[HECnet] Configuring py-decnet --> patches

[Johnny Billquist]

Happy to announce that I have found and fixed the bug in the DECnet code 
in RSX that could cause operations like "SHOW KNOWN NODES" to skip some 
nodes under some circumstances.

So anyone getting node definitions from MIM can now safely do that using 
NCP (in VMS), or NNS (in RSX) and be sure they do get the complete list.

For anyone using RSX, this is another component you want to update. The 
file in question is [5,54]NMVACP.TSK, and you can copy it from MIM::
Place it in that directory, and you're good after the next reboot.
If you want it fixed on your running system, then after copying the file 
over, do the following two lines:

REM NMVACP
INS LB:[5,54]NMVACP

and then you are good.

If anyone wants to know itty gritty details on the bug, let me know and 
I can explain it. But suffice to say for now, that this bug was 
introduced with the nodename server in RSX, which I think only came in 
M+ V4.6.

   Johnny

On 2020-08-27 02:16, Johnny Billquist wrote:
> On 2020-08-27 01:47, Dave McGuire wrote:
>> On 8/26/20 4:40 PM, Johnny Billquist wrote:
>>> Let me put it this way. If any tool causes you any problems, first 
>>> check if there is something newer on MIM, and if so - grab and test 
>>> that.
>>> If not, let me know, and I can probably fix it.
>>
>>    I'm sure I speak for all of us here when I say THANK YOU for this.
> 
> The thing is - some of the bugs and issues I've worked on are rather 
> obscure. You might occasionally observe there is something funny going 
> on, but understanding where the problem is, and finding the fixed file 
> on MIM is not always so easy, nor how to apply it.
> 
> Take MCR, for example. There are multiple things I've fixed. Both in 
> MCR... and ...MCR (they are two different things). And applying them 
> needs that you update things through VMR. Can't be done on a running 
> system. (Well, ...MCR can, but MCR... cannot.)
> 
> My TCP/IP package already does that patch for you however, so you should 
> be good.
> 
> Hey, here is something for people to look at, to make you aware of 
> things you might be interested in: MIM::US:[BQT]FIX.TXT contains all the 
> work I've been doing for a possible future V5.0 release of RSX-11M-PLUS.
> A lot of those fixes apply just fine also for V4.6, but don't ask about 
> the subdirectory stuff. That is just too complex to patch up, and there 
> are still a couple of corners I'm not done with.
> 
>>> And while I'm on it. At the moment there is a long standing bug in 
>>> NICE on RSX, which have been annoying me slightly for a long time, 
>>> but which is now starting to become serious enough that I need to 
>>> look deeper into it. If you do a "NCP TELL MIM SHOW KNOWN NODES" the 
>>> list is incomplete. If you look carefully, some nodes are missing, 
>>> which will be there, if you explicitly ask for them.
>>>
>>> This becomes a larger problem because if someone on a VMS system does 
>>> an "NCP COPY KNOWN NODES FROM MIM ..." they will not be getting the 
>>> full list either. And the same goes for RSX users using NNC to copy 
>>> the known nodes from MIM.
>>
>>    Ah-HA!!  I have seen exactly this.  I thought I was losing my mind.
> 
> Well, now you know you aren't. :-)
> 
>    Johnny
> 


-- 
Johnny Billquist                  || "I'm on a bus
                                   ||  on a psychedelic trip
email: bqt at softjar.se             ||  Reading murder books
pdp is alive!                     ||  tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol