CHARON-VAX/XX; /66x0  version 4.0 for Windows build 122-04 (Production) Release notes

This release is a bug fix and functionality update to the build 122-02. Product version didn't change. Using this release does not require license update from the version 4.0 build 122-02.
Please review the Release Notes and refer to the User Manual before proceeding with installation or upgrade of CHARON-VAX

1. Products included in the CHARON-VAX release build 122-04

In this document the term CHARON-VAX is used to refer to all the products below:

• CHARON-VAX/XM version 4.0 Build 122-04 for Windows
• CHARON-VAX/XM Plus version 4.0 Build 122-04  for Windows
• CHARON-VAX/XK version 4.0 build 122-04 for Windows
• CHARON-VAX/XL version 4.0 build 122-04 for Windows
• CHARON-VAX/XL Plus version 4.0 build 122-04  for Windows
• CHARON-VAX/6610 version 4.0 build 122-04  for Windows
• CHARON-VAX/6620 version 4.0 build 122-04  for Windows
• CHARON-VAX/6630 version 4.0 build 122-04  for Windows
• CHARON-VAX/6660 version 4.0 build 122-04  for Windows

2. Supported software platforms

• Windows 2003 Server Standard and Enterprise (SP2) Editions, 32 bit and  64 bit versions
• Windows XP Professional (SP3), 32 bit and 64 bit versions
• Windows Server 2008 Standard and Enterprise (SP2) Editions, 32 bit and  64 bit versions
• New! Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard and Enterprise Editions, 64 bit versions
• New! Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate Editions, 32 bit and 64 bit versions

3. Hosting hardware recommendations

• The number of available (Intel or AMD) CPU cores in the hosting server should be greater than number of emulated VAX CPU cores
• The recommended number of available (Intel or AMD) CPU cores in the hosting server should be 150% of the number of emulated VAX CPU cores
• Intel Xeon 5600 series and Intel Core i7 series CPUs are recommended for optimal CHARON-VAX performance

4. New functionality introduced in build 122-04

• PMAD-AA TurboChannel Ethernet Adapter for VAXstation 4000 Model 90 is added
• Now it is possible to use virtial tapes for emulated SCSI controllers exactly as it was implemented for TMSCP

5. New functionality introduced in build 122-02

• All products had been brought to the same version level 4.0
• CHARON-VAX supports Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
• CHARON-VAX supports VMware ESX(i) 4.0. 3rd party hardware or software might be required to provide CHARON-VAX with access to the HASP license dongle. Please note that additional support charges may be requested for installations on VMware. 
• The Network Control Center configuration assistant supports all types of VAX network interfaces available to CHARON-VAX
• The CHARON-VAX utilities support simplified Chinese
• The emulator opens log files in append mode
• The 'repeated messages' logging filter is enabled by default
• The MkDisk utility has been expanded to handle .VDISK metadata
• The installation procedure can disable all unnecessary services. Note that this operation disables host networking completely to make it a platform fully dedicated to CHARON-VAX.
• The CHARON-VAX executables are able to automatically configure DEP settings during installation
• The installation product directory can be freely chosen
• A full deinstallation removes all traces of the product
• The "io_delay_ms" parameter has been added to all the CHARON-VAX/XX products for "virtual_scsi_disk"
• The HASP_HL_VIEW utility has been added. It is able to display both HASP-HL and HASP-SRM license key content. The user interface of HASP_HL_VIEW has been improved as well as its functionality
• The HOSTPrint utility has been updated: now the maximum length of each line is adjusted automatically.
• The installation log now lists all attributes of installed files, including size, product and file version, modification date, etc.

6. Configuration changes required when upgrading from previous versions of CHARON-VAX to build 122-04

• Build 122-04 now supports only HASP license dongles. All customers with active support contracts should contact their Stromasys resellers to organize a dongle exchange
• A CHARON-VAX license update might be required. If upgrading from builds 110-00 and 122-0x no license update is required
• The user that runs CHARON-VAX must have local administrator privileges and be a member of CHARON-GRP group (which is created during the CHARON-VAX installation)
• CHARON-VAX executables, libraries, and data (container files/disks) should be excluded from all the antivirus checks, including on the fly checks and scheduled scans
• HT (Hyper-Threading Technology) should be disabled on the hosting server if using Intel CPUs capable of HT.
• DEP (Data Execution Prevention) should be set to: "Turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and services only"
• Power management and screen saver should be switched off on the hosting server
• If CHARON-VAX is being moved to another hosting platform and the direct SCSI access method is used to access some SCSI devices (mainly disks), the new hosting platfrom SCSI drivers should support the SCSIport method. If drivers supporting the SCSIport method are not available, direct SCSI access couldn't be used. This mostly applies to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 (R2) disk controller drivers.
  This restriction mainly applies to the disk access. Most tape drivers currently support SCSIport. When direct SCSI access is used for devices without Windows drivers, this restriction does not apply.
  The recommended workaround is to use CHARON-VAX disk container files or \\.\PhysicalDriveX method.
  Please refer to this knowledge base article for additional information
• Please note that the actual network communication speed and mode is determined by the Windows network speed and mode settings.
• When changing the hosting platform from Windows XP or Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008 (R2) or Windows 7, the NDIS6 driver should be used instead of NDIS5. For example:
  a CHARON configuration file line:
  load ndis5_chpack_port/chnetwrk EWA0 interface="..."
  Should be replaced with:
  load ndis6_chpack_port/chnetwrk EWA0 interface="..."
• Intelligent packet processing should be switched off for the network ports dedicated to CHARON-VAX. Below are examples of the correct settings -- the exact naming of the parameters depends on the network adapter driver:
  Offload receive Ip checksum = off
  Offload receive tcp ckecksum = off
  Offload Transmit Ip checksum = off
  Offload Transmit TCP checksum = off

7. Problems fixed in build 122-04

• SHOW DEV shows no UQSSP devices after VMS shutdown (ID#2877)
• "%MOUNT-F-NOSUCHDEV, no such device available" is reported sometimes when booting VAX/VMS V7.3 with DSSI disk drives (emulation timing issue) (ID#2873)
• Truncated DMA transfer errors happen when booting VAX/VMS V7.3 from DSSI disk drive (ID#2872)
• Setting "MI,TF85" parameter for HSD50 tape device causes CHARON to exit (ID#2830)
• Incorrect "OS Environment" content is reported in CHARON log file on Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2 (ID#2820)
• FEPROM content is not preserved if CHARON exits abnormally or runs as service (ID#2777)
• OpenVMS hangs at shutdown if certain CHARON configurations are used (OPCCRASH hangs) (ID#2508)

8. Problems fixed in build 122-02

• Incorrect log messages about unconfigured serial lines were removed
• SCSIcheck utility does not recognize iSCSI volumes correctly (ID#2448)
• CHARON-VAX Service does not stop on Windows Server 2008/Vista/7 if configured for a certain stop time in the CHARON Service Manager (ID#2424)
• Fail to copy log messages from Charon Service Manager (ID#2417)
• Remove extra spaces from Virtual Disk Table and Virtual Disk Metadata files (ID#2596)
• Windows registry keys to be removed on complete deinstallation (ID#2572)
• Ticket #8029: Mounting disks is happening slower than in the previous releases (ID#2566)
• "sst.h:906 assert(immediate_ssts == 0)" happens from time to time when running VAX 6610  (ID#2560)
• When trying to run CHARON-VAX executables the following error message is displayed: "The procedure entry point SetThreadStackGuarantee could not be located in the dynamic link library KERNEL32.dll" (ID#2615)
• Install Wizard crash (ID#2643)
• The charon.rom file cannot be created (ID#2440)
• VMS 6.1 and below does not install from standalone backup and does not boot (ID#2438)
• POST errors in TEST Subtest (ID#2307)
• Chinese-Simplified locale makes CHARON-VAX process non-operational (ID#2697)
• USB Floppy Drive is OFFLINE to VMS when connected to SCSI Controller of MicroVAX 3100 Model 98 (ID#2696)
• Problem using CDrom on HP 465c blade server connected via USB (ID#2651)
• CHARON-VAX crashed with incorrect configuration file (network part) (ID#2622)
• The default CFG file produces error messages about missing serial devices TTA0, TTA1 and TTA2 (ID#2338)
• DAT72 tape problem: "error in tape label processing" and "tape is not valid ANSI format" error messages (ID#2213)
• Windows Server 2008 CN: "Invisible" Installation Log (empty log file) (ID#2678)
• A file "mkdisk.vtable" is absent in the kit -- it prevents the MKDISK from starting normally (ID#2589).
• Incorrect text encoding in the NetDiag help on Chinese systems (ID#2373).
• Install procedure does not inform when unsupported host platform is attempted (ID#2431).
• Putty Console does not work (no proper session is available) when CHARON-VAX runs as a service (ID#2452).
• ID#2471 - Ticket #7687: Pressing "F6" button terminates emulator. The default reaction must be changed to "none"
• Network Control Center utility does not recognize teamed interfaces (ID#2331)
• Some license messages are absent in the LOG file, for example "the license is expired" (ID#2040)
• Grammatik error in message text: some typos should be corrected (ID#2428)
• log_method="append" does not work if specified separately from the other configuration commands for the logging definition (ID#2450).
• Utilities help does not start when "F1" is pressed on Windows 2008 / Vista operating systems (ID#2498)
• Ticket #7774: Problems NDIS6 driver - memory leak is found (ID#2490)
• Many question marks sometimes displayed in the Network Control Center Chinese help file (ID#2373)
• "EXA0: Failed to create symbolic link to the packet driver" error prevents using CHARON-VAX networking despite the configuration is correct (ID#2554)
• "Back" button does not always work during installation
• An error message could appear during uninstallation of CHARON-VAX through Control Panel
• CHARON-VAX may wrongly report that no license is present if the correct license is present.
• Too many scheduled starts and stops of CHARON-VAX service in a short period of time could cause CHARON-VAX crash. 

9. Known restrictions of build 122-04

• Hardlock license dongles are not supported
• CHARON-VAX does not emulate graphical adapter. Applications hardcoded to use graphical hardware as their own interfaces may not function correctly
• Only Windows SCSI devices with a driver that uses SCSIport method could be used with the direct SCSI access. Those include most of the device drivers on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 (R2), and most non disk devices on Windows 7 and Server 2008 (R2). If SCSIport is not supported (and Storport method is used instead), direct SCSI access couldn't be used.
  This is most likely to be the case for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 (R2) disk controller drivers.
  This restriction mainly applies to the disk access. Most part of tape drivers currently support SCSIport. When direct SCSI access is used for devices without Windows drivers, this restriction does not apply
• The message "MODEL NOT INSTALLED" occurs when trying to start Charon on Windows 7/2008/2008R2/Vista via the Launcher utility. Workaround: Run the "Launcher.exe" utility from Administrator (right click of the mouse on the executable, "run from Administrator" option). (ID#2557)
• There is a problem to stop CHARON if it runs as service in the "automatic" mode with the CHARON Service Manager utility. Workaround: Run the "CharonManager.exe" utility from Administrator (right click of the mouse on the executable, "run from Administrator" option). (ID#2624)
• CHARON-VAX has limited support for teamed network adapters. They could be used only if the MAC address of the virtual VMS network adapter is not changed during CHARON-VAX session. In this case the desired MAC address should be set manually in the properties of the network team and in the CHARON-VAX configuration file by "station_address=XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX" configuration option.
• CHARON-VAX does not support virtual network adapters (i.e. MS bridges, etc).
• Network speed auto negotiation works with some restrictions. It is always recommended to use full duplex mode on the hosting server.
• UETP fails on a tape image if CHARON runs on VMware (ID#2427)
• The firmware does not support the history of commands called with the up/down arrow keys.
• The MUX network driver is not supported in a production environemnt. The virtual network adapter works incorrectly on Win2003-64: some duplicate packets are found on PING operation, "SET HOST" does not work, etc. (ID#2364).
• Do not include a terminal emulator startup in the CHARON-VAX configuration file if using it a service. The terminal emulator wouldn't start as there would be no console session available. Configure a TCP/IP port instead. This is the only way for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista to get a console once CHARON-AXP is configured as a service.
• VMS 7.x Monitor utility shows the maximum CPU quantity instead of actually configured quantity.
• A Telnet session from OpenVMS running on emulated host freezes console output. The console output can hang when the virtual serial line sends XOFF/XON sequence. The TELNET client sends XOFF to the remote node's TELNET server to suspend output, but for unknown reason XON is discarded and remote node's TELNET server has no chances to resume output. The console remains "frozen". As the remote site is not sending any output to it. When that happens, the local node is reachable over network, and can be unlocked by typing the 'break' character - usually "Ctrl-]" and exiting telnet session by typeing "exit" at "TELNET>" prompt.
• Emacs hangs if the OPA0 console is used. Emacs works fine over an SSH connection.
• Running as a Service may be compromised as the Service manager may not be able to identify all configured disks.
• VMS command START/CPU does not start an emulated CPU if it had been previously stopped with STOP/CPU command. This problem will be fixed in the next CHARON-VAX release.
• CHARON-VAX Service Manager and Network Control Center could show some minor problems on Simplified Chinese version of Windows.
• The correct license must be available to enable the CHARON-VAX to start. The software may wrongly report that no license is present if the correct license is not present. Check the capability of your license by using the utility HASP_HL_VIEW which is available for download from Stromasys website.
• If installed on VMware, sometimes the POST tests report errors for emulated VAX models 4106 and 4108.

10. New functionality introduced in the previous Production versions

Please refer to the release notes of CHARON-VAX builds 109-00, 110-00 for the information.

11. Distribution and Installation