<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< What's New In Kestrel Version 3.10.02 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> This document describes important release notes, new features, bug fixes and known issues for Kestrel versions through 3.10.02. A workaround for a Bug Fix is necessary only when using a version prior to the version in which the bug is fixed. ======================== Version 3.10.02 Mar. 8, 2011 ========================= Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 3.10.02. Bug Fix: Writes to a 12100A (OBIO) virtual device port could, under rare conditions, produce spurious characters on the attached display device accompanied by an "Illegal Interrupt from LU xxx octal" message on the system console. Fixed in: Kestrel version 3.10.02. Workaround: None. If the OBIO port is connected to a terminal or terminal emulator, repeat the output request if possible. ======================== Version 3.10.01 Feb. 22, 2011 ======================== Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 3.10.01 and following. Enhancement: For configurations that include any File, Floppy, Removable, FixedDisk or RawDisk physical disk devices, the performance when writing partial blocks has been improved. Comment: Because the typical physical block size of HP discs (256 bytes) is smaller than the typical physical block size of PC disks (512 bytes), RTE often writes partial blocks. Two independent enhancements have been made: First, writes to container files (for File physical disk devices) do not perform any partial block logic (no data preread is necessary because the Windows file system performs all required blocking and deblocking). This is results in a very slight performance improvement. Second, writes to physical media (for Floppy, Removable, FixedDisk or RawDisk physical disk devices) now preread data only for the physical disk blocks being partially written (only the first and/or last physical block in a transfer needs to be preread before writing. This results in a significant performance improvement, especially for very slow physical media such as PC floppies. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 3.10.01 and following. New Feature: The "Unsynchronized = ..." general configuration command may now be given multiple times. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the "Unsynchronized = ..." general configuration command. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 3.10.01 and following. New Feature: The "NextVar = ..." general configuration command now supports the new /Range option. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the new /Range option for the "NextVar = ..." general configuration command. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 3.10.01 and following. New Feature: The Telnet physical device now supports "None" and "Default" as values for the /KeepAlive and /TimingMark options. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the /KeepAlive and /TimingMark options for the Telnet physical device. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 3.10.01. Bug Fix: For Kestrel configurations that include one or more Telnet physical devices, Kestrel shutdown could cause the Windows Sockets logic to crash continuously, resulting in an eventual stack overflow and immediate termination of the Kestrel. Fixed in: Kestrel version 3.10.00. Workaround: Stop the Kestrel and use the Devices menu options to dismount any mounted Disk or Tape units and to close any active logging capture files. Comment: This problem occurs only during Kestrel shutdown and is caused by closing a socket while the Windows Sockets 'select' function is running. In general, this problem is invisible (i.e., you ask to shut down the Kestrel and it shuts down), but there are two potential detectable effects: first, the exit code returned by the Kestrel is 251 rather than 240 through 244; second, the orderly shutdown of a physical device that requires some action on shutdown (e.g., writeback of the disk data for a Mem physical disk) could be aborted, resulting in lost or corrupted data. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 3.10.01. Bug Fix: The emulations of the virtual 12880A keyboard-display terminal interface and 12531D (HSTI) high speed terminal interface would transmit characters even if neither printing or punching was enabled (on these devices, either bit 13 or bit 12 of the control word must be set for any transmit to occur). Fixed in: Kestrel version 3.10.00. Workaround: None. Comment: This bug is extremely unlikely to occur because the effect is to output a character instead of discarding it. Since it makes no sense to go through all the work to transmit a character (with all the associated CPU utilization and character frame delay) for no effect whatsoever, there is no known situation that would cause this bug. In particular, this problem cannot occur with the standard RTE drivers. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 3.10.01. Bug Fix: The emulations of the virtual 12880A keyboard-display terminal interface and 12531D (HSTI) high speed terminal interface devices required execution of an STC instruction to enable clocking of an input character. The actual hardware interfaces do not require STC on input transfers: clearing the flag is sufficient to allow the next input character to set busy and start the character interval timer. Fixed in: Kestrel version 3.10.00. Workaround: None. Comment: This bug is extremely unlikely to be detected because all documentation and programming examples for these devices indicate that STC is required and the RTE driver (which was apparently coded to the documented behavior) issues STCC before exiting. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 3.10.01. Bug Fix: The emulations of the virtual 12880A keyboard-display terminal interface and 12531D (HSTI) high speed terminal interface devices would set busy immediately when the flag was cleared following reception of an input character and another character had already been received and buffered (for example, when one of the terminal function keys F1-F8 was pressed). This would cause the RTE driver to discard the input because detection of the busy condition on the original hardware indicates a potential data overrun/corruption problem. The device emulations now allow up to one character bit time (or two when two stop bits are configured) before indicating that another character has arrived by setting the interface busy bit. This means that the standard RTE-6 driver will not reject isochronous input unless the baud rate is too high for the speed of the HP 1000 emulation. For a high speed Kestrel, it is now possible to configure up to 28800 baud with one stop bit; at the speed of a legacy HP 1000 computer, the maximum baud rate that supports isochronous input is somewhat more than 9600 baud with one stop bit. Fixed in: Kestrel version 3.10.00. Workaround: None. Comment: This bug was observed years ago but not recognized as a problem because of the way these interfaces were often configured. When used as a keyboard-display terminal interface, users often jumpered these devices to run at a baud rates that exceeded the rate at which RTE could handle isochronous input. This traded the inability to use the terminal function keys for very much faster output. When configured in this fashion, use of the terminal function keys always failed in exactly the observed manner. ======================== Version 3.10.00 Dec. 14, 2010 ======================== Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations, version 3.10.00 and following. Release Note: The virtual 12009A (HP-IB) device emulation has been completely reimplemented to more faithfully emulate the actual behavior of the 12009A HP-IB interface. This should eliminate several known problems with this emulation when supporting HP-IB bus devices and instruments (as opposed to supporting HP-IB disc and tape devices). In addition, several new configuration options were added for this virtual device to enhance the ability to fine-tune its performance for a particular application. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the 12009A virtual device. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 3.10.00 and following. Release Note: The help files for the Strobe VCP are now delivered in two different formats: VCPHELP.PDF and VCPHELP.TXT (for A-series configurations) and MEFHELP.PDF and MEFHELP.TXT (for 21MX configurations). Under normal operation, only VCPHELP.PDF or MEFHELP.PDF (depending on the Kestrel configuration) is opened when the user requests help from within the Strobe VCP. To open the text file formats of these documents instead, use the new VCPMan general configuration command described below. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 3.10.00 and following. New Feature: The new "VCPMan = filename" general configuration command allows selecting the document that will be opened in response to the Strobe VCP Help key (F1), which allows a site to create a customized VCP help document that is specific to that installation. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the new VCPMan general configuration command. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 3.10.00. Bug Fix: For A-series virtual devices that can set the card flag register immediately after it is cleared by an LIAC, LIBC, MIAC, MIBC, OTAC, OTBC, CLCC or STCC instruction (specifically, the OBIO/12100A and HP-IB/12009A devices), flag 30 could have been set in accordance with the previous card state rather than the new card state. This could have resulted in an unexpected, lost or incorrect card interrupt condition and caused the associated device driver to fail. Fixed in: Kestrel version 3.10.00. Workaround: None. Comment: We are not aware of any occurrence of this problem with the named virtual devices. This bug was discovered internally by Strobe Data during the effort to improve the implementation of the A-series HP-IB/12009A virtual device emulation. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel versions 2.31.30 and 2.31.29. Bug Fix: The PARSEX86.EXE program would not parse the Kestrel X86 memory dump image. It would fail with an error message similar to: Auto-detected .\imagename.m86 Looking for initcom->parm and can't find it. Fixed in: Kestrel version 3.10.00. Workaround: None. Comment: This program is of use only to Strobe Data support personnel to facilitate problem diagnosis. It is neither a standard, operational program, nor is it designed for general use by end-users. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 3.10.00. Bug Fix: For configurations that include the IEEE-488 /Protocol:DD*33 or IEEE-488 /Protocol:DVM33 translators, these translators did not properly handle requests to write a data byte sequence in which every byte had the EOI tag bit set. Fixed in: Kestrel version 3.10.00. Workaround: None. Comment: There are no known circumstances under which this problem could have occurred. The CS-80 protocol does not include message sequences where any byte but the last has the EOI tag bit set, and the RTE drivers do not send such sequences. This bug was discovered internally by Strobe Data during the effort to improve the implementation of the A-series HP-IB/12009A virtual device emulation. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 3.10.00. Bug Fix: When the HP 12821A Disc Controller (actually HP-IB) virtual device was configured and operated as a non-controller, it did not configure response to parallel poll correctly. Fixed in: Kestrel version 3.10.00. Workaround: None. Comment: Note the HP 12821A Disc Controller was marketed for use as a disc controller. Thus, the operating system drivers never operate as a non-controller. For this reason, there are no known circumstances under which this problem could have occurred. This bug was discovered internally by Strobe Data during the effort to improve the implementation of the A-series HP-IB/12009A virtual device emulation. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 3.10.00. Cosmetic: A duplicated $B line has been removed from the Strobe VCP help and the breakpoint set commands are now grouped together. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 3.10.00. Cosmetic: The Kestrel VCP help screen no longer shows the the EP boot loader command because it is not and never has been supported. ======================== Version 2.31.30 Aug. 23, 2010 ======================== Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.30 and following. Enhancement: All virtual character devices that accept the /Baud option (12005A/12005B/ASIC, OBIO/12100A, BACI/12966/12966A, 12880A and 12531D/HSTI) now allow specification of any baud rate in the extended range [10-4194304]. If the attached physical device is a serial interface that is supported as a COM port in Windows, the specified rate must be valid for that device. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.30 and following. Enhancement: For configurations that include the COM physical device, the /BaudXlat option now allows specification of any baud rate in the extended range [10-4194304], although the specified rate must be valid for the actual physical serial device. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.30 and following. Enhancement: For configurations that include a GPIB physical device interface, the responsiveness of parallel polling has been improved slightly for cases when simultaneous responses are expected from multiple bus devices. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.30 and following. Release Note: For the GPIB physical device interface, the default value for the /PPFTM option has changed from 1000000 microseconds (1 second) to 100000 microseconds (100 milliseconds). See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the GPIB physical device interface. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations, version 2.31.30 and following. New Feature: The SDIChar virtual character device now allows the /Baud and/or /Line options to specify the serial line characteristics. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure these new SDIChar options. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations after version 2.31.07 and prior to version 2.31.30. Cosmetic: The icons for many of the shortcuts in the Kestrel's Start Menu folder were incorrect. Although the icons were incorrect, the correct programs were still executed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.30. Bug Fix: For configurations that include one or more 12100A (OBIO) virtual device ports with the /Baud option, the initial baud rate was 14400 instead of the specified baud rate. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.28. Workaround: None; however, the baud rate for an OBIO port is usually programmed during system start-up and initialization, so the initial baud rate is normally irrelevant and this bug is not detectable. ======================== Version 2.31.29 May 24, 2010 ========================= Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.29 and following. Release Note: For Kestrel boards with control firmware revision 9 or higher, the default TockInterval configuration setting is now "TockInterval = 200 /Adjust:Closest". This permits the Kestrel to emulate a 1 millisecond or 10 millisecond time interval (e.g., for a TBG or TBG-like device) without jitter. Formerly, the default TockInterval configuration setting was equivalent to "TockInterval = 200 /Adjust:None". For a Kestrel boards control firmware revision prior to revision 9, the default is "TockInterval = Maximum /Adjust:None", which is equivalent to "TockCounter = Maximum". -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.29 and following. New Feature: The TockInterval general configuration command now accepts an optional /Adjust configuration option to specify that the specified TockInterval value be exact. The X86Clock, EmuClock and ClockDivisor values are adjusted as indicated to force the TockInterval value to be exactly the specified value. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the enhanced TockInterval general configuration command. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.29 and following. New Feature: The files referenced by the FirmwareROMs general configuration command are now locked to a specific Kestrel release version. This makes it impossible to accidentally load a FirmwareROMs file which is not correct for the current Kestrel version. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.29 and following. New Feature: The Kestrel now supports configuration and activation of LegacyBus devices manufactured by Strobe Data Inc. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.29 and following. New Feature: The HWDIAG.EXE program has been improved to detect failure of the 32 Mhz crystal or the ICD clock generator chip without causing the host computer PCI bus to freeze. Should these components fail, the HWDIAG.EXE program will now report that the "Checking high-resolution timer" test failed. Aborting program execution immediately on report of this error will prevent the hardware failure from freezing the PCI bus and requiring a reboot of the host computer. ======================== Version 2.31.28 Mar. 23, 2010 ======================== Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.28 and following. New Feature: The DOSDEV program now, by default, displays only devices for which the device name does not contain a '{' character and the namespace symbolic link begins with "\Device\". This change significantly reduces the size of the program output. To display information about all device names, type: DOSDEV /Verbose at the command prompt. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.28. Cosmetic: The GETDISK program would report an incorrect "time remaining" at the beginning of a read or write of a disk larger than 4,294,967,295 bytes (4 GB). The copy would otherwise proceed correctly. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.28. Bug Fix: For configurations that include an ASPIDISK physical device interface, the size of the physical disk was not being determined until the first ONLINE call, or the first read or write call with /Poll:0 specified. The only known symptom of this problem is that the GETDISK program running in test mode could not properly read or write a virtual disk attached to an ASPIDISK physical disk. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.28. Workaround: Use GETDISK to read the legacy SCSI disk in the original legacy bus configuration. ======================== Version 2.31.27 Feb. 24, 2010 ======================== Applies to: Kestrel A-Series configurations prior to version 2.31.27. Big Fix: For configurations that include an ASIC (12005A or 12005B) virtual device, under certain circumstances (e.g., with the ID*00 driver in RTE-A) the last character written could be lost. The most common sign of this problem was that EDIT/1000 would hang when starting into screen mode. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.27. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.27. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a 12007 virtual HDLC interface, VCP communications could be dropped while booting over the HDLC link, hanging the boot process. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.27. Workaround: Break into the Kestrel VCP and repeat the boot request. ======================== Version 2.31.26 Feb. 10, 2010 ======================== Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.26 and following. Release Note: The Kestrel Properties dialog box no longer allows selection of a preferred Reference Manual format. This change was required to allow implementation of the new UserMan general configuration command (see the new "UserMan = filename" general configuration command described below). Although the Kestrel Reference Manual is delivered as both USERMAN.PDF and USERMAN.DOC, under normal operation only USERMAN.PDF is opened by the "View Kestrel Reference Manual" entry on the Help menu. To open USERMAN.DOC instead, add the following line to your configuration file: UserMan = USERMAN.DOC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.26 and following. New Feature: The new "UserMan = filename" general configuration command allows changing the file that will be opened by the Help pull- down menu bottom entry (which is normally View Kestrel Reference Manual). This new command allows a site to create a customized help document that is specific to that installation. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the new UserMan general configuration command. Also see the new UserManMenu general configuration command described below. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.26 and following. New Feature: The new "UserManMenu = menutext" general configuration command allows changing the text for the Help pull-down menu bottom entry (which is normally View Kestrel Reference Manual). This new command allows a site to customize the Kestrel Help pull- down menu text to describe a non-standard help document that will be opened instead of the standard Kestrel Reference Manual (USERMAN.PDF) at that installation. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the new UserManMenu general configuration command. Also see the new UserMan general configuration command described above. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.26 and following. New Feature: The Strobe Data Enhanced VCP now implements the new F6 command, which is equivalent to pressing F5 the next times that the Kestrel enters the Strobe Data Enhanced VCP. See the Strobe Enhanced VCP Help document (press F1) for a summary of the commands now supported in the Strobe Data Enhanced VCP. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.26 and following. New Feature: For Kestrel device diagnostic logging, if the logging file name extension is .GZ, then the logging file will be created automatically as a gzip compressed file. See Appendix L in the Kestrel Reference Manual for more information about device diagnostic logging. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.31.26. Bug Fix: The DMS base page fence protection logic did not depend on the DMS being enabled. Thus, if protection was enabled and DMS was disabled, an attempt to write to a base page location that was not below the memory protection fence but was in the part of base page that would have been shared (protected physical) memory had DMS been enabled would cause a memory protection violation. Note that this very unusual combination of conditions does not occur with HP RTE operating systems. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.26. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.31.26. Bug Fix: The Kestrel MBF, MBI and MBW instructions did not force the source and destination byte addresses (in the A and B registers, respectively) to even addresses before beginning the required transfer. As a result, these instructions could move a byte string to and/or from odd addresses. On a legacy HP 1000 computer, the microcode for these instructions effectively ignores and clears the least significant bit of both the A and B registers before beginning the transfer. Note that the HP 1000 M/E/F-Series Computers Technical Reference Handbook explicitly states that "The initial byte addresses in the A and B registers must be even byte addresses", so no code that followed this mandate would get an erroneous result. In particular, RTE does not invoke these instructions with odd byte addresses. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.26. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.31.26. Bug Fix: The 12040C (CMUX) virtual device would not perform DMA (DCPC) transfers properly. This would cause loss of data or other failures. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.26. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.26. Bug Fix: The size of the 9153B fixed disk was incorrect (too small) in the table referenced by disk translators that allow specification of a disk model (/Protocol:DD*33, /Protocol:DVM33 and /Protocol:DDQ30). This would cause an unrecoverable disk error when attempting to access the last few tracks of the disk. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.26. Workaround: Override the default disk size by specifying the correct number of disk blocks by use of the /Blocks:78624 option). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.26. Bug Fix: In the disk container file builder program (WINCON.EXE), the size of the 9153B fixed disk was incorrect (too small) in the table used by the "Choose a Common Disk Type" dialog. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.26. Workaround: Specify the disk size by selecting the "Specify Total Disk Size" dialog and entering 78624 as the number of 256 byte sectors. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-Series configurations prior to version 2.31.26. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a 12007 virtual HDLC interface, the internal Kestrel communication protocol version is required to be the same between the two end points. Previously, a mismatched version failed silently (i.e., would not connect). Now, the mismatch generates an error dialog box. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.26. Workaround: Install the same version of Kestrel on the two systems that are the end points of the HDLC point-to-point communication channel. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.31.26. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a 12974 virtual HDLC interface, the internal Kestrel communication protocol version is required to be the same between the two end points. Previously, a mismatched version failed silently (i.e., would not connect). Now, the mismatch generates an error dialog box. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.26. Workaround: Install the same version of Kestrel on the two systems that are the end points of the HDLC point-to-point communication channel. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-Series configurations prior to version 2.31.26. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a 12007 virtual HDLC interface, it was possible for events to occur in an unfortunate order that would result in the HDLC interface being unable to connect and/or communicate. One symptom would be "Driver Error 4". Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.26. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.31.26. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a 12974 virtual HDLC interface, it was possible for events to occur in an unfortunate order that would result in the HDLC interface being unable to connect and/or communicate. One symptom would be "Driver Error 4". Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.26. Workaround: None. ======================== Version 2.31.25 Dec. 16, 2009 ======================== Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.25. Bug Fix: For configurations that include the IEEE-488 /Protocol:DD*33 or /Protocol:DVM33 CS-80 command translator, some unusual command sequences could report a false error. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.25. Workaround: None. ======================== Version 2.31.24 Nov. 30, 2009 ======================== Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.24. Bug fix: The /StopDelay option for the GPIB physical device interface has been fixed. Version 2.31.23 did not delay before changing the internal status to 'stopped' and thus did not actually delay stopping any 'in-progress' read or write request. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.24. Workaround: None. ======================== Version 2.31.23 Nov. 25, 2009 ======================== Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.23 and following. New Feature: The /StopDelay option for the GPIB physical device interface has been added. This option specified the time, in milliseconds, that will be delayed before any GPIB read or write call is stopped. The default is /StopDelay:Off and the legal values are /StopDelay:{Off 0-10000}. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure this new option. ======================== Version 2.31.22 Nov. 2, 2009 ========================= Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations, version 2.31.22 and following. Enhancement: Support for the Unsynchronized configuration command has been expanded to perform unsynchronized output and control I/O instructions for the IOP registers 20-27 as well as the card registers 30-32. ======================== Version 2.31.21 June 12, 2009 ======================== Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.21 and following. New Feature: The new "TelnetTimeoutDefault = {1-4294967295}" general configuration command permits configuring the default value for the Telnet /Timeout option for all Telnet Port servers. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the new TelnetTimeoutDefault general configuration command. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.21 and following. New Feature: The /Timeout option for the Telnet physical device interface is now documented in the new Kestrel Reference Manual. This option specifies the maximum time, in microseconds, that all Telnet units on a TCP/IP port should wait for data. This option has been supported but was undocumented in earlier versions of the Kestrel Reference Manual. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.21. Bug Fix: For configurations that include multiple SCSI /Protocol:DDQ24 tape and/or SCSI /Protocol:DDQ30 disk translators attached to the same virtual device select code, simultaneous access to such SCSI devices could cause these devices to lock up, requiring a Kestrel restart. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.21. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.21. Bug Fix: In the Change Tape Unit Status dialog box with the ReadOnly control checked, pressing the Browse button and browsing to a folder that does not have write permission (e.g., a write protected floppy disk or a network shared folder without write permission) would display the tape container file names but not allow any to be selected. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.21. Workaround: Type the file name in the File box instead of using the Browse button to select the file. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel version 2.31.20 only. Bug Fix: In the Strobe Data Enhanced VCP, if origin addresses (n$O) were created in other than ascending order, they did not work properly. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.21. Workaround: Create origin addresses in ascending address order. ======================== Version 2.31.20 Unreleased =========================== Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.20 and following. New Feature: Implementation is complete for the CTD (also called Linus) cartridge tape physical device interface, which emulates a 9144 cartridge tape drive with model 88140 cartridge tapes using Windows container files. The CTD cartridge tape physical device interface is attached by using the IEEE-488 /Protocol:DD*33 or /Protocol:DVM33 cartridge tape translator. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the CTD cartridge tape physical device interface and the IEEE-488 /Protocol:DD*33 and /Protocol:DVM33 cartridge tape translators. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations, versions 2.31.20 and following. New Feature: Implementation is complete for cartridge tape support by the IEEE-488 /Protocol:DD*33 cartridge tape translator. The IEEE-488 /Protocol:DD*33 cartridge tape translator is used to attach the CTD cartridge tape physical device interface. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the IEEE-488 /Protocol:DD*33 cartridge tape translator and the CTD cartridge tape physical device interface. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations, versions 2.31.20 and following. New Feature: Implementation is complete for cartridge tape support by the IEEE-488 /Protocol:DVM33 cartridge tape translator. The IEEE-488 /Protocol:DVM33 cartridge tape translator is used to attach the CTD cartridge tape physical device interface. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the IEEE-488 /Protocol:DVM33 cartridge tape translator and the CTD cartridge tape physical device interface. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.20 and following. New Feature: The Strobe Data Enhanced VCP will now accept Rss as the name of the I/O register read by the 'LIA ss', 'LIB ss', 'MIA ss' and 'MIB ss' instructions when displaying the value and the I/O register written by the 'OTA ss' and 'OTB ss' instructions when changing the value (note that the registers read and written are often different). The Strobe Data Enhanced VCP will now accept Fss as the name of the card flag tested by the 'SFS ss' instruction. The value shown is 1 if the SFS instruction skips and 0 if the SFS instruction does not skip. For 21MX configurations, the Strobe Data Enhanced VCP will also accept _Fss as the name of the card flag tested by the 'SFC ss' instruction (note that the card flag tested by the 'SFC ss' instruction sometimes differs from the card flag tested by the 'SFC ss' instruction). The value shown is 1 if the SFC instruction skips and 0 if the SFC instruction does not skip. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.20 and following. New Feature: The Strobe Data Enhanced VCP now implements several different forms of the new $I command. See the Strobe Enhanced VCP Help document (press F1) for a summary of the commands now supported in the Strobe Data Enhanced VCP. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.20 and following. New Feature: The Strobe Data Enhanced VCP now supports the $. command to reset the Kestrel processor and all devices. See the Strobe Data Enhanced VCP Help document (press F1) for a summary of the commands now supported in the Strobe Data Enhanced VCP. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.20 and following. Release Note: The TPF /Size:Infinite option no longer allows the creation of a tape container file of arbitrary size. Tape container files are limited to 2097151 kilobytes. For compatibility with existing configuration files, the TPF /Size:Infinite option is still recognized, but it is no longer documented and is equivalent to the new TPF /Size:Maximum option. Any existing tape container file that is larger than 2097151 kilobytes will be truncated to that maximum size (see the following Bug Fix). See the Kestrel Reference Manual for a description of the TPF /Size option. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations after version 2.10.19 and prior to version 2.31.20. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a TPF physical device interface, it was possible to attempt to create a tape container file larger than 2097151 kilobytes, although a tape container file of such size could not be written successfully (see the previous Release Note). Note that this is a very unlikely operational situation, as 2097151 kilobytes corresponds to a tape that is about 15.5 times longer than the longest actual physical tape even at the maximum tape density of 6250 bytes per inch. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.20. Workaround: Don't attempt to create a tape container file longer than 2097151 kilobytes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations after version 2.10.19 and prior to version 2.31.20. Bug Fix: In the "Change Tape Unit Status" dialog box, is was possible to specify a tape container file size of greater than 2097151 kilobytes, although a tape container file of such a size could not be written successfully (see the previous Bug Fix). Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.20. Workaround: Do not enter a number larger than 2097151 in the "Size" control on the "Change Tape Unit Status" dialog box. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.20. Bug Fix: In the "Change Tape Unit Status" dialog box, checking the "ReadOnly" control when the "ForceSize" control was checked would uncheck "ForceSize" control properly, but would not disable the "Size" edit control. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.20. Workaround: Uncheck the "ForceSize" control before checking the "ReadOnly" control. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.31.20. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a 13181, 13181A, 13183, or 13183A virtual tape interface, an attempt to perform a programmed I/O read of a word of buffered tape data before the tape was read for the first time would result in the fatal error message: "X86 Error: X86 timeout waiting for host: LIA from 13181A". Note that there is no known way to make stimulate this error with any standard HP operating system driver or boot loader program. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.20. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations after version 2.20.22 and prior to version 2.31.20. Bug Fix: The Reboot entry on the Control pull down menu did not work - it was just ignored. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.20. Workaround: For A-series configurations, break into the Kestrel VCP and type the %b command with the usual parameters to boot the system. For 21MX configurations, set the switches register to the required value and boot in the usual fashion. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations after version 2.31.15 and prior to version 2.31.20. Bug Fix: During Kestrel start up, clicking on one of the Kestrel Menu options could cause a fatal "Timeout waiting for X86 startup" error. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.20. Workaround: Don't click on a Kestrel Menu option until start up is completed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.20. Bug Fix: In the Strobe Data Enhanced VCP, when the selected 'space' was 'register space', an attempt to display a value not immediately associated with a named register would display with a format appropriate for the data associated with the last displayed register. This could improperly truncate the displayed value. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.20. Workaround: Select an address space other than 'register space' before displaying the required value. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.20. Bug Fix: In the Strobe Data Enhanced VCP, defining an origin symbol by using the $O command could cause confusing displays if the origin symbol name was also a valid numeric value. Origin names must now include only alphanumeric characters, the "_" character and the '.' character, and the first character cannot be a digit. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.20. Workaround: Always begin origin symbol names with an alphabetic character. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.20. Bug Fix: In the Strobe Data Enhanced VCP, the inline assembler did not require a space delimiter between an instruction opcode string and the instruction operands. This prevented the use of origin symbol names (defined by using the $O command) that looked like HP 1000 instructions. For example, the string "stab" would be interpreted as the instruction "sta b" rather than as a reference to the origin symbol named "stab". The inline assembler now requires that at least one blank delimiter character separates the instruction opcode from the instruction operands. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.20. Workaround: Do not use origin symbol names that start like any HP 1000 assembly language instruction. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.20. Bug Fix: In the Strobe Data Enhanced VCP, the $S, $N, and $F commands could result in strange behavior or a fatal error if attempted in 'register space'. These commands are now prohibited in 'register space'. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.20. Workaround: Don't attempt to use the $S, $N, and $F commands in 'register space'. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.20. Bug Fix: In the Strobe Data Enhanced VCP, an attempt to perform a $Q (quick dump) command when the selected 'space' was 'register space' could cause a fatal error if the address was not legal in 'register space'. Now, addresses are reduced into the valid range. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.20. Workaround: Do not use the $Q command in 'register space'. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.20. Bug Fix: In the Strobe Data Enhanced VCP, an attempt to set a user watch location in 'register space' could cause a fatal error if the address was not legal in 'register space'. Now, illegal 'register space' addresses are rejected and an error report is given. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.20. Workaround: Do not use the $U command in 'register space' or always use the form .$U to set a user watch location in 'register space'. ======================== Version 2.31.19 Mar. 9, 2009 ========================= Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.19 and following. Cosmetic: The HWDIAG.EXE program /H and /? options now show only an abbreviated help display of the most commonly used options. To show the full help display, use the new /?? option. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.19 and following. New Feature: For the HWDIAG.EXE program, the /O and /E options have changed and the /Z, /S, /M and /Y options are new. See the HWDIAG.EXE program help (i.e., run HWDIAG /?? from the command line) for additional information about these new and changed options. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations after version 2.20.14 and prior to version 2.31.19. Bug Fix: The Kestrel HWDIAG.EXE program /C option ("Run Tests Continuously") did not work correctly: the program would hang after the first complete testing pass. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.19. Workaround: To run testing continuously, use the /L:mask option with bits set for all required tests. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.19. Bug Fix: The Kestrel HWDIAG.EXE program could report an error during the "Checking all memories for uniqueness" test. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.19. Workaround: The Kestrel does not actually use the IOT RAM chip except that it is checked by the HWDIAG.EXE program. Either ignore any IOT RAM error reported by the HWDIAG.EXE program (which is probably spurious and certainly irrelevant) or replace the KESTREL.WLD ("Loader Firmware") file in the Kestrel installation folder with the newest version of this file, which can be downloaded from the Kestrel ftp area of the Strobe Data Inc. web site: http://www.strobedata.com From the strobedata.com home page, select "Support"; then select "Kestrel Support"; then select "Archival and interim release Kestrel FTP access"; then select "Enter FTP Site"; finally select directory "iotpatch" and download the two files. The kestrel.wld file is the actual patch file. The readme.txt file gives a brief description of the purpose of the patch and how to install it. ======================== Version 2.31.18 Mar. 4, 2009 ========================= Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.17 only. Bug Fix: If the Kestrel discovered a syntax (configuration) error while parsing for a virtual device, the error message dialog box did not have the title "Configuration Error" and the displayed icon was not the caduceus symbol. Instead, the error message dialog box title was "Fatal Error" and the displayed icon was the skull and crossed bones. In addition, the offending configuration file line was not shown. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.18. Workaround: In this case, an actual configuration error has actually been detected, but the usual, informative error reporting has not occurred. Examine the configuration file to try to determine the cause of the configuration error. ======================== Version 2.31.17 Feb. 27, 2009 ======================== Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.31.17. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a IEEE-488 /Protocol:DVS23 tape device translator, if the attached physical device returned a tape error, then the tape logical unit would be "downed" correctly, but the logical unit could never be "upped" because the reported error was never cleared. Under normal circumstances, this could occur only if the attached physical tape device was an AspiTape tape unit. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.17. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.17. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a IEEE-488 /Protocol:DD*24 tape device translator, if the attached physical device returned a tape error, then the tape logical unit would be "downed" correctly, but the logical unit could never be "upped" because the reported error was never cleared. Under normal circumstances, this could occur only if the attached physical tape device was an AspiTape tape unit. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.17. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.17. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a SCSI /Protocol:DDQ24 tape device translator, if the attached physical device returned a tape error, then the transfer could fail to complete and all SCSI units on the affected select code would hang. Under normal circumstances, this could occur only if the attached physical tape device was an AspiTape tape unit. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.17. Workaround: None. ======================== Version 2.31.16 Feb. 5, 2009 ========================= Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations, versions 2.31.16 and following. New Feature: For configurations that include a time-of-day clock, the new "BootString = string" general configuration command enables setting of the VCP boot string area of the time-of-day clock non-volatile RAM when the Kestrel is started. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure and use this new command. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.16. Bug Fix: When the maximum legal X86Clock value for slow and medium speed Kestrel boards with Cypress CY7C199C emulation RAMs was lowered in version 2.31.12, the default and maximum EmuClock values for these board speeds were also inadvertently reduced. These default and maximum EmuClock values have now been restored, although the corresponding X86Clock values are necessarily reduced into the proper range. Note: there are very few Kestrel boards for which this applies. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.16. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.16. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a SCSI /Protocol:DDQ30 disk device translator and/or a SCSI /Protocol:DDQ24 tape device translator, a transfer could fail to complete (hang). This was most likely to occur when attempting to boot a SCSI disk and when the host Windows computer is very fast and/or has multiple CPUs or cores. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.16. Workaround: If a VCP boot doesn't complete (hangs), break into the VCP console and repeat the boot request. If an RTE-A SCSI transfer fails, RTE-A will "down" the affected logical unit (LU); in this case, "up" the affected LU and retry the operation. ======================== Version 2.31.15 Jan. 27, 2009 ======================== Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.15 and following. New Feature: The 12007 virtual device and the 12044 virtual device now support the /VCP:On option to run the Kestrel VCP over the simulated HDLC link. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the 12007 and 12044 virtual devices. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.15 and following. New Feature: The new "SplashInterval = {Default 1-60000}" general configuration command permits configuring the splash graphic (logo screen) display time interval. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure and use this new command. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.15. Bug Fix: Configuring more than two instances of the NetPtoP physical device interface could result in an inappropriate configuration error or a fatal Windows "This application has performed an illegal operation" termination. Note that if the Kestrel did not report an inappropriate error during configuration, no subsequent problem would occur. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.15. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.15. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a virtual HP-IB (12009A) device, the handling of a "Byte Transfer Enable" byte at the end of a command sequence was improper and could have resulted in incorrect or improper data reads, especially from actual HP-IB instruments connected to an attached GPIB card. This could also interfere with some disk or tape transfers on the same select code, resulting in a timeout on the disk or tape LU. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.15. Workaround: None. ======================== Version 2.31.14 Dec. 9, 2008 ========================= Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.14 and following. New Feature: The WinPrint, CharPrint and RawPrint physical device interfaces now support the new /NulStopsTimeout:{Yes No} option. The default for this option is No. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure this new option. See the following Release Note for additional information. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.14 and following. Release Note: Formerly, the WinPrint, CharPrint and RawPrint physical device interfaces would reset job and page timeouts if a NUL (do nothing) character was printed before the timeouts elapsed. Some RTE serial printer configurations send frequent, periodic NUL characters to a printer when it is otherwise idle, requiring a forced 'End Job Now' request (from the "Printer Configuration" dialog box, or the "End Job Now" dialog box, or by pressing a configured HotKey). Now, by default, NUL characters do not reset either the job or page timeouts. To enable the previous behavior, use the new /NulStopsTimeout:Yes option, described above. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.14 and following. Release Note: The "Raw" check box control has been removed from the "Printer Configuration" dialog box. This information is now determined solely by which physical device interface is specified in the configuration file (WinPrint, CharPrint or RawPrint), is not saved in the registry, and cannot be changed dynamically. See the following Bug Fix. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.14. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a CharPrint, RawPrint or WinPrint physical device interface, if a RawPrint printer configuration was saved in the registry, subsequently the physical device interface was changed in the configuration file to WinPrint, and finally the saved printer configuration was reloaded from the registry, the WinPrint printer would be partially in 'raw print' mode and would not work correctly. See the previous Release Note. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.14. Workaround: Uncheck the "Raw" control in the "Printer Configuration" dialog box and save the printer configuration to the registry before changing the physical device interface in the configuration file to WinPrint. Alternatively, add the WinPrint /UseSaved:No option and subsequently set up the appropriate printer configuration and save it to the registry. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.14. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a CharPrint or WinPrint physical device interface, if the printer was configured to suppress blank pages and a series of new lines was sent to the printer that would have resulted in one or more blank pages, the printer would not print the data on the next non-blank page. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.14. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.14. Bug Fix: For the IEEE-488 /Protocol:DD*12 print command translator, if a print request consisted solely of unprintable and unhandled control codes (i.e., all control codes except the following CR, LF, FF, VT, TAB, BS, SI, SO, DC1, ESC) then an HP-IB timeout would occur, usually resulting in the logical unit being "downed". Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.14. Workaround: None. ======================== Version 2.31.13 Dec. 1, 2008 ========================= Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.13 and following. New Feature: For the EmuClock and X86Clock general configuration commands, the Kestrel now allows the values Default and Maximum as well as numeric clock rates in megahertz. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure and use these commands. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.10 through 2.31.12. Bug Fix: During initialization, there was a small chance that the area used to communicate device commands between the host processor and the on-board X86 processor could get messed up. Usually, this would quickly cause a fatal error. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.13. Workaround: None. ======================== Version 2.31.12 Nov. 21, 2008 ======================== Applies to: All Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.12. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a 12040C (CMUX) virtual device, reset was clearing some registers (e.g., the equipment table definitions) that should not be cleared by reset. For some versions of the BootEx program, this could cause the CMUX to stop responding during boot when the VCP is on a CMUX port. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.12. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.12. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a 12040C (CMUX) virtual device with the VCP on a CMUX port, if the /TxDelay option with a non-zero delay was given for the VCP port, the fatal error "X86 Error: X86 has stopped polling" could occur. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.12. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.11 only. Bug Fix: When displaying the disk mount/dismount "Please Wait..." messages, other application activity could have been delayed, including the activity for which waiting was occurring (i.e., the disk mount/dismount could take longer than one would expect). Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.12. Workaround: Use the "HidePleaseWait = No" general configuration command to suppress the "Please Wait..." messages. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations after version 2.20.15 and prior to version 2.31.12. Bug Fix: Some old Kestrel boards with Cypress CY7C199C emulation RAMs (the KESTINFO.EXE and HWDIAG.EXE programs display the line "Board TYPE feature: Cypress emulation RAMs") will not run reliably when the X86 clock exceeds 30.0 MHz. This limit is now imposed by the Kestrel software. Note: there are very few Kestrel boards for which this applies. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.12. Workaround: Use the X86Clock general configuration command (along with the EmuClock general configuration command) to limit the X86 clock to no more than 30.0 MHz. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations running on Windows NT, version 2.31.11 only. Bug Fix: The HWDIAG.EXE program would terminate during the "Validate CTRL firmware revision" test with a fatal Windows "This application has performed an illegal operation" type of message. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.12. Workaround: None. This problem affects only the HWDIAG.EXE program; the Kestrel and all other utility programs work properly. ======================== Version 2.31.11 Nov. 12, 2008 ======================== Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations, versions 2.31.11 and following. New Feature: The new SDI12992D BootROMs file provides the ability to boot files from legacy 7970E 1600 BPI tapes. The SDI12992D BootROMs file provides the same functionality as the HP12992D file, but performs DCPC transfers instead of programmed I/O transfers. See the documentation for the BootROMs general configuration command and Appendix B in the Kestrel Reference Manual for details about how to configure this boot loader ROM file. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.11 and following. New Feature: The Kestrel now supports the new general configuration command Delay = [ /Pass:{First File Pre Device Post Last All 1-7} ] time which causes a pause of the given time interval (milliseconds) during the specified initialization pass or passes. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure and use this new command. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.11 and following. New Feature: The Telnet physical device interface now supports the new /StartupTimeout:interval option. When this option is given, the Telnet server will wait up to the given time interval for a connection to be established before completing the Kestrel initialization. This option can be used to provide a mechanism to guarantee that an automatic connection has been established to a third-party Telnet client (e.g., WRQ Reflection) before completing the Kestrel initialization. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details about this new Telnet option. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations, versions 2.31.11 and following. New Feature: The NetPtoP physical device interface now supports an extended syntax for the /LocalIP, /LocalName, /RemoteIP and /RemoteName options. These options now accept an optional port number as part of the value, making use of the /LocalPort and /RemotePort options unnecessary. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details about the extended syntax of these options. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations running on Windows NT and Windows 2K, versions 2.31.11 and following. Release Note: On Windows NT and Windows 2K systems, the default value for the HostFile /WindowsTimes:{Yes No} option has changed from No to Yes because these older Windows systems do not provide the necessary DLL entry points to implement the corrected algorithm for converting UTC times to local times. In addition, for these systems it is not legal to give the /WindowsTimes:No option. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details about the HostFile /WindowsTimes:{Yes No} option. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.11 and following. Cosmetic: When the Halt/Run button (in the lower-left corner of the Kestrel application window) is disabled (e.g., by unchecking the 'Enable Halt/Run Button' on the Properties dialog), it is now displayed in gray to indicate that it shows status but is not active for control. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.11 and following. Cosmetic: The WinPrint and CharPrint physical device interfaces now use a slightly better algorithm to determine the size of the selected printing font. For some fonts, this will eliminate the possibility of ascender/descender collisions. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.11 and following. Cosmetic: The "Please wait:..." message box was not displayed during disk mount/dismount from the Change Disk Unit Status dialog box. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations, all versions. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a legacy 7970E 1600 BPI tape drive, the HP12992D boot loader ROM file (which is configured by the BootROMs general configuration command) will not boot a legacy 1600 BPI tape file. The HP12992D BootROMs file uses programmed I/O to attempt to read the tape records, but the Kestrel LegacyBus firewire communication latency prevents this boot loader program from reading the tape data at a sufficiently high data rate to avoid tape data overruns. Fixed in: Not fixed. Use the new SDI12992D BootROMs file provided with Kestrel version 2.31.11 and following instead of the HP12992D file. Workaround: Download the SDI12992D BootROMs file from the Kestrel ftp area of the Strobe Data Inc. web site: http://www.strobedata.com From the strobedata.com home page, select "Support"; then select "Kestrel Support"; then select "Archival and interim release Kestrel FTP access"; then select "Enter FTP Site"; finally select directory "sdi12992d" and download the two files. The sdi12992d.abs file is the new BootROMs file. The readme.txt file gives a brief description of the purpose of the new file and how to install it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.11. Bug Fix: A virtual or legacy device that attempts to perform a DMA or DCPC transfer into a physical memory region that does not exist can cause the Kestrel to crash by overwriting the 32KW reserved memory area at the end of Kestrel physical memory. Note that this problem normally cannot occur, because well behaved operating systems, drivers and stand-alone programs never attempt such transfers. The only known mechanism to make this problem occur is by using the A-series Kestrel VCP to attempt to boot a non-bootable disk image. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.11. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations after version 2.31.01 and prior to version 2.31.11. Bug Fix: When using the Strobe Data Enhanced VCP $Q (quick dump) command, when TAB characters were present in the data bytes being dumped, the TAB characters would be displayed in the ASCII portion and the resulting display would be badly formatted. There was nothing wrong with the data displayed, but the columns would no longer align properly. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.11. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.11. Bug Fix: In the Kestrel configuration file, using the SET or SETDEFAULT commands to set a variable did not trim trailing white space from the given value. This could cause unexpected behavior when the variable value was used. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.11. Workaround: Remove trailing blanks from the SET or SETDEFAULT command line. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.11. Bug Fix: In the Kestrel configuration file, the conditional statements .IF, .ELSE and .ENDC did not report a configuration error if more than the single expected token was given - the remainder of the line was ignored. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.11. Workaround: Correct the invalid conditional statement to avoid newer Kestrel versions reporting the illegal conditional statement. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.31.11. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a 13181, 13181A, 13183, or 13183A virtual tape interface, if a request was made to transfer 32768 data words from or to the attached physical tape, zero words would actually be transferred. Note that there are no known ways this problem could occur in an operational system. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.11. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.11. Bug Fix: The GETDISK.EXE program, when run with the /P option, would not finish properly when the source disk image file was not the same size as the target physical disk device. All the file data that could be written to the physical disk were transferred, but the program did not terminate properly. Instead, the estimated time to complete would start going up. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.11. Workaround: Wait until the estimated time to complete keeps going up for a while, then press CTRL-C to terminate the GETDISK.EXE program. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.11. Bug Fix: The GETDISK.EXE program did not properly handle a CS-80 disk that was in the power-on state or a previously existing error state. The program would report an error something like the following: Comm buffer: 461541 COMM 0: 000000 ToHost COMM 1: 000000 FromHost COMM 2: 000005 Command COMM 3: 000000 Status COMM 4: 000002 PARM+0 COMM 5: 121700 COMM 6: 000200 COMM 7: 000000 COMM 8: 000475 COMM 9: 000007 Size of disk changed from 1/128 to 172992/128 Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.11. Workaround: Retry the GETDISK.EXE program. The second attempt should succeed because the pending power-on or error state was cleared by the previous attempt. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, version 2.31.10 only. Bug Fix: It was possible for simultaneous completion of requests to physical devices attached through translators to the same virtual device (i.e., the same select code) to be garbled for a very short period of time. This could cause a fatal error or the improper operation of one of the translators. This problem is most likely to occur in a configuration with both a SCSI disk and a SCSI tape configured on the same SCSI select code when the SCSI disk and SCSI tape are being used simultaneously by different users. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.11. Workaround: None. ======================== Version 2.31.10 Sept. 30, 2008 ======================= Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations, versions 2.31.10 and following. New Feature: For A-series configurations that include a time-of-day clock, a new Boot String entry exists on the Edit menu to facilitate setting or changing the time-of-day clock boot string. The Kestrel VCP "%BCL" command uses the time-of-day clock boot string in exactly the same manner as the original HP 1000 A990 VCP. On an original HP 1000 computer, the time-of-day clock exists only on the model A990, for which it is standard. On the Kestrel, the time-of-day clock is standard on the model A990 but optional for all other configured computer models. See the FirmwareROMs general configuration command and Appendix F in the Kestrel Reference Manual for details about how to configure an optional time-of-day clock for a computer model other than the A990. On the original HP 1000 computer running RTE-A, the time-of-day clock boot string could be set by running the SETVCPSTRING program. While this procedure also works with a Kestrel A990 configuration, the new Boot String selection on the Edit menu permits setting the time-of-day clock boot string when RTE-A is not running and for A-series configurations other than for an A990 CPU. Even if a time-of-day clock is configured, the Boot String entry on the Edit menu is not available for a Kestrel 21MX configuration because the Kestrel VCP exists only for A-series computer configurations. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.10 and following. New Feature: For Kestrel configurations that include a Character type physical device (CharPipe, CharPrint, COM, LPT, RawPrint, Telnet, VT100 and WRQ) the Modem Signal Options (formerly called Input Modem Options) have been enhanced significantly to provide a general mechanism for emulating all the possible cable wiring choices that affect how the four input modem signals and two output modem signals can be generated. See the Modem Signal Options section of the Kestrel Reference Manual for details about how to configure these options. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations after version 2.30.06 and prior to version 2.31.10. Bug Fix: On a host PC with multiple CPUs or CPU cores, with a large number of configured virtual devices, during system reset or reboot the fatal message "X86 error: X86 has stopped polling" could occur. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.10. Workaround: This problem rarely occurs. It may be prevented by configuring Windows to use only a single host PC CPU. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.10. Bug Fix: Under certain circumstances, a virtual HP 12016 SCSI device would fail the Kestrel VCP IOP function tests. This error would not happen during the first Kestrel boot. If "FatalVCPError = No" was configured, the following message was displayed on the VCP console: Pretest Error 300 2xx 042 174 where xx stands for the select code of the virtual HP 12016 SCSI device. If "FatalVCPError = Yes" was configured, the following fatal error message was displayed: X86 Error: Fatal device error detected by VCP: 300 2xx 042 174 I/O card with select code xx failed the IOP function tests at address 021174 in the VCP code (the address is of use only if you have access to the VCP sources) Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.10. Workaround: Select Shutdown and Restart from the Kestrel File menu. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.10. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a HP 12016 SCSI virtual device, executing a privileged system reset (CLC 0) instruction while a SCSI data transfer was in progress could cause the SCSI device to fail to respond. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.10. Workaround: Select Shutdown and Restart from the Kestrel File menu. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.10. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a HP 12016 SCSI virtual device, breaking into the Kestrel VCP and attempting a Preset (%P), Test (%T) or Boot (%B) sequence while a SCSI data transfer was in progress could cause the SCSI device to fail to respond. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.10. Workaround: Select Shutdown and Restart from the Kestrel File menu. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.10. Bug Fix: For configurations that include multiple HP 12016 SCSI virtual devices, an attempt to perform simultaneous SCSI accesses on more than one HP 12016 SCSI virtual device could get mixed up as to which device a particular command sequence applied and cause disk or tape data corruption. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.10. Workaround: Do not simultaneously access disks and/or tapes configured on different HP 12016 SCSI virtual devices. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.10. Bug Fix: For configurations that include an SDIDisk virtual device, attempting to access an SDIDisk unit that is offline or dismounted could cause the fatal message: "X86 error: X86 has stopped polling". Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.10. Workaround: Do not attempt to access an offline or dismounted SDIDisk unit. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.10. Bug Fix: On the "Dump Memory Image" dialog (selected from the File menu), when the entered file name had an unrecognized extension (i.e., none of MHP, M86, MHP.GZ, M86.GZ or RUN.GZ), the provided extension would be removed before appending the appropriate recognized extension(s). This would happen by default when the user's configuration file name included the '.' character (e.g., "my.config.file.cnf"). Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.10. Workaround: When the entered file name contains a '.' character, append a '.' character to the file name string before pressing the [Save] button. ======================== Version 2.31.09 Sept. 4, 2008 ======================== Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.09 and following. New Feature: The COM physical device interface (to connect to a standard Windows serial device) now supports the /UnitName:string configuration option. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details about this new option. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.09 and following. New Feature: The GPIB physical device interface now supports the new /Name:gpibname configuration option as an alternative to the /Index:{0-9} option as a means of specifying the name of the National Instruments GPIB board to use. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to use the new /Name:gpibname configuration option. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.09. Cosmetic: When starting the Kestrel minimized, the LEDs value was displayed shifted one line down, which made it effectively invisible. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.09. Workaround: Do not start the Kestrel minimized. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.09. Bug Fix: When "Prompt before Kestrel Shutdown" was selected on the Edit|Properties dialog box and "Shutdown and Restart" was selected from the File menu, and Cancel was selected on the Shutdown dialog box, then any subsequent shutdown request would cause the Kestrel to restart rather than exit. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.09. Workaround: Should this inappropriate restart occur, just shut the Kestrel down. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.09. Bug Fix: If the EditCommand general configuration command was given with illegal syntax, the Kestrel could terminate with a fatal Windows "This application has performed an illegal operation" type of message when the Configuration entry was selected from the Edit menu. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.09. Workaround: Correct the illegal syntax given for the EditCommand general configuration command. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations after version 2.31.00 and prior to version 2.31.09. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a National Instruments GPIB physical device interface, if an attempt was made to use the default GPIB board (i.e., neither the /Index nor the /Name option was given), the following fatal configuration error would occur: "Board xxxxx not found or in use by another program", but the GPIB board (xxxxx) name would be random gibberish. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.09. Workaround: To use the default GPIB board name (GPIB0), specify either the /Index:0 or the /Name:GPIB0 option to explicitly name the GPIB board to use. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.09. Bug Fix: For configurations that include the IEEE-488 /Protocol:DD*33 CS-80 disk command translator, some unusual disk command sequences could fail to complete (hang). For example, executing the RTE-6F SWTCH command for a CS-80 disk would hang on the first disk read. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.09. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.09. Bug Fix: The GETDISK.EXE program could fail to read an HPIB CS-80 disk immediately following power-up of the disk because it did not handle the "power up" status properly. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.09. Workaround: Run the GETDISK.EXE program again without powering down the disk. The program will successfully read the disk on the second attempt. ======================== Version 2.31.08 Aug. 8, 2008 ========================= Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.08 and following. Release Note: The default for the "Preferred reference manual format" selection on the Edit\Properties dialog box has changed to "Prefer .PDF". Most Windows systems have an installed PDF file viewer installed. This change affects only Kestrel configurations for which the Edit\Properties selections have never been saved. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.08 and following. Release Note: For configurations that include a WinPrint physical device interface (to print on a standard Windows printer), the default selection for the /Name:printer option has changed. If a saved printer configuration is not being used and the /Name:printer option is not given, then the name of the Windows default printer (if any) is selected. Combined with the following item, this makes it possible to configure and use the Windows default printer without providing any WinPrint configuration options and without user intervention to connect the printer logical unit. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.08 and following. Release Note: For configurations that include a WinPrint physical device interface (to print on a standard Windows printer), the default selection for the /Connect:{Yes No} option has changed. If a saved printer configuration is not being used and the /Connect:{Yes No} option is not given, the default is Yes if the /Name:Printer option is given or if a Windows default printer exists. Combined with the previous item, this makes it possible to configure and use the Windows default printer without providing any WinPrint configuration options and without user intervention to connect the printer logical unit. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.08 and following. Release Note: For configurations that include a WinPrint physical device interface (to print on a standard Windows printer), the default selection for the /Landscape:{Yes No} option has changed. If a saved printer configuration is not being used and the /Landscape:{Yes No} option is not given, the default is Yes. The landscape orientation produces a more readable font when combined with the other configuration defaults. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.08 and following. New Feature: For configurations that include a WinPrint physical device interface (to print on a standard Windows printer), the /Name:printer option now allows "WinPrint /Name:Default ..." to explicitly force selection of the Windows default printer (if there is one). See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details about this new form of the "WinPrint /Name..." option. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations, versions 2.31.08 and following. New Feature: Implementation is complete for the 12792D DMUX virtual device. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the 12792D DMUX virtual device. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.08 and following. New Feature: For configurations that include a WinPrint physical device interface (to print on a standard Windows printer), if a saved printer configuration becomes invalid (e.g., because the named printer is not in the current list of valid Windows printers), then an attempt to use the saved printer configuration and connect to the named printer on Kestrel start-up will display a message box to allow the start-up to continue with the printer in the disconnected state. Previously, this condition would have resulted in a fatal configuration error and it would have been necessary to modify the WinPrint physical device interface options in the configuration file to complete the Kestrel start-up. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations after version 2.20.22 and prior to version 2.31.08. Cosmetic: When starting the Kestrel from the Strobe Data Enhanced VCP, the [Preset] and [IBL] buttons and the [x] in the upper-right corner were sometimes not 'grayed out' when they should have been, although these buttons actually were disabled. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.08. Workaround: Clicking any Kestrel main menu item will correct the erroneous (not 'grayed out') state of these buttons. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.31.08. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a 12794 or 12825 virtual device, rarely this HDLC device will cease to communicate with the device on the other end of its point-to-point connection. This problem was caused by the virtual device finishing a request quicker than the original interface card and before the RTE driver could handle it. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.08. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.08. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a WinPrint physical device interface (to print on a standard Windows printer), when both the /Connect:No and /SaveOnExit:Yes options were given, the printer configuration was not actually saved when the Kestrel was shut down. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.08. Workaround: Select the appropriate logical unit from the "Configure Printer Units ..." entry on the Devices pull-down menu to set up and manually save the desired printer configuration. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.08. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a WinPrint physical device interface (to print on a standard Windows printer), attempting to print to some printers that had been put in the "Use Printer Offline" state could cause the "Configure Printer Units ..." or "End Job Now" dialog boxes to fail to respond. Once in this state, the Kestrel would not respond to any mouse click or key press until the printer was no longer in the "Use Printer Offline" state. This problem occurred because certain Windows print requests never complete when a printer is in the "Use Printer Offline" state. Now, selecting either "End Job Now" or "Configure Printer Units ..." will pop up a "Printer Busy ..." error message if the printer does not respond within five seconds. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.08. Workaround: Select the appropriate logical unit from the Kestrel "Configure Printer Units ..." entry on the Devices pull-down menu to disconnect the printer before changing its status with Windows. If the Kestrel becomes unresponsive after selecting either "End Job Now" or "Configure Printer Units ...", use Windows to take the attached Windows printer out of the "Use Printer Offline" state. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.08. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a "Parallel /Protocol:DVA12" or "Parallel /Protocol:DVB12" Parallel Printer Device Translator, if RTE sets a printer logical unit to 'down' state because the attached WinPrint physical device interface is disconnected, then after the logical unit is reconnected to the attached WinPrint physical device interface the logical unit cannot be set to the 'up' state. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.08. Workaround: Do not print to a disconnected printer. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.31.08. Bug Fix: The HP12992D boot loader ROM file (which is configured by the BootROMs general configuration command) had an error which caused it to boot the wrong tape file when bit zero (the least significant bit) of the switches (S) register was set. In this case, the value in the A register is used as a one-origin file number (i.e., 000001 should boot the first tape file, 000002 should boot the second tape file, etc.). The effect of the error was to use the A register value as a zero-origin file number (i.e., 000000 would boot the first tape file, 000001 would boot the second tape file, etc.). Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.08. Workaround: Set the A register to the zero-origin file number (i.e., one smaller than the usual file number value). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.31.08. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a 13181, 13181A, 13183, or 13183A virtual tape interface, issuing a command when the controller was busy did not properly set the 'reject' bit in the status register. This would cause the HP12992D boot loader ROM program, when bit zero (the lease significant bit) of the S register was set, to attempt to start another rewind command when one was already in progress, resulting in a Kestrel fatal "Illegal command state" error termination. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.08. Workaround: Except for the HP12992D boot loader ROM program, drivers usually do not attempt to issue or start a tape command while another command is in progress, so this problem will not occur. For the HP12992D boot loader ROM program, position the tape to the proper file (e.g., rewind the tape to the load point for the first file) and clear bit zero (the lease significant bit) of the S register before running the boot loader program. (See the following bug fix report). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.31.08. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a 13181, 13181A, 13183, or 13183A virtual tape interface, attempting to start a command when another command was already in progress would result in a Kestrel fatal "Illegal command state" error termination. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.08. Workaround: Except for the HP12992D boot loader ROM program, drivers usually do not attempt to issue or start a tape command while another command is in progress, so this problem will not occur. For the HP12992D boot loader ROM program, position the tape to the proper file (e.g., rewind the tape to the load point for the first file) and clear bit zero (the lease significant bit) of the S register before running the boot loader program. (See the preceding bug fix report). ======================== Version 2.31.07 July 9, 2008 ========================= Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.07 and following. New Feature: Implementation is complete for the NetPtoP physical device interface, which provides an emulated HDLC connection to another Kestrel system by using a point-to-point TCP/IP connection. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the NetPtoP physical device interface. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations, versions 2.31.07 and following. New Feature: Implementation is complete for emulation of the 12007 virtual device and for the 12044 virtual device when is is used in a hard-wired HDLC configuration. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the 12007 and 12044 virtual devices. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations, versions 2.31.07 and following. New Feature: Implementation is complete for emulation of the 12825 virtual device and for the 12794 virtual device when is is used in a hard-wired HDLC configuration. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the 12825 and 12794 virtual devices. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.07 and following. New Feature: The Kestrel now supports the new general configuration command "NextVar = variable {/Count:count /Chars:string /Words:words}. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure and use this new command. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.07 and following. New Feature: The TPF physical device interface now supports the new configuration option /RewDelay:milliseconds. The minimum time for a rewind will be the larger of this time and the scaled /Delay time. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.07. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a 12040D (DMUX) virtual device, typing too quickly or too soon could cause the port to become unresponsive. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.07. Workaround: Do not use programmed function keys. Do not type on the device attached to the port until the operating system has fully initialized the port. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.31.07. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a 13181, 13181A, 13183, 13183A (tape) virtual device, issuing an unload or rewind command that took too much time would result in the fatal Kestrel termination "X86 Error: X86 timeout waiting for host: abort tape request". Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.07. Workaround: Add the following general configuration command: MaxHostWait = Infinite -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.07. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a 12040C (CMUX) virtual device that was the VCP device, causing a BREAK (e.g., by typing Ctrl-Break) on a port other than port 0 (i.e. on a port other than the VCP port) would cause an inappropriate break into the Kestrel VCP. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.07. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.07. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a 12040C (CMUX) virtual device that was not the VCP device, causing a BREAK (e.g., by typing Ctrl-Break) would report an improper EQT number to RTE and result in an unrecoverable RTE halt. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.07. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.07. Bug Fix: When the Kestrel VCP was active on port 0 of a 12040C (CMUX) virtual device, causing a BREAK (e.g., by typing Ctrl-Break) while the CMUX port was actively outputting data could cause the VCP port to become non-functional if an 'acknowledge' character was received at exactly the wrong time. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.07. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.07. Bug Fix: When the Kestrel VCP was active on port 0 of a 12040C (CMUX) virtual device, if characters were received too fast (e.g., by programming a terminal function key to send a string of characters such as %bdc) could cause the CMUX port to become non-functional. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.07. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.07. Bug Fix: When the Kestrel VCP was configured on port 0 of a 12040C (CMUX) virtual device, between the time when VCP finished its boot process and the operating system was completely up, BREAK on the VCP terminal would be ignored. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.07. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.07. Bug Fix: For configurations which include a 12040C (CMUX) virtual device, causing a system reset (for example, by rebooting RTE) did not reset ports to their default state until they were reconfigured by the operating system. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.07. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.07. Bug Fix: For configurations which include a 12040C (CMUX) virtual device, reception of characters by a port that had not been configured by the operating system (RTE) would result in the fatal Kestrel termination: "Unknown EQT Number". Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.07. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.07. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a 12040D (DMUX) virtual device configured as the VCP device, typing on a terminal attached to a port other than the VCP port (port 0) when the VCP was active could interfere with input or output on the VCP port. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.07. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.07. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a 12040D (DMUX) virtual device, causing a BREAK (e.g., by typing Ctrl-Break) could sometimes cause RTE to report "Illegal interrupt from device xx" on the system console (where xx is the select code of the 12040D virtual device). Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.07. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.07. Bug Fix: For configurations that include the Telnet physical device interface, causing a BREAK (e.g., by typing Ctrl-Break) before the session was attached to a LU or Group would cause a fatal Windows "This application has performed an illegal operation" type of message. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.07. Workaround: None. ======================== Version 2.31.06 June 11, 2008 ======================== Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.06 and following. New Feature: The FILE, MEM and TPF physical device interfaces now support the /Mount:Exist option. See the FILE, MEM and TPF physical device interfaces in the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the new /Mount:Exist option. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.06. Bug Fix: The Strobe Data Enhanced VCP could not set a breakpoint at a logic address that was in write protected memory. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.06. Workaround: Set the breakpoint at the equivalent absolute address (i.e., by using the $A command rather than the $B or $J command. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.06. Bug Fix: For configurations that use the Network physical device interface, network traffic during shutdown could cause a fatal Windows "This application has performed an illegal operation" type of message. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.06. Workaround: This error occurs rarely and only during Kestrel shutdown. It may be prevented by halting the Kestrel before requesting shutdown. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations after version 2.20.21 and prior to version 2.31.06. Bug Fix: If an illegal file name was entered in either the "Change Disk Unit Status" or "Change Tape Unit Status" dialog boxes and the [Browse] button was clicked, the browse logic would enter an infinite loop. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.06. Workaround: Do not enter an illegal file name before pressing the [Browse] button on these dialog boxes. ======================== Version 2.31.04 Unreleased =========================== Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.04. Bug Fix: For a terminal connected to a 12040C CMUX virtual device and used as the VCP terminal, hitting break when the terminal is busy could sometimes cause the terminal to hang. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.04. Workaround: Do not press the break key while the terminal is busy, or (if possible) do not use a terminal connected to a 12040C CMUX virtual device as the VCP device. ======================== Version 2.31.03 May 11, 2008 ========================= Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations, versions 2.31.03 and following. New Feature: The IEEE-488 /Protocol:DD*33 CS-80 disk command translator now supports the /InhibitChangeNotify option. This option can be used to suppress disk drive online state change reporting that can cause problems in some operating systems. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the new /InhibitChangeNotify option. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations, versions 2.31.03 and following. New Feature: The IEEE-488 /Protocol:DVM33 CS-80 disk command translator now supports the /InhibitChangeNotify option. This option can be used to suppress disk drive online state change reporting that can cause problems in some operating systems. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the new /InhibitChangeNotify option. ======================== Version 2.31.02 May 9, 2008 ========================== Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.31.02. Bug Fix: For the IEEE-488 /Protocol:DD*33 CS-80 disk command translator, changing the 'online' state of a disk drive could cause a fatal error when running some operating systems. This would occur if the operating system had an unsatisfied HP-IB read or write request (Execute Mode) pending when the 'power fail' fault error bit gets set. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.02. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.31.02. Bug Fix: For the IEEE-488 /Protocol:DVM33 CS-80 disk command translator, changing the 'online' state of a disk drive could cause a fatal error when running some operating systems. This would occur if the operating system had an unsatisfied HP-IB read or write request (Execute Mode) pending when the 'power fail' fault error bit gets set. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.02. Workaround: None. ======================== Version 2.31.01 May 5, 2008 ========================== Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations, versions 2.31.01 and following. New Feature: The IEEE-488 /Protocol:DD*24 translator now also supports the the 7979A and 7980XC tape drives. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations, versions 2.31.01 and following. New Feature: The IEEE-488 /Protocol:DVS23 translator now also supports the the 7979A and 7980XC tape drives. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.01 and following. New Feature: The Kestrel now supports a the use of conditional configuration file lines. See the Kestrel Reference Manual, Appendix A, for a description of how to use this and other advanced configuration file features. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations, versions 2.31.01 and following. New Feature: Implementation is complete for the 12040C CMUX virtual device. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the 12040C CMUX virtual device. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.01 and following. New Feature: The "Unsynchronized = {None All sc} ..." general configuration command is new with this Kestrel version. This configuration command may sometimes be used to speed up programmed I/O to a set of legacy bus devices. See the Unsynchronized general configuration command in the Kestrel Reference Manual for configuration details. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.01 and following. New Feature: For a Kestrel board with control firmware revision 9 or higher, it is now possible to configure the X86 'tock' interval by using the new TockCounter or TockInterval configuration commands. The Kestrel X86 'tock' interval determines the granularity of all virtual device event timing. See the Kestrel Reference Manual documentation for the TockCounter and TockInterval general configuration commands for configuration details. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.01 and following. New Feature: The physical GPIB device now supports the /Name:devicename option as a way to explicitly specify the National Instruments GPIB device name (rather than using the /Index:number option). See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the physical GPIB device. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations, versions 2.31.01 and following. New Feature: For the A-series virtual CPU device, the default value for the "... = CPU /Switches:value ..." option has been changed from 0 (which is usually not useful) to 320 (which means "Kestrel VCP with terminal speed-sensing"). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.01 and following. New Feature: The Kestrel now supports the new general configuration command "Error = text" , which may be used to flag unexpected conditions detected while parsing a configuration file. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure and use this new command. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.01 and following. New Feature: The Kestrel now supports the new general configuration command: Show = [ /Pass:{First File Pre Device Post Last All 1-7} ] text This command displays the indicated text in the Initialization Messages dialog box and in the RunFile for all of the specified configuration file parsing passes. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure and use this new command. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.01. Bug Fix: For configurations that include the Telnet physical device interface, if legacy code sent a character with code 0xFF, the byte was not being handled properly (escaped in the Telnet stream), which caused the client application to interpret the following bytes as Telnet commands. This error typically would manifest as apparent dropped characters on the client terminal. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.01. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations after version 2.20.20 and prior to version 2.31.01. Bug Fix: If an attempt was made to terminate a legacy bus DCPC transfer on DCPC port A before the DCPC transfer word count had gone zero, this attempt was ignored by the legacy bus program. Since the legacy bus DCPC transfer was still in progress, subsequent attempts to affect the state of the DCPC channel (e.g., to write the DCPC word count and address registers) were ignored. This typically would result in an unrecoverable RTE device timeout. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.01. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.31.01. Bug Fix: On host PC's with multiple CPU's, the HWDIAG.EXE program could fail the 'Checking interrupt from X86' test with the message 'Fail: Expected 1 interrupt, got 0' because the interupt handling in one CPU would run in parallel with the interrupt count checking in another CPU. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.31.01. Workaround: Ignore this error if it is the only error that occurs - the previous 'Checking board interrupt' test checks the same underlying board hardware, and other tests check X86 access to the I/O registers. ======================== Version 2.31.00 Mar. 23, 2008 ======================== Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.31.00 and following. New Feature: The DumpCompressed, DumpUncompressed, DumpFilename, DumpFolder, DumpEmuSize and DumpX86Size configuration commands are new with this this Kestrel version. These are the commands may be used to specify the values displayed on the initial "Dump Memory Image(s)" dialog box. See the Kestrel Reference Manual documentation for these commands for configuration details. ======================== Version 2.30.09 Unreleased =========================== Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.30.09. Bug Fix: For all virtual devices, when a DMA interrupt occurred, it did not reenable the card flag (flag 30) interrupt again. This could result in a lost device interrupt and a device driver timeout. The only device for which this is known to be an issue is the virtual HP 12009A/HP-IB device. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.09. Workaround: None. ======================== Version 2.30.08 Unreleased =========================== Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.30.08. Bug Fix: For the virtual HP 12009A/HP-IB device, when the card flag (flag 30) was cleared when conditions required it to be set, the flag was not being set again immediately. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.08. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.30.08. Bug Fix: For the COM physical character device, a reset requested by the attached virtual device did not clear the I/O buffers. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.08. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.30.08. Bug Fix: For the SCSI /Protocol:DDQ24 tape translator, a tape unit could hang. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.08. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.30.08. Bug Fix: For the COM physical device, the port I/O buffers were not cleared during a reset. This could result in extraneous characters being transmitted or received following a system reset. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.08. Workaround: None. ======================== Version 2.30.07 Unreleased =========================== Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.30.07 and following. New Feature: The WRQ and CharPipe physical devices now accept the /UnitName option. See the Kestrel Reference Manual documentation for these devices for configuration details. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations, versions 2.30.07 and following. New Feature: The virtual HP 12009A/HP-IB device now supports the /U16:nnn option which specifies the setting of the U16 switches on the 12009-60001 or the 12009-90000 cards, or the U144 switches on the 12009-90001 card. See the Kestrel Reference Manual documentation for the virtual HP 12009A/HP-IB device for configuration details. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.30.07. Bug Fix: For the all virtual devices, if a DMA interrupt, and a card (flag 30) interrupt occurred simultaneously, and the interrupt service routine cleared the card interrupt (e.g., by CLF 30b) before it cleared the DMA interrupt (e.g., by CLCC 23b), and the design and the state of the device would result in immediately setting again the device flag 30 flipflop, then the expected card interrupt would not occur. This error typically would result in an RTE driver timeout. The only device for which this is known to be an issue is the virtual HP 12009A/HP-IB device. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.07. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.30.07. Bug Fix: For the virtual HP 12009A/HP-IB device, when an output quad that ended with BTE was followed by a word read quad, the expected BTE word read was not properly handled. This error typically would result in an RTE driver timeout. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.07. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.30.07. Bug Fix: For the virtual HP 12009A/HP-IB device, a word read from the inbound FIFO on a BTE read did not get the ATN and EOI bits set properly. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.07. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.30.07. Bug Fix: For the virtual HP 12009A/HP-IB device, the Parallel Poll enable status bit was not presented in register 32. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.07. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.30.07. Bug Fix: For the virtual HP 12009A/HP-IB device, polling for asynchronous bus signal changes was incorrectly disabled during HPIB initialization, so the bus SRQ signal was not detected until some other HPIB activity occurred. This error typically would result in an RTE driver timeout. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.07. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.30.07. Bug Fix: For the virtual HP 12009A/HP-IB device, SRQ and PHI interrupts were not suppressed while DMA was in progress, which could result in inappropriately setting the card flag (flag 30) during a DMA transfer when an unsolicited SRQ occurred. This error typically would result in a DMA transfer being aborted. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.07. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.30.07. Bug Fix: For the virtual HP 12009A/HP-IB device, parallel poll was inhibited unless it was enabled without other interrupt conditions also being enabled. This error typically would result in an RTE driver timeout. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.07. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.30.07. Bug Fix: For the virtual HP 12009A/HP-IB device, a transition from HP-IB bus commands to HP-IB bus data could result in some of the bus commands being interpreted as data instead. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.07. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.30.07. Bug Fix: For the virtual HP 12009A/HP-IB device, reading register 32 would return an incorrect value. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.07. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.30.07. Bug Fix: For the virtual HP 12009A/HP-IB device, it was not possible to write PHI register 1 bits 7 or 6 to a non-zero value; an incorrect attempt to write PHI register 1 bits 9 or 8 would result in these bits being inappropriately set. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.07. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.30.07. Bug Fix: It was possible for a pathological HP 1000 program to cause the Kestrel to invisibly lose requests posted from the Kestrel's on-board coprocessor to the host PC. This possibility has been eliminated. Note that no reasonable, correctly functioning HP 1000 program would cause this behavior. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.07. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.30.07. Bug Fix: For the SCSI /Protocol:DDQ30 translator, an attempt to access an offline or dismounted disk would result in an "Illegal Interrupt" error and eventually halt into the Kestrel VCP. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.07. Workaround: Always mount and put online a disk before attempting to access it. ======================== Version 2.30.05 Dec. 17, 2007 ======================== Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.30.05. Bug Fix: For the virtual HP 12009A/HP-IB device, the bus signal SRQ was not visible in either the card status register (R32) or in PHI register 2. As a result, a device that asserted SRQ on the bus could not cause an interrupt. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.05. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.30.05. Bug Fix: For the virtual HP ASIC/12005A/12005B device, the Kestrel previously treated 12005A, 12005B and ASIC as synonyms, but the 12005A interface is not equivalent to the 12005B interface with the default W3 jumper setting. The default (factory installation) setting for the W3 jumper on the 12005B is the 'A' position, but the 12005A interface works like the 12005B interface with the jumper in the 'B' position. Since the 12005A interface does not have a W3 jumper, the user would not know that specifying /W3:B was required. Now, when the user specifies the 12005A interface, the default behavior actually matches the 12005A interface, and for this interface it is no longer legal to give the /W3 option. The name ASIC is now a synonym for only the 12005B interface. This change has no significance if the 12005A or 12005B interface is being used to communicate with a standard HP terminal, as they are configured without parity generation or checking, and thus the position of the W3 jumper is irrelevant. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.05. Workaround: To properly emulate the behavior of the 12005A interface with a Kestrel version prior to 2.30.05, specify the 12005B interface and append the /W3:B option to the end of the configuration line. This configuration will continue to function properly with Kestrel versions 2.30.05 and following. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.30.05. Bug Fix: For the virtual HP ASIC/12005A/12005B device, DMA reads did not set the TRE (Transmitter Register is Empty) bit in R32 properly. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.05. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.30.05. Bug Fix: On some Windows platforms, the default timer granularity (over 15.6 milliseconds) is sufficiently large that the HWDIAG.EXE program could have failed the "Checking high-resolution timer" test occasionally even though the timer was functioning properly. The problem was actually the inaccuracy of the Windows timer, not the Kestrel board high-resolution timer. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.05. Workaround: If the measured timer interval is too big but reasonably close to the expected range, run HWDIAG.EXE again. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.30.05. Bug Fix: For the virtual HP ASIC/12005A/12005B device, when parity generation and checking was enabled, ODD parity was selected regardless of the S6 switch setting. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.05. Workaround: None. ======================== Version 2.30.01 Nov. 19, 2007 ======================== Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.30.01 and following. New Feature: The MEM (memory disk) physical device /WriteBack option now accepts a third value: /WriteBack:Disable. When the new /WriteBack:Disable option is given, writing to the container file specified by the /Name:filename option is disabled for the duration of this Kestrel run and the WriteBack check box on the Change Disk Unit Status dialog is disabled (grayed out). This allows a single container file to be used for multiple MEM configuration lines. For example, in a networked environment, multiple Kestrels could start up and boot using the same container file. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.30.01 and following. New Feature: The Kestrel File menu now has a "Save Properties" entry that is functionally equivalent to the [Save Now] button on the Properties dialog box. Selecting the "Save Properties" entry on the File menu or pressing the [Save Now] button on the Properties dialog box requests that the Kestrel save all current properties, including all window sizes and positions. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.30.01. Bug Fix: The Kestrel RunFile was not opened for exclusive write access and could be overwritten while the Kestrel was running. In particular, an attempt to start the Kestrel twice with the same configuration file (usually the same RunFile) could corrupt the the active RunFile. The execution of the active Kestrel would be unaffected. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.01. Workaround: Don't attempt to start the Kestrel when it is already running. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.30.01. Bug Fix: For MEM disks with WriteBack indicated, the data are written when the disk is dismounted or Kestrel Shutdown occurs. At that time, if the disk data could not be written (e.g., because a removable disk had been made write protected or dismounted), a dialog box was displayed to give the user a chance to correct the problem. Unfortunately, the destination disk file was closed before the dialog box was displayed, so the Retry case would always fail and the data to be written were lost. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.01. Workaround: Don't remove or write protect a disk that contains a mounted MEM disk image when Writeback is indicated. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.30.01. Bug Fix: FirmwareROMs that specified a non-standard starting opcode could fail with an 'Invalid File Size' error. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.01. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.30.01. Bug Fix: For the /Protocol:DD*33 disk translator, only the first configured unit for a bus address could be read or written. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.01. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.30.01. Bug Fix: For the /Protocol:DVM33 disk translator, only the first configured unit for a bus address could be read or written. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.01. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.30.01. Bug Fix: For the /Protocol:DD*33 disk translator, readdressing the primary HPIB talker or listener address after specifying the secondary address would cause a fatal "Unsupported read SA 001F" or "Unsupported write SA 001F" message. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.01. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.30.01. Bug Fix: For the /Protocol:DVM33 disk translator, readdressing the primary HPIB talker or listener address after specifying the secondary address would cause a fatal "Unsupported read SA 001F" or "Unsupported write SA 001F" message. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.01. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.30.01. Bug Fix: The .XPAK opcode would return zero when the upper double-word of the mantissa was zero, even if the lower mantissa bits were non-zero. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.01. Workaround: None. ======================== Version 2.20.23 Unreleased =========================== Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.20.23 and following. New Feature: The View Kestrel Reference Manual option on the Help pull-down menu is now automatically closed when the Kestrel closes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.20.23 and following. New Feature: The Strobe Data Enhanced VCP help (invoked by pressing the F1 key) now pops-up in a separate application window (using the default application used to open .TXT files). This separate application window is automatically closed when the Kestrel closes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.20.23 and following. New Feature: The Strobe Data Enhanced VCP now supports entering HP-format (big-endian) multi-precision integer data. To specify an HP-format multi-precision integer, append @2 or @3 or @4 to the integer value. As usual, integers may be given in octal (the default) or in decimal (by adding a "." suffix) or in hexadecimal (by adding a "0x" prefix). Integers that begin with either a '+' or '-' character are assumed to be signed; otherwise, they are assumed to be unsigned. The minimum number of words required to encode the specified integer must not exceed the precision indicated by the @2 or @3 or @4 suffix. For example, all of the following HP-format multi-precision integer specifications are legal: +32768.@2 0xFFFF0000FFFF@3 -1@4 -100.@2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.20.23 and following. New Feature: The Strobe Data Enhanced VCP now supports entering HP-format floating point data. Floating point numbers must be entered in the following format: [+-]integer.fraction[E[+-]exponent][@precision] where integer, fraction and exponent are each a string of one or more decimal digits, and precision is 2, 3 or 4. The optional @precision suffix specifies an explicit floating point precision (single precision, extended precision or double precision, respectively). If an explicit floating point precision is not given, the number will be stored in the current default output floating point precision. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.20.23 and following. New Feature: The Telnet physical device now supports the new option "/CaptureBinary:{Yes No}". See the Kestrel Reference Manual documentation for the Telnet /CaptureBinary option for configuration details. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.20.23. Bug Fix: For both the SCSI /Protocol:DDQ30 disk translator and the SCSI /Protocol:DDQ24 tape translator, an attempt to access a physical device that was disconnected or not mounted would result in continuous RTE device timeouts, even if the physical device was later connected and mounted. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.23. Workaround: Don't attempt to access a physical disk or tape SCSI device until it is connected and mounted. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.20.23. Bug Fix: The .PACK and .XPAK opcodes would return true zero when the the high-order word of the mantissa was zero. The definitions of these opcodes allows the mantissa value to be unnormalized. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.23. Workaround: None. ======================== Version 2.20.22 Sept. 13, 2007 ======================= Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.20.22 and following. New Feature: The Kestrel now supports the new "DiskFilesFolder = folder" general configuration command that may be used to simplify File and MEM physical device configuration lines. See the Kestrel Reference Manual documentation for the "DiskFilesFolder = folder" general configuration command for details. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.20.22 and following. New Feature: The Kestrel now supports the new "TapeFilesFolder = folder" general configuration command that may be used to simplify TPF physical device configuration lines. See the Kestrel Reference Manual documentation for the "TapeFilesFolder = folder" general configuration command for details. ======================== Version 2.20.21 Aug. 29, 2007 ======================== Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.20.21 and following. Release Note: Due to a change in the third party WRQ Reflection version 14 software, the documented /BreakChar method had to be changed. For WRQ Reflection version 14, "Transmit chr$(0)" does not transmit any character. Use "Transmit "\x000", rcHexData", instead. Note that this form appears to work properly for all WRQ Reflection versions from 8 through 14 (the outer set of double quotes delimit the command string and are not to be typed; the inner set of double quotes are part of the command string to be entered). See the Kestrel Reference Manual documentation for the WRQ /BreakChar option for configuration details. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.20.21 and following. Release Note: The KESTREL.EXE executable program now returns a different set of ERRORLEVEL codes than defined previously. This facilitates distinguishing normal termination from abnormal termination. The new exit codes are: 240 = Shutdown by the Kestrel .DOWN instruction. 241 = Shutdown by File\Exit, the menu bar [x], or ALT-F4. 242 = Shutdown by File\Restart. 243 = Shutdown by the control pipe when "X" is received. 244 = Shutdown by Windows shutdown (WM_ENDSESSION message). 250 = Shutdown by any Kestrel fatal error. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations, versions 2.20.21 and following. New Feature: The IEEE-488 /Protocol:DD*24 translator now supports the following list of tape drive models: 7974, 7974A, 7978, 7978A, 7978B, 7980, 7980A, C151x and DAT. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations, versions 2.20.21 and following. New Feature: The IEEE-488 /Protocol:DVS23 translator now supports the following list of tape drive models: 7974, 7974A, 7978, 7978A, 7978B, 7980, 7980A, C151x and DAT. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.20.21 and following. New Feature: The Kestrel now makes it easier to distinguish the various categories of fatal error. The three categories of fatal error and the appropriate corrective action are discussed below: 1. When an error in the configuration file is detected, the error message title is "Configuration Error" and the displayed icon is the caduceus symbol. Fix the indicated configuration file error and restart the Kestrel. 2. If any other error occurs before the end of configuration file parsing, the error message title is "Initialization Error" and the displayed icon is a stop sign. Such an initialization error can be caused by a configuration file error that could not be associated with a specific configuration file line (e.g., not including a required configuration file line such as "CPU = ..."), a hardware configuration error (e.g., attempting to start the Kestrel with the legacy bus power turned off), a missing or corrupted Kestrel program file, or an unexpected hardware error. If possible, fix the indicated error and restart the Kestrel; otherwise, contact Strobe Data Inc. customer support for assistance. 3. If any fatal occurs after configuration and initialization are complete, the error message title is "Fatal Error" and the displayed icon is the skull and crossed bones. Almost all such errors are unexpected and should be reported immediately to Strobe Data Inc. customer support. (There are exceptions - the effect of unplugging the cable to the legacy bus while the Kestrel is running is indistinguishable from a legacy bus adapter hardware failure.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations, versions 2.20.21 and following. New Feature: For A-series CPU's, the Kestrel can now support a Bus Extender chassis connected by the Bus Extender card pair HP 12025-66001 and HP 12025-60002. For details, see the description of the LegacyBusExtension configuration command in the Kestrel Reference Manual. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations, versions 2.20.21 and following. New Feature: Implementation is complete for the SCSI /Protocol:DDQ24 tape translator. When used with the virtual HP 12016 SCSI interface, this translator is used to emulate HP 1000 A-series SCSI tapes. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure this SCSI tape translator. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations, versions 2.20.21 and following. New Feature: Implementation is complete for the IEEE-488 /Protocol:DVS23 translator. This translator provides support for the following tape drives: 7974, 7974A, 7978, 7978A, 7978B, 7980, 7980A, C151x and DAT. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure this HP-IB to Tape translator. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations, versions 2.20.21 and following. New Feature: The virtual HP 13175 MAC disk emulation now supports the /Delay option, which can be used to specify a minimum completion time for all disk transfer operations. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the new /Delay option. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations, versions 2.20.21 and following. New Feature: The virtual SDIDisk disk emulation now supports the /Delay option, which can be used to specify a minimum completion time for all disk transfer operations. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the new /Delay option. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.20.21 and following. New Feature: The AspiTape physical device now supports the new /BPS:speed option, which specifies the maximum emulated tape data transfer speed in units of bytes per second. This option can used to slow down the actual tape data transfer speed to emulate a tape drive of the indicated speed. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details on how to configure the new AspiTape /BPS option. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations, versions 2.20.21 and following. New Feature: The Kestrel now supports a 'missed TBG tick' abort similar to that for the legacy HP 1000 A-series CPUs. The configuration option "CPU = Axxx ... /TBGAbort:{Yes No} ..." permits enabling or disabling the 'missed TBG tick' abort. See the Kestrel Reference Manual section on "Virtual CPU Devices" for a description of the /TBGAbort option. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.20.21. Bug Fix: For the HP 12016 SCSI device emulation, executing the SCSI RAM test function would cause the Kestrel to hang. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.21. Workaround: Don't run hardware diagnostics on a software device emulation. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.20.21. Bug Fix: For the IEEE-488 /Protocol:DD*33 CS-80 disk command translator, I/O to an unconfigured /BusAdr and /Unit combination would cause I/O timeouts. Now, they report the Module Addressing error in the full status as documented. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.21. Workaround: Configure an IEEE-488 /Protocol:DD*33 CS-80 disk command translator for all combinations of /BusAdr and /Unit that exist in the original physical configuration. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.20.21. Bug Fix: For the IEEE-488 /Protocol:DVM33 CS-80 disk command translator, I/O to an unconfigured /BusAdr and /Unit combination would cause I/O timeouts. Now, they report the Module Addressing error in the full status as documented. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.21. Workaround: Configure an IEEE-488 /Protocol:DVM33 CS-80 disk command translator for all combinations of /BusAdr and /Unit that exist in the original physical configuration. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.20.21. Bug Fix: For the IEEE-488 /Protocol:DD*33 CS-80 disk command translator, if the attached virtual HP-IB device requested termination of an in-progress data transfer operation, a fatal "Block not in use" error could result. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.21. Workaround: Set the RTE logical unit timeout large enough to allow any disk data transfer to complete. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.20.21. Bug Fix: For the IEEE-488 /Protocol:DVM33 CS-80 disk command translator, if the attached virtual HP-IB device requested termination of an in-progress data transfer operation, a fatal "Block not in use" error could result. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.21. Workaround: Set the RTE logical unit timeout large enough to allow any disk data transfer to complete. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.20.21. Bug Fix: For the IEEE-488 /Protocol:DD*24 tape translator, if the attached virtual HP-IB device requested termination of an in-progress data transfer operation, a fatal "Block not in use" error could result. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.21. Workaround: Set the RTE logical unit timeout large enough to allow any tape data transfer to complete. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.20.21. Bug Fix: For the IEEE-488 /Protocol:DD*24 tape translator, attempting to read a totally blank tape would result in a tape error rather than a tape runaway condition. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.21. Workaround: Don't attempt to read a totally blank tape - write to it first. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.20.21. Bug Fix: For the AspiTape physical device, attempting to read a totally blank tape would result in a tape error rather than a tape runaway condition. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.21. Workaround: Don't attempt to read a totally blank tape - write to it first. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.20.21. Bug Fix: For the AspiTape physical device, Beginning-Of-Tape (BOT) status was sometimes being set at inappropriate times. This could cause subsequent backward motion commands to be rejected. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.21. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.20.21. Bug Fix: For the AspiTape physical device, attempting to read a zero byte length tape record could result in a fatal Windows "This application has performed an illegal operation" type of message. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.21. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.20.21. Bug Fix: For the AspiTape physical device, attempting to write a single byte record to some SCSI drives results in a write failure that results in RTE reporting an I/O error. Now, if an attempt to write a single byte record is rejected by the SCSI drive, we automatically append a space and try writing the two bytes. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.21. Workaround: If SCSI tape interchange with non-Kestrel systems is not required, specify the /BlockSize option for 512 or 1024 byte record lengths. The Kestrel will simulate variable length tape records using the specified fixed length tape records. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.20.21. Bug Fix: When a configuration file included another configuration file without specifying an explicit path, the Kestrel might not find the included configuration file if the current folder was not the Kestrel installation folder. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.21. Workaround: Provide an explicit path to the included configuration file. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.20.21. Bug Fix: For the HP 12821 virtual device, an attempt to use the DCPC to read or write more than 128 words would fail to complete, resulting in a driver timeout. With the standard RTE drivers, this error could only have occurred when attempting to operate a tape drive attached to a National Instruments GPIB card. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.21. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.20.21. Bug Fix: For the HP 12821 virtual device, an attempt to write an odd number of bytes while in 'packed' mode did not set 'last byte output' flipflop and did not remove the last FIFO word. This would result in a repeated attempt to write the remaining (zero) bytes until the device driver eventually timed out. With the standard RTE drivers, this error could only have occurred when attempting to operate a tape drive attached to a National Instruments GPIB card. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.21. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.20.21. Bug Fix: The secondary DCPC device (select code 7) could fail to interrupt as expected under rare circumstances when the primary DCPC device (select code 6) posts an interrupt that is serviced between the time the secondary DCPC device requests an interrupt and it is actually allowed to interrupt. This could result in a driver timeout or improper device behavior. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.21. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.20.21. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a 13181, 13181A, 13183, or 13183A virtual tape interface, an attempt to terminate an in-progress transfer would cause a fatal error. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.21. Workaround: Set the RTE logical unit timeout large enough to allow any tape data transfer to complete. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.20.21. Bug Fix: An attempt to configure physical GPIB devices (using the IEEE-488 /Protocol:Bus translator) and one or more emulated GPIB devices (using any other IEEE-488 translation protocol) for the same virtual device select code would result in I/O timeout. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.21. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.20.21. Bug Fix: For the IEEE-488 /Protocol:DD*24 tape translator, the command sequence issued by some tape backup utilities could result in the wrong number of bytes being written to the physical tape device. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.21. Workaround: None. ======================== Version 2.20.20 Aug. 1, 2007 ========================= Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations 2.20.19 and 2.20.20. Bug Fix: For A-series configurations that include a configuration for one or more 12040D (DMUX) virtual device ports, the "per-character scheduling" bug fix introduced in version 2.20.19 broke ordinary FIFO mode. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.21. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.20.20. Bug Fix: For A-series configurations that include a configuration for one or more 12040D (DMUX) virtual device ports, attempting to change the character frame or baud for a port that is not configured would cause unpredictable behavior. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.20. Workaround: Configure all DMUX ports that are known to the operating system. If one or more DMUX ports are not actually used, they may be attached to physical Telnet device units. ======================== Version 2.20.19 July 30, 2007 ======================== Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.20.19. Bug Fix: When running under Windows Server 2003, the Kestrel could report that access to a file is restricted (based on the file name extension) because it incorrectly determined that the Windows XP System Restore service was running. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.19. Workaround: Add the "AllowSystemRestoreFiles = Yes" command to the configuration file. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.20.19. Bug Fix: For A-series configurations that include a configuration for one or more 12040D (DMUX) virtual device ports, the CN 33 mode "per-character scheduling" enabled by bit 14 did not work properly. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.19. Workaround: None. ======================== Version 2.20.18 June 13, 2007 ======================== Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.20.18 and following. Enhancement: Kestrel now sets the Windows minimum timer resolution as small as possible to improve thread responsiveness. This can reduce Windows thread scheduling latency from as much as 15.625 ms to as small as 1.000 ms, which can improve system throughput significantly. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.20.18 and following. New Feature: Allow "DEFAULT" as a legal color value for the LampColors, RteCpuColors and X86CpuColors general configuration commands; this value means use the default color for this control. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations, versions 2.20.18 and following. New Feature: Kestrel A-series configurations may now execute native HP 1000 programs up to about 21% faster (although about 10% faster is a more typical value). This is because of an improvement in the way the mapping translation cache is implemented. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations, versions 2.20.18 and following. New Feature: The BACI (12966A) virtual device emulation now transmits all characters without implicit TxDelay throttling. This improves transmit throughput for all attached physical devices, but especially for physical devices other than COM ports. To throttle transmits, use the /TxDelay option. Note that the architecture of the BACI device and the implementation of the RTE BACI device driver requires that all received bytes be throttled to the configured baud rate regardless of the actual rate that characters are sent by the attached physical character device. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.20.18. Bug Fix: Multiple NetWork physical devices shared a common non-volatile RAM (NVRAM). This could result in assigning the same MAC address to multiple virtual HP 12076 LANIC cards. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.18. Workaround: In the configuration file, provide an explicit, unique MAC address for each configured virtual HP 12076 LANIC card. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.20.18. Bug Fix: Simultaneous SCSI transactions on multiple SCSI units of a single select code could result in one of the transactions being 'lost', resulting in a logical unit timeout. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.18. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.20.18. Bug Fix: If the Kestrel was shut down while a write to a TPF physical tape device was in progress, the TPF file that was mounted at the time of the shutdown could become unusable beyond the point at which writing was occuring when the shutdown occurred. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.18. Workaround: Stop any tape write operation before shutting the Kestrel down. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.20.18. Bug Fix: When WRQ was started as a codependent process, changes were made to the WRQ configuration but not saved, and an attempt was made to shut down the Kestrel, the Kestrel would not complete the shutdown and would appear to be 'Not Responding' while WRQ was issuing its 'Save Changes?' prompt. Now, the Kestrel will request WRQ shutdown, but not wait for it to complete. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.18. Workaround: Respond to the WRQ 'Save Changes?' prompt to allow the Kestrel to complete its shutdown sequence. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.20.18. Bug Fix: The .ENTR and .ENTP instructions did not retain the original A register value if the argument resolution loop was interrupted. Thus, if one were to code zero as an argument pointer and attempt to pass the argument value in the A register, the actual argument value would be corrupted if the instruction were interrupted before completion. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.18. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.20.18. Bug Fix: When the *RTE6OS firmware was installed, the microcode for the .IRT opcode did not restore the O register properly if the E and O registers were saved by software rather than a trap cell opcode (such as .TRAP_IO). This could happen if data transfer was occurring via a HP 12792C (CMUX) port and could rarely result in inexplicable program failures. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.18. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.20.18. Bug Fix: The ASIC device for the A-Series Kestrel was not transferring the straps and switch settings to the selected COM port during Kestrel start-up. This could lead to transient, erroneous modem states during startup. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.18. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.20.18. Bug Fix: In certain instances, the HP 12016 SCSI device emulation could inappropriately request an interrupt. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.18. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.20.18. Bug Fix: In configuration where a National Instruments GPIB card is being used to support a 12009A (HP-IB) virtual device emulation, if the host PC (i.e., Windows) was so busy that no CPU cycles were available to service a parallel polling request for over a second, a fatal error could occur. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.18. Workaround: None. ======================== Version 2.20.15 Apr. 10, 2007 ======================== Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations, versions 2.20.15 and following. Release Note: The default bus address for the HP 59310 HP-IB controller has been changed from 30 to 0 to correspond with the value reserved for this device by the RTE-6 operating system. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations, versions 2.20.15 and following. Release Note: To make it possible to emulate the programmable features of many legacy HP 1000 printers using Windows printers, the configuration syntax and set of valid options have changed for the PARALLEL /Protocol:DVA12 and PARALLEL /Protocol:DVB12 translators. These parallel interface translators must now attach to a Printer type physical device (i.e., WinPrint), not a Character type device (e.g., CharPrint). In addition, these translators no longer support the the /Formfeed, /InitFF and /Line options, because these options do not make sense when attached to a Printer type physical device. The /Primary and /Secondary options that were formerly supported by these translators (but never actually fully functional) are now supported by the WinPrint physical device. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the PARALLEL /Protocol:DVA12 and PARALLEL /Protocol:DVB12 translators. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations, versions 2.20.15 and following. New Feature: The PARALLEL /Protocol:DVB12 translator now emulates all features of the HP 2608A printer except for graphic (dot matrix) printing and character set ROM reading. See the above Release Note for additional information about a configuration change required to use this translator. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations, versions 2.20.15 and following. New Feature: Implementation is complete for the virtual 12076A LAN Interface Card and for the Network physical device interface. This combination is used to emulate the HP 1000 A-series 12076 LAN. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the virtual 12076A LAN Interface Card and for the Network physical device. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations, versions 2.20.15 and following. New Feature: Implementation is complete for the IEEE-488 /Protocol:DD*12 and IEEE-488 /Protocol:PRINT translators. These translators provide support for many printers with an HP-IB interface. The DD*12 translator emulates all features of the HP 2631B printer. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure these HP-IB to Printer translators. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations, versions 2.20.15 and following. New Feature: Implementation is complete for the IEEE-488 /Protocol:PRINT translator. This translator provides support for many printers with an HP-IB interface. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure these HP-IB to Printer translators. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations, versions 2.20.15 and following. New Feature: Implementation is complete for the IEEE-488 /Protocol:DD*24 translator. This translator provides support for the following tape drives: 7974 7974A 7978 7978A 7978B 7980 7980A C1511B. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure this HP-IB to Tape translator. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.20.15 and following. New Feature: The CharPrint and WinPrint physical devices and the Printer Configuration dialog now allow decimal fraction CPI (characters per inch) values. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to specify the /CPI option for the CharPrint and WinPrint physical devices. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations, versions 2.20.15 and following. New Feature: The GETDISK program now supports reading data from SCSI disks. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.20.15 and following. Cosmetic: When an attempt to open a specified GPIB board fails, report "Board not found or in use by another program" rather than just "Board not found". This clarifies the situation when the GPIB board cannot be opened because it is already open by another application (e.g., the National Instruments software). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.20.15. Bug Fix: Some older, non-standard HP-IB devices would respond incorrectly when attached to a National Instruments GPIB card. This failure was caused by a small glitch on the NRFD signal line (at a time that shouldn't matter) when a transition from writing a command to reading response data occurred. A change in the sequence of GPIB commands for this case now suppresses this behavior. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.15. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.20.15. Bug Fix: Under very unusual circumstances when the Kestrel was very busy on a slow host CPU, the X86 and RTE utilization bars on the Kestrel status line could display incorrect (too small) CPU load values. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.15. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.20.15. Bug Fix: A DCPC write to a very fast bus device could report the fatal error "Firewire protocol failure: command 000000D7" if the starting transfer address least significant octal digit was 7. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.15. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.20.15. Bug Fix: An attempt to attach an IEEE-488, PARALLEL or SCSI device translator to a physical device of an incompatible type would result in a fatal error rather than just being reported as a configuration file error. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.15. Workaround: Don't attempt to configure incompatible device types. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.20.15. Bug Fix: Parallel poll on the 12009A virtual device could set the main flag even if the mask register indicated that no device's parallel poll bit was significant. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.15. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.20.15. Bug Fix: The 12009A virtual device could miss a parallel poll response in certain circumstances, causing the device to appear to time out. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.15. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.20.15. Bug Fix: The Telnet physical device could cause a fatal error if characters were received while the "enter password" message was being displayed. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.15. Workaround: Don't attempt to type the password until the "enter password" message has appeared. ======================== Version 2.20.14 Feb. 6, 2007 ========================= Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations, versions 2.20.14 and following. New Feature: The GETDISK program now supports all eight units on a Bering (MAC) controller. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.20.14. Bug Fix: For 21MX configurations with a real MAC disk controller, GETDISK would report "Invalid legacy bus slot / interface type" unless all eight drive numbers were valid. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.14. Workaround: Select option "4 - Bering (MAC)" instead of option "0 - MAC" as the interface type and GETDISK from drive 0 only (use the rotary drive number switches to temporarily make each drive number 0 as necessary). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.20.14. Bug Fix: Odd length strings read from a virtual 12792C (CMUX) port were not padded with a null or blank as required. This could cause an error in a program that used the expected padding character. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.14. Workaround: None. ======================== Version 2.20.13 Jan. 22, 2007 ======================== Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations, versions 2.20.13 and following. New Feature: Implementation is complete for the HP 12016 SCSI interface and for the SCSI /Protocol:DDQ30 disk translator - this combination is used to emulate HP 1000 A-series SCSI disks. See the Kestrel Reference Manual for details of how to configure the HP 12016 SCSI interface and for the SCSI /Protocol:DDQ30 disk translator. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations, versions 2.20.13 and following. New Feature: Kestrel 21MX configurations may now execute native HP 1000 programs up to about 21% faster (although about 10% faster is a more typical value). This is because of an improvement in the way the mapping translation cache is implemented. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.20.13 through 2.20.19. New Feature: The KESTREL.EXE executable program now returns an ERRORLEVEL code that can checked by calling batch files. The different ERRORLEVEL code values that can be returned are: 0 = Shutdown by the Kestrel .DOWN instruction. 1 = Shutdown by File\Exit, the menu bar [x], or ALT-F4. 2 = Shutdown by File\Restart. 3 = Shutdown by the control pipe when "X" is received. 4 = Shutdown by Windows shutdown (WM_ENDSESSION message). 255 = Shutdown by any Kestrel fatal error. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.20.13. Bug Fix: For 21MX configurations, the display indicator LEDs were sometimes displayed incorrectly. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.13. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.20.13. Bug Fix: For A-series configurations that include a configuration for one or more 12040D (DMUX) virtual device ports, an "Invalid Request from X86" fatal message could occur when a CN 33 or CN 26 command is issued to an unconfigured unit. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.13. Workaround: Configure all DMUX ports that are known to the operating system. If one or more DMUX ports are not actually used, they may be attached to physical Telnet device units. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.20.13. Bug Fix: For A-series configurations that include a configuration for one or more 12100A (OBIO) virtual device ports, an "Invalid Request from X86" fatal message could occur when a CN 33 or CN 26 command is issued to an unconfigured unit. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.13. Workaround: Configure all OBIO ports that are known to the operating system. If one or more OBIO ports are not actually used, they may be attached to physical Telnet device units. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.20.13. Bug Fix: Any Kestrel configuration with more than 64 concurrent Telnet connections on a single TCP/IP port would cause unpredictable behavior. Any attempted connection that would exceed 64 concurrent Telnet connections are ignored. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.13. Workaround: Do not configure more than 64 Telnet connections with the same TCP/IP port. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.20.13. Bug Fix: A fatal error would occur when a LPT physical device was attached to any of the following virtual character device units: a 12040D (DMUX) port or a 12100A (OBIO) port or a 12005 (ASIC) virtual device. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.13. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.20.13. Bug Fix: A fatal error would occur when a LPT physical device was attached to a 12792C (CMUX) port. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.13. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.20.13. Bug Fix: It was possible to configure a IEEE-488 bus command translator for CS-80 disk emulation /Protocol:DD*33 with a disk model that did not have 256 bytes per physical disk block. This would not function as expected, because the CS-80 disk protocol does not support disks with other than 256 bytes per physical disk block. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.13. Workaround: Don't configure disks that are not CS-80 compatible. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.20.13. Bug Fix: It was possible to configure a IEEE-488 bus command translator for CS-80 disk emulation /Protocol:DVM33 with a disk model that did not have 256 bytes per physical disk block. This would not function as expected, because the CS-80 disk protocol does not support disks with other than 256 bytes per physical disk block. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.13. Workaround: Don't configure disks that are not CS-80 compatible. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.20.13. Bug Fix: When a configuration file contained multiple WinExec commands and a fatal error occurred, only the last one was reported properly in the .DMP file. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.13. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.20.13. Bug Fix: For configurations that include a 13181, 13181A, 13183, or 13183A virtual tape interface, attempting to control or interrogate a tape unit that was not configured could result in anomalous behavior, including a fatal error. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.13. Workaround: Configure all tape units that are known to the operating system. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.20.13. Bug Fix: A tape container file image could become corrupt (and thus unusable) if new data written over an existing tape image happened to end slightly before the previous end of data on the tape image. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.13. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.20.13. Bug Fix: Attempting to read beyond the last data overwritten on a tape container file image (i.e., attempting to read a partially overwritten tape record) might not report a parity error (which is the appropriate tape status). Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.13. Workaround: Don't incorrectly attempt to read beyond the last valid tape record. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel A-series configurations prior to version 2.20.13. Bug Fix: For the ASIC device, when a non-zero TxDelay was specified, output would often hang. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.13. Workaround: Do not use the /TxDelay option. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.20.13. Bug Fix: When a non-zero TxDelay was given for some character devices and a DMA transfer was started, the individual output characters were not properly paced to the rate specified by the TxDelay interval. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.13. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.20.13. Bug Fix: If a GPIB read or write request was immediately cancelled, the GPIB physical device could report a fatal error of the form: GPIBx error 10, status xxxx at line xxx: Asynchronous I/O in progress This appears to be caused by undocumented behavior of the National Instruments software. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.13. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.20.13. Bug Fix: The user could not configure more than 256 virtual device units (instead of the correct limit of 512). Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.13. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All A-series Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.20.13. Bug Fix: The Container File Builder program incorrectly configured most SCSI disks (C2212A, C2213A, C2214A, C2216T, C2217T, C2235, C2295B, C2460F-R, C2461F-R, C2462F-R, C2472S, C2473S, C2474S, C2481A, C2482A) as having 256 byte blocks. These disks actually have 512 byte blocks. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.13. Workaround: A workaround is unnecessary because support for SCSI disks is new with version 2.20.13. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.20.13. Bug Fix: If characters were sent to a 12792C (CMUX) port that was not configured, they went to a port that was configured. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.13. Workaround: Configure all CMUX ports that are known to the operating system. If one or more CMUX ports are not actually used, they may be attached to physical Telnet device units. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: Kestrel 21MX configurations prior to version 2.20.13. Bug Fix: If a terminal attached to a virtual 12792C (CMUX) port was in "Auto LF" mode, the LF that follows every CR could cause a spurious RTE CM prompt. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.13. Workaround: Don't put terminals attached to virtual 12792C (CMUX) ports in "Auto LF" mode. ================================================================================