the ALPBOOT08_062 Kit:
o The ALPBOOT07_062 kit contained incorrect build identifications
within the images which could have prevented the images from being
installed. This kit, ALPBOOT08_062, contains the correct build
identifications and fixes the problem.
Problems Addressed in the ALPBOOT07_062 Kit:
o KITINSTAL does not insure that the ALPCLUSIO01_062 kit is
installed on the system.
Problems Addressed in the ALPBOOT06_062 Kit:
o This kit provides the necessary files to support the DE500-AA
Fast EtherWORKS PCI 10/100 adapter under the OpenVMS Alpha
V6.2 Operating System and the associated V6.2 hardware
releases. These hardware releases include OpenVMS Alpha
V6.2-1H1, V6.2-1H2, and V6.2-1H3. This allows OpenVMS Alpha
V6.2* users to take advantage of the newest generation Fast
Ethernet adapter from Digital Equipment Corporation without
requiring a total operating system upgrade. The DE500-AA
supersedes the DE500-XA which is currently supported by
OpenVMS Alpha V6.2.
Note: OpenVMS Alpha V7.1 also includes support for the
DE500-AA. The DE500-XA will be retired by the
end of March, 1997. (Please refer to the ALPHA
qualified options list to confirm support for your
particular CPU.)
The combination of this TIMA kit and the DE500-AA provides a
form, fit, and functionally equivalent PCI to Fast Ethernet
adapter to the DE500-XA on OpenVMS Alpha V6.2 host CPUs. In
addition, the DE500-AA adapter implements industry standard
auto-negotiation for 10 or 100 Mbps and for half or full
duplex, and includes a socket for optional ROM support. Both
the DE500-XA and the DE500-AA utilize a single RJ45 connector
for connection to either a 10 or 100 Mbps Ethernet network.
These adapters support full duplex Ethernet communication when
connected to a cooperating full duplex-compatible device.
You must ensure that the connected device supports full duplex
mode before forcing this feature, or serious network problems
can result. If auto-negotiate mode is used, this is not a
concern, as the hardware will determine the duplex capability
of the connected device.
DE500-AA Boot Device Driver (SYS$EWBTDRIVER.EXE)
This driver adds support for the DE500-AA and continues to
support the PCI Ethernet adapters that were previously
supported by OpenVMS Alpha V6.2. This includes the DE500-XA,
DE450, and the DE435. All these devices show up under the
Operating System as EWx0, where x is the controller letter
(e.g., A, B, C).
This new driver supports DE500-AA booting over twisted pair
media at speeds of 10 and 100 mbits/sec, full or half duplex,
and with auto negotiation. The DE500-XA supports booting over
twisted pair media at speeds of 10 and 100 mbits/sec half
duplex.
For each EW device recognized by the console there is a
console environment variable called EWx0_MODE that must be
correctly set to select the appropriate operating mode. The
environment variable is set with the console command:
>>> SET EWx0_MODE media_selection
Where x is the controller letter (e.g., A, B, C) and
media_selection is one of the following:
Twisted-Pair
Full Duplex, Twisted-Pair
AUI
BNC
Fast
FastFD (Full Duplex)
Auto-Negotiate
Note: An Alpha system console may assign a controller
letter to an adapter differently from OpenVMS.
It is recommended that the user issue a SHOW
CONFIGURATION command at the console to determine
the correct letter designation for each adapter.
Restrictions
------------
1. The ALPBOOT06_062 kit CANNOT be installed if the
ALPCLUSIO01_062 Cluster Compatibility Kit for mixed
V6.2 and V7.1 systems was previously installed. If
it is, driver functionality will be lost. The Cluster
Compatibility Kit is currently under development and
will be released at a later date.
2. If the ALPBOOT06_062 kit is installed the ALPLAN04_062
kit MUST also be installed.
3. The system firmware must be at a revision level that
supports the DE500-AA for boot support. The Alpha
Firmware CD V3.8 or later has the required support
for each applicable system type.
o The ALPBOOT05_062 kit had an error in the .VUI file that
was used to install the EXEC_INIT.EXE image. This error
did not affect installation of this image but could have
had an impact as future kits were released.
Problems Addressed in the ALPBOOT05_062 Kit:
o The ALPBOOT04_062 kit experienced errors during the
installation process that kept some images from
being moved to their final directory locations.
Problems Addressed in the ALPBOOT04_062 Kit:
o Alpha 8200/8400 systems are not generating crash dumps to
FDDI-served system disks.
This problem is corrected in OpenVMS Alpha V7.0.
Problems Addressed in the ALPBOOT03_062 Kit:
o $UNWIND sometimes unwinds to the last program counter. This problem
will be seen by customers who use ACMSxp on OpenVMS Alpha V6.2.
This problem is corrected in OpenVMS Alpha V7.0
o This kit contains images that support the use of the "dump_dev"
environmental variable. This variable is used to locate the system
disk, when the crash dump file must be written. If the variable is
not populated, or does not exist, the current behavior of using the
"booted_dev" as the device to access the sysdump.dmp file is used.
The "bootdef_dev" variable should list both paths to the system boot
device. Therefore if the boot device should move between
controllers, the console will be able to locate it and boot the
system.
The "dump_dev" variable should also list both paths to the system
boot device, as the "bootdef_dev" variable does. This will enable
the bug check code to locate the boot device.
If the system disk is a two member shadow set, both paths to both
devices should be stored in "dump_dev" and in "bootdef_dev".
For example, shown below is the results of executing the "sho dev"
and "show *" commands, with a two member shadowed system disk:
>>> sho dev
polling for units on cixcd0, slot 2, xmi0...
Resetting IO subsystem...
·
·
·
dua206.4.0.2.3 $4$DUA206 (RED70A) RA72
dua229.4.0.2.3 $4$DUA229 (RED70A) RA72
·
·
·
polling for units on cixcd1, slot 4, xmi0...
dub206.7.0.4.3 $4$DUA206 (GRN70A) RA72
·
·
·
polling for units on cixcd1, slot 4, xmi0...
dub229.4.0.4.3 $4$DUA229 (GRN70B) RA72
>>>
>>> show *
auto_action HALT
·
·
·
bootdef_dev dub206.7.0.4.3,dua206.4.0.2.3,dua229.4.0.2.`
dub229.4.0.4.3
·
·
·
dump_dev dub206.7.0.4.3,dua206.4.0.2.3,dua229.4.0.2.`
dub229.4.0.4.3
·
·
·
version T4.3-4740 Jun 14 1995 15:16:38
>>>
Problems Addressed in the ALPBOOT02_062 Kit:
o The DE205 boot driver periodically requires a timeout and reset.
This causes boot times to be extended by a factor of 20.
o Shutting down or forcing a crash on a satellite that is booted from
a shadowed system disk produces the following error message but no
dump file:
**** Cannot use unit 0, not the master member of the system
disk shadow set
o Crash dumps will not occur if DUMP_DEV is specified but SYSINIT has
not yet run to complete the system disk data.
o When a system disk fails over to an alternate path (HSC), crashdumps
are not written, but the system reboots successfully.
Problems Addressed in the ALPBOOT01_062 Kit for OpenVMS Alpha V6.2:
o Digital has determined that a condition exists in some PCI-Ethernet
interfaces in which there is an extremely remote possibility for
data corruption during network transmission. Digital has received
no customer complaints to date, but rather first encountered the
problem during internal product testing and analysis. This specific
condition exists when the PCI interface is set to a DMA burst length
of 0 or 32 longwords. Using a DMA burst length of 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16
longwords will eliminate this condition. To address this concern,
Digital is making available a driver patch and considers its
installation mandatory for all affected systems and options to
optimize data integrity. No hardware modification or replacement is
necessary.
This condition only exists under the Digital UNIX operating system
V3.2C and OpenVMS Alpha V6.1 (and variants, i.e. V6.1-1H1, V6.1-1H2)
and V6.2. Higher-level protocols and layered applications may, in
fact, detect the corruption and retry the data transmission with
some negligible affect on data throughput. Windows NT has a default
setting of 16 longwords for the DMA burst length. This does not
pose a risk unless a customer were to change this setting.
The system and option products from Digital that are impacted by
this condition include:
DE434 PCI-Ethernet option AlphaServer 400 system
DE435 PCI-Ethernet option AlphaServer 1000 system
DE450 PCI-Ethernet option AlphaServer 2000 system
AlphaStation 200 system AlphaServer 2100 system
AlphaStation 250 system AlphaServer 8200 system
AlphaStation 400 system AlphaServer 8400 system
AlphaStation 600 system
For OpenVMS Alpha users, this condition exists in V6.1 (and
variants) and V6.2. Digital plans on providing the corrected driver
in all OpenVMS Alpha factory installed software as of early December
and in the V6.2-1H1 hardware release and the V7.0 release scheduled
for distribution in January 1996, as well. Because the OpenVMS
operating system drivers have this parameter hard coded, it is not
possible to change it without loading a new driver.
o The selection of 10 and 100 megabits/second and full-duplex
operation using LANCP does not work. Normally, the device driver
autoselects the speed, first attempting 100 and then switching to 10
megabit operation on failure. If no cable is connected, 10 megabit
operation is selected and a LANCP SET SPEED command is necessary to
force 100 megabit operation. The device driver does not implement
the SET SPEED command correctly. In addition, it does not implement
the SET DEVICE/FULL_DUPLEX command correctly, thus does not allow
the selection of full-duplex operation. These problems are
corrected for the DE500 driver, to allow speed and full-duplex
settings to be modified via LANCP commands.
This problem is fixed in OpenVMS Alpha V7.0.
o The media autoselection for the DE450, between twisted pair
(10baseT), thinwire (10base2), and thickwire (10base5), does not
work for any selection other than twisted pair. Note that the
device driver the DE450 driver does autoselection of the media
connection, selecting twisted pair, then thickwire, then thinwire,
switching on failure. If no cable is connected, the driver selects
thinwire. To change the cable selection, refer to the LANCP
documentation for the SET DEVICE/MEDIA command.
This problem is fixed in OpenVMS Alpha V7.0.
o Add DE450 and DE500 boot support. Note that the DE450 does not use
a jumper to switch between 10base2 (thinwire) and 10base5
(thickwire). To select thinwire at the console prompt for boot
purposes, set the EWA0_MODE console environment variable to BNC. To
select thickwire, set the variable to AUI.
This problem is fixed in OpenVMS Alpha V7.0.
o Add DE203, DE204, DE205 boot support for the AlphaStation 200 and
400 systems. Booting is supported only for a module set to the
default parameters, I/O port address of 300 (hex) and memory base
address of D0000 (hex).
This problem is fixed in OpenVMS Alpha V7.0.
Problems Addressed in the ALPAPB01_062 Kit for OpenVMS Alpha V6.2:
o The primitive file system used during booting of OpenVMS Alpha
cannot locate files whose file number is greater than 65536.
Depending on the phase of the boot, this can result in an access
violation (ACCVIO) or a message such as:
%SYSINIT-F-LOADERR,error loading RMS.EXE status=00000044
This problem is fixed in OpenVMS Alpha V7.0.
INSTALLATION NOTES:
The images in this kit will not take effect until the system is
rebooted.
If you have other nodes in your VMS cluster, they must also be
rebooted in order to make use of the new image(s). If it is not
possible or convenient to reboot the entire cluster at this time, a
Files on this server are as follows:
alpboot12_062.README
alpboot12_062.CHKSUM
alpboot12_062.CVRLET_TXT
alpboot12_062.a-dcx_axpexe
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