This problem was easily solved. All the basics were OK, as stated in original message. The problem was that the "setup.exe" that the docs said to run was simply dysfunctional - as verified by several members of the list. Just starting the installer and pointing to the products.jar in the patchset worked. So did running the executable in the win32 patchset subdirectory.
The next "adventure" was that after applying the 8.1.7.2.1 patch to 8.1.7.0.0 (yes, bypassing 8.1.7.1.x - as per readme's minimal baseline), OEM stopped working - with "EMSDK-1100: Unable to establish a secure communication channel." This was due to Bug No. 1946984 - reported in August. The short story is that the file "njssl8.dll" in %ORACLE_HOME%\bin is broken in the 8.1.7.2.1 patchset (for NT/2000 at least). It is easy to work around if you know this before applying the patch - simply save this file before applying the patch and copy it back afterwards. It is much more of a pain if you discover it afterward. The latter requires downloading the 8.1.7.1.1 patchset, extracting this file from it and replacing the broken file in 8.1.7.2.1. I have jumped through all the flaming hoops and have it working (again) now. My gripe is that this has been known for over a month, so why couldn't Oracle either: A) Update or replace the patchset or B) at least update the patchset readme ? -Don Granaman [OraSaurus - Honk if you remember UFI!] ----- Original Message ----- To: "Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, October 05, 2001 9:40 AM > Hi, > > May be you are not using Administrator account. > Or the patch set is installed after you click on it, > You can do > in your oracle_home > dir /s/p/od > > it will sort by date which file is the newest. > > Sorry, I just a beginner, can't help much. > Sinardy -- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com -- Author: Don Granaman INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fat City Network Services -- (858) 538-5051 FAX: (858) 538-5051 San Diego, California -- Public Internet access / Mailing Lists -------------------------------------------------------------------- To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing).