Upgrading from V4R1 to V4R4

[Guest.Visitor]

I wanted to give a big thanks to everyone who helped out wiht my last post. I have been stuck off site any not been able to try these solutions, but can't wait to get back and get underway. Another question facing me is this: my 400(a 170) is running V4R1. We'd like to step up to V4R4. Here's what we do with our 400: keep, sort, and make sense of data. A/R, G/L, HR, and medical records (we are a hospital). It is not used as a web server, and I doubt ever will be. About 55 PC users in-house connect to it and the applications software it runs over Ethernet. It's as simple and neat an arrangement as you could want. It's good that its simple because I only have 14 months experience on a 400, but love it. It's an amazing machine. So amazing, I have no idea as to what would be the best way to upgrade this machine's OS. Our vendor will come do it for a per hour fee, including travel expenses, with a contract of no set max hours to do this. In other words, they could come and stay as long as they like and charge as much as they like. I have no one else in the area who can do this. Now, I have done PTF packages many times. How different is going from V4R1 to V4R4? I've had some old hands at IBM tell me, "ah, if you can do a PTF, just go for it", and others stare at me in mute horror when I tell them I have contemplated doing this myself. Any ideas? TIA Cliff

[J.Pluta]

I don't know about V4R1 to V4R4, but I upgraded my little model 150 from V4R3 to V4R4 all by myself in an evening, just loading CDs and reIPLing every once in a while. This is another area where the AS/400 is so far ahead of any other machine and yet nobody knows it. Try just applying a service pack to Windows and see how many things break (much less moving from 98 to ME or 2000). On the other hand, if you'd rather not do this yourself, you should be able to get someone to do it for a reasonable rate. If you're willing to pay a few thousand dollars for peace of mind, I'll bet you could find someone who would do the job for a flat fee. Joe Pluta http://www.java400.net http://www.edeployment.com http://www.plutabrothers.com

[David Abramowitz]

If you are going to V4R4, you might as well skip it, and go to V4R5. I believe this can be done in one step. If you have never done this before, I believe that it would be a good idea to bypass your VAR, and hire IBM to perform the upgrade. IBM charges a flat fee, no matter how long this takes. This is important in justifying the cost. A release upgrade might be tricky, or might go smooth. If there is a glitch, you will want people there who have access to the "Golden Tapes", and other resources that ensure a successful upgrade. I am a personal witness to one upgrade that should have taken five hours, but ended up taking 72 hours. This was due to bad media on the final tape, and bad OV/400 PTFs that had been superceeded. IBM performed this upgrade, and the people involved were able to call the appropriate resources, to get the right media, and the right answers. A tape had to shipped from Colorado overnight. This may be something a VAR can not do. The amount billed was as if there were no glitches at all! Once you personally see what is involved, you may want to try the next upgrade without external assistance. Dave