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(ASCEND) Beta FAQ page on Pipes......

Please comment/correct this before I send it to Jason....

{Thanks to Kevin and other Ascend insiders for helping me grok all
this...}

==============
	"These are some of the ships known as Enterprise..."

There have been several hardware platforms inside the box known
as a "Pipeline". It's important to know which you have when you
get a code upgrade from the Ascend site. (Loading the wrong
image usually results in no harm, outside of your ripped-out
hair, but...) This document covers the 25's, 50's, and 75's.

They are all housed in the same black plastic outer case, so
close attention to details is needed to differentiate between them.

A) The oldest version used a wall-wart that furnished AC
to the box. The power plug into the Pipe was a Mini-Din-5
[think PS/2 rodent]. All of these units were actually S/T bus,
with U-channel models having an added daughter board for the
NT1. (This board is removable so a U-channel can be turned back
into a S/T.) This is sometimes called a revA.

	Load code version labeled: b1.p50


B) The next revision (revB) added a back panel toggle switch that
never did anything, and less-visibly, had RAM to hold the running
code, not just flash. You could update these via ftp as well as
console.

The Pipe 50 and 50HX were the only models using the above platform.

	Load code version labeled: b.p50


C) The next design generation used a DC-out wall-wart, and an
ordinary coaxial power plug on the back. Internally, they used
different boards on the U or S/T [no more daughter board] models.

These appeared as the Pipe 25 family. They had slower CPU's than
the 50's, and it showed....   Some 25's had a hardware compression
option. They had two POTS jacks added to the back panel. The P25
is clearly stamped "P25" on the bottom.

	Load code version labeled: i.p25/p.p25


D) The next generation was the P75, which was based on a totally
respun board derived from the Pipeline 50 REV B board.  Internally,
it was a single motherboard with POTS jacks, and a black
slider switch on the back that still did little for most users.
(Actually it is used for Serial/Wan to enable the console port
to provide DDS56, or DDS64 service with an external CSU/DSU.
This could be a nailed connection or frame relay connection.)
The Pipeline 75 used the same coaxial-plug DC power supply that
the p25 used.

	Load code version labeled: b.p75/ba.75


E) In 1997 @ serial number 722000 Ascend again changed the
internals, significantly increasing the available RAM and Flash
space. No Switch again. Further, they dropped the D-model 50 above;
Pipe 50's got the same hardware, with inoperative POTS jacks;
upgradable (with the purchase of a hash code from Ascend) into
a 75 on these new units.  

Now, not all serial numbers above 722XXXX are REV II, the REV I
can still be special ordered.  The easiest way to determine
this is that if your serial number is above 722XXXX, look in
the 00-100 Sys Options window, and scroll down until you see the
"Load:" item.  If you have b2.XXX, then you have REV II, if you
have b.XXX, then you have a REV I.  Always load the same "load"
of code when upgrading.  (Exception: going from b2.p75 to b2a.p75
for appletalk & such, for example.)

	Load code version labeled: b2.p75, b2a.p75, b2ix.p75
	or b.p75 as noted above.


F) The above discussion mostly ignores the rare Switched 56K/DDS models.

Summary: here's what they say about code versions as of Nov 1997:
The Pipeline image file names are as follows:
*** Pipeline 25 Software ***
i.p25           Pipeline 25PX (FX or Classic w/ IP routing support)
p.p25           Pipeline 25FX or Classic w/ IPX routing support only
*** New Pipeline 50/75 Hardware Serial Numbers 722XXXX and above ***
b2.p75          Pipeline 50/75 BRI w/o slide switch
b2a.p75         Pipeline 50/75 BRI w/o slide switch, Appletalk Support
b2ix.p75        Pipeline 50/75 BRI w/o slide switch, X.25 support
*** Classic Pipeline 50/75 Hardware Serial Numbers Below 722XXX ***
b.p75           Pipeline 75 BRI w/ slide switch
ba.p75          Pipeline 75 BRI w/ Appletalk routing support
52.p50          Pipeline 50 w/ 2-wire SW-56
54.p50          Pipeline 50/130 w/ 4-wire SW-56/DDS56 support
b.p50           Pipeline 50 BRI w/ slide switch
b1.p50          Pipeline 50 BRI w/o slide switch
ba.p50          Pipeline 50 BRI w/ Appletalk routing support
bi.p50          Pipeline 50 BRI w/ TCP/IP support only
-- 
A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433
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