[rescue] Need input... need input... on SparcBook2

[BSD Bob the old greybeard BSD freak]

> I had the same problem a few years back with a SparcStation 2.  The eprom
> was locked by the maintenance password.  A sun rep from Sun told me about
> the way he once solved that problem with a SS5.  It sounds weird but I did
> it and it actually works.
> 
> He it goes...
> 	1)  You switch the eprom from the good machine to the bad one.
>           (This is what could be you main problem since I've got no idea if
> you can remove the eprom from the SparcBook)
> 
> 	2)  You boot the bad machine with the eprom from the good one.
> 
> 	3)  Once you've got yuour OK prompt, you change back the eprom
> without stoping the machine.
> 
> 	4)  So you now have SparcBook with a locked eprom but you've passed
> the password stage.
> 
> 	5)  You now have write access to the eprom and you can change the
> password (just look in the open boot documentation for the exact command.)
> 
> have fun

Good info, (typical of what might be for our proposed Rescue Book?).

Sadly, the SparcBook2 seems to operate a little differently, if I am
understanding it correctly.  From what I have been able to piece together
it operates on info on the HD itself, maybe something on a reserve track
or in the boot sector, although I can't find out for sure.  IF the prom
senses something off in that (e.g., I think it was designed to sense
if disks were stolen from one machine and tried to be rebooted on another
[a security feature?]), then it locks up.  That is a little different
from a prom password.  After lockup it requries the special code to unlock
so tech maintenance can be done.

But, that has me curious to see whether I can take the prom out of a good
one, and see if that will recognize the drives.  Or, maybe short the prom
to clear it, and then see if that will at least come up on a clear boot
to reinstal from a cdrom.  The factory fellow suggested doing a low-level
on the drives on another non-sparcbook machine, to clear everything as if
it were going to be a fresh factory install.  That might be a possibility,
although I can't find out if the drives are scsi or ide.  The numbers don't
key out to anything I can find.  Anyone know for sure what kind of drives
they actually are?

It is mostly a paperweight, if I can't resurrect it.

Thanks

Bob