From: kanefsky@halcyon.com (Steve Kanefsky)
Subject: Re: A/UX compaitable systems? (was Re: AUX with MAC IIvx why not?)
Keywords: MAC IIvx
Organization: The 23:00 News and Mail Service
Date: Sun, 20 Dec 1992 19:39:27 GMT

In article <1992Dec20.074836.9082@cs.umb.edu> mike@ra.cs.umb.edu (Michael J. Thibodeau) writes:
>
>*old Subject: Question: A/UX version for IIvx?
>
>  Can any body help me? I purchased a MacIIvx which will be arriving
>  sometime between last week and NewYear's and I just heard some rather
>  disturbing news.. A/UX 3.0 is not Compaitable with the IIvx!!

That's correct, at least for the time being.

>*NEW  Questions:
>
>o  What is it about the IIvx that makes it incompaitable with A/UX? Can it be
>  fixed thru software, perhapse a wrapper that makes A/UX think it is on some
>  other machine?

A/UX is system software, just like System 7.  *Every* new Mac requires
some update to system software.  Until recently, Apple released a whole
new version of the MacOS to support new machines.  Now, they release
"system enablers" which get patched into the system when you startup to
support new machines.  A/UX is exactly the same, except that they don't
release a new version of A/UX at the same time they release new
machines, and they haven't developed system enablers for A/UX yet.
Also, Apple often decides not to support A/UX on a machine at all for
various technical and marketing reasons.  The SE/30 and IIsi are
examples of machines that didn't support the current (at the time)
version of A/UX, but which were supported in a later release.

>o  Are there any plans for a newer version which will run on this cpu or am I
>  high and dry? 

I'm not sure whether Apple plans to support the IIvx in a future
release, but I'd say it's likely.  The question is:  how long before the
release comes out?  Check in the comp.unix.aux newsgroup for more
definitive answers.



>o  I understand 3.0 runs on the Quadra 950, how much money will I have to shell
>  out to upgrade the IIvx to a machine that will run AU/X?

A/UX also runs on the MacII (with PMMU), IIx, IIcx, IIci, IIsi, SE/30,
Quadra 700, and Quadra 900.  There is currently no way to upgrade the
IIvx to *anything* through Apple, and even with future upgrades, you'll
still have to wait for a new release of A/UX.

Your best bet if you need to run A/UX very soon is to try and trade in
the IIvx on a IIci.  The IIci is a better machine anyway, IMHO, and is
about the same price.  It'll run A/UX just fine, and you can accelerate
it easily to Quadra 950 speeds (and beyond, sometime next year) so it
won't be obsolete anytime soon.


>o  Are there any other UN*X packages that will run as well as, if not better
>  than, A/UX on my IIvx? Would you recomend it/them?

There are a couple of other UNIX packages that run on just about any
Mac, but they're not real system software.  Then run on top of the
MacOS, which has some advantages and some disadvantages (more of the
latter, IMHO).  Personally, I wouldn't consider them.


>o  Should I change my order and purchase a different cpu? Which one? Why?

Yes!  IMHO, you should get a IIci.  It's about as fast as the IIvx, just
as expandable, much more elegantly designed (used to be *the* top-of-the-line
Mac), and can easily be accelerated to Quadra 950 speeds.  You'll end up
paying less than the cost of a 950 (you aren't paying for the huge
power supply, extra slots, ethernet, etc.)  and your investment in the
accelerator will be safe, because you can upgrade to a faster one for
the difference in price, and use the same accelerator in many different
models of Mac (if you get the DayStar PowerCache).  The IIci comes with
a slower CPU than the IIvx (25mhz vs 32mhz), but it has a faster system
bus (25mhz vs 16mhz).  That makes the IIci about the same speed as the
IIvx out of the box, but when you accelerate it, it will be a little
faster than the IIvx with the same accelerator.

>o  What about a Duo?210 or 230?

They Don't run A/UX, and may never run it.  The PowerBooks and Duos use
sophisticated power management, which is somewhat incompatable with UNIX
(which likes to run stuff in the background 24 hours/day).  The 210 is
definitely out because you need an FPU for A/UX.  At least it's within
the realm of possibility now, however.  Until now, there just weren't
big enough hard disks and you couldn't put enough RAM into a PowerBook
to run A/UX effectively.


>o  Looks like I'll be switching to a IIci, will A/UXv3.0 run on a ci upgraded to
>  Quadra700?

Yes, it'll run on a IIci and a Quadra 700 (doesn't matter whether the
Q700 is an upgraded or a new machine).  There are more effective ways to
upgrade the IIci, IMHO.  See above.


>o  When I made the purchase one big selling point was that the built-in CD-ROM
>  would be perfect for A/UX's CD. Now that I hear the two wil not work together
>  what am I to do? It states in the Apple catalog that:

Get the external version of the same CD player, when it comes out in a
month or two.  I would definitely recommend this CD player over any
currently available model.  Maybe you can borrow a CD-ROM to install A/UX the
first time if you're in a hurry, or you could get a IIci with A/UX
pre-installed (but then you might not get the CD, which you'd probably
want if/when you want to re-install A/UX).


>  "	To run A/UX, you'll need a Macintosh SE/30, any
>  Macintosh II, or a Macintosh Quadra personal computer."

Yep, that was a slip-up on Apple's part.


>The deadline for changing the order is Monday, December 21. The sooner I can
>make a well informed decision the better. Also thankyou to all those who
>responded before when I asked about which system to purchase. At the time the
>IIvx seemed to be the correct choice, but now...  

Hmm, I must not have responded to that one :-)



--
Steve Kanefsky
Lines: 12