Yesterday (October 12th), we completed testing of both the
MPEKXJ3 patch and the new 5.5 Powerpatch 6.  Today, I
lifted the production hold from our two-tier distributors
(Integration Alliance and Client Systems) and from HP's
systems manufacturing group in Roseville.  All new systems
will be preloaded with Powerpatch 6.  Due to our prioritizing
tasks in our manufacturing organization, Powerpatch 6 will
ship directly to customer starting mid-next week.

MPEKXJ3 is going through the process of being general
released (GR) today.  This should imply that the patch will be available
for downloading from the Electronic Support Center probably
by tomorrow or no later than Thursday.  All customers using
5.5 Powerpatch 5 are urged to download & apply MPEKXJ3
or to order & install Powerpatch 6.

For your information:  MPEKXJ3 removes the functionality
introduced by MPEKX79.  MPEKXJ3 passed verification
tests here in the CSY Lab.  In addition, it was given to several
of the customers who reported data corruption problems,
and in all cases (including but not limited to the DBUTIL ERASE
situation), the problem did not reoccur once MPEKXJ3 was
applied.  MPEKXJ3 was not designed to fix other problems
that were reported on this list.

Powerpatch 6 was also rigorously tested, including the same
verification tests used by MPEKXJ3 plus stress testing and
reviews by key participants.  In addition to MPEKXJ3, PP6
also contains a few additional patches that had achieved GR
status since PP5.  Specifically, these included the following:

     BRWKXF3
     BWRKXG7
     DBPKXE7
     DICKXD5
     FDDFD26
     FTPFD57
     INFKXH6
     MPEKXJ3
     SCOKXD7
     SYCKXD9
     SYDKXD8
     SYRKXH7
     TRVKXF9
     TRXKXF6

Many of these additional patches are Year 2000 patches for some
SUBSYS Applications.  I will be updating the Jazz Year 2000 patch
page (at http://jazz.external.hp.com/year2000/patches.html) by the
end of this week.  I realize that there are some more outstanding
Year 2000 fixes, but the associated patches were not "GR'd" at the
time of the PP6 build.

Thanks for your patience during these confusing times.