Ron Heiby (The Moderator) <unix-request@cbosgd.UUCP> (03/25/85)
Unix Technical Digest Mon, 25 Mar 85 Volume 1 : Issue 30
Today's Topics:
Amdahl UTS/V Product Announcment
Hardware update for VAX-11/750
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 85 22:49:45 PST
From: ihnp4!amdahl!gam (G A Moffett)
Subject: Amdahl UTS/V Product Announcment
[ This is the text of the official product announcement for
Amdahl's UTS/V, a System V Release 2 Unix system for 370
architectures. Please direct further questions to the address
at the end, or mail to ihnp4!amdahl!nzm10 (Neal Macklin) ]
AMDAHL ANNOUNCES
UTS/V
Release 1
A UNIX-based Operating System for VM/SP
January 21, 1985
Amdahl's UTS/V[1] program product allows the functions of Unix[2]
System V Release 2 operating system to be supported on Amdahl
and Amdahl-compatible mainframes under the VM/System Product
(VM/SP) control program.
Running under VM/SP allows UTS/V to share the resources of the
mainframe with other operating systems. UTS/V includes the
facilities of the UNIX operating system, plus enhancements
for the large mainframe environment.
It provides the program portability which is a key factor in
the success of UNIX. Programs written in the portable C,
Fortran, or Pascal languages which conform to the appropriate
standards should operate with few or no changes following
compilation in the UTS/V Environment.
Highlights
==========
UTS/V contains several additions to the features contained in
UNIX System V Release 2. These additions include:
+ Enhancements to the system administration and operations
facilities for the large mainframe environment.
+ Support for 3270-style terminals and other S/370 peripheral
devices.
+ A demand paging system which allows efficient sharing of
real storage by multiple users.
+ The UNIX Documenter's Workbench software[3].
UTS/V also contains several enhancements over UTS Release 2,
Amdahl's earlier UNIX-based product. These enhancements
include:
+ Support for UNIX System V Release 2.
+ Full-duplex ASCII device support allowing the use
of common UNIX System V programs, such as vi,
uucp, and cu. This enhancement requires that
Amdahl's UTS/F product also be installed.
Features
========
UTS/V features include:
+ A powerful command language that gives the user
access to over 250 commands and programs.
+ A hierarchical file structure which provides flexibility
in the manipulation of data and data structures.
+ Full-screen editing capabilities for 3270 terminals
with the ned editor.
+ Full-screen editing capabilities for ASCII terminals
with the vi editor[4].
+ Support for the C, Fortran, and Pascal languages.
+ Asynchronous processing which allows the user to execute
multiple parallel tasks from a single terminal session.
+ Text processing capabilities which aid the user in
document preparation for both line printers and
computerized typesetters.
+ Up to 16 megabytes of virtual storage for each user
process.
+ Communication with a network of UNIX machines through
the use of the uucp software[4].
+ Communication with a network of MVS and VM machines
through RJE support within UTS/V and the RSCS facilities
of the host VM/SP system.
+ An accounting system that allows charging of users by
resource consumption.
+ A simple device-independent I/O interface that allows
the same program to communicate with a peripheral
device, a user at a terminal, or another user program.
+ Convenient full-screen access to 3270 terminals from user
developed programs with the Quickscreen facility.
+ Convenient full-screen access to ASCII terminals from
user-developed programs with the curses/terminfo
facility[4].
+ A session manager that allows a 3270 terminal user to
control multiple UTS/V terminal sessions from one
physical terminal.
UTS/V supersedes Amdahl's earlier UTS Release 2 product which
is no longer offered. Support will be provided for UTS Release
2 through September 20, 1985.
Applications Software
=====================
A number of software companies offer applications software packages
for use with UTS/V, including relational database systems, graphics
software, and office automation tools. Contact your local
Amdahl marketing representative for a current list of these
companies and their software packages.
Sales Facts
===========
Software Environment
--------------------
UTS/V Release 1 is supported under VM/SP (5664-167) Release 3
with or without the VM/SP High Performance Option (VM/HPO,
5664-173) Release 3.2. Support for other more current VM/SP
(and VM/HPO) releases will be provided in future UTS/V
releases.
Hardware Environment
--------------------
UTS/V Release 1 is supported on any Amdahl or Amdahl-compatible
processor running VM/SP. A minimum of 4 megabytes of real
storage and 200 megabytes of disk storage are required. A
6-megabyte virtual machine is recommended.
Packaging Information
---------------------
Customers ordering UTS/V receive the product on magnetic tape.
When ordering, customers should specify either 1600 or 6250
BPI tape.
Documentation
-------------
The UTS General Information Manual (M1164) contains further
information on UTS/V and the companion product UTS/F. A set
of user guides and reference manuals is provided with the
product. These documents will be available at product
general availability.
Education
---------
Classes in UTS/V usage and systems administration are available
through Amdahl's Education and Professional Services Division.
For more information, call toll-free (800) 538-8460, extension
6393 from outside California, or (408) 746-6393, collect from
within California.
Licensing and Pricing
---------------------
UTS/V (4SU0-F2-V) is licensed under an Amdahl UTS Software
License Agreement and is provided in both binary and source
code versions. Both versions provide the user with a
complete UTS/V system. A customer who wishes to license
the source code version of UTS/V must first obtain source
licenses for UNIX System V Release 2, and the UNIX
Documenter's Workbench from AT&T Software Sales and
Marketing, for the processor on which UTS/V will be used.
European customers obtain these UNIX Software licenses
from UNIX Europe, Ltd.
A customer who wishes to license the binary version is not
required to obtain a license from AT&T as a prerequisite.
Pricing information for all UTS products is provided in
the UTS Software Price List. New UTS/V installations are
allowed a 30-day test period prior to commencement of
license fees.
Support and Service
-------------------
The license fee for UTS/V includes central support. European
customers receive support through their local Amdahl office.
Specific service activities are set forth in the Amdahl UTS
Software License Agreement.
Periodic maintenance updates with corrections to UTS/V code will
be sent at no additional charge to licensed user of record at
the time of the update.
Availability and Delivery
-------------------------
UTS/V will be available for general distribution in the second
quarter of 1985.
At general availability, shipment of UTS/V will occur within
15 days after receipt by Amdahl of the appropriate executed
license agreements.
For more information about UTS/V and other Amdahl products,
contact your local Amdahl marketing representative.
Amdahl Corporation
1250 East Arques Avenue
P O Box 3470
Sunnyvale, CA 94088-3470
408/746-SOFT
--
[1] UTS is a trademark of Amdahl Corporation.
[2] UNIX is a trademark of AT&T Bell Laboratories.
[3] Documenter's Workbench is a trademark of AT&T Technologies.
[4] Use of this feature is dependent on the full-duplex
ASCII support provided by Amdahl's UTS/F product.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 85 11:27:07 est
From: allegra!phri!roy (Roy Smith)
Subject: Hardware update for VAX-11/750
A few weeks ago I posted a question to net.unix-wizards asking about the
required update to hardware version 7 for VAX-11/750's. A summary of the
responses follows. In a nutshell, it seems that the upgrade kit we had
was one of many with DOA boards, and that I should have field service try
again with known good boards.
The question still remains: once I get the hardware upgraded, do I have
to load the new micro-code? If so, do I do it once (i.e. is it in eeprom
or such) or need I do it every time I power-up (or every time I boot)?
I'm also still confused as to why the upgraded CPU passed diags, but
refused to boot at all (are the micro daigs that bad?)
> From: Mike Minnich <rna!seismo!mminnich@udel-huey.ARPA>
> Offhand, I would say that the FCO was not installed correctly.
> ... adds a patchable control store option ... the revision level of the
> microcode is not changed unless you load the new ucode supplied with the FCO.
>
> When ours was installed, we did not yet have the modifications to
> /boot or an on-line copy of the PCS ucode. The machine came right
> up without any problems.
> From: vax135!alice!norman (norman wilson)
> at least two of our machines exhibited a peculiar bug before the upgrade
> (specious traps every once in a while on pushes near the end of a page),
> and were cured by the upgrade. moreover, rev 7 is alleged to help the
> long-standing translation buffer problem. it will also probably be hard
> to get spares when your not-rev-7 machine breaks. i'd recommend that
> you get DEC to install it, and install it right.
>
> it's also worth noting that the system will run happily without the loadable
> microcode; i.e. you don't have to boot the diagnostic supervisor every time
> you power off the system.
> From: vax135!decvax!ucbvax!UCBJADE!ucbtopaz:mwm
> Were I was previously, we went to rev 7 with no problem. The system
> would *not* finish running /etc/rc if we didn't load the microcode, though.
> You might verify that you've got the correct microcode loaded (boot the
> micro diagnostics supervisor, then boot Unix).
>
> The correct contact is ucbvax!mtxinu!ea!kel if you want to quiz him about
> the problem.
> From: rna!cmcl2!acf4!tihor (Stephen Tihor)
> No real problems in fact it fixed a Translation Buffer problem that was
> preventing us from dumping from our RA81 to our TU80 on our single Unibus.
> From: vax135!philabs!hao!pag (Peter Gross)
> Rev. 7 is absolutely necessary to fix some annoying hardware bugs on the
> 750. There are two probable sources of your problem:
> 1. One or more of the the Rev. 7 boards was defective. If so, diagnostics
> would show that. [[note by phri!roy: it passed diags]]
> 2. You failed to get the new microcode loaded. I have mods (from Jim
> McKie) that will update the microcode at boottime if you want them.
> From: ihnp4!uiucdcs!irwin (Al Irwin)
> The upgrade adds a PCS, (programable control store), and you have to alter
> the boot and add the micro code. This was successfully done in the
> Netherlands, and has been passed around.
>
> You can contact Jim if you have any problems.
>
>> From: philabs!mcvax!jim (Jim McKie)
>> The engineer said that Rev7 was having a lot of problems with
>> bad boards, but they were slowly getting on top of the problem.
>>
>> Feel free if you have any problems with the boot stuff, but it's been
>> installed on a whole bunch of machines in Europe now without any problem
>> (DEC have a TU58 I made with the fixes which they give to UNIX sites
>> when they do the upgrade).
------------------------------
End of Unix Technical Digest
******************************
--
Ronald W. Heiby / ihnp4!{wnuxa!heiby|wnuxb!netnews}
AT&T Information Systems, Inc.
Lisle, IL (CU-D21)