Dark Magic - An explanation for the rest of us!

Dark Magic

Computing, like science, used to be clear cut. It had rules, and so long as you followed the prescribed path the results would be predictable. And just as in science there was a gradual dawning that the picture wasn't quite complete, and that the more you looked the more you realised the enormity of what it was that was missing, so it is in computing.

Scientists now think that as much as 80% of all-the-stuff-that-there-is is actually missing. So to contain it and make it sound slightly less frightening to non-boffins they call it "dark matter" and "dark energy".

The computing equivalent is called Dark Magic. Here's how you can infer its existance.

You follow the installation instructions meticulously and it doesn't work. Repeat with the same result. You check the Internet to discover that 254 other people have had an identical problem and that if you want to know how to fix it you have to pay a $30 subscription fee. After subscribing you discover that they fixed it by using different software altogether.

So you phone the techies at the manufacturer and after having checked that you've plugged it in, they tell you it's a conflict with your media-player software.

You remove the media player software and that seems to work. Until you reboot the computer. Or, rather, you discover that the OS won't load because a library is missing named mplayer.lib

And your directors are looking over your shoulder, asking how many more people you need to get it fixed immediately because the business is loosing money. And you are starting to work up a sweat.

So you reinstall, exactly as you did in step one. And it all works. With no troubleshooting or tweaking...

(??????? Eh?) ...So what changed?

Nothing.

Just the Dark Magic that pervades all computer hardware and software silently shifted somewhere else like a swan on the lake that goes gliding by.

Restore the VME for D3

1. Backup PIBS, USER-COLDSTART, USERS and MDS entries that will have to be restored. (Example: SYSFILES (S in TCL in PM). If you do a nightly backup then this step is not necessary since it is done during the backup.

2. Make sure everyone is logged OFF the system. Start an AccuTerm session (or Go to the taskbar and click START > RUN > then type in TELNET, and press OK, under CONNECT chose local host and then press enter). At the logon prompt, log in as DM for the user name and then DM for the master dictionary, and then type in SHUTDOWN. It will ask you if you want to continue, enter “Y” for “yes”. The connection to the host will be lost after the VME shutdown.

NOTE: If the CMD icon is on the desktop then double click it and go to step 6

3. Start an MSDOS Command Prompt (Start > RUN > and then type in CMD and press ENTER.).

4. At the prompt, type in D:

5. At the D:> prompt type in CD Program Files\D3\D3PROGRAMS (Typically it will be D: but it may be a different drive). Your DOS prompt should look like the line you types in above D:\Program Files\D3\D3PROGRAMS.

6. Type in D3VME /RESTORE and then press ENTER.

7. Enter Y and then to proceed.

8. Choose option 1 and press ENTER, then press ENTER twice, and after the files are restored, enter and ENTER and and ENTER.

9. Once completed, log in again to DM, and then DM for the master dictionary.

10. Type in TERM DUMB and the emulation will work better.

11. Type in COPY DOS:. NT_UPGRADE (O and press ENTER.

TO:(MD

(You have to type in the period after the colon. And the “o” is the letter “o” as in OVER not the number zero.)

12. Then type NT_UPGRADE and then press ENTER. When it asks to continue and load the files answer twice. (When you press “c” the first time it will load some files, then it will stop and you need to press “c” a second time but it may not specifically ask you to press the “c”. You will not need to press ENTER.)

13. Type DM then press ENTER. Type DM and press ENTER again.

14. Type TO PM then press ENTER. Press control backslash immediately. At the double colon, type SYSFILES (R and press ENTER, Then type TO DM and press ENTER. Type CT MD USER-COLDSTART to make sure the coldstart loaded.

15. Type in SHUTDOWN. It will ask you if you want to continue, enter “Y” for “yes”. Type EXIT in CMD and restart VME by using services. Wait a minute or 2 then log back onto Accuterm. Make sure D3 is set on automatic startup in services