RISCiX 1.2 Upgrade Products How to obtain RISCiX 1.2 If you own an Archimedes product please read the section entitled Archimedes Owners otherwise please continue below. R260 and R225 owners. If you have an R260 workstation RISCiX 1.2 is provided as standard and installed on the hard disc. You have already purchased as part of the Unix solution a one year hardware and software contract. R225 owners will need to install a copy of RISCiX 1.2 on a fileserver. Microcare will visit your site and install RISCiX 1.2 for you. The cost of this service will depend on the number of stations that you have purchased. If you already have an R260 you can connect a single R225 to it yourself and use the server at no additional cost. R140 Owners If you own an R140 you may wish to upgrade your version of RISCiX from 1.15 or earlier, to 1.2. RISCiX 1.2 has more features than other versions of the operating system and many of these features have been added to ensure that it is one of the first UNIX systems to be X/OPEN certified (to XPG3 Base profile). As an R140 owner you should be aware that Acorn is still supporting RISCiX from 1.13 and this is the version supplied when you purchase one of these workstations. If you do have any other version of RISCiX please contact Microcare on the support provided ( 0234 226866 ) they will be pleased to register you for support and upgrade your system. Archimedes owners A540. If you own an A540 then RISCiX 1.2 will fit on the internal SCSI hard disc, and once you have purchased it, Microcare will install this for you at a time that is mutually convenient. You will need to back up your hard discs to ensure that any data on your hard drive is safely archived because the RISCiX upgrade will change the hard disc and any data on it will be lost. If you wish you can also add an external SCSI drive using the connector provided and this can be the recipient of the RISCiX 1.2. If you are unable to connect your Archimedes to a network file server via an Ethernet card RISCiX 1.2 could also be stored centrally. A400 Series. If you own a 4MByte Archimedes 400 Series/1 it is possible to install RISCiX 1.2. If you have an older Archimedes 400 Series machine it is also possible to install and run RISCiX 1.2 provided that you have a MEMC1A and all the appropriate field change orders have been carried out. (If you are unsure as to what these are please contact your local UNIX reseller or Microcare on 0234 226866). You will also need an Acorn SCSI card and a SCSI hard disc with at least 100 MBytes of free space. A400 Series Cont. If you are unable to connect your Archimedes to a network file server via an Ethernet card RISCiX 1.2 should be stored centrally. Other Archimedes. Although third party upgrades exist to enable users to upgrade A300 series and BBC A3000 machines their performance and characteristics cannot be guaranteed. It is not possible to add RISCiX to such machines. To obtain RISCiX 1.2. Contact your authorised Acorn RISCiX dealer who will be pleased to help you decide which installation you require. Prices. Please see order form for conditions and exclusions. These products are available from Microcare on the UK Mainland and Ireland only. If you are a non-UK resident contact your National Support centre in your own country for further details. UK Microcare 0234 226866 support@mcare.uucp Germany GMA 49 40 251 3364 Italy Delphi 39 (2) 57499.1 postmaster@delphi.uucp Australia Acorn lhardwick@melbourne New Zealand Acorn jbuchanan@auckland RISCiX 1.2 Questions and Answers. Q. I have a non-Acorn compatible SCSI card - what do I do? A. At present Acorn is the only SCSI card supplier who has produced software-drivers to support the use of their card under RISCiX. Other SCSI cards cannot be used with RISCiX 1.2. Q. I have a SCSI hard drive - what do I do? A. If your SCSI disc has a 100 MBytes or more of free space contact your RISCiX Authorised Acorn dealer who will help you with your order. If you do not have an Acorn SCSI card your dealer can supply one. Q. My hardware is not the same high specification as Acorn recommends - what do I do? A. Contact Microcare who will discuss your current configuration and will work with you to suggest a solution. It maybe that you have access to enough filespace on your system. Q. I would like to attach my Archimedes to a network - what do I need? A. You will need to purchase an Ethernet card and have it installed in your Archimedes. Your network system administrator will be able to advise you of what you will need to do to connect your machine in to the existing network. Microcare will be able to install RISCiX onto your central server provided that your network administrator allocates free space and allows access to the server. Q. What happens to the performance when I use RISCiX 1.2? A. RISCiX 1.2 is a larger and more featured version of RISCiX and as a consequence it takes up more space and has a performance overhead particularly when using the X11 Window System. If you have an external Acorn SCSI hard disc of 100 MBytes or larger (or equivalent storage space on a network server you can access) then RISCiX 1.2 can be installed on your free space. If you have extra memory fitted then the performance overhead will be negligible. Q. I have an ST506 based external drive - what can I do? A. We are aware that some users have been able to make large St506 drives run using the built-in controller. If you have a large ST506 disc you will be able to install RISCiX 1.2 on it. You may be able to use this space in conjunction with a new SCSI drive. Discuss this with Microcare who will be pleased to assist you. Q. What do you mean by performance overhead? A. Under some conditions the operating system will appear to be slower on a standard R140 than was previously experienced with earlier versions of RISCiX. The X11 Window System uses less memory and colour X11 is faster than in previous versions of RISCiX, but the kernel and resident set of X11 server uses more pages and a 4MByte machine has few of these. Q. Why can't I put RISCiX on my R140/A440 internal hard drive? A. The new version of RISCiX is considerably larger than previous versions and even with the data compaction techniques available it would not be possible to fit a full version onto the internal disc. Q. Why can't I put it on a A3000? A. The A3000 has been designed and tested to ensure that with 2 MBytes of RAM and an external drive it remains within the appropriate temperature range and therefore to specification. 2Mbytes of RAM is not large enough for the UNIX operating system to work successfully. Q. Why can't I put RISCiX 1.2 on an A310? A. Although third party upgrades exist they #cannot be guaranteed by Acorn to work with the UNIX operating system. Q. Why is it more expensive for an Archimedes owner? A. R140 owners have already paid many of the licence fees that are included in the cost of the RISCiX product. The reduced price reflects this. Q. RISCiX is #1000 - what do I get for money? A. RISCiX is a large and powerful industry-standard operating system which took many man months to produce. Many of the products provided as standard are additional items to be purchased later on other systems. RISCiX contains a version of the UNIX operating system which is certified to X/Open's XPG3 Base profile, X11 Window System release 4 (server and clients), X.desktop, Motif, PASCAL, FORTRAN, C, TCP/IP, NFS, AND ONC. In addition there are editors, debuggers, and other programming utilities. An installation and support contract is also provided in the price. When compared to systems on other platforms RISCiX is very competively priced. Q. I have lost my registration form - what do I do? A. Phone Microcare on the number provided below and they will do the rest. Q. Why is RISCiX 1.2 less expensive for a Microcare contract holder? A. Microcare contract holders have already paid for some of the support contract in their initial purchase and Microcare are giving them a discount to reflect this. Q. Do I need to buy a Microcare hard drive or can I obtain one from my supplier? A. You may purchase any Acorn SCSI card compatible hard drive. Microcare are offering a hard drive which is identical to that fitted to the R260 as part of the service to customers. Q. I have written my own software - will it still work? A. If you have applications which you have produced yourself these should run with little difficulty on RISCiX 1.2. However you should be aware that the structure of RISCiX has been altered to ensure that it complies with X/Open's Guidelines and provides greater compatibility with System V systems. You may need to re-link your applications to ensure that all of the appropriate libraries are used. If you have older shared libraries these must be retained and you should backup any modified files on your old system before upgrading. For further information please contact the support line. If you have a turnkey system your supplier will advise you if you need to change your operating system. Q. If my current system configuration doesn't match those specified - what do I do? A. Contact Microcare who will try to help. Q. What do I do if the answer to my question is not here? A. Contact Microcare they will tell you. Q. What do I do if I have moved and don't know who my local supplier is? A. Contact Microcare they will tell you. Q. How do I contact Microcare? A. Telephone: 0234 226866 (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday) email: support@mcare.uucp FOR R225 OWNERS CODE DESCRIPTION CONDITIONS PRICE (EX VAT) SPX20 Discless distribution No.of stations 1 - 5 #999 (2-5 if connected to R260) SPX20 Discless distribution No. of stations 5 - 10 #1998 SPX20 Discless distribution Units of 5 machines at #999 ------ FOR R140 OWNERS with Microcare contract. CODE DESCRIPTION CONDITIONS PRICE (EX VAT) GMC01 R140 Upgrade (SPX27) Requires 100 MBytes free space #349 GMC03 R140 Upgrade (SPX27) Includes Microcare Hard #1699 Drive & Acorn SCSI card FOR R140 OWNERS without Microcare contract. CODE DESCRIPTION CONDITIONS PRICE (EX VAT) GMC01 R140 Upgrade (SPX27) Requires 100 Mbytes free space #399 GMC02 R140 Upgrade (SXP27) Includes Microcare Hard #1749 Drive & Acorn SCSI card FOR ARCHIMEDES OWNERS. CODE DESCRIPTION CONDITIONS PRICE (EX VAT) GMC05 Archimedes installation Requires 100 MBytes SCSI #999 drive Acorn SCSI card or Fileserver space GMC04 Archimedes installation Includes Microcare Hard #2326 Drive and Acorn SCSI card. Terms and conditions. All RISCiX upgrades and new installations are provided by Microcare for the UK and Ireland only. All RISCiX products described include installation, a one year software support contract and telephone hotline support at no additional cost. A one year hardware contract is provided for harddisc purchasers. All documentation will be provided by Microcare at time of delivery unless by prior agreement with the customer. Microcare will contact the customer to arrange a mutually convenient time for installation. Free installation means - Site visit by Microcare engineer at no additional cost. Up to the first four hours installation time at no extra charge. Thereafter, charges will accrue at #60 per hour. The backup and security copies prior to installation and a site visit by an engineer.