NVRAM Decoding (Was Re: [rescue] Free Stuff and Questions)

[Neil McNeight]

> From: "Chris Terwilliger" <chris at searat.com>
>
> > Decoding old NVRAM barcodes:
> > According to the NVRAM FAQ, it is possible for Sun to rebuild a NVRAM
> > (for a price) if you give them the barcode off of the chip. Has anyone
> > done this lately and if so, what is the price they give?
> > Would it be possible to talk Sun into releasing this information to the
> > hobbyist community for "unsupported" hardware (I'm defining unsupported as
> > meaning unable to run Sol8, such as sun3x and sun4c
>
> Yeah, I know you don't really need to know the original mac, but I think it
> has some "geek" value.

Exactly. I mean, I've got a C0:FF:EE machine too, but if I can decode the
bar codes then I don't have to worry about potential conflicts with other
C0:FF:EE machines as my machine wanders from network to network. And, it's
just nice to have the machine running at original spec.

> How about we start pooling our knowledge of nvram label - mac relationships?
> Maybe we can figure out their system if it has any sense to it.  I'd be
> happy to host the web page for it...

I've been trying to figure it out too, but from the sounds of it Sun just
has a massive database where you give them the 4 digits off of your NVRAM
and they have all of your system's birth records. For example, one of my
IPX's NVRAM is NJK7, with a MAC address of 08:00:20:0C:D2:FE, date of
2A 42 6F 8A and a serial of 21 00 20.

Breaking NJK7 into hex and binary, I really can't see a way of flipping
bits even to get 0C:D2:FE (NJK7 in binary doesn't even have 4 ones or
zeros in a row).

Anyone have a sympathetic ear at Sun we might be able to bend?

-Neil

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"There is more to life than increasing its speed." | Neil McNeight
                        -Mahatma Gandhi            | mcneight at umich.edu
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