I cannot echo loudly enough the sediments of beta patches on a production
machine.  There is just no way that I can risk the reliability of a
production machine to test a beta batch.  Once a patch is production, and
maybe that is where express or power patch releases are generated then I
usually still wait 2-3 months to install.  The risk of an egg on face is not
worth the benefits.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Larry Simonsen          Phone: 801-489-2450
Flowserve Corporation   Fax: 801-491-1750
PO Box 2200             http://www.flowserve.com
Springville, UT 84663   e-mail: [log in to unmask]
------------------------------------------------------------------------

                -----Original Message-----
                From:   [log in to unmask]
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]
                Sent:   Friday, July 30, 1999 1:08 AM
                To:     [log in to unmask]
                Subject:        Gateway Automatic Recovery Fix & others

                Hello Friends @ 3000-l,

                Re: Gateway Automatic Recovery Fix & others

                I have heard some concerns expressed out here about 3000
networking... yet
                some the fixes have been available for some time and
messages have been
                posted to the 3000-l updating us all of this availability...
some of these
                fixes have not moved to General Release due to insufficient
customers willing
                to Beta Test.

                - SA725 5003-437582 & Network Printer hangs 5003-401455 have
been fixed in
                  NSTFDD8 5.5 General Release.  If you are running networked
printers, you
                  are a likely candidate to see this problem.  Also fixed in
NSTFD97 6.0
                  Beta Test patch.

                - TCP default receive window to small for BSD sockets
4701-422329 has been
                  fixed in NSTFDD9 5.5 Beta Test patch.  This problem has
frequently been
                  seen with FTP/iX on MPE/iX 6.0 since the NETIPC calls were
changed to BSD
                  in FTP/iX on 6.0. Also fixed in NSTFD97 6.0 Beta Test
patch.

                - Gateway is marked down and not retried 5003-402107 has
been fixed in
                  NSTFDD9 5.5 Beta Test.  Also fixed in NSTFD97 6.0 Beta
Test patch.

                - Traceroute Utility available on MPE/iX 5003-442715. This
enhancement is
                  available in NSTFDD9 5.5 Beta Test and NSTFD97 6.0 Beta
Test.  A special
                  thanks to those folks out here on 3000-L who assisted with
the Alpha
                  Testing.

                - Increase the maximum number of TCP connections to > 10,000
5003-404608.
                  This enhancement is available in NSTFDD9 5.5 Beta Test and
NSTFD97 6.0
                  Beta Test (note: This enhancement also requires a
companion NMMGR patch).

                It is very disheartening for the lab and support folks who
leark out here to
                hear again and again these concerns expressed knowing these
problems have
                been fixed for a while but customers are not willing to
install them.

                Regards,

                James Hofmeister
                Hewlett Packard
                Worldwide Technology Network Expert Center
                P.S. My Ideals are my own, not necessarily my employers.