Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!lll-tis!ames!ptsfa!pbphb!pb2esac!pttesac!vanam
From: vanam@pttesac.UUCP (Marnix van Ammers)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.att
Subject: Re: Query about the quality of UNIX/PCs and 3b1's (really 3b1 unix)
Message-ID: <655@pttesac.UUCP>
Date: 2 Jan 88 23:12:26 GMT
References: <9691@shemp.UCLA.EDU> <18017@clyde.ATT.COM> <997@bakerst.UUCP> <2208@crash.cts.com> <125@axcess.UUCP>
Reply-To: vanam@pttesac.UUCP (-Root Admin-)
Organization: Pacific*Bell ESAC, San Francisco, Ca.
Lines: 46
Summary: In my experience, 3B1's are of poor quality

In article <125@axcess.UUCP> allbery@axcess.UUCP (Brandon S. Allbery) writes:
>In article <2208@crash.cts.com>, ford@crash.cts.com (Michael Ditto) writes:
>+---------------
>
>I've had no problems with reliability.  I *do* have a problem with the sorry
>excuse for UUCP and *no* way to change it (are you listening, AT&T?  You could
>at least consider *selling* *binaries*, since everyone knows you have them!).

Well, I'm finally going to say it: I *do* have problems with 3B1
reliability!

When the fire sale came out I told all my friends and colleagues
about it and about what a great machine the UNIX-PC is.  I had had
one on my desk for about 6 months and I had had no trouble with it
whatsoever.  Well, now that I finally bought one for personal use,
I am very disappointed with it's reliability.

I received my 3B1 around the beginning of August.  AT&T is going to
be coming out for the *FOURTH* time Monday (I hope -- I made my repair
call Dec 31st).

My first trouble was a horrible squawking sound, which I presumed to
be the hard drive because I couldn't think of anything else that could
make such a horrible sound.  I figured that since the hard disk was
the only thing moving, it must be the source of that horrible sound.
So I had AT&T come out and change it.  Well, the squawking sound
continued, and after some articles on net news about squawking sounds,
I figured out that the noise was coming from my speaker and had to do
with incoming calls to my modem.  Then my 3B1 started crashing with
"PANIC: kernel addressing error" messages and my hard disk got trashed
with hundreds of bad blocks.  So they changed my mother board.  The next
thing was that my hard disk *did* start making a funny noise (kind of
like a bearing going out).  So AT&T came out and changed my hard disk
again (this time for good reason).  Then a few days ago, my 3B1
died.  The fan is working, the hard disk is turning, but the screen
remains dark and the system won't boot (not even off a floppy).  I
finally asked about getting the whole damn system replaced.  The tech
I talked to said I could try for that after they exchange my mother
board one more time.

I am *very* tired of having a flaky system.  I'd like to know just
what the repair call rate is for these units.

Thank God I still have my Amiga.

Marnix
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