Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!wasatch!cons.utah.edu!kessler
From: kessler%cons.utah.edu@wasatch.utah.edu (Robert R. Kessler)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.xenix
Subject: SCO Support -- Good and Bad
Message-ID: <1889@wasatch.utah.edu>
Date: 23 May 89 13:37:45 GMT
Sender: news@wasatch.utah.edu
Reply-To: kessler%cons.utah.edu@wasatch.utah.edu (Robert R. Kessler)
Organization: University of Utah CS Dept
Lines: 62



We have been using SCO for almost two years and basically think that
they are providing a good service.  Most of the times, there is
someone knowledgeable on the other end, who can help us get our
problems solved.

However, it seems that the real problem is that SCO doesn't let us, as
developers, know of all of the problems and patches that are currently
available.  Case in point.  I recently posted a problem that we were
having where the disk files on one of our customer machines became
scrambled.  I got a number of useful answers, the most useful of which
came in the following partial message:

============================================================================
Article 6620 of comp.unix.xenix:
Path: wasatch!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!consult!root
From: root@consult.UUCP (Super user)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.xenix
Subject: Re: Disk Gobble-d-gook
Message-ID: <8@consult.UUCP>
Date: 17 May 89 13:00:10 GMT
References: <1839@wasatch.utah.edu>
Reply-To: bob@.UUCP (Super user)
Organization: Computer Consulting Service, Easton MD.
Lines: 23

... [stuff deleted]

Here is one idea.  There was a problem with Release 2.2.2 and back
regarding the dskinit program when the system was installed.  Caused
a nasty little problem, formatted the driving using 112 cylinder 
instead of 110!!  This caused the swap file (end of drive) to be
partially located over the non-existent space.
This could cause some rather weird problems and various panic conditions.
It is fixed in 2.2.3 (xnx116 or xnx117).
============================================================================

Sure enough, we looked and it was configured for 112 cylinders.  That
particular system has been having problems since we installed it (for
at least 6 months), with core dumps, random panic stops, etc.
primarily under heavy load.  We had not been able to track it down and
had talked to SCO repeatedly without any solutions.  We called SCO and
they confirmed that this was indeed a problem and could cause all of
the symptoms that we were seeing.

So, obviously, we didn't ask the right questions (or SCO didn't) and
the problem just lingered on.

===========================================================================

It seems that the solution to this is to have a list of the known
problems, symptoms, and their solutions available to all of us
developers.  It seems that as a part of paying our annual fees, we
should get this information.  Discover is a nice mag, but it is too
glossy.  A monthly, or quarterly listing of these bugs and patches
sure would help.  We used to deal with minicomputer manufacturers, and
they provided this kind of information on a regular basis.  Maybe this
new BBS service is just what we need.  We will have to try it out and
see.

B.