[micrex22]

http://aix.software.ibm.com/aix/efixes/s...visory.asc

As mentioned in IBM's advisory, there were multiple releases for AIX to fix spectre/meltdown vulnerabilities. Here are the direct links from the advisory:

The AIX/VIOS fixes can be downloaded via ftp or http from:

• ftp://aix.software.ibm.com/aix/efixes/se...wn_fix.tar
  
• http://aix.software.ibm.com/aix/efixes/s...wn_fix.tar
  
• https://aix.software.ibm.com/aix/efixes/...wn_fix.tar
  

It's worth noting AIX is most likely not going to really be affected by meltdown since branch predictor cache can't directly access kernel data structures (like it would in Linux or Windows or whatever). But security is always important.

IBM is of course still supporting 5.3 (which is great), but I believe you need the latest patches to bring it up to 5.3.12.9 before the spectre/meltdown patch can be applied. Supposedly these patches are generally added into virtual machines running 5.3 (rather than on baremetal), but I do intend to test them out on the 185 when I have the chance of getting it set up.

[thunderbird32]

Speaking of 5.3 patches, do you know where I can find the 5.3 technical level updates (without paying IBM through the nose)? I'm on TL3 which is quite old.

[micrex22]

Speaking of 5.3 patches, do you know where I can find the 5.3 technical level updates (without paying IBM through the nose)? I'm on TL3 which is quite old.

I have a bunch of 5.3 updates which may be the ones you're looking for (unfortunately I'm in the middle of a move and don't have access to my main computer or synology), but once I do next week I'll let you know.

The reason why I'm generally staying with 5.3 is due to the multimedia support; along with OSS support: http://www.opensound.com/aix.html

4Front hasn't refreshed their universal driver for AIX in -quite- some time so, iirc it does not work correctly under 6.1. With a little bit of programming I'm sure all of that could be addressed but that's for a future endeavour.
---
The 7044-170s are pretty cool looking, I imagine they run CDE a lot more true to its speed than the 185 (which runs so fast the screensavers go nuts like the old days of running 9x screensavers on dramatically faster CPUs).

[thunderbird32]

Speaking of 5.3 patches, do you know where I can find the 5.3 technical level updates (without paying IBM through the nose)? I'm on TL3 which is quite old.

I have a bunch of 5.3 updates which may be the ones you're looking for (unfortunately I'm in the middle of a move and don't have access to my main computer or synology), but once I do next week I'll let you know.

The reason why I'm generally staying with 5.3 is due to the multimedia support; along with OSS support: http://www.opensound.com/aix.html

Cool, I would appreciate whatever you've got! I'm stuck on 5.3 due to hardware restrictions, of course. Luckily, 5.3 is still not so out of date that it becomes difficult to get software (unlike 4.3.3). Was fun trying to get 5.3 installed on the 7044 though, as I had to update the CD-ROM's microcode. Not something I was even really aware of.

The 7044-170s are pretty cool looking, I imagine they run CDE a lot more true to its speed than the 185 (which runs so fast the screensavers go nuts like the old days of running 9x screensavers on dramatically faster CPUs).

Yeah, it runs pretty well. I'd really love to get a Intellistation POWER though, so I could a more recent version of AIX. Unfortunately, they're quite expensive, and I don't really have the room for another machine anyway.

[epitaxial]

Yeah, it runs pretty well. I'd really love to get a Intellistation POWER though, so I could a more recent version of AIX. Unfortunately, they're quite expensive, and I don't really have the room for another machine anyway.

If you keep an eye on eBay POWER boxes show up for decent prices. Recently a POWER7 box just went for $228. Someone in Spain was lucky enough to get a POWER S814 box for $1000 (local pickup only) recently. That box still costs like $25K.

[micrex22]

Speaking of 5.3 patches, do you know where I can find the 5.3 technical level updates (without paying IBM through the nose)? I'm on TL3 which is quite old.

Alright here's the two update packs I have (in conjunction with the original version that my AIX CD media is):


AIX 5300-09-02-0849 <-- original media
AIX 5300-12-00-1015 <-- update 1
AIX 5300-12-09-1341 <-- update 2

Regarding 5300-12-09-1341, this is the IBM page for it: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.ws...40314-1541
Is update 12 what you were looking for?

From what I understand once IBM discontinues AIX 5.3 support (which is coming VERY close now), it will be fine to run without paying for a license agreement, because you can't buy one any longer :0)