nomdenet@rand-unix@sri-unix.UUCP (06/09/83)
We are trying to bring up a VAX-11/780 under 4.1aBSD UNIX with three Able single-board DH/DM lookalikes, but we're having problems: On output, all three boards drop (single?) characters once in a while. Using a full-screen editor on Ann-Arbor Ambassador terminals set up to display 48 lines, charac- ters are dropped about three times when redrawing the full screen. Redrawing several times in a row shows that the characters are dropped at roughly the same places in the order stream. Has anybody else run into this problem? If so, have you solved it, and could you tell us your secret? We're running practically plain-vanilla 4.1a straight off the distribution tape; are there fixes to the TTY drivers or to the DH/DM drivers that might pertain? Are the current run of Able DH/DM boards functioning perfectly well in UNIX systems? Three or four months ago we brought up an 11/750, again under 4.1a, again with an Able single-board DH/DM lookalike -- and this one has worked perfectly from the time we first installed it. We can take this old board and one of the new ones, put them side by side in the 780's Unibus box, and the old one works while the new one doesn't. We're talking with Able; they're quite cooperative, but it's slow going. They've found us a back-level board that's almost but not quite from the same production run as our working one. This latter one is better than the newest one, dropping characters only once when redrawing the full screen, but close counts only in horseshoes. Able says that our 4-month old working board and the back-level board should be identical, but I found rework on our working board that's not on the "almost" board. Able is checking into the effects of this difference, and that's where things stand today. We would greatly appreciate any and all help. Details: Working board Back-level board Newest boards Serial numbers 2761 2448 3736, 3758, 3943 Revision levels PC layout H5 H6 K6 etch 10103002 rev A 10103002 rev A 10103002 rev B firmware E4 E4 E4 Early on Able said that our problem might be fixed by their latest version of firmware, so they sent us an up-to-date loaner board, but it worked no better than our original three boards. (Loaner board serial number 755; PC- layout revision H6; etch revision 10103002 rev A; firmware revision F5.) A. R. White The Rand Corporation (213) 393-0411, x7997 office x444 messages