[comp.unix.sysv386] SCO's ODT does not work on any 80486?

firewind@xroads.UUCP (Tom Parker) (09/15/90)

Yesterday I was on a conference call with a person my company sold a '486 to,
and Technology Powers Enterprise(TPE) who made the motherboard.  It seems
that SCO's ODT will not install on this motherboard.  When our customer
called, SCO asked him what kind of computer it was.  They said that since it
wasn't on their list of "approved" 80486's that they could offer no help.  So
TPE gets involved and finds out that SCO has not tested ODT on *ANY* 80486!!!
 Yet they advertize that it runs on the '386 and '486!  Sound deceptive?  TPE
has tried to loan one of their motherboards to SCO for testing ODT, yet SCO
has not been too receptive to this at all.
 
So, a little warning to the wise.  I'd avoid ODT if I were you, especially if
you want to run it on a '486!
   Tom
-- 
\  /  C r o s s r o a d s  C o m m u n i c a t i o n s
 /\   (602) 941-2005 300|1200 Baud 24 hrs/day
/  \  hplabs!hp-sdd!crash!xroads!firewind

fred@cdin-1.UUCP (Fred Rump) (09/17/90)

firewind@xroads.UUCP (Tom Parker) writes:


>Yesterday I was on a conference call with a person my company sold a '486 to,
>and Technology Powers Enterprise(TPE) who made the motherboard.  It seems
>that SCO's ODT will not install on this motherboard.  When our customer
>called, SCO asked him what kind of computer it was.  

First of all, SCO requires that ODT be installed by a professional SCO 
reseller, typically an APC (advanced product center or level III reseller). The 
customer should only get involved with the reseller who will have delivered a 
'working' system.
 



>They said that since it
>wasn't on their list of "approved" 80486's that they could offer no help.  So
>TPE gets involved and finds out that SCO has not tested ODT on *ANY* 80486!!!

Second of all, we've not even bothered trying ODT on a 386 but have installed 
it ONLY on 486 boards. Of course, I never heard of TPE either and it may 
really not work on that board. But again, that is something you should know 
before you ever sell the product.  

> Yet they advertize that it runs on the '386 and '486!  Sound deceptive?  TPE
>has tried to loan one of their motherboards to SCO for testing ODT, yet SCO
>has not been too receptive to this at all.

How many boards would you like SCO to test? Should they hire an army of 
testers just so that you sell some off the wall motherboard?



>So, a little warning to the wise.  I'd avoid ODT if I were you, especially if
>you want to run it on a '486!
>   Tom
>--
>\  /  C r o s s r o a d s  C o m m u n i c a t i o n s
> /\   (602) 941-2005 300|1200 Baud 24 hrs/day
>/  \  hplabs!hp-sdd!crash!xroads!firewind


I would suggest dealing with a professional company that tests its products 
before selling them to the user instead. SCO is not in the hardware business. 
Those that assemble hardware are. They should make sure their product works in 
the desired environment lest they be considered charlatans.

Fred Rump
-- 
Fred Rump              | Home of Brother John Software 
CompuData, Inc.        | 
10501 Drummond Rd.     | Bang: {uunet dsinc}!cdin-1!fred  (800-223-DATA)        Philadelphia, Pa. 19154| Internet: fred@COMPU.COM         (215-824-3000)

allbery@NCoast.ORG (Brandon S. Allbery KB8JRR/KT) (09/17/90)

As quoted from <1123@xroads.UUCP> by firewind@xroads.UUCP (Tom Parker):
+---------------
| wasn't on their list of "approved" 80486's that they could offer no help.  So
| TPE gets involved and finds out that SCO has not tested ODT on *ANY* 80486!!!
+---------------

Altos got it working on the 5000, so it's not impossible.  I've used it,
albeit in an alpha test version (of the hardware, at least).

(Anyone who wants to re-open that stupid flame war based on this post may
do so by mail.  Attempts to do so in a newsgroup will be ignored.  Come to
think of it, attempts to do so by mail may be ignored as well; I have more
important things to do than read and/or reply to flames.)

++Brandon
-- 
Me: Brandon S. Allbery			    VHF/UHF: KB8JRR/KT on 220, 2m, 440
Internet: allbery@NCoast.ORG		    Packet: KB8JRR @ WA8BXN
America OnLine: KB8JRR			    AMPR: KB8JRR.AmPR.ORG [44.70.4.88]
uunet!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!ncoast!allbery    Delphi: ALLBERY

rpeglar@csinc.UUCP (Rob Peglar) (09/18/90)

In article <1123@xroads.UUCP>, firewind@xroads.UUCP (Tom Parker) writes:
> 
> Yesterday I was on a conference call with a person my company sold a '486 to,

"Sold" sounds about right.  In my book, the rest of this posting is a
lesson to all sellers who move boxes and don't bother to check out what
their customers want to do/intend to do with their equipment.

Note, I'm not trying to absolve SCO - they do indeed advertise that
ODT "works on" i486 boxes.  To SCO's credit, however, they do indeed
check out and publish a list of "supported" systems.  Your company having
sold a box to a customer which didn't appear on the list is your problem,
not SCO's.

> and Technology Powers Enterprise(TPE) who made the motherboard.  It seems
> that SCO's ODT will not install on this motherboard.  When our customer
> called, SCO asked him what kind of computer it was.  They said that since it
> wasn't on their list of "approved" 80486's that they could offer no help.  So
> TPE gets involved and finds out that SCO has not tested ODT on *ANY* 80486!!!
>  Yet they advertize that it runs on the '386 and '486!  Sound deceptive?  TPE
> has tried to loan one of their motherboards to SCO for testing ODT, yet SCO
> has not been too receptive to this at all.
>  
> So, a little warning to the wise.  I'd avoid ODT if I were you, especially if
> you want to run it on a '486!

We run it here just fine on an Intel 401, for the record.  (486@25).  

Rob










-- 
Rob Peglar	Comtrol Corp.	2675 Patton Rd., St. Paul MN 55113
		A Control Systems Company	(800) 926-6876

...uunet!csinc!rpeglar

steve@altos86.Altos.COM (Steve Scherf) (09/18/90)

In article <1123@xroads.UUCP> firewind@xroads.UUCP (Tom Parker) writes:
>
> ...  So
> TPE gets involved and finds out that SCO has not tested ODT on *ANY* 80486!!!
> Yet they advertize that it runs on the '386 and '486!  Sound deceptive?  TPE
> ...
> So, a little warning to the wise.  I'd avoid ODT if I were you, especially if
> you want to run it on a '486!

Two words about the 486 and ODT:

1] Any 486 that isn't a piece of crap (i.e. truly AT compatible) will run ODT.

2] ODT runs very well (as well as ODT can, that is) on an Altos 5000, a 486
   box. Altos' QA department has exhaustively tested ODT on this platform.

Though SCO may not have tested ODT on a 486, they know through us that it
works on at least one box (they may have similar information from other
manufacturers like Compaq). Therefore, it is at least factual of them to say
that ODT runs on the 486. This is not to say that SCO isn't being deceptive,
however.

-- 
Steve Scherf
steve@Altos.COM    ...!{sun|sco|pyramid|amdahl|uunet}!altos!steve

These opinions are solely mine, but others may share them if they like.

richard@pegasus.com (Richard Foulk) (09/18/90)

>"Sold" sounds about right.  In my book, the rest of this posting is a
>lesson to all sellers who move boxes and don't bother to check out what
>their customers want to do/intend to do with their equipment.
>
>Note, I'm not trying to absolve SCO - they do indeed advertise that
>ODT "works on" i486 boxes.  To SCO's credit, however, they do indeed
>check out and publish a list of "supported" systems.  Your company having
>sold a box to a customer which didn't appear on the list is your problem,
>not SCO's.

Chill out.

I think you're assuming way too much.  Is the seller required to quiz
his customers?

I'm sure it's not uncommon for a buyer to approach the vendor with a
list of features.  It doesn't seem unreasonable for the vendor to
assume that the buyer knows what he wants if he's acting like it.

-- 
Richard Foulk		richard@pegasus.com

md (Michael Davidson) (09/19/90)

firewind@xroads.UUCP (Tom Parker) writes:
>Yesterday I was on a conference call with a person my company sold a '486 to,
>and Technology Powers Enterprise(TPE) who made the motherboard.  It seems
>that SCO's ODT will not install on this motherboard.  When our customer
>called, SCO asked him what kind of computer it was.  They said that since it
>wasn't on their list of "approved" 80486's that they could offer no help.  So
>TPE gets involved and finds out that SCO has not tested ODT on *ANY* 80486!!!

Actually this information is incorrect - we have tested ODT, SCO UNIX and
SCO Xenix on a number of 486 machines - I don't have a complete list, but
I *know* that we have tested with Compaq's 25MHz 486 DeskPro and with the
Olivetti CP486. As new *clone* motherboards are starting to appear it is
sometimes hard to keep up, but we are *always* interested in seeing new
motherboards (preferably *before* they are released) - we can also arrange
to get copies of SCO product to legitimate h/w developers so that they
can test their new motherboards with our software.

Tom - please feel free to mail me direct about this - I would like to
follow through and find out what is wrong.

rickf@pmafire.UUCP (rick furniss) (09/19/90)

   Anyone with a list of known boards that SCO Unix, or ODT run on ?

   Getting ready to purchase a new machine this week, and I,m stuck with
questions of "will it run on a 486" ? If not I,ll get a 33-386.

  If its known that SCO Unix runs on a Micronics 25-486, please inform me>.

  A list from someone in the know I,m sure would be appreciated by myself
and the net general.

Thanks

Rick Furniss

jbayer@ispi.COM (Jonathan Bayer) (09/20/90)

rickf@pmafire.UUCP (rick furniss) writes:


>   Anyone with a list of known boards that SCO Unix, or ODT run on ?

>   Getting ready to purchase a new machine this week, and I,m stuck with
>questions of "will it run on a 486" ? If not I,ll get a 33-386.

>  If its known that SCO Unix runs on a Micronics 25-486, please inform me>.

>  A list from someone in the know I,m sure would be appreciated by myself
>and the net general.

Sco Unix will run on most (if not all) of the 386 and 486 systems out there.
I know for a fact that it does run on the Micronics 25-486, although I feel
that a 306-33 with a 387-33 runs a bit faster.




JB
-- 
Jonathan Bayer		Intelligent Software Products, Inc.
(201) 245-5922		500 Oakwood Ave.
jbayer@ispi.COM		Roselle Park, NJ   07204    

bote@csense.uucp (John Boteler) (09/20/90)

From article <1990Sep18.070431.3008@pegasus.com>, by richard@pegasus.com (Richard Foulk):
>>Note, I'm not trying to absolve SCO - they do indeed advertise that
>>ODT "works on" i486 boxes.  To SCO's credit, however, they do indeed
>>check out and publish a list of "supported" systems.  Your company having
>>sold a box to a customer which didn't appear on the list is your problem,
>>not SCO's.
> I think you're assuming way too much.  Is the seller required to quiz
> his customers?
> 
> I'm sure it's not uncommon for a buyer to approach the vendor with a
> list of features.  It doesn't seem unreasonable for the vendor to
> assume that the buyer knows what he wants if he's acting like it.


"Gee, Doc, I came to see you to get a precscription for Coritsone
because my hair is falling out..."

I guess this points out the difference between a system integrator
and a 'seller' quite forcefully.




-- 
John Boteler   bote@csense.uucp           {uunet | ka3ovk}!media!csense!bote
SkinnyDipper's Hotline: 703-241-BARE | VOICE only, Touch-Tone(TM) signalling

rpeglar@csinc.UUCP (Rob Peglar) (09/21/90)

In article <1990Sep18.070431.3008@pegasus.com>, richard@pegasus.com (Richard Foulk) writes:
> >"Sold" sounds about right.  In my book, the rest of this posting is a
> >lesson to all sellers who move boxes and don't bother to check out what
> >their customers want to do/intend to do with their equipment.
> >
> >Note, I'm not trying to absolve SCO - they do indeed advertise that
> >ODT "works on" i486 boxes.  To SCO's credit, however, they do indeed
> >check out and publish a list of "supported" systems.  Your company having
> 
> Chill out.
> 

"Quiz?" No.  IMHO, a seller should, however, be aware of what usage the
product will undergo.  It's not a "quiz", nobody is keeping score.  The
information is helpful to both sides - it helps the seller and customer
due to the (hopefully) seller's knowledge of potential pitfalls with
the customer's choice of usage.

> I'm sure it's not uncommon for a buyer to approach the vendor with a
> list of features.  It doesn't seem unreasonable for the vendor to
> assume that the buyer knows what he wants if he's acting like it.

Agreed.  Of course the buyer knows what he wants.  It's up to the seller
to determine if the product meets the buyer's wants.  The case that
sparked all this off is one that did not adhere to the last sentence.

Any more discussion - please e-mail direct.  Take it off the newsgroup.

Rob
-- 
Rob Peglar	Comtrol Corp.	2675 Patton Rd., St. Paul MN 55113
		A Control Systems Company	(800) 926-6876

...uunet!csinc!rpeglar

davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (Wm E. Davidsen Jr) (09/22/90)

In article <1990Sep19.053558.8744@pmafire.UUCP> rickf@pmafire.UUCP (rick furniss) writes:
| 
|    Anyone with a list of known boards that SCO Unix, or ODT run on ?

  HP Vectra, Dell 425. The 433 runs Dell UNIX, but we haven't gotten
ours yet. It also runs on a homebrew, but you couldn't duplicate it.
-- 
bill davidsen - davidsen@sixhub.uucp (uunet!crdgw1!sixhub!davidsen)
    sysop *IX BBS and Public Access UNIX
    moderator of comp.binaries.ibm.pc and 80386 mailing list
"Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me

jrh@mustang.dell.com (James Howard) (09/25/90)

In article <1990Sep19.053558.8744@pmafire.UUCP>, rickf@pmafire.UUCP
(rick furniss) writes:
> 
>    Anyone with a list of known boards that SCO Unix, or ODT run on ?
> 
>    Getting ready to purchase a new machine this week, and I,m stuck with
> questions of "will it run on a 486" ? If not I,ll get a 33-386.
> 

I know we have customers running SCO UNIX on Dell 486's, but I do not
know for sure if any of them are running ODT.  I would suspect that it
would work as well.