Xref: utzoo comp.sys.m88k:240 comp.os.aos:66
Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!uvm-gen!ackerman
From: ackerman@sadye.uvm.edu (Steve Ackerman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.m88k,comp.os.aos
Subject: Software breaking DG AViiON?
Message-ID: <1567@uvm-gen.UUCP>
Date: 12 Jul 90 18:04:37 GMT
Sender: nobody@uvm-gen.UUCP
Organization: Division of EMBA, University of Vermont
Lines: 37


	We're having a big problem with our DG AViiON 300, and we're
hoping someone may have had a similar experience.  We're attempting to
write a stand-alone program that runs without the DG/UX kernel.

	Three weeks ago, while writing/debugging the exception
handler, our program bombed hard a few times.  By hard, I mean the
machine needed to be power-cycled, and upon reboot, some of the
configuration parameters were trashed. The amount of memory the
machine thought it had was off by 1 mb; the boot path was destroyed
(empty), and the monitor prompt was back to the default.  One time,
the machine crashed and never came back up.  The LED power-on
indicator which comes on when all beginning tests pass never came on,
and we never got any messages or SCM prompt.  We did, however, get a
FATAL MEMORY ERROR message on the console when we intentionally popped
out memory module 0, so we knew the console baud rate settings (as
well as the POWER supply) were fine.  We took this to be just a
coincidence that the Machine broke while we were testing our program.
We sent it back to be repaired.

	They (DG) replaced everything in the unit, and returned it.
We got it back this Monday.  Last night, while working on the same
code, the machine broke again.  Once we could take as coincidence,
but twice?  We weren't doing anything device specific -- just trying
to set up our own (basic) exception handler.

	We've called DG, but they said send it back.  I would hate to
think that our software could damage the DG so much as to require
everything to be replaced.  I think that our problem could be as
simple as screwed up configuration settings (somewhere).  Would anyone
have a clue to this problem?  Thanks in advance!

Steve Ackerman
ackerman@uvm.edu

--
Steven Ackerman (ackerman@uvm.edu)