HELP! HELP! HELP!

#11

As it happens, I have R83 v3.1, 3-user, and R83 v3.1, 25-user, 5.25"
floppy disks (System and Data diskettes )plus original manuals. I have
heard of bumping the users to 33, but can't lay my hands on it at the
moment. Where are you, and what's it worth to you?

Steve - sanado(omit this)at (this too) san DOT rr DOTcom

On Thu, 02 Mar 2006 21:21:56 GMT, Van Mog <vmog (AT) execpc (DOT) com> wrote:

Quote:

We are currently running R83 v3.1m (33 user) on an old 200 Mhz
Pentium with 16Mb Mem and 2.x gif HD (the actual partition is
smaller)

We have run this for a number of years without ANY significant
problems.

Last week (just as my family was in the middle of "the move from
Hell") the system decides to take a major dump. A bad link of some
sort in the ABS area.

THEN - the systems disks have disappeared. After much screaming and
gnashing of teeth I got the system running again.

OH! did I mention that the previous evenings file save tape was bad?

Anyhow, the bottom line is that I REALLY need a set of 33 user 3.1m
disks.

Any Ideas/Help? I do have a 25 user version of r83 v3.1 (no 'm') with
a monolith loader diskette (5.25) but it doesn't seem to hook up with
the PICK diskettes (just keeps rebooting)

If I can get a sister machine running with the 25 user - does anyone
have any trick to bump it to 33 user. There must be just a byte or 2
in the ABS area that regulates # of users.

Again - Help! Help! Help!

Van

PS: The reason we haven't upgraded is that I am using a 4GL called
Envision that was written a long time ago and about half of it was
done in assembler and won't run on any of the later version of PICK.
I've been meaning to re-write it in Basic but it's a pretty daunting
project.

#12

Van,

I strongly recommend that you use a floppy disk cleaner and check your
5.25 inch drive on old floppies before you insert your Pick 3.1 master
disk. If your server is old then you might find Cumulative Repository of
Abrasive Particles (C.R.A.P.) on the drive heads which could trash your
valuable master floppy. It happened to me ONCE.

May I also suggest that your business IT paradigm has now shifted. Until
now you have enjoyed some very low cost IT provision for your business.
Now your business is at risk and you would be wise to invest in new IT
and the expertise to implement it. DIY IT can save dollars but cost
thousands.

As Stelios Haji-Ioannou of Easy Jet was reported to quip: "If you think
saftey is expensive then try having an accident."

http://www.fastcompany.com/online/64/ioannou.html

John

Van Mog wrote:

Quote:

We are currently running R83 v3.1m (33 user) on an old 200 Mhz
Pentium with 16Mb Mem and 2.x gif HD (the actual partition is
smaller)

We have run this for a number of years without ANY significant
problems.

Last week (just as my family was in the middle of "the move from
Hell") the system decides to take a major dump. A bad link of some
sort in the ABS area.

THEN - the systems disks have disappeared. After much screaming and
gnashing of teeth I got the system running again.

OH! did I mention that the previous evenings file save tape was bad?

Anyhow, the bottom line is that I REALLY need a set of 33 user 3.1m
disks.

Any Ideas/Help? I do have a 25 user version of r83 v3.1 (no 'm') with
a monolith loader diskette (5.25) but it doesn't seem to hook up with
the PICK diskettes (just keeps rebooting)

If I can get a sister machine running with the 25 user - does anyone
have any trick to bump it to 33 user. There must be just a byte or 2
in the ABS area that regulates # of users.

Again - Help! Help! Help!

Van

PS: The reason we haven't upgraded is that I am using a 4GL called
Envision that was written a long time ago and about half of it was
done in assembler and won't run on any of the later version of PICK.
I've been meaning to re-write it in Basic but it's a pretty daunting
project.

#13

We've beat this poor guy to death long enough - now lets help.

Someone can get R83 running with some number of users then reverse engineer
his app and implement it using D3 or jBase or something. It won't be free
and it won't be instant but it will get his Company out of a deep hole. If
he declines to spend the money then he can stay in the hole. But his need
seems legitimate and his Company seems solid from looking at their web page.
So I suspect that he will be willing to listen to a reasonable proposal. If
I were younger and if it weren't the middle of winter then I would offer
something but I get a nose bleed when I get north of Orlando in the winter.
But there is talent in his part of the Arctic so someone step up and speak.
BobJ

"John Bend" <spam (AT) itstuff (DOT) net> wrote

Quote:

Van,

I strongly recommend that you use a floppy disk cleaner and check your
5.25 inch drive on old floppies before you insert your Pick 3.1 master
disk. If your server is old then you might find Cumulative Repository of
Abrasive Particles (C.R.A.P.) on the drive heads which could trash your
valuable master floppy. It happened to me ONCE.

May I also suggest that your business IT paradigm has now shifted. Until
now you have enjoyed some very low cost IT provision for your business.
Now your business is at risk and you would be wise to invest in new IT and
the expertise to implement it. DIY IT can save dollars but cost thousands.

As Stelios Haji-Ioannou of Easy Jet was reported to quip: "If you think
saftey is expensive then try having an accident."

http://www.fastcompany.com/online/64/ioannou.html

John

Van Mog wrote:
We are currently running R83 v3.1m (33 user) on an old 200 Mhz Pentium
with 16Mb Mem and 2.x gif HD (the actual partition is smaller)

We have run this for a number of years without ANY significant problems.
Last week (just as my family was in the middle of "the move from Hell")
the system decides to take a major dump. A bad link of some sort in the
ABS area.

THEN - the systems disks have disappeared. After much screaming and
gnashing of teeth I got the system running again.

OH! did I mention that the previous evenings file save tape was bad?

Anyhow, the bottom line is that I REALLY need a set of 33 user 3.1m
disks.

Any Ideas/Help? I do have a 25 user version of r83 v3.1 (no 'm') with a
monolith loader diskette (5.25) but it doesn't seem to hook up with the
PICK diskettes (just keeps rebooting)

If I can get a sister machine running with the 25 user - does anyone have
any trick to bump it to 33 user. There must be just a byte or 2 in the
ABS area that regulates # of users.

Again - Help! Help! Help!

Van

PS: The reason we haven't upgraded is that I am using a 4GL called
Envision that was written a long time ago and about half of it was done
in assembler and won't run on any of the later version of PICK. I've been
meaning to re-write it in Basic but it's a pretty daunting project.

#14

"BobJ" wrote:

Quote:

We've beat this poor guy to death long enough - now lets help.

Bob, I'm starting to wonder if this was another troll. Via e-mail,
I've offered him access to floppies, as others have done here, and
there's been no response. I don't know what to make of this.

And re-writing his assembler-based software? I don't think so.

At this point I'd recommend he buy some new accounting software and
focus on migrating data rather than keeping the old system going. He
can commission Raining Data to provide disks or data extraction
services. This company took a big gamble and lost - a real shame
considering they're just the last in a long line of companies who have
met with the same disaster. Now it's time to just pick up the pieces
and do what it takes to keep the business running - and yes, it's
going to cost a lot of money.

T

#15

Actually, Tony, far be it for me to suggest, but I think you're
wrong....

There's been a bit of activity on the OpenQM list, or thereabouts,
looking for somebody who mentioned QM and Envision in the same
breath...

On Mon, 06 Mar 2006 16:21:26 -0800, Tony Gravagno
<g6q3x9lu53001 (AT) sneakemail (DOT) com.invalid> wrote:

Quote:

I'm starting to wonder if this was another troll. Via e-mail,

I've offered him access to floppies, as others have done here, and
there's been no response. I don't know what to make of this.

And re-writing his assembler-based software? I don't think so.

At this point I'd recommend he buy some new accounting software and
focus on migrating data rather than keeping the old system going. He
can commission Raining Data to provide disks or data extraction
services. This company took a big gamble and lost - a real shame
considering they're just the last in a long line of companies who have
met with the same disaster. Now it's time to just pick up the pieces
and do what it takes to keep the business running - and yes, it's
going to cost a lot of money.

T

Regards,

Bruce Nichol
Talon Computer Services
ALBURY NSW Australia

http://www.taloncs.com.au

If it ain't broke, fix it until it is....

#16

"Tony Gravagno" <g6q3x9lu53001 (AT) sneakemail (DOT) com.invalid> wrote

Quote:

"BobJ" wrote:
We've beat this poor guy to death long enough - now lets help.

Bob, I'm starting to wonder if this was another troll. Via e-mail,
I've offered him access to floppies, as others have done here, and
there's been no response. I don't know what to make of this.

And re-writing his assembler-based software? I don't think so.

At this point I'd recommend he buy some new accounting software and
focus on migrating data rather than keeping the old system going. He
can commission Raining Data to provide disks or data extraction
services. This company took a big gamble and lost - a real shame
considering they're just the last in a long line of companies who have
met with the same disaster. Now it's time to just pick up the pieces
and do what it takes to keep the business running - and yes, it's
going to cost a lot of money.

T

It does look like a troll until you look at their web page. But the OP is
not mentioned on the web page which is strange.

As for re-writing their anything based software, I don't mean to emulate
it - I mean write a new application using a lot of your existing accounting
and distribution software. I suspect that there are many improvements that
can be made that will help to justify the cost. It's not for me for reasons
mentioned and it's probably not for you (Tony) because that's not your bag.
But there are lots of lurkers on this group with both the interest and the
ability to do it. If I were interested then I would contact the owners
directly. Actually, it looks like the sort of thing that most of us built
our business on many years ago.
BobJ

Quote:

#17

John:

"John Bend" <spam (AT) itstuff (DOT) net> wrote ...

[snipped]

Quote:

As Stelios Haji-Ioannou of Easy Jet was reported to quip: "If you think
saftey is expensive then try having an accident."

http://www.fastcompany.com/online/64/ioannou.html

Or as P.J. O'Rourke notes: "If you think health care is expensive now...wait
until you see what it costs when it's free!" :-)

Bill

#18

Tony Gravagno <g6q3x9lu53001 (AT) sneakemail (DOT) com.invalid> wrote in
news:knjp02p7sbb1tr40qvfm46foq6h55kbab5 (AT) 4ax (DOT) com:

Quote:

"BobJ" wrote:
We've beat this poor guy to death long enough - now lets help.

Bob, I'm starting to wonder if this was another troll.

Hey Tony and All,

I appreciate all of the advise and offers of help. It's all up and
running now as I did have a couple of HDs I cloned forensically with
Ghost. Had a bugger of a time getting the tape drive go - but it worked
out.

Just for all of you that think I'm a complete flake ;^)

... I have been working with PICK for more than 20 years and am a little
bit of a fanatic about backup (and verify!!)

The problem was that the tape drive and had started to give us "media
error" messages. I obtained a refurbed (so they say) drive but what with
my family moving and all I couldn't stay late to install it.

When the system took a hard dump, the previous nights tape was, of
course one that had the error.

So, it was a combination of things. It was still my fault - if I had had
the system disks or had started to find replacements (thanks for nothing
Raining Data!) I could have avoided the worst of it.

We located the source code for the Envision software and are going to
get it converted totally to PICK Basic (NOT cheap) and as soon as that
is done we'll convert to D3 or something newer than the dark ages.

Again, I appreciate all of the offers of help, but I think we're on the
right track. I have a sister machine (actually 2!!) up and running with
the cloned HDs and the seem fine.

To say that the Boss is nervous is a major understatement.

Thanks again,

Van E. Mog

#19

Not sure if you've considered this but - if you're going to spend that much
money to essentially re-write an obsolete text-based 4GL you may be better
off investing in writing a new front-end and migrating the back-end.

Tons of choices.

hth
Colin Alfke
Calgary Canada

"Van Mog" wrote
[snip]

Quote:

We located the source code for the Envision software and are going to
get it converted totally to PICK Basic (NOT cheap) and as soon as that
is done we'll convert to D3 or something newer than the dark ages.

Again, I appreciate all of the offers of help, but I think we're on the
right track. I have a sister machine (actually 2!!) up and running with
the cloned HDs and the seem fine.

To say that the Boss is nervous is a major understatement.

Thanks again,

Van E. Mog

#20

"Colin Alfke" <administrator (AT) localhost (DOT) invalid> wrote

Quote:

Not sure if you've considered this but - if you're going to spend that
much
money to essentially re-write an obsolete text-based 4GL you may be better
off investing in writing a new front-end and migrating the back-end.

Tons of choices.

hth
Colin Alfke
Calgary Canada

Listen to the man. When you are building a new aircraft you often
spend more on jigs and fixtures than on the aircraft itself - but yor are
not building a NEW anything.
Bobj

Quote:

"Van Mog" wrote
[snip]

We located the source code for the Envision software and are going to
get it converted totally to PICK Basic (NOT cheap) and as soon as that
is done we'll convert to D3 or something newer than the dark ages.

Again, I appreciate all of the offers of help, but I think we're on the
right track. I have a sister machine (actually 2!!) up and running with
the cloned HDs and the seem fine.

To say that the Boss is nervous is a major understatement.

Thanks again,

Van E. Mog