rubin@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU (Mike Rubin) (05/09/86)
Before you install an Ultrix 1.2 upgrade from a tape, READ EVERY FILE ON THE TAPE WITH "tar t" BEFORE RUNNING THE INSTALL PROCEDURE! The install procedure renames various files that it might overwrite, before reading in the new versions. In particular it renames /etc/init, /bin/sh and /bin/csh. If it encounters a tape read error, it doesn't put them back! We got a tape with a bad spot, and had to rebuild the root filesystem via the boot cassette and mini-Unix. I'm told that if your Ultrix distribution is 1.1 rather than 1.0, there's no way to rebuild a trashed root filesystem at all! Apparently mini-Unix in 1.1 comes with an /etc/rc or /.profile that immediately puts you into the install procedure, from which you can't escape to a shell to run "restore". DEC Software Support said both of these were known bugs that would be fixed only by a total rewrite of the install procedures in Ultrix 2.0.