Re: PC's Locking up when in BPCS - application 'hang' versus runtime 'lock up' and how to tell -- BPCS-L

Support for the Windows NT 4.0 OS was announced back in September of 1997.
Windows 2000 is being tested here for verification as we write (or read and
lurk!). :-) There is a BMR for adding this support, MR 54244, which is not
yet complete and today shows in TEST status. The support for Windows 2000
requires a change to the OPS Runtime. This BMR is opened against 6.1.00 (but
the same runtime will work for 6.0.04 as well).

In addition, we at SSA R&D have _NO_ verifiable reports of PC Lockup
BMR43360 occuring on the Windows NT platform. It does not "minimize" the
lockups as mentioned recently on the list, it actually eliminates them.
After switching to NT we have had users call in thinking they have a
"Lockup", but it has always so far
 proven to be a simple application hang problem, and not BMR43360.

If someone has proof of BMR43360 occuring on the Windows NT platform (a true
lock up means the PC keyboard, mouse and CTL ALT DEL do nothing and a hard
reboot is the ONLY way to get the PC back, and the Windows program stack is
destroyed) please let us know, as all research towards resolving this
elusive problem is relating currently to our code's interactions with the
WIN95 kernel (and how that differs from NT).

This BMR is being very actively researched here at SSA (we are able to
reproduce the problem), and the OPS Services Packs are released each time
more fixes are built that are hoped to reduce the occurance of the problem.
Anyone with this intermittent problem should have a call logged with the PC
Technical HelpLine at SSA to ensure they are on the latest runtime code we
have, and that we are aware of which customers are experiencing this
problem. We consider this a very high priority problem to resolve.

Many users will call a 'hang' in a BPCS program a 'lock up' or 'freeze' when
they call the system administrator to report a given problem. You as a
system administrator should always verify with your users what the actual
problem is by asking them to try a few things with the PC first. Find out if
the mouse is frozen and if the keyboard works. If they can ALT TAB around to
other applications, then the problem is something else and is NOT covered
under BMR43360 and is NOT a lock up. If it is not a Lockup, then there is a
very large chance there is a server-side application in error in a BPCS
program.

Many times if the server program is hung or looping, this will cause the
BPCS client program to hang waiting for a response from the server
application (which has not ended, but is in some infinite loop or itself is
on a MSGW ). This type of application hang does NOT lock the entire PC, just
the BPCS application on the PC.

It is generally good to try to locate the server program process/job and
find out if it is looping and needs to be ended or if it is in MSGW status
etc.. Search the server for jobs under that users' name (in Full C/S this
works for 2nd generation. In Mixed Mode / 1st generation it is more
difficult, as the ALAUNCH daemon user is listed for all jobs). In such a
case, the specific BPCS application should be noted (view the Call Stack of
the server job), as the application would be in error, not the runtime
screen presentation code (the BMR43360 is caused by the PC OPS runtime, not
the BPCS applications, and can occur in any 2nd generation application). The
job log may give clues, or if a message is waiting, that should help point
you to the source of the problem. These types of application errors should
be called into the corresponding SSA HelpLine product team if you are unable
to determine and correct the cause of the problem.

Thanks
Genyphyr Novak
SSA
-----Original Messages-----


>I understood that BPCS was compatible only with Windows 95.
>We have deferred upgrading our PCs because of this.
>
>Terry Gilligan wrote:
>
>> We are running BPCS 6.1 C/S on AS/400 , from day 1 we have experienced
>> unusually high PC crashes when in BPCS .  Would be interested to here if
>> anyone else is experiencing the same problems, all our PC's are high spec
>> machines with 64Mb ram, running office 97 + Microsoft outlook. It was
>> suggested that we turn off our anti-virus protection on our PC's ???
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Terry Gilligan
>

>Our experience is that NT workstations minimize, not eliminate the lockup
problem.
Kent VanHorn Lozier
>
>+---


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