[rescue] Indy NVRAM DS1386

[Scott Quinn]

There are a couple of things to consider. It sounds as though you have a
keyboard plugged in - if not (or if the keyboard isn't working) then you will
get dark screen and no boot, as the console is set to the first serial port if
a keyboard is not detected (and the diagnostics note the absence of a keyboard
and drop you into the PROM).

If you've copied over another Indy's NVRAM you could have something that's not
set right for your machine. Does the NVRAM boot in the Indy that the copy was
taken from? If you can get a serial console on the Indy you're trying to fix
you can try issuing a "resetenv" from the PROM monitor. This will reset all
PROM variables to the factory defaults (except things like the EADDR (system
ID/ MAC). There's a way to set this from the PROM to match the system ID/MAC
printed on the yellow sticker on the back.

If this doesn't work it could be that Dallas has made small changes to the
1386. I can't recall hearing anything about the Dallas modules, but Mostek and
their successors of interest have made slight changes to the chips so that a
current NVRAM, though offically the same model, has enough differences that
it's hard to get it working in an older Sun. If this is the case than you're
only bet is probably to put a battery on your old chip.