{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 ++ Ascend Users Mailing List ++ To unsubscribe: send unsubscribe to ascend-users-request@bungi.com To get FAQ'd: <<A HREF="http://www.nealis.net/ascend/faq">http://www.nealis.net/ascend/faq</A>> </PRE> <!--X-MsgBody-End--> <!--X-Follow-Ups--> <HR> <STRONG>Follow-Ups</STRONG>: <UL> <LI><STRONG><A HREF="msg11524.html">Re: (ASCEND) Beta FAQ page on Pipes......</A></STRONG></LI> <UL> <LI><EM>From</EM>: Richard Johnsson <johnsson@interval.com></LI> </UL> </UL> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <HR> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg11526.html">Re: (ASCEND) 5.0Ap36</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg11521.html">(ASCEND) Configuring a DDI number -> a particular RPM</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg11554.html">Re: (ASCEND) Configuring a DDI number -> a particular RPM</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg11524.html">Re: (ASCEND) Beta FAQ page on Pipes......</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="mail2.html#11522"><STRONG>Main</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thrd271.html#11522"><STRONG>Thread</STRONG></A></LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> <!--X-BotPNI-End--> <!--X-User-Footer--> <!--X-User-Footer-End--> </BODY> </HTML>