4.2BSD VAX/11-750 Rev7 CPU Questions

[Peter Wolfe]

<*** Oh NO!! it happened to us too ***>

Please excuse my ignorance.  I know that this has been discussed here
before but I either ignored the discussion or did not understand.

We run a binary licensed version of 4.2BSD from a local vendor on a
VAX/11-750. Our configuration consists of the following:

	- UDA50/ra81/ra60
	- 2 DMF-32
	- 1 VMZ-32
	- TU78 on the massbus
	- 6 Megs memory

Our cpu has been upgraded to revision level 7.  I gather from discussions
on the net and reading the FCO that this involves changing micro-code.
Unfortunately this is now done from a boot cassette (which the FE left).
My questions are:

	What things will rev7 fix for 4.2BSD
	what things will rev7 *break* for 4.2BSD
	How can or should we install the new microcode?
	General advice on what to do and/or expect from rev7.

Some background:

	In the past we have taken one or two
	'machine check 2: cp tbuf par fault' AND recovered.
	Since rev7 has been installed we have crashed once for the same
	reason with 'panic mchk' and subsequent 'trap type 2, ...'
	'panic: Reserved Operand' repeated several times then a reboot.

I think it best if replies were via mail, rather than the net.
If I get deluged I can always summarize.
Thank you for taking the time to educate the uneducated.

-- 

    Peter Wolfe
    New Media Technologies
    ..decvax!microsoft!ubc-vision!winston!wolfe
    ..ihnp4!alberta!ubc-vision!winston!wolfe