[rescue] sun ultra 10 ethernet controller

[Peter Stokes]

Hi Ray

I would not be too hung up on plugging the NVRAM in backwards, I would think a lot of us have done it at one time or another and it has never been an ongoing issue, even for the NVRAM, just tends to blank it out.

The U5/10 motherboards were always relatively high failure rate especially compared to most Sun boards.

Sorry no idea on suggestions what may be causing it however. We always just replaced the boards. You could try serial connection and enable NVRAM diagsto give it a good run through. 

Peter

Sent from my iPad

> On 24 Aug 2022, at 15:11, Ray Brooks <ray.userinterface at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> Hi team,
>   A strange issue I'm having. I've recently acquired a Sun Ultra 10 and am doing my best to get it working without much luck. I'm able to get it to netboot, which is great, but only for a bit. Invariably, at some point during the installation process, the computer completely hangs. If I'm lucky I get an ok> prompt from OBP but whatever happens, the keyboard and serial console remain unresponsive.
> 
>  To date, I've tried replacing all the socketed stuff on the mobo (RAM, CPU, NVRAM) without success.
> 
> I have noticed that the CPIO-ASIC (dp83840avce) is getting very hot. This would normally indicate to me that this IC is probably borked. According to the functional description of the mobo in the service manual (page C-2) for the Ultra 10, the NVRAM is controlled by the PCIO-ASIC, as well as the serial comms controllers, and the SuperIO chip (which handles kb/mouse/parallel port/diskette interface). It is possible that at some point I plugged an NVRAM chip in backwards and I'm wondering if this might have been the cause of the issue.
> 
> Essentially, I'd like to know if my understanding is correct. Could a blown NVRAM short current across the EBus? If so, will replacing the CPIO-ASIC IC fix the issue, or is it likely to recur in the case that my assumption relating to the incorrect NVRAM insertion is false? I would be extremely grateful for a second opinion on the matter.
> 
> Thanks in advance for any insight!
> 
> Ray
>   
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