In article <[log in to unmask]>,
  "James B. Byrne" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
  >
  > Trust HP manage to drive an already skeptical client further
  > around the bend.
  Sorry!  I was a customer once, and I know how that can be.

  >
  > This weekend we upgraded to MPE/iX 5.5 PP2, or at least we tried
  > to.  Despite testing the the tapes on Thursday, by Saturday the
  > PP2 tape had decided to go bad.    So after much gnashing of
  > teeth and committing the QRO&AI offence known as
  > "utterances" I ended up with an unpatched 5.5 installation by
  > late Sunday night.

  Generally a bad thing... but functional... like you had so many
  other alternatives.

  >
  > This a.m. I unsucessfully attempted to order a replacement
  > PP2 tape from my local support.  I believe that in a misguided
  > attempt to provide more rapid service the individual believed
  > that he was improving customer response by sending me to the
  > electronic support centre - the online patch depository.  Oh how
  > the best of intentions lead to Hell!

  I'm not sure what you mean by local support.  But a call to the RC
  and tell them you want to order MPE/iX PowerPatch 2, should get a
  good response.

  <please pardon the plug>
  For those who are interested, HP offers fairly inexpensive consulting
  to create a customized SLT tape for your system, for OS upgrades, PowerPatch
  installs, and regular patching.  It can cut system downtime for those operations
  by about half or so.  Significant to some.  Please note that if you already have
  a PSS, PAS, CSS, or BCS level of support, you might be able to get this as a
  deliverable.
  </plug>

  >
  > After waiting until nearly 16:00 local time to get onto the HP

  We do know that the support server is slow.  Not speaking officially,
  but I don't think we anticipated the *absolutely* overwhelming demand
  that has been put on the server.  We are working on it...

  <snip>

  > Does EVERYTHING that HP puts a name to HAVE to require a Captain
  > Marvel decoder ring to decipher?

  Decoder ring secrets...  When we release a PowerPatch, we title
  it PPCoovv, where oo is the os 5.0 or 5.5, and vv is the two character
  version of the PowerPatch.  In your case it would look like PPC5502.
  Hope that helps some.

  >
  > Instead, this is what I get when I search for "power patch
  > 2".  Anyone want to tell me which ones really make up power
  > patch 2?  All of them?  Just the ones beginning with MPE? Should
  > I really be looking for PP3 by this time instead?

  <many patches and other stuff snipped>
  From my research that list looks pretty much like the ones we shipped
  with PPC5502.  The list appears to contains superseeds for those patches
  which have them, ie some of the originally shipped patches are already old
  (not bad, just old.)

  PowerPatch 3 isn't due out for a bit yet, so that's not a factor.

  I am currently in the process of writing a FAQ entry about patching;
  specifically what the patch names mean, how to read your hpswinfo file,
  and how do I tell which PowerPatch I'm on.  Sorry Chris, that I haven't
  gotten that done yet.

  Here's a quick run down of how to identify what a patch means:

  Chars 1-3 are the product or subsystem ( MPE=MPE TIX=TurboImage DIC=Dictionary )
  Chars 4-7 are part of the serialized id and won't mean much to you.

  Chars 4-5 usually take the shape of GX, HX, JX serially.
  Chars 6-7 are really serial (can go from 00 - Z9).

  If there is a letter on the end, that is the actual version of the patch.

  So...MPEJX54B is an mpe core os or driver patch, and is version B of that
  patch.

  Three last things...  1) any PowerPatch will probably contain patches that fix
  a number of different subsystems, so you'll find all kind of patches, besides
  just MPE (TIX, DIC, NSS, DTC, etc, etc ).  2)  any PowerPatch (not Express
  Release) is only a snapshot in time of the patches that HP has available
  for that OS that will co-exist together.  3) The patches and/or functionality is
  cumulative from one PP to the next on the same os.  So PP2, contains new fixes
  since PP1, plus the fixes that were on PP1.  To sum it up, you'll find three
  kinds of patches on a PowerPatch:

  A)  Patches that are new since the last PP.
  B)  Patches that are the superseeds of patches in the last PP (diff patch id)
  C)  Pathces that are still valid and have been carried over since the last PP.

  Does that help some?  Please send any replies to email, as I don't read the
  group, and had this message forwarded on to me.

  - Randy Smith
  Response Center Account Advocate
  Hewlett-Packard
  [log in to unmask]

  "Providing Patch Management and Assistance for those with the proper support
   level."  And general information to the rest, sorry folks!

   The opinions expressed are solely my own, and I've been know to err, but the
   information herein is generally good.