rbw@rti.UUCP (Bob Warren) (08/08/89)
In a previous posting we reported the following problem: >We have a DILOG SQ703A tape controller with an Exabyte 8mm tape drive >(prom 4$22) attached to VAXstation II running Ultrix 3.1. Under Ultrix >2.2, the Exabyte worked perfectly, but since we upgraded to Ultrix 3.x >it has not worked very well. It understands commands like "mt -f >/dev/rmt1h rewind" or "mt -f /dev/rmt1h offline", but dd, tar, and dump >all fail in a moderately strange way. Tar will begin to write on the >tape, but then will come back with: > > /dev/rmt1h: Error 0 > tar: Archive 1 write error > >Dd and dump also report "Error 0" and complain about write errors. After numerous calls to both DEC and DILOG, we recently received a new prom from DILOG which appears to have fixed the problem. The new prom is labeled "SQ703ARWC1 #51BD3F 01-AUG-89". As usual with our calls to DEC, the Ultrix TSC support people failed to call back with status messages, even to say they could not solve the problem. Eventually (after calls from us) TSC said the problem was being referred back to our local office. In three weeks we never got a call from a local support person, despite calls to local field service management. Admittedly this is a more difficult support case, with two vendors involved. But DEC claims to support this particular configuration with hardware and software maintenance. Unfortunately, our experience with Ultrix support has always been very frustrating, especially compared to the VMS support we get which is generally good. We would be interested to hear from others whose experiences have been better on non-obvious Ultrix problems. Bob Warren Manager, UNIX Systems Research and Development Research Triangle Institute
grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins) (08/08/89)
In article <3111@rti.UUCP> rbw@rti.UUCP (Bob Warren) writes: > In a previous posting we reported the following problem: ... > As usual with our calls to DEC, the Ultrix TSC support people failed > to call back with status messages, even to say they could not solve > the problem. Eventually (after calls from us) TSC said the problem > was being referred back to our local office. In three weeks we never got > a call from a local support person, despite calls to local field service > management. > > Admittedly this is a more difficult support case, with two vendors > involved. But DEC claims to support this particular configuration > with hardware and software maintenance. Unfortunately, our experience > with Ultrix support has always been very frustrating, especially compared > to the VMS support we get which is generally good. We would be interested > to hear from others whose experiences have been better on non-obvious > Ultrix problems. I've been thru a bit of the same run-around with the 3.1 LAT problems. The CSC person referred the problem to the local office for "additional support" and as a means of bumping up the priority for problem resolution. Unfortunatly, the local office never called and the info from CSC didn't provide *me* with a local contact. After a week or so, I took the initiative and got hold of someone in field service who was substituting for whowever was supposed to be handling our account. This person engaged in some transaction with CSC, and claimed that CSC would call me back, but nothing happened and I have the feeling that this has only added to the confusion, rather than obtaining action. I wonder if the DEC support centers are relying on this "local support" leg of their strategic triangle that has actually withered away... Lately I've been quite impressed by the quality the Support Center people I've had contact with. Basically they're better informed and more willing to work to help resolve problems than one might expect, however there are practical and structural limitations on how much help they can provide. -- George Robbins - now working for, uucp: {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr but no way officially representing arpa: cbmvax!grr@uunet.uu.net Commodore, Engineering Department fone: 215-431-9255 (only by moonlite)