CICS 6.1 to 7.0 upgrade choked 2

[Phonehed]

I let it sit for almost an hour with the new sw cartridge in there before I finally gave up, abandoned all existing programming and dropped back to 6.1.

Last time I did this it only took about 20 minutes and it worked like a champ. Thought maybe I had a bad sw cartridge but the supplier claims to have tested it before they shipped it.

One guru said something about shorting out a capacitor on the mother board. I never heard of that before and needless to say, I was very hesitant to do that until I hear it straight from ITAS. Anyone else ever run into a similar problem?

Phonehed in Dallas

 

[lugerlover]

me also...upgraded to 6.1 then 7.0 failed twice..was training another tech so tried to get to go...nope...took me less time to reprog from scratch...was pissed..also hsd some corruption..names of trunks were all garbled

 

[Phonehed]

I couldn't get the 7.0 cartridge to do anything at all.

Phonehed in Dallas

 

[DigitelD]

Could you have a bad 7.0 cartridge?

SHK Certified (School of Hard Knocks)

 

[hawks]

Finding out more and more that the upgrade is hit and miss. I've had it happen also and if you go back to 6.1 and do a Start up and default the system then install the 7.0 it comes up like a champ. Don't know why some are such headaches.

 

[Phonehed]

Yeah that's the first thing I'm gonna try.

They claim it was tested but ya know how that is.

When the upgrade failed, I dropped it back to 6.1 then I tried the 7.0 cartridge again thinking I might at least be able bring it up and reprogram from scratch but it didn't seem to like that either.

I only gave it about 10 minutes the second time around though cuz it's a doctors' office and I already had 'em down for way too long by then.

Don't know why customers never take good advice and let us do that kind of stuff after hours but at least they can't say we didn't try to tell 'em that in advance.

Anybody ever hear of the above mentioned capacitor shorting trick to get around this problem?

Phonehed in Dallas

 

[hawks]

The Cap is a last resort because you could damage the board itself. What the Cap does is hold power to the memory chips so if you short the Cap out then the chip is unable to hold any programming and the unit goes back to default. I've probably done about 100 or so like that over the years and only destroyed 3 or 4 units but I just wanted you to know it could happen. The only time I've ever used the Cap method is if the system would not come up at all with any level of software.

 

[Phonehed]

That's what I was looking for! Thanks Hawk.

Phonehed in Dallas

 

[exsmogger]

As Hawks stated do a STARTUP from the 6.1, when you see "Applying template" count to 5 and pull the power. Put in the 7.0 software and power back on. System should be up in about 5 minutes. Shorting the cap will also work, but the STARTUP method is faster and you don't risk damaging the motherboard.

Brian Cox

http://www.jandjcommunications.com

 

[ptstechnician]

Has there been alot of problems upgrading the CICS? The only reason I ask, I have done 4 MICS upgrades to 7.0(Rel1/T1, 1.1 & 4.1 (2)) without a problem.

 

[exsmogger]

Generally when going from 6.1 to 7.0 there shouldn't be any problems. But with the CICS's we sell I've found it's best to just clean the slate and do a STARTUP. We've sold one too many with new software that refuse to boot up and just flash forever. Your mileage may vary!

Brian Cox

http://www.jandjcommunications.com

 

[descendant]

Regarding shorting the capacitor, if you use an ohmmeter set to the lowest resistance scale to drain the cap. you will avoid damaging the motherboard. A 50 or 100 ohm resistor will work too, but most techs carry a multimeter somewhere in there tools.

 

[Phonehed]

Thanks Brian,

Been so long since I tried pulling the plug while applying template I plumb forgot that trick even existed.

That did it though.

Phonehed in Dallas

 

[exsmogger]

Phonehed,

You're welcome. Glad that worked for you. Do you know the guys at Alliance Telecom in Grand Prairie? A couple of us went to their 2-day BCM class last May.

Brian Cox

http://www.jandjcommunications.com

 

[Phonehed]

Oh yeah, they're my first alternate but most of the time it's faster, easier and cheaper for me just to go downtown to Hi-line.

Been doing business with Gary over there since he first opened up in '87 and they've been pretty good to me over the years. In fact, he started carrying Norstar in '90 or '91 for me after I told him what a great little system it was.

Alliance is pretty competitive but by the time I drive all the way to G.P. and back, any savings I might have realized have usually vanished by the time I'm half way over there.

Got invited to that BCM class but had other committments and had to pass. I'll probably try to make the next one though.

Phonehed in Dallas