bob@astph.UUCP (Bob Ford) (09/12/90)
************ISC Tech Support - An Oxymoron!************ We have a Colorado Memory Systems DJ-10 "Jumbo" internal tape drive that we were hoping to run on a 386SX with Interactive 2.2 UNIX. The story we got from CMS was that the drive would work with the ISC QIC-40 driver that was supplied with 2.2. The DJ-10 is also on the ISC list of tape drives that are compatible with 2.2. Anyhow, we encountered problems with the ISC ft driver not correctly sensing that the end of the tape, and prompting us to insert a second tape. The driver returns many other errors, which result in hung processes. The only solution is rebooting. We called ISC Tech Support in Hollis, and were told that this was a "known bug", and that the Development Department at ISC's headquarters in Santa Monica was "working on the problem." (BTW, we have a Response/ix support contract with Hollis.) When we attempted to find out when a solution would be available, we were told that it could be anywhere from "two weeks to two months." Naturally, we wanted a time frame that was a bit more exact, so we decided to contact Santa Monica directly. Now, at this point things got verrrrrry interesting! Santa Monica Tech Support told us that the problem with ft wasn't logged in their bug database, and that a fix wouldn't be available until the next release, probably in November. Who should we believe? My money is on Santa Monica. Out of sheer desperation, we contacted CMS to see if they could help us out of our situation, and found two helpful people in their UNIX Tech Support Department, Matt and Mark. Their most useful suggestions were: 1. Use "tar cvbkf 20 59000 /dev/ftape *" for backup using 60 MB tapes. This seems to work OK for us, although there still isn't any prompting at the end of the first tape to insert another tape. (BTW, change 59000 to 39000 for 40MB tapes.) 2. Buy their integrated driver and menu-driven backup program for ISC 2.2 UNIX, available soon (2-4 weeks) from your friendly neighborhood CMS dealer. The "Reference Retail Price" is around $200. IMHO, think twice before you invest in a Response/ix support contract through the ISC-Hollis office. We haven't received much help from them on substantial problems and questions with the OS. In fact, we didn't even receive accurate information! Try to get support through Santa Monica if possible. Bob Ford Philadelphia Phillies Systems Department Internet: astph!bob@psuvax1.psu.edu UUCP : psuvax1!astph!bob -- Bob Ford (814) 234-8592x6 astph!bob@psuvax1 psuvax1!astph!bob Philadelphia Phillies
john@jwt.UUCP (John Temples) (09/13/90)
In article <39@astph.UUCP> bob@astph.UUCP (Bob Ford) writes: >************ISC Tech Support - An Oxymoron!************ Well my first (and last) experience with ISC tech support was way back when I was trying to install 1.0.6 for the first time. I wanted to format the hard drive with 2:1 interleave rather than the default 3:1 interleave. My conversation with ISC tech support went something like this: Me: Can you tell me how to get the installation script to format the drive with 2:1 interleave instead of 3:1? ISC: You need to run the 'setup' program. Me: The setup program? ISC: Yes, your AT setup program. The interleave is stored in the CMOS. Me: Oh, right, of course. Thanks. Bye. <click> I've never bothered calling back. I *certainly* wouldn't send them money for support, unless things had improved markedly... -- John W. Temples -- john@jwt.UUCP (uunet!jwt!john)