HP offers final Y2K patch help on Web site

Site identifies which patches must go on top of PowerPatch, 6.0 or Express releases for Year 2000

HP is stocking its Web sites with the latest information about patching the 3000’s operating system for Year 2000, helping customers ensure that their systems cross into the next year safely.

Mariann Tymn, the Y2K Program Manager for the Commercial Systems Division (CSY), said that HP won’t be releasing a comprehensive PowerPatch or Express release that includes all the patches for compliance. But HP will release patches, if needed, right up to the century shift and beyond, though Tymn doesn’t expect any more major patches.

The full table of Y2K patches, with data on which patches have been superseded for Year 2000 issues, is at the CSY Jazz Web site: jazz.external ..hp.com/year2000/patches.html.

“This is a snapshot in time,” Tymn said. “I really believe that HP has done comprehensive work in testing, but our customers use products in ways that we hadn’t thought of. There’s bound to something that comes up — hopefully it’s minor.”

Tymn said “it’s a little late in the game” to be generating another PowerPatch with all up-to-date Y2K patches for either MPE 5.5 or 6.0. The PowerPatch 7 was shipped in mid-summer, while the Express 1 release of MPE/iX 6.0 was shipped in September.

“MPE has had this patch process in place for quite some time, where people can go to the support site and look at patches and decide if they need to apply them,” Tymn said. “There really wasn’t any demand for us to change that” with another PowerPatch or Express release.

HP is now saying that PowerPatch 4 of MPE/iX 5.5 is the oldest release customers should have on their HP 3000s for Y2K compliance. The chart on the Web site shows which patches must be added to that release and later releases. PowerPatch 6 and PowerPatch 7 are also Y2K compliant. All of these MPE 5.5 PowerPatches require some additional patches on top of the release, depending on which subsystem software customers are using.

HP has added the # symbol to patches on the table to show they are needed for Y2K compliance. Customers can get the patches on the table by logging into the HP IT Resource Center: www.itresourcecenter.hp.com for North America, and www.europe.itresource center.hp.com for European customers. Tymn said that even if a customer isn’t on a current support contract, they can download patches by simply establishing a login ID and password at the site.

One patch that many HP 3000 sites will need to install on top of PowerPatch 7 is VPLKXR3, which will take systems with applications using VPlus up to version B.06.08. The earlier version of VPlus, B.06.07, contains the wrong formfile (buffer) for formspec; its re-number option is missing from the main menu; and field type and data type are missing from the form menus. HP says this mismatched buffer can cause “a multitude of errors.”

Tymn said she has looked at the latest HP 3000 patches, working with HP Response Center staff to evaluate the General Released patches. “My take on this is that most of these [latest] patches are cosmetic, other than the VPlus patch,” she said. Most of the newest patches are fixes for things like applications printing out dates in two digits instead of four, for example.

MPE/iX 6.0 is also Y2K compliant, and requires fewer patches on top of it, because it was a later release than 5.5.

HP is providing this PowerPatch 7 release of MPE/iX 5.5 for free to customers who aren’t on HP support, so long as the customers can produce an invoice that shows they purchased the HP 3000 on or after January 1, 1995.

Customers must be on MPE/iX 4.0 or later to use this free update tape. They can get it by asking for part number 51453B + options UEJ, AAH, 255, and 002 from their local HP Sales Office calling until April 30, 2000 to place an order. HP is identifying the critical period for Y2K issues as continuing up to the beginning of March, 2000.

Tymn said customers should continue to check the CSY Web patch page up to the end of the year for updates. But she added that “If there was anything really perceived as a class problem, it would be communicated more than just on this page.” HP’s Response Center would “broadcast it in as many ways as was deemed necessary.”

HP has a “one-stop-shop” Web page for HP 3000 Y2K issues, including information on MPE V systems, at www.soft ware.hp.com/products/MPEIX_INFO_CENTER/. The page includes a link to the patch page and the free upgrade programs.