Part number encoding
ger...@no.spam.mail.com
the thread about factory codes gave me the idea to ask about a thing that
arouses my curiosity since I started my Hobbyist "career" on OpenVMS: the
part number encoding. That is the codes in the usual XX-XXXXX-XX form.
The only thing I've understood is that subsequent releases of software and
manuals usually maintain the same code, except for the fifth character of
the second group which is increased by one.
Does anyone here can shed some light on this subject?
Thank you very much,
G.
H Vlems
The same form is also used to identify hardware. E.g. 70-31488-43 is a
hard disk, an SBB actually.
You can verify your idea though. Download the same VMS manual for each
of the versions available on-line.
Say, the Master Index and check the changes in the code.
I'm guessing here but may be if the first two characters are digits
the product code refers to hardware, otherwise it's either software of
documentation.
The last two characters are either a patch level or a (hardware)
variant of the product. Software was issued on various media, called H-
kits.
The reason was that all media kits had product codes that ended in -
Hn. When n was 9 you got 9 track PE magtape.
Hans
Michael Kraemer
> I'm guessing here but may be if the first two characters are digits
> the product code refers to hardware, otherwise it's either software of
> documentation.
> The last two characters are either a patch level or a (hardware)
> variant of the product. Software was issued on various media, called H-
> kits.
> The reason was that all media kits had product codes that ended in -
> Hn. When n was 9 you got 9 track PE magtape.
> Hans
Sure?
All CDs I know of start with "AG" and end with "BE", "RE", "XE" or "BS",
be it for VMS, DUNIX or Ultrix.
H Vlems
Of course I'm not sure. The term H-kit was invented well before a cd
was even thought of!
And by the time they were, it was to distribute music.....
Michael Kraemer
well, they could have kept the old nomenclature.
-HC for a CD kit for example.
> And by the time they were, it was to distribute music.....
When did the CD appear, 1981/83?
And when was the first time that software was shipped on CD?
Richard B. Gilbert
I think MAYBE 1985. One big problem was that existing machines did not
have CDROM drives and, in many cases, could not be economically
retrofitted with CDROM.
JF Mezei
> I think MAYBE 1985. One big problem was that existing machines did not
> have CDROM drives and, in many cases, could not be economically
> retrofitted with CDROM.
With Digital, I think CDs began much later, probably 1990.
Michael Kraemer
> I think MAYBE 1985.
Seems way too early.
That was still deep in the tape era.
The earliest CDs I could spot are some
HP-UX media from 1991.
(i.e. from the time when HP still was "invent"ive)
> One big problem was that existing machines did not
> have CDROM drives and, in many cases, could not be economically
> retrofitted with CDROM.
That was still the case even in the early 1990s.
But usually one could hook up an external
(very expensive) CD-ROM drive to the SCSI port,
just for installation purposes.
Michael Kraemer
When did the VS3100 appear?
They can boot VMS off CD
(although they are very picky),
so by the time their firmware was finalized
CD media might have existed already.
Bob Eager
About 1990, if I remember correctly when I got my first one.
--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org
H Vlems
>
> - Show quoted text -
Michael,
the launch for players and media was in april 1983, in the
Netherlands. IIRC it may have been introduced earlier in the USA and
possibly Japan.
No idea when Digital started shipping software on cd. The oldest media
I've got are from 1994 (VMS V6.1 for VAX and AXP).
The VAX cd is AG-PXKUC-RE, the firware cd ends in -BE, the Alpha cd
ends in -RE
Hans
Steve
>
> - Show quoted text -
By the time Alpha launched shipments must have been established on CD
as Alpha never had the capability to boot from tape. The VAX 7000 to
Alpha 8400 upgrade included a mandatory CD-Rom drive too.
A story a friend of mine told me went along the lines of someone asked
"the keeper of the part numbers" at Digital for a new set of numbers
for the new PC range that was being launched.
"You want what????"
"New series of numbers for these new PCs we're launching. can't be
anything like what we've had before."
"Get flippin' real..."
No idea whether the thread of the story is true, but all of the PC
products start with the characters FR-xxxxx-xx
Steve