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Hidden Value details commands and procedures in MPE that can improve your productivity with HP 3000 systems. Send your tips to john@burke-consulting.com, or fax them to 512.331.3807.

Edited by John Burke

My system crashed. Now when I bring it back up it starts to behave strangely, indicating several system files cannot be accessed. I can sign on, as MANAGER.SYS, but most of the accounts that used to be on the system cannot be found. When I do a listf of PUB.SYS, most of the files have a message associated with them that reads:
*BAD UFID FOR THE FOLLOWING FILE : /SYS/PUB/COMMAND
UFID : 05650002 1B8D7A30 000042D2 18020864 0266B8F5
Bad UFID for the file /SYS/PUB/COMMAND (CIWARN 9165)

I believe the system disk experienced some “difficulties” at some point, and I’m not sure what happened or if it’s repairable. Of course I have a SYSGEN tape, but never having had to use one, I need to know if it contains the SYS account files necessary for me to begin reconstruction and reloading of accounts.

Paul Courry replies:
Bad UFID is a bad Universal File IDentifier. In other words, your file system is corrupted. You can try running FSCHECK.MPEXL.TELESUP (run with EXTREME care, reading the manual first) but considering the extent of the damage you probably will not be able to recover everything.

Larry Barnes notes:
Your SYSGEN tape may or may not have the SYS account on it. It depends on how the tape was created. You can generate a SYSGEN tape and have it include certain accounts. I usually included sys and TELESUP on the tape.

Finally, John Clogg replies:
Since you have missing accounts as well as the UFID problem, it seems your system directory is damaged. I think it’s a safe bet that your system volume set is clobbered. You need to do an INSTALL from your SLT. This will re-install your operating system and give you a brand new directory

Files, groups, and accounts on private volume sets are still there, but you will need to recreate the system directory entries for those accounts and groups. If you have BULDACCT output, that will make the job easier. It’s always a good idea to run BULDACCT periodically and store the result to tape for just this eventuality. [Editor’s note: I use BULDACCT as backup in case my primary method to recover directory entries fails for some reason: the DIRECTORY option of STORE.]

You will also need to restore the contents of your system volume set. Make sure you use the KEEP option so you won’t lose any files created by the INSTALL. You might want to purge or rename COMMAND.PUB.SYS before the restore, so you get your SETCATALOG definitions restored along with the files.

What are the PIN configurations to go from a DTC RJ45 distribution panel to a modem?

Mark Halstead replies:
I researched this recently. What I got from HP was that the RJ45 ports “don’t generate modem signals.” If you have a DTC16 or DTC72 you can get a MDP — Modem Distribution Panel to provide modem ports.

I have an older HP 3000. I want to add a standalone single ended HP DLT drive. What HP DLT4000 external drives are supported on MPE/iX?

Denys Beauchemin replies:
A DLT4000 is a DLT4000. Any one will work. HP no longer sells DLT4000 devices. They only sell DLT8000 and probably SDLT, but the latter is not currently supported on MPE. You should be able to find a used DLT4000 most anywhere for a very low price. It will be easy to attach directly to a SCSI port on the system, just make sure it is not a differential (FWD) SCSI port. In SYSGEN, the device ID will be DLT4000. Use the shortest cable you can get away with.

We experienced a power outage Sunday. After bringing everything up I have a couple of serial connected printers (Zebra) that do not want to work properly. How can I get them online?

Jeff Kell replies:
Check first to see if the DTCs are healthy. If they power failed as well, they may not have been downloaded correctly (by the host or by DTC Manager, whichever flavor you use for configuration).

We have been successfully using and recommending DDX for years. We tried MDX way back when it was first introduced and got corrupt databases. We have a real need for it now, however. Is MDX as stable as DDX now? Our 3000s run MPE/iX 6.5. Is this adequate? Are special patches necessary?

Guy Paul replies:
The problem you refer to about corruption was a serious one from the 5.5 days. It has been patched and no serious ones like it have popped up that I am aware of. There are some corner cases when corruption can occur but the latest TI patch TIXMX73 should fix them. Without MX73 the possibility exists that if more than one dataset expansion (DDX or MDX) happens within one dbxbegin/dbxend and then rollback (dbxundo) the transaction you will get corruption. Fortunately the corruption is in the user label and not in the data. The scenario for this would be very complex transactions and very small increments on your expansions so it was a corner case. So, to answer your question - MDX is stable, as is DDX.

What should be done to move a Series 959 about 15 feet across the office? Is it possible to just power it down (removing all connections of course) and roll it across? Or do we need to get HP involved with it?

John Burke replies:
Yep, been there, done that. However, my understanding of HP’s official policy is that if the system does not come back up okay, the repair is not covered under your support contract since you moved it.

John Clogg adds:
In which case, you roll it back to its original location before you call HP. But seriously, rolling machines around in the room is no big deal, and people do it all the time. I would definitely involve HP if moving the machine to a different site, but not for the move you describe.

While waiting for a backup to finish, I began to ponder anew about a recommendation from HP. Ever since STM was foisted upon us, and HP Predictive Support was changed since it needs STM, HP has recommended that the JPSMON job should run all of the time. I have wondered why JPSMON couldn’t be started, say 10 minutes before Predictive was scheduled to run, and then aborted sometime later when we are sure that Predictive ran successfully. Any thoughts on this topic?

HP’s ITRC replies:
Your suggestion is good food for thought this morning. I see no reason why your plan would not work. I believe the reason we recommend JPSMON be ran at all times is to guarantee it is running when Predictive runs. Besides, the job takes little if any resources.

I’m doing a report in Query. I can get line breaks after a total, but want a page break. How can I do this?

Mark Wonsil and Roy Brown reply:
Your line breaks will be SPACE A [number] or SPACE B [number] I imagine. Use SKIP A or SKIP B (no numbers) in place of these, to page break. See docs.hp.com/mpeix/all/index.html#QUERY/iX for the appropriate manual.