Fletch

PDT stands for Problem Determination Tool. It is an ETAS Engineer level of access that is used to patch the operating system and perform low level debugging of information.

Let me get one thing clear. The statement "Nortel won't support you" is a little unclear. The Nortel support model is designed to support the channel partners and not the end user directly. aif you are large enough and want to investigate the COM program (Customer Owned and Maintained) then this may be an avenue for you. But there are strict training requirements attached to it. Bottom line, if you have the training, you qualify for the support.

This year Nortel imposed strict certification levels for all partners. Some had they level reduced because their tech's did not meet all of the requirements. And don't think that just applies to the smaler vendors. I saw many techs from the 'Big 3' scrambling to get the required classes in before the bell rang.

PDT is not an area where the user should be playing in without the proper training. It is a developer backend that does not have all of the safety checks in it. I guess I can compare it to UNIX or the old DOS. Issue the command and it's done, no sanity check, no "Are you sure?", etc. So with this in mind I hope you can understand that a few mistyped commands can bring a switch to it's knees.

As for passwords, most vendors will extract passwords for you for no charge if you have a maintenance contract. I hear "I bought a switch off of eBay and I don't have the password...." all of the time. All I can say to that is Buyer Beware.

To address the "I own the software" comment, actually you license the software and purchase a Right to Use. That's pretty much the end of that story. Oh yeah, and then there is also the fact that THIS SITE DOES NOT SUPPORT CRACKING PASSWORDS!

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Fletch

For more on Nortel E911 Solutions on the web:
http://nortel.com/e911