daugher@cs.tamu.edu (Walter C. Daugherity) (10/27/90)
From the November 1990 issue of "Workstation" (an independent news magazine for HP/Apollo workstation & server users): ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "68040 problems force HP/Apollo upgrade delay Temperature and compatibility problems with Motorola's latest revision of the 68040 microprocessor have forced Hewlett-Packard to push back the delivery date for 68040 upgrades. With the 68040 now at least eight months behind schedule, HP officials say the company hopes to begin shipping limited quantities of 68040 upgrades for the HP 9000 Model 345 and 375 in December.... Apollo DN 3500 and 4500...in late January or February.... HP-UX 9000 Series 400 models based on the 68040...several months into the new year.... ...two major problems prevented HP from shipping...the reliability of systems using the chips at greater than room temperature was 'not within our specs' and that they did not maintain object-code compatibility with older 68000 and 68020 systems.... ...some units could begin shipping in December in no other major problems are discovered.... '...it's not whether a single instruction works, it's a certain combination of instructions in a certain time period that can cause some error states on the chip,' he said. 'The last chips we got were a big step forward, but they're not there yet.'" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Obviously 68000 and 68020 compatibility problems don't concern NeXT, but marginal tolerance for heat is a serious reliability concern. Let's hope it gets solved soon--I've had a NeXT 68040 upgrade on order since May (so I'm first in line, right? :-)). Walter Daugherity ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walter C. Daugherity Internet, NeXTmail: daugher@cs.tamu.edu Knowledge Systems Research Center uucp: uunet!cs.tamu.edu!daugher Texas A & M University BITNET: DAUGHER@TAMVENUS College Station, TX 77843-3112 CSNET: daugher%cs.tamu.edu@RELAY.CS.NET ---Not an official document of Texas A&M---
asd@mace.cc.purdue.edu (Kareth) (10/27/90)
In <9558@helios.TAMU.EDU> daugher@cs.tamu.edu (Walter C. Daugherity) writes: >"68040 problems force HP/Apollo upgrade delay >Obviously 68000 and 68020 compatibility problems don't concern NeXT, but >marginal tolerance for heat is a serious reliability concern. Let's hope >it gets solved soon--I've had a NeXT 68040 upgrade on order since May (so >I'm first in line, right? :-)). Well, I just called NeXT. I'd talked to somebody else who had said he heard that the new machines were going to be delayed until late November. Sure, it was a rumor, but I wanted to find out! The person I talked to said that they are still looking a production starting next week (ie: Nov 1). Shipments on the other hand aren't going to be going out until mid November or so. So that's the word from the horse's mouth. I hope they get this problem fixed too. And start working on 50Mhz versions! :)
edwardm@hpcuhd.HP.COM (Edward McClanahan) (10/30/90)
Douglas Barrett writes: > This was announce by Motorola about 2 months ago. As I recall it the > anouncement was "due to Motorola's commitment [......] deleveries in > quantity [of the '040] the first Q 91" Is this "first FISCAL quarter '91", or "first CALENDAR quater '91"? And when does Motorola start their FISCAL year? =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Edward McClanahan Hewlett Packard Company -or- edwardm@cup.hp.com Mail Stop 42UN 11000 Wolfe Road Phone: (480)447-5651 Cupertino, CA 95014 Fax: (408)447-5039