I want to put everyone's fears at bay. The problem was not with Protel it was with my computer. Originally I was unable to get 3 different software packages to work and Protel was one of them. I tried installing and deinstalling them multiple times. Now that I have turned my clock back to the proper date all of the software packages work fine. I don't pretend to know why my date was the problem but it was.
Even if Protel had a problem with the 2053 date (which it doesn't) once the date is set to 2005 and Protel is installed and works even if I turn the date up to 2053 the program works fine. The problem was installing the programs with the year 2053 not running them with that date. So even if other people have the same problem as I did, which I doubt will happen, you can always turn the computer back to 2005 install Protel 99SE SP6 and then turn the date back to 2053. Trent -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Bagotronix Tech Support Sent: Friday, December 03, 2004 3:16 PM To: Protel EDA Discussion List Subject: Re: [PEDA] Cannot locate server initialization file:, Answer2053 Y2K was not the only time bomb in software. There is the Y2.038K problem that many OS's have, due to keeping the time as a 32-bit signed integer, where 0 started on Jan 1, 1970. That takes us to 2038, after which the seconds count jumps back to negative numbers. Counting sequence: 1970, 1971,...,2037, 2038, 1902, 1903,... Hey, it will be year 1902 all over again! The Protel s/w may be regarding any date beyond 2038 as being in the past. 2053 would be interpreted as 1917. Even if the program had smarts enough to clip the time value if it was out of bounds, the nearest valid date would be 1970, before the s/w even existed. BTW, this "incrementing as an unsigned integer, but treating as a signed integer" was the cause of some electronic voting machines counting up to 32767 votes, and the next vote cast set the count back to -32768. Since there was no paper ballot as a backup, there was no way to recount. Wonderful, eh? Best regards, Ivan Baggett Bagotronix Inc. website: www.bagotronix.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Harry Selfridge" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Protel EDA Discussion List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, December 03, 2004 3:50 PM Subject: Re: [PEDA] Cannot locate server initialization file:, Answer2053 > For crying out loud people! Give it a rest. > > I just ran the system year out to 2040 for a quick test, and the Protel99SE > software starts and runs just fine. I don't have the time to do a > year-by-year test, but it isn't rocket science. I might add that a well > known email program crashed with the 2040 date, and a couple of other > business programs wouldn't start - but the Protel software fired right up. > > I've run Protel software since the DOS days, and I've had every version > they've published - including beta versions. NONE have ever had a time > bomb. IF there is a date that the software doesn't work, I'm very sure > that it will be found to be Microsoft related, and not Protel related. > > If there are people running cracked copies of the time limited demo > software - there might be an issue that stops them at some time in the > future. I haven't bothered to see how the time limited code checks > dates. I also have no sympathy for them if the crack fails and the > software locks them out - perhaps they should get lawyers... > > > At 11:06 AM 12/3/04, you wrote: > > > >[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > >>Don't get your proverbial panties in a twist, boys... > >> > >>If 2005 (as suggested below) is not a tested, confirmed cutoff date for > >>Protel, my suggestion is this: Perform a date test yourself. > >> > >The fact is, if Altium has placed a time bomb in the software, so that > >it will not run at some reasonable time in the near future, it is interstate > >fraud, and quite prosecutable. I would hope we (99 users) don't have to band > >together and hire a lawyer, but that is a possibility. So, has anyone done a > >date test to find out when D-day is? > > > >Jon > snip > > > > ____________________________________________________________ > You are subscribed to the PEDA discussion forum > > To Post messages: > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Unsubscribe and Other Options: > http://techservinc.com/mailman/listinfo/peda_techservinc.com > > Browse or Search Old Archives (2001-2004): > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > > Browse or Search Current Archives (2004-Current): > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > ____________________________________________________________ You are subscribed to the PEDA discussion forum To Post messages: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe and Other Options: http://techservinc.com/mailman/listinfo/peda_techservinc.com Browse or Search Old Archives (2001-2004): http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] Browse or Search Current Archives (2004-Current): http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] ____________________________________________________________ You are subscribed to the PEDA discussion forum To Post messages: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe and Other Options: http://techservinc.com/mailman/listinfo/peda_techservinc.com Browse or Search Old Archives (2001-2004): http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] Browse or Search Current Archives (2004-Current): http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
