Re(2): [SunRescue] Stupid NVRAM questions

[Tim Hauber]

rescue at sunhelp.org writes:
>Do you think Sun would provide this if I asked them?  So if I were to
>actually have this machine
>be on the internet (when I eventually get DSL), it doesn't matter if I
>have by coincidence the
>same MAC as someone else on the other side of the country?

Nope, it would only matter if it was on the same subnet, on the same side
of the same router.  The only machines that use MAC address are routers,
hubs and switches, talking to machines, when info from your machine goes
through a router, all that goes with it is the IP number, the next router
down the line can't even see your MAC address.
>
>>
>>IP number doesn't mean anything permanent, the IP number is set by the
>>subnet the machine lives on, not by Sun.
>
>Hmmm...  Someone mentioned you could make up the MAC by using some octets
>of the IP.

Well you could, but it wouldn't have anything to do with the MAC address
that Sun shipped the machine with.  When a machine ships from Sun (or any
vendor) they don't ship with a unique IP number, that number has to come
from the IP numbers owned by the people who set the machine up, and often
machines are run with dynamic IP numbers, which means they can have a
different IP number every time they boot.
>
>
>I also thought I saw a script somewhere for setting the NVRAM at bootime,
>but
>I don't remember where I saw this.

I guess there is one, but if you have a good NVRAM, or hack a battery on
to your old one it will run much smoother.
>
>
Tim
>