[cisco-voip] 5.1.1.0-1: Bad Kate File

[Andre Beck]

On Tue, Apr 03, 2007 at 05:42:34PM +0200, Andre Beck wrote:
> 
> after finding out that CSCsh94182 actually describes my KATE problems
> and it is declared as fixed in cm-locale-5.1.1.0-1, I installed this
> package on my CCM. There were no obvious changes to KATE after the
> installation and after a TFTP server restart. I factory reseted a 7960
> and it came up with "Bad Kate File", "Error Updating Locale" and ended
> up with English interface. I assumed that I would have to reboot the
> CCM and did so. All the other phones still have the old broken KATE
> and the single phone I did factory still boots into english due to
> a "Bad Kate File". I don't really want to factory another just to try
> whether it will break as well or whether this is just some weirdness
> with this single phone.
> 
> Update: I tried. That other phone broke as well, no german UI anymore,
> bad kate file, error updating locale. Wonderful...

The phone is clearly correct. I fetched the file using tftp and it is
semantically defective XML:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>
<selectLists>
  <trkLocaleName>German_Germany</trkLocaleName>
  <trkBaseClearcaseVersion>/main/3.3.release/2</trkBaseClearcaseVersion>
  <trkTranslationVersion>0</trkTranslationVersion>
<selectLists>
  <trkLocaleName>German_Germany</trkLocaleName>
  <trkBaseClearcaseVersion>/main/3.3.release/2</trkBaseClearcaseVersion>
  <trkTranslationVersion></trkTranslationVersion>
  <selectList t="Alpha">
    <list i="0" l="0 ,.&apos;&quot;|_~`"/>
    <list i="1" l="1!@&lt;&gt;$%^&amp;"/>
    <list i="2" l="aäàâbc2AÄÀÂBCÇ"/>
    <list i="3" l="deëéèêf3DEËÉÈÊF"/>
[...]

And as you can easily see, there is *NO* *FIX* to the actual problem of
umlaut ordering, they are still alphabetically sorted, which CSCsh94182
should have corrected.

So we have a "Fix" that actually doesn't fix what it is supposed to fix,
but introduces a defective file that shouldn't ever have passed QA.
Sorry, but together with this recent US DST disaster, this really gives
to think. Maybe instead of developing four++ concurrent version trains
of repeatedly renamed CCMs, some more bug hunting and QA in the
existing and widely deployed trains would be advised.
 
> But how to go on from here? There seems to be no way to just uninstall
> or somehow else return to a sane state.

Well, to start with, I've fixed the downloaded 7960-kate.xml, applied
the correct sequence of umlauts, and uploaded it again using the TFTP
Upload frontend. Which worked.

Reminds me of Zorg cursing "If you want to have something done right,
do it yourself" - except I didn't blew up (yet)...

On the other hand, it's nothing really new. I had 7970s running a
selfmade complete localization (Messages, Menus and KATE) for almost
two years before Cisco could finally provide one. And a customized
time zone that was off by one so the 7970s displaying time off by one
would again be correct. It's just that when such trivial things break,
you wonder how the real tough stuff ever holds together...

Andre.
-- 
                  The _S_anta _C_laus _O_peration
  or "how to turn a complete illusion into a neverending money source"

-> Andre Beck    +++ ABP-RIPE +++    IBH Prof. Dr. Horn GmbH, Dresden <-