[rescue] Ultra 5 NVRAM problems, boot command = bggt

[John Edwards]

On Fri, Sep 14, 2007 at 12:50:36PM -0500, Jonathan C. Patschke wrote:
> On Fri, 14 Sep 2007, John Edwards wrote:
> 
>> There is a pattern here - each of the letters that are wrong are eight
>> less then they should be. Not sure what could cause that.
> 
> Possibly a bad data-line to NVRAM or within the NVRAM module.  I -think-
> the NVRAM on a sun4m/sun4u-era Sun is accessed serially, so it'd
> most-likely be that the NVRAM module itself is just bad.

My current suspect it sometime to do with Openboot itself, similar to 
a corrupt BIOS in a IBM PC.

Where about is the Openboot held?
Can it be upgraded without access to an OS?



>> But after replacing the NVRAM battery the problem persists.
> 
> Hm, but that argues against it, since the battery and NVRAM are all in
> the same component.  Do any of the traces near that socket look damaged?

It's a bit hard to be sure as the NVRAM on the Ultra 5 is shoved up 
against the PCI riser. But after removing the chip there are no visual 
signs of damage.

A problem with the motherboard could also explain why some devices 
(IDE, VGA, network) are not being detected.


-- 
#---------------------------------------------------------#
|    John Edwards   Email: john at cornerstonelinux.co.uk    |
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| A. Because it breaks the logical sequence of discussion |
| Q. Why is top posting bad ?                             |
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