Need Help Accessing PDF file on a websitegreenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread |
Can someone open this website and tell us if it has anything interesting? The author says that it is accessible, but I can't get it to come up. It's over 4 MB.http://www.mitre.org/research/y2k/briefings/Defused_RAM.pdf
-- Puddintame (achillesg@hotmail.com), May 18, 1999
I'm sure Sun Tzu has some pithy remarks about giving arms to your enemy, but I'm a fair guy...Apart from being the most annoyingly graphics-intensive presentation I have ever seen, it contains a number of interesting anecdotes regarding observed Y2K failures. Sandwiched, of course, between the usual consulting-firm-type background info and advice.
Definitely worth downloading if you're a doomer!
Here's a sample -
Municipality Embedded Y2K Risks Municipality Embedded Y2K Risks - CompTIA recently tested water treatment plants in Nebraska for Y2K problems at municipal water treatment facilities. - Within hours of the start of the Year 2000 test, coliform bacteria started to show up in the test systems, revealing the failure of some of the embedded processors. - There are over 1,000 similar water treatment systems around the country.
-- Polly (skippy@innermongolia.com), May 18, 1999.
PuddintameWhat you have there is an Adobe PDF file that is highly graphic (not for the slow puters) Looks like a PPT idea though. Not alot of data that can be copied and pasted. But it is from May 12th. Here is a little snip
0 CompTIA recently tested water treatment plants in Nebraska for Y2K problems at municipal water treatment facilities. 0 Within hours of the start of the Year 2000 test, coliform bacteria started to show up in the test systems, revealing the failure of some of the embedded processors. 0 There are over 1,000 similar water treatment systems around the country.
I will post more info after a bit more reading.
-- Brian (imager@home.com), May 18, 1999.
PollyYou read the Art of War? Chop the nonproformers heads off :o) Should apply it to Y2K eh? Have you read Wen - Tzu?
And yes that is an interesting snip eh?
-- Brian (imager@home.com), May 18, 1999.
Hmmm, I guess the coliform bacteria disaster really stands out in that presentation....
-- Polly (skippy@innermongolia.com), May 18, 1999.
Us Pollies can be happy that the conference room scheduler bug was fixed in a mere 15 minutes.But I must admit I'll be drinking bottled water on 1/1, and will avoid intravenous pumps at all costs!
-- Polly (skippy@inermongolia.com), May 18, 1999.
Polly and Brian, Thanks for the commentary. Looking forward to more. I'm not sure why I can't open this. I have Acrobat 3.1.For background, this is a Mitre Corporation document linked to the United States Dept. of Agriculture website. The author is in Massachusetts. I'm not sure if his work was done under contract with the US government. Mitre is supposed to be a non-profit research org.
-- Puddintame (achillesg@hotmail.com), May 18, 1999.
There is a bit of detail on known failures and the fact that the problem can be fixed and examples. Covers alot of the major players water, power, health and even Russian nukes. Below is the bottom line take on the answer to the problem. They do call them as they see them. If it is not fixed it has a high risk of failure. For S&MEs they say there could be a failure of 100% with no remediation. This document is smiley and doomer at one blow. Recommended. Lots of graphic detail that includes equipment. Interesting.Ensure Mission Readiness
Y2K readiness by System Testing & Operational Evaluations
Ensure continuity of operations through contingency planning coupled with Consequence
Management Policies that prepare for this known event(s) and minimize our exposures to the events.
Year 2000 Issues of Critical Importance
Issues of Critical Importance Improving our understanding of the relationships and remediation status of our external dependencies Make sure that the risks we plan for are realistic and reasonable
-- Brian (imager@home.com), May 18, 1999.
0 All Sun computers should be consider non-compliant for Year 2000 purposes. Only after patching the operating system and possibly upgrading the firmware can the Sun computers deal with the year 2000. Even Solaris 2.6 needs patches. 0 Resolution The operating systems that Sun is supporting for Y2K by offering patches and fixes are: = Solaris 2.6, 2.5.1, 2.5, 2.4, 2.3 = Sun OS 4.1.4 and 4.1.3_u1 Version B Some Sun computers also have Y2K problems in their firmware and require upgrades to their PROMS. 1 2 http://www.sun.com/y2000/cpl.html
-- Brian (imager@home.com), May 18, 1999.
Author - CompilerRobert A. Martin ramartin@mitre.org http://www.mitre.org/research/y2k
-- Brian (imager@home.com), May 18, 1999.
Here are some more pages from the Mitre PDF file.
Municipality Embedded Y2K Risks Municipality Embedded Y2K Risks (2) (2)
0 At Consumers Maine Water Co., they found 18 embedded
controllers hidden inside panels that control water quality
and monitor treatment systems.0 Consumers Water ran tests and found problems in the systems that
handle water treatment and data collection at its facilities in Millinocket,
Greenville and Camden-Rockland. This same system also helps
determine when chemicals should be added.0 The 18 devices have been replaced at a cost of $300 each,
labor included. The water still would have still been treated,
but problems with generators and other automated systems
would have occurred.Company Vice President Richard Knowlton, 24 Feb 99, Associated Press 1
500 MW Fossil Fuel Plant, 500 MW Fossil Fuel Plant, PowerGen PowerGen-England -England
0 During a full load, 31 Dec 1999 to 1 Jan 2000, Y2K test conducted in 1997
the plant went down 20 seconds into the year 2000.0 A High Generator Stator Temperature was identified by the Distributed
Control Systems (DCS) which automatically triggered the shut-down to
protect the generators0 The Generator Stator Temperature Alarm system did not use Time or
Date, but the DCS averaged the temperature readings from that system to
minimize the effects of normal temperature fluctuations. At the century change, the averaging calculation ( which used a faulty
real time clock) failed. Failure mode was to assume the temperature was too high and bring the system safely to rest.
- Programmable Logic Controllers ( - Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs PLCs) )
0 PLCs are basic controllers that monitor sensors and then activate
things in response to the measurements they make. Examples of the
types of measurements that a PLC would make are: current atmospheric pressure
pressure in a pipe or vat
flow rate of something that has
left or entered a vat temperature in a HVAC system or
manufacturing device location of items in a production line or
as a safety inter-lock0 PLCs have simple internal clocks
0 Some PLCs use dates for synchronization & logging
MITRE
- - DCSs DCSs and and SCADAs SCADAs
0 DCSs and SCADAs are more complicated types of controllers and they
have more complex rules for controlling and monitoring the devices tied
to them.0 DCSs and SCADAs use the equivalent of powerful computers, operating
systems, programs, and User Interfaces. The commercial components and the applications are very likely to
have date processing in them that is at risk for the Y2K Problems
The SCADA for a
municipal water system
ties together information
about the water sources,
water storage, treatment,
and usage and monitors
and controls these
systems.DCS = Distributed Control Systems
SCADA = Supervisory Control and Data Acquisitions Systems
Software Development Environments Software Development Environments
Can Have Y2K Issues Can Have Y2K Issues
0 Software Developers have to avoid
date calculation, sorting, and
comparison mistakes AND make sure
that the commands and libraries of
functions they use are compliant.0 This is true for normal applications
development and embedded
systems development as shown herehttp://www.zworld.com/tech_y2k.html
Tape Management Systems Y2K Tape Management Systems Y2K< /b>
Magic Number Problem Magic Number Problem
0 At the start of 1999, tape librarians at some companies noticed that they
were initializing an unusually large number of new tapes and they are
running out of cabinet space to store them in.0 Explanation:
Over-loading of IBMs MVS tape labeling conventions by commercial
tape management vendors Up until 1999
= EXPDT=ccyy/nnn would free the tape on day nnn of ccyy
When ccyy=1999, it meant preserve up to nnn versions of this file
0 BTW 99365 ==> this tape can only be expired by manual intervention
How Your PC Keeps Time How Your PC Keeps Time
0 The Basic Input/Output System (BIOS)
Non-volatile memory, Basic bootstrap portion of OS0 The Real Time Clock
Hardware internal clock, battery powered0 CMOS Memory
Memory registers w/battery power
The Y2K Problem Occurs when the BIOS
The Y2K Problem Occurs when the BIOS Fails to Set the CMOS Century
during POST Fails to Set the CMOS Century during POST
real time clock CMOS memoryY2K and Microsoft Windows 3.1/3.11 & DOS Y2K and Microsoft Windows 3.1/3.11 & DOS
Windows 3.1/3.11 The date cannot be set to 02-29-2000 in the DATE/TIME control panel
applet using the mouse
File Manager Shows Incorrect Date for Year 2000 or Later**
MS-DOS® cannot display a 4-digit date using the DIR command.
MS-DOS® will not accept 2-digit date changes for the year 2000 and
beyond.
The MS-DOS® DATE command is the only OS command that
accepts dates.0 Resolution
Install Winfile.exe for File Manager fix
Use command line for setting leap day 2000 if needed.
** Windows 95 has the same issueY2K and Microsoft Windows 95 and 98 Y2K and Microsoft Windows 95 and 98
0 Windows 95
Problems with DATE and DIR Commands
File Manager Shows Incorrect Date for Year 2000 or Later**
0 Resolution
Install Win95y2k.exe.0 Windows 98
Microsoft Virtual Machine class library date parsing errors
MSWALLET, DIALER, COMCTL32, DOCPROP, MSDADC, XCOPY32,
and MFC40 date parsing, sorting, and handling errors
TIMEDATE and VDHCP.386 leap-day errors0 Resolution
Get Windows 98 Year 2000 update
** Windows 3.1 and 3.11 have the same issue
-- Brian (imager@home.com), May 18, 1999.
Bold off
-- Brian (imager@home.com), May 18, 1999.
Brian and Polly, thanks for transmitting all this info. I still can't open it.
-- Puddintame (achillesg@hotmail.com), May 18, 1999.
one assumes you tried to download it to your own disk and open it from there perhaps??C
-- chuck, a Night Driver (rienzoo@en.com), May 18, 1999.
Polly, want a cracker?Sorry, couldn't resist.
"There are over 1,000 similar"
Duh, are all 1,000 "ready" for Y2K? 99%? 98%...
And I guess buy "similar" you mean that they use the same "embedded system." Well, how many other "embedded systems" are out there? How many in just this country???
Anything out there that may have a hidden timer? You know, the simple kind, like a "solar powered watch?" We have a guy that says he put his watch, with no battery, in a closet for 30 days, and it was still working...
JEEZ, did any of the "POLLY-TECH" here ever hear of NV-RAM? Duh, it remembers where it was, even after it lost power... Any in any of those "embedded systems," hummm... it does cost a few bucks more than plain old ram. Wow, wouldn't it be nice if we could keep a timer running in NV-RAM? We could remember where we were, even if power is gone, well, at least we can remember when power comes back..........
Hi Mr. Beach, I think I'm ready.
<:)=
-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), May 18, 1999.
Oh, and Polly,No hard feelings??? I've been busy for a while, and haven't even read the rest of this thread, let alone the others I need to catch up on... Just had to get my $.02 in... I'll be back... ... ... <:)=
-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), May 18, 1999.
Thanks Brian.Puddintame ... I've found that if a PDF file is graphics intensive, I have to increase the memory on my Netscape browser and Adobe Acrobat. But I also have a Mac so it's easy to do. You'd need a PC equlivalent?
Another thing to try is send an e-mail to the Adobe PDF converter. In the body ONLY list the complete pdf URL and "e" that to pdf2txt@adobe.com -- you'll at least get some text back within a couple minutes.
Diane
-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), May 19, 1999.
Sysman, you know better than that. If you restart a system from power down, you don't want to know what time it was when the power failed. What use would that be? Don't you reset your clocks when the power fails?Now there IS a hardware system in use that does store the system state in static ram on power down as a safety measure. A prof at UofE worked on it, and used it as an example in classes. Was for the computers on airliners. If lightening strikes the plane (or very close nearby) the power systems shut down for about two seconds (I think - working from memory here) due to the overload surge. There is an interrupt pin on the processor that is connected to the power supply BEFORE the capacitor bank - has its own regulator to keep the line ripple down but NO caps. When the power shuts off, the system has about a half second before the caps drain and it looses power. The interrupt line goes low, and that triggers the system to shove everything into static ram. When the power comes back, the system checks the static ram, and if there is anything in there it is used to restore the system state, then wiped clean (so it won't boot on the ground thinking it is in the air somewhere). This prevents delays in reading the status of engine fuel pumps and so forth - the settings are assumed not to change much in two seconds. The design requirement was to get the system back running after a power outage WITHOUT going through a boot up process. But they don't care about dates and times - just the status of pumps and such.
-- Paul Davis (davisp1953@yahoo.com), May 19, 1999.
Her e's the link. It took almost 5 minutes to load.Page 26: "Percent of Mission-Critical Government Systems that would have failed due to Y2K" is worth a look. Sure would be nice to know the %age of "Non-MC" system failure.
Page 39: Graph implies huge "spike" of problems immediately prior to and after 1/1/2000, with much smaller spikes on 10/1/99, 2/29/2000, and 12/31/2000 - 1/1/2001 (EOY "Leap Day" processing errors).
Worth the wait. I'd love to sit through this "presentation".
-- regular (zzz@z.z), May 19, 1999.