I just received Powerpatch #4 and read the "READ BEFORE INSTALLING".
 
Is it just me, or is anybody else more than a bit bewildered?
 
It appears there is quite a laborious process required to determine if an
earlier faulty patch has affected any SOM's contained in XL.PUB.SYS.
 
If the answer is yes, then the fun really begins.
 
The enclosed instructions only suggest a call to your friendly 800 support
number.
 
The reality is that you may be facing a backdate to 4.0 (which - for all
intents and purposes is an INSTALL), and then gingerly re-updating to 5.0 in
very small steps and re-applying any individual patches and subsys and/or
add-on tapes - in a very specific order, and with several cslt creation and
update cycles along the way.
 
Ouch.
 
I hope I'm wrong. Maybe somebody (Jon Cohen??) can offer some more details
about the necessary remedies to this problem and the exact nature of the
problem. I understand that it can originate even in a 4.0 system.
 
I don't mean to sound an alarm if not necessary - but I've seen too many
instances where misleading or incomplete instructions cause unnecessary
problems.
 
For example, a customer recently received a package containing an add-on
tape (for Glance/iX) and a powerpatch tape (Express 3). The accompanying
instructions stated to determine if Express 3 had already been installed by
issuing the :SHOWME command, and looking for C.50.03. This will only be true
for systems that were shipped from the factory with this powerpatch
integrated.  All other systems will show C.50.00, whether or not Express 3
has been installed. So, if followed to the letter, these instructions could
have led to problems.
 
Now, to a different matter.
 
Further on in the "READ BEFORE INSTALLING", there's a blurb about
ALLBASE/SQL customers updating to version G1.
 
I wonder if this describes a solution to the problem so eloquently and
amusingly described by Guy Smith back on May 8, 1995 in a post entitled "MPE
5.0 Fun and Games - Part IV" ??
 
I actually ran into the same problem as described by Guy - and had to revert
back to 4.0 due to non-related other problems. It would be nice to know if
the check described in Powerpatch 4 documentation can be undertaken on a 4.0
system. Sure would save a lot of grief.
 
If anybody needs a copy of Guy Smith's post, please e-mail me privately. I
don't want to waste bandwidth.
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