-- [ From: Peter W. Gofton * EMC.Ver #2.5.03 ] --
 
We have software support but not hardware support.  We are told that in
order to upgrade to MPE/IX 5.0 we need a firmware upgrade to our DAT drive
which requires a site visit by an SE at our expense.
 
We think that this should be covered by our software support contract.
Firmware is software after all, and appears in this case to be part of the
operating system. We are told that the need for the upgrade is because the
file structure has changed.  I'm sorry, but file structures are nothing to
do with hardware!  The hardware writes what it is told to write by the
operating system.
 
If HP has chosen to embed part of the operating system in firmware that is
its privilege, but we are extremely unhappy about being asked to pay for an
engineer to upgrade it when we have been paying very heavily for software
support over the years.
 
I would appreciate any comments or advice on this situation.
 
 
Peter Gofton