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This Year 2000 Statement is being designated a "Year 2000 Readiness Disclosure" under the Year 2000 Information and Disclosure Act.
Personal Computer Clocks
Year 2000 Options
The BIOS Solution
Testing
Product Compliance
Summary
As the Year 2000 approaches, one of Gateways goals is to help our clients be informed and prepared for the date transition, so that they can continue using their PCs productively. Gateway has researched the problem, tested and implemented solutions, and documented our complete support for the Year 2000. Please refer to Gateways Support for the Year 2000. It confirms that all of Gateways computers introduced and sold after January 1, 1997 are Year 2000 compliant. In addition, computers sold prior to 1997 which are based on the Intel® Pentium® or Pentium® Pro processor are also Year 2000 compliant. The support statement also provides easy solutions for clients using older computers based on the Intel® i486 and earlier processors. To supplement our support statement, and as an additional resource for clients seeking more information, Gateway has provided the following paper Personal Computer Clocks and Year 2000 Testing. It describes various options for correcting the Year 2000 problem, why BIOSrelated solutions are the most efficient and effective, and how Gateway has implemented and tested the BIOS solution in its PCs.
Personal Computer Clocks
In order to understand Year 2000 testing and solutions, it is important to understand how time is maintained in the computer system. The PC system actually contains two main clocks. The RealTime Clock (RTC) is embedded in the CMOS chip of the motherboard. It was first implemented on the IBM AT in the early 1980s, and its design became the industry standard for ATcompatible PCs. This RTC incorporated the Motorola MC146818 chip to hold the last two digits of the year (decade and year). Century data was stored as a data point only in a separate memory section of the chip (location 32h, or later, in the PS/2, location 37h). To minimize cost and complexity, this century data was not incorporated directly into the clock functions of the RTC. Rather, the full date was, and still is, provided by combining the last twodigits of the year, which are dynamic, with the first two digits, which are stored. This is the source of the Year 2000 problem for the RealTime Clock. When the Year 2000 arrives, the year 99 will progress to 00, yet the century data stored in memory will still read 19. For PCs that do not incorporate date correction logic, this will yield incorrect results in the year 2000.
The OS clock is the second main clock in the computer system. Unlike the RTC, most Operating System clocks (and all OS clocks provided by Gateway) are capable of using four digits for the year. The Operating System clock runs only when the machine is powered on, and once initialized, it runs independent of the RTC. More importantly, the OS clock is the point of truth for software applications that use or maintain the current date.
The OS clock and the RealTime Clock are related as follows: to establish the date when the machine is first powered on, the OS clock must refer to the RealTime Clock. This can be done in two ways, by accessing the RTC directly, or by using BIOS interrupt 1Ah to retrieve the data. The direct approach is less efficient, since century data can be located at location 32h or 37h depending on the PC design. Accessing date information via the BIOS allows one design strategy to work with either RTC design, and for this reason, the BIOS approach became the norm in OS software design. The standard design practice for application software built on this foundation, and rather than retrieve date information from the RTC directly, software applications refer to the fourdigit OS clock.
Year 2000 Options
When considering how to correct the Year 2000 problem, Gateway identified many options, including software fixes, hardware changes to the RTC, and BIOS changes.
Software fixes, such as terminatestayresident (TSR) programs, operate "in the background" of the PC, periodically checking the RTC for an invalid date (i.e., 1900), and correcting it where necessary. These TSR programs were inexpensive, but they were not guaranteed to completely correct the problem. In addition, advanced Operating Systems such as Windows NT (3.x and above) and OS/2 do not allow TSR installation. Moreover, even in OS environments where they can operate, TSRs can decrease system performance. Finally, as a software solution, a TSR could interfere with other software installations, which could deactivate it or overwrite it. Consequently, Gateway decided not to use TSRs as their primary Year 2000 solution.
Gateway also considered changing the RealTime Clock design to address the Year 2000 issue, but this approach proved to be impractical. Changing the RTC would have increased the cost, and probably decreased the performance. A new RTC would have required a new design, possibly impacting compatibility with existing software packages. In addition, redesigning the RTC would have left installed users with a difficult and expensive upgrade in order to make their PCs Year 2000 compliant. For these reasons, Gateway rejected this approach as well.
Modifying the BIOS to correct Year 2000 date calculations proved to be a secure and practical solution. Because Operating Systems generally access date information via the BIOS, correcting the BIOS would correct the OS system clock, which in turn is the "pointoftruth" for software applications accessing current date information. In addition, unlike the RTC and CMOS hardware, the BIOS can usually be upgraded easily. Gateway PC designs since 1993 have included flash BIOS versions that provide existing clients with an easy upgrade path. As a result, the BIOS became the most common focal point for addressing the Year 2000 issue, and the approach that almost all PC vendors have used.
The BIOS Solution
Beginning with computers based on Intels Pentium® processor (first sold in November 1993), Gateway BIOS chips contain the necessary logic to compensate for the RTCs dateprocessing limitations, and to process the Year 2000 correctly. The process works as follows:
In Gateway systems based on the Pentium processor (and its successors), the BIOS was designed using a "windowing" technique to accommodate dates in the 20th and 21st century. The BIOS checks the twodigit date on the RealTime Clock (RTC), and then converts the year into fourdigits for the Operating System. If the twodigit RTC date is equal to or greater than 80, then the full date is read as a 20th century date (e.g. 1980, 1981, etc.) and supplied to the Operating System as such. If the RTC date is less than 80, then the date is interpreted as a 21st century date (e.g. 2079). The system BIOS makes a call to the century data stored in the RTC (at 32h in Gateway PCs), changes the data to "20", and returns the correct fourdigit year to the Operating Systems.
Testing
Gateway uses many tests to verify the Year 2000 capabilities of their computers, including the Microsoft Millennium test suite and NSTLs YMARK 2000 software. There are dozens of Year 2000 tests, and many are reliable and accurate. However, credibility and accuracy are critical in evaluating and resolving the Year 2000 problem, and Gateway believes that NSTLs YMARK2000 is a reliable test. NSTL is an independent testing organization with fifteen years of experience, and most major PC vendors are using their YMARK2000 test software. Also, unlike many groups providing Year 2000 tests, NSTL is not selling their test (it can be downloaded free from their web site at www.nstl.com) and they have no incentive to imply a problem in order to sell their own solution.
Note that some test software is being sold that will report that a PC is not Year 2000 compliant, even if it passes NSTLs YMARK2000 test. However, of the software tests that Gateway has examined, all use unconventional methods to check date compliance. They ignore the date correction logic found in the BIOS and check the RTC date directly. For any PC based on the IBM AT standards, this testing method practically guarantees a failing result. Contrary to these tests, Gateways evaluation of commercial software applications found that they do not access date information via the RTC. NSTL also evaluated this issue at length, and detailed their results in their technical white paper Testing the Real Time Clock vs. the BIOS. Their conclusion was that testing the RTC time directly does not accurately simulate how software applications access date information, or how the PC operates. Please see the NSTL web site for more information at http://www.nstl.com/html/y2k_rtc_and_bios.html.
Product Compliance
Based on successful completion of NSTLs YMARK2000 test, Gateway computers have been certified to carry NSTLs "Year 2000 Compliant" logo. All Gateway" computers introduced and sold after January 1, 1997 qualify for NSTLs "Year 2000 Compliant" designation, as do all Gateway computers sold prior to 1997 which are based on the Intel® Pentium® processor. Gateways testing confirms that the hardware supplies date information to the software in accordance with industry standards. In addition, for these systems, Gateway is including correct date processing as part of our standard warranty. Additional details are provided in the document Gateways Support for the Year 2000.
Computers based on the Intel® i486, i386, and i286 processors will need to have the date reset the first time the machine is rebooted or powered on in the new year. This is a onetime fix that can easily be accomplished by typing the DOS commands to reset the RealTime Clock. Instructions on how to reset the internal clock are included in the document Gateways Support for the Year 2000.
For software, we warrant that Gateway hardware will accurately provide date information in accordance with accepted industry standards. However, once the Gateway BIOS has provided the date information to the software, Gateway cannot guarantee that the thirdparty software will process all date comparisons correctly. This is a direct function of the software design, which Gateway does not control and for which we do not own the copyright. Fortunately, software vendors have been addressing Year 2000 issues in their product designs and testing, and almost all have complete information on their web sites.
However, for critical software applications, Gateway encourages clients to check with the software manufacturer to confirm its Year 2000 capabilities. This is particularly true for custom developed software, which could employ an unconventional design. If a custom software application queries the RTC directly to obtain date information, then in the Year 2000, the software will not retrieve the correct date until the RTC is reset.
Summary
After evaluating many options to address the Year 2000 problem, Gateway determined that upgrading the system BIOS was the most reliable and efficient Year 2000 fix available. This approach was first incorporated into Gateway PCs in 1993, and it ensures our clients of accuracy and compatibility with industry standards. For verification, Gateway is using NSTLs YMARK 2000 test, and our systems in recent years have all been certified by NSTL as "Year 2000 Compliant." Gateway continues to test our systems and explore additional options for our clients.
Gateway designates this year 2000 statement as a Year 2000 Disclosure under the Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act of 1998, a U.S. statute enacted on October 19, 1998 (the "Act"). Information contained in Gateways past and present year 2000 letters regarding products and services offered by Gateway and its subsidiaries are "Year 2000 Readiness Disclosures" under the Act. Information in our year 2000 letters regarding nonGateway products and services are "Republications" under the Act based on information supplied by other companies about the products and services they offer. Gateway has not independently verified the contents of these Republications and takes no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of information contained in such Republications.
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