From: a725911@bugs.mc.ti.com (DaveDesRoches)
Subject: Pathworks 4.1 and VMS 5.5 - FUN, Fun, Fun!  :-( 
Organization: Texas Instruments Materials and Controls Group
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1992 12:57:21 GMT


To anyone out there who might attempt to upgrade to Pathworks 4.1, let me
give a few STRONG words of caution.  Recently, (Saturday in fact - I have
nothing better to do on my weekends than find inconsistencies in DEC's
documentation...NOT!) we upgraded our VAXServer 4000 to VMS 5.5 and, in the
process, upgraded Pathworks to 4.1   As other postings on the net indicate,
4.1 is required for VMS 5.5 - but don't look for it in the Release Notes for
5.5, cuz it's not there!  We discovered this 2 Saturdays ago when we attempted
the upgrade to 5.5 only to discover over the phone w/ DEC (eventually) that
4.1 was required.  As a result, we killed 11 hours that weekend before we
backed everything out and went back to 5.3 - why not just install 4.1 that
day, you ask?  Because DEC hadn't sent us the complete 4.1 upgrade kit, so we
had to have them FED-EX it here the following week...
 
Anyway, we got back to it this past weekend; got 5.5 up and running ok and
then followed the documentation for Pathworks to do the 4.1 upgrade (a BIG
mistake).  Once you get the server software for 4.1 installed, you'll likely
do a manual restart of the Pathworks processes as indicated on pp 3-7,8 in the
Server Installation Guide - and you'll probably happily notice that it works
fine.  Then you'll proceed to edit SYSTARTUP_V5.COM as indicated on p. 3-9 -
and if you do, you might hang your server and knock all the nodes off your
cluster - just like we did!  If you call DEC support, you're not likely to
find a rep who knows this, but the order of the way you start the processes
under Pathworks 4.1 is HIGHLY significant!  Unless you enjoy spending 
weekends with a phone stuck to your ear, P-L-E-A-S-E start PCFS_STARTUP
BEFORE LAD_STARTUP - even though the manual starts them in the opposite order
AND they were started in the opposite order under Pathworks 4.0.  There is a
note on p. 3-8 about the order of startup which hints at this, but it's a
little ambiguous - and I think many people would be inclined to follow the
example provided on p. 3-9 anyway, which is where all the trouble will
start.
 
Again, I'm not sure if this will happen on other platforms - our config-
uration was a VAXserver 4000-300 with several (5) MicroVAX 3100's clustered
to it.  In any case, the events of the past few weeks have me wondering
about DEC's commitment to the Pathworks product - seems like every time we
call the hotline for Pathworks support, we wait for an inordinate period for
a call back - and even then, support is usually patchy at best.  We like the
functionality it offers to be sure, but I don't get an easy feeling about
where they seem to be headed... Anyone have any thoughts on this or know of
alternative products which offer similar functionality without all the "muss
and fuss"?
 
Sorry to chew up so much room with this, but I don't want to see someone else 
repeat our exercise in futility...
 
Regards,
 
Dave     a725911@bugs.mc.ti.com     MSGID: DESR     508-699-1913

Newsgroups: vmsnet.networks.desktop.pathworks