First, a warm "thank you" to Jon Cohen for clearly posting the "official
answer".  Also, a "thank you" to Kevin Newman, who re-posted a very clear
explanation last week.

[Removing "sincere" hat, putting on "grumpy" hat]

So, if I'm moving from "MPE/iX 5.5 Express Release 2" directly to "MPE/iX 5.5
Express Release 4", I should use the "Express 3 Subsys Tape" and the
"PowerPatch 4 Tape", huh?

Let's try.  [Grabbing my "Express 3" tapes...]

I have two tapes here.

One is labeled "MPE iX 5.5 Power Patch".  It doesn't say "Express 3" anywhere
on it.  It does have "REV C.55.03" on it, so I guess I'm supposed to ASSume
it's "Express 3".

The other one is labeled "MPE/IX5.5 EXPRESS 3".  Doesn't say "subsys"
anywhere on it.

I also have here a tape labeled "MPE/iX 5.5 POWERPATCH" (notice how the name
of the operating system keeps changing?).  It doesn't say "POWERPATCH 4"
anywhere on it.  It does say "REV C.55.04", so again I guess I'll ASSume it's
Power Patch 4.

According to the "Read Before Installing", I have "information related to
Express 4 PowerPatch (C.55.04)".  At least the "REV" or "VUF" (depending on
which tape you are looking at) seems to be tied to the "Express 4
PowerPatch".

I won't even mention the fact that in order to update from 5.5 express 2 to
5.5 express 4, you can't use the "Update OS and Add-on SUBSYS products"
instructions.  You need to use the "Add-on with Tape and Manage Patches"
instructions.  The "Read Before Installing" that came with the tape doesn't
tell you this.  I guess you're supposed to deduce it from the fact that you
don't have all of the materials needed to do an "Update OS", after you figure
out that the tape you have is a SUBSYS tape, and not a FOS or SLT tape.

And I'll leave out my comments on the "Choose Your Own Adventure(tm)" style
of installation instructions, too.

[removing "grumpy" hat -- hey, it's stuck!]
---
Michael D. Hensley       | mailto:[log in to unmask]
Allegro Consultants Inc. |
408/252-2330             | Visit scenic http://www.allegro.com