<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< What's New In Kestrel Version 2.30.01 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> This document describes important release notes, new features, bug fixes and known issues for Kestrel versions through 2.30.01. If a workaround is given for a Bug Fix, it is necessary only when using a version prior to the in which the bug was fixed. ================================================================================ 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: All 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: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.30.01. Bug Fix: For the /Protocol:DDX33 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: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.30.01. Bug Fix: For the /Protocol:DDX33 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 A-series configurations prior to version 2.30.01. Bug Fix: The F16.XPAK opcode did not return the result exponent in the A register as required. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.01. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.30.01. Bug Fix: The .XPAK and F16.XPAK routines 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel configurations prior to version 2.30.01. Bug Fix: The F16.XPAK opcode did not return the result exponent in the A register as required. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.30.01. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 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 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 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. ================================================================================ Applies to: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.20.22 and following. New Feature: The Kestrel now supports the new "DiskFileFolder = 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 "DiskFileFolder = 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 "TapeFileFolder = folder" general configuration command that may be used to simplify TPF physical device configuration lines. See the Kestrel Reference Manual documentation for the "TapeFileFolder = folder" general configuration command for details. ================================================================================ 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. Release Note: 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: All Kestrel configurations, versions 2.20.21 and following. Release Note: 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: All Kestrel 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: All Kestrel 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 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 General Protection Fault. 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 the HP 13181 virtual device, 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ================================================================================ 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. ================================================================================ 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. ================================================================================ 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: All 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: All 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. ================================================================================ 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: All Kestrel 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. ================================================================================ 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: All Kestrel 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 12792C (CMUX) port or a 12100A (OBIO) port or a 12005 (ASIC) virtual device. Fixed in: Kestrel version 2.20.13. Workaround: None. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applies to: All Kestrel 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 or /Protocol:DDM33) 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 21MX configurations that contain the HP 13181 magnetic 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 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: All Kestrel 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: All Kestrel 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. ================================================================================