[rescue] sun ultra 10 ethernet controller

[Ray Brooks]

Hi Peter,
  Thanks for your thoughts. It's reassuring to know that it's unlikely I've
caused any permanent damage with any inverted NVRAM. I know I've done it at
least once in my SS20 and that has remained solid as a rock.

  I have indeed run through the diagnostic suite in the EPROM when I can
get to that point and everything checks out fine.

I've just realised that that diagnostic result in fact supports the idea
that it is the PCIO-ASIC at fault. When it is working, all diagnostic tests
should pass and the computer would function normally.

When it is in a failure state, none of the peripherals on the EBus would be
accessible. That's serial console, keyboard and mouse, Ethernet and a few
other bits. The CPU would probably still be capable of processing
instructions until the watchdog kicks in. Video output would still work,
which correlates exactly with what I see.

However, it doesn't get me closer to knowing what might have caused the
PCIO-ASIC to fail. I think I'll just attempt to replace it as they're
reasonably cheap and certainly cheaper than sourcing a replacement mobo.


Cheers!

Ray


On Wed, 24 Aug 2022, 16:30 Peter Stokes, <peter at ashlyn.co.uk> wrote:

> 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 manua
> <https://support.oracle.com/handbook_partner/data/805/805-0423/pdf/805-0423-11.pdf>l
> (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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