tarvaine@tukki.jyu.fi (Tapani Tarvainen) (05/27/90)
(This time I'm quite happy with the Technical Support, who indeed tried heroically to do the impossible -- it's the salespeople who promise impossible things I'm whining about.) The story: HP Finland sold as an HP9000/834 to be used as a diskless workstation, with our 835 as server. (I didn't handle the deal, but I know that it was explicitly asked if it can be used as diskless, indeed repeatedly after reading in HP-UX 7.0 Release Notes that 815 is the only series 800 machine that can). I started installing the thing on Friday (or rather, making a diskless out of it -- hardwarewise it was ready); after a while I concluded it was beyond me, as the manual only spoke about 815s. So I called local HP service; the guy there said "I've never done that with an 834 -- you better call the wizards in Espoo [HP Finland HQ]." Which I did: The wizard who returned my call said he'd never done it either (hadn't even known it could be done), but it shouldn't be too different from the 815. He tried to help me through the process, but before we got very far he said he'd better get someone who really knows how it's done. A couple of hours later I got another call, this time from England; again an attempt to guide me through the process: "But I can't find such a template for the 834." "It should be there ... wait, I'll call you again." The second call came pretty quickly: "There seems to be some confusion here. The 834 can't be used as a diskless." The moral: Salesmen don't know what they're talking about. Which they'll hear on Monday; but I'm not sure what to suggest them, besides "take it away and return our money", so: The questions: - Is there another model, otherwise equivalent to the 834, that can be used as diskless? - Will it be possible to use the 834 as diskless in the near future (with HP-UX 8.0, a new boot rom, whatever)? - Is there any chance to make the 834 work as diskless now (even if it is unsupported)? Any other suggestions what to do would also be welcome (buying a disk has already been suggested). -- Tapani Tarvainen (tarvaine@jyu.fi, tarvainen@finjyu.bitnet)
mck@hpcuhc.HP.COM (Doug McKenzie) (06/07/90)
>The questions: >- Is there another model, otherwise equivalent to the 834, that >can be used as diskless? Unfortunately, the only series 800s that can be used as diskless are 808 and 815. >- Will it be possible to use the 834 as diskless in the near future >(with HP-UX 8.0, a new boot rom, whatever)? I don't think it's likely in the near future, though I have no real knowledge about this. >- Is there any chance to make the 834 work as diskless now >(even if it is unsupported)? Not a chance. None of the CIO machines (e.g. 834) run as diskless nodes. This is why the HP-PB 808 and 815 are the only S800's to support diskless. Note the HP-PB 822, 832 however, are not runnable as diskless. >Any other suggestions what to do would also be welcome (buying a disk >has already been suggested). I'm not really competent to discuss the series 300 in terms of offering what you need, but perhaps some 300 diskless machine would do a serviceable job. >Tapani Tarvainen (tarvaine@jyu.fi, tarvainen@finjyu.bitnet) I'm sorry you had to go through this. Doug McKenzie Series 800 HP-UX Support Standard disclaimer: My words here don't reflect any HP official or corporate recommendation or commitment.