The $10,000 for a 958 CPU board is just another giant example of HP's
craziness when it comes to older products and the parts that go in them.  I
do not have a 958 in stock but I do have one (maybe two) functional 948
systems.  Part of the problem is a) software licenses that are going to be
tied to the HPSUSAN etc. on your current 958 and b) license issues with
changing to another system if you go that route and c) my license issues if I
were to sell you an otherwise not very valuable board to which MY licenses
are tied.  A giant mess over a circuit board worth in real dollars less than
$1000.

Note also the issue of changing the EEPROM memory values for HPSUSAN etc. via
SS_CONFIG.  It's my humble (?) opinion that data values in memory chips are
NOT software and the owner of the board/memory chip can legally set the
values to anything imaginable.  However the program to change those values
(SS_CONFIG) is not something that HP will let you or any third-party service
organization have access to so how do you or anybody besides HP change the
values to conform to what you already have in your sick 958 CPU board?

Am I being to harsh with HP?  Anybody at HP or any third-party service
company care to respond????

As to the current hardware problem, I'd be glad to sell off the CPU board
from my #2 948 for $1000 if a) it truely does work and b) the license issues
are resolvable.

again comments from anybody???  This is a very big latent issue for lots of
very small shops.

Wayne Boyer
Cal-Logic