6 Jan
2015
6 Jan
'15
4:04 p.m.
On Mon, 05 Jan 2015 13:24:17 -0700 (MST), you wrote:
[snip]
On Mon, 5 Jan 2015, Robert Jarratt wrote:
Richard,
Those chips have "battery-backed static RAM" according to their data
sheet. Does your system store anything critical in them? If so, you
may want to read & save that data so that you can put it back before
you install the replacement chip (and add an external battery in a
location where leakage won't cause serious damage in the future).
I know that some Tektronix 'scopes store their calibration values in
the (DS1297 or equal) chip's battery-backed RAM and it is critical to
read the info and transfer it to the new chip *before* the original
battery dies. Otherwise, you have to either pay ($$$) for or perform
the entire re-calibration procedure yourself, if you have the
necessary calibration equipment.
However, since you said your battery was already dead and you have to
reinstall VMS every time the system is powered down, I guess that your
system doesn't store anything *critical* in that RAM.
Bob
Have you tried buying a DS12887 as a replacement?
They are supposed to be
drop-in replacements, and if yours is already socketed then it should be
pretty simple to try.
Yes, I have two of them here. That will be the first attempt and fortunate
then I will be able to stop there if I am lucky.
--
Richard Loken VE6BSV, Unix System Administrator : "Anybody can be a father
Athabasca University : but you have to earn
Athabasca, Alberta Canada : the title of 'daddy'"
** richardlo at admin.athabascau.ca ** : - Lynn Johnston
6 Jan
6 Jan
4:12 p.m.
I don't think you'll get too far trying to run VMS on a DECstation... ;)
AFAIK the DECstations are 100% "hard power" and I think the MAC address is
hard-coded, not in NVRAM i.e like in a Sun, or a SGI Indy, so you can
probably just run the system as-is, it just won't autoboot and you get all
those errors at power-up.
I thought OP already tried swapping in the 12887 and it didn't work?
I heard about those scopes on, EEVblog, I think. Yikes!!
Best,
Sean
On Tue, Jan 6, 2015 at 11:04 AM, Bob Vines <bobvines00 at gmail.com> wrote:
On Mon, 05 Jan 2015 13:24:17 -0700 (MST), you wrote:
[snip]
fortunate
On Mon, 5 Jan 2015, Robert Jarratt wrote:
> Have you tried buying a DS12887 as a replacement? They are supposed to
be
drop-in
replacements, and if yours is already socketed then it should be
pretty simple to try.
Yes, I have two of them here. That will be the first attempt and then I will be able to stop there if I am lucky.
--
Richard Loken VE6BSV, Unix System Administrator : "Anybody can be a
father
Athabasca University
: but you have to
earn
Athabasca, Alberta Canada
: the title of
'daddy'"
** richardlo at admin.athabascau.ca **
: - Lynn Johnston
Richard,
Those chips have "battery-backed static RAM" according to their data
sheet. Does your system store anything critical in them? If so, you
may want to read & save that data so that you can put it back before
you install the replacement chip (and add an external battery in a
location where leakage won't cause serious damage in the future).
I know that some Tektronix 'scopes store their calibration values in
the (DS1297 or equal) chip's battery-backed RAM and it is critical to
read the info and transfer it to the new chip *before* the original
battery dies. Otherwise, you have to either pay ($$$) for or perform
the entire re-calibration procedure yourself, if you have the
necessary calibration equipment.
However, since you said your battery was already dead and you have to
reinstall VMS every time the system is powered down, I guess that your
system doesn't store anything *critical* in that RAM.
Bob
5:13 p.m.
On Tue, 6 Jan 2015, Sean Caron wrote:
I don't think you'll get too far trying to run
VMS on a DECstation... ;)
Yes, but the conversation became complicated. I have an Alphaserver 4100
which uses the same chip so the comparison was at that level. On the other
hand, my AS4100 is a lousy platform for running Ultrix.
--
Richard Loken VE6BSV, Unix System Administrator : "Anybody can be a father
Athabasca University : but you have to earn
Athabasca, Alberta Canada : the title of 'daddy'"
** richardlo at admin.athabascau.ca ** : - Lynn Johnston
9:31 p.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctech [mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Sean
Caron
Sent: 06 January 2015 16:12
To: General Discussion: On-Topic Posts; Sean Caron
Subject: Re: Understanding DECsystem 5100 Self Test Failure
I don't think you'll get too far trying to run VMS on a DECstation... ;)
AFAIK the DECstations are 100% "hard power" and I think the MAC address is
hard-coded, not in NVRAM i.e like in a Sun, or a SGI Indy, so you can probably
just run the system as-is, it just won't autoboot and you get all those errors at
power-up.
I thought OP already tried swapping in the 12887 and it didn't work?
Sort of. I replaced it, and I got the same error. But.... I am not convinced the error is
related to this device. Specifically the RTC tests pass. So not sure what the error is
now.
Regards
Rob
5:17 p.m.
On Tue, 6 Jan 2015, Bob Vines wrote:
However, since you said your battery was already dead
and you have to
reinstall VMS every time the system is powered down, I guess that your
system doesn't store anything *critical* in that RAM.
Yes, whatever was in there is long gone.
I don't care for chips with internal batteries, I don't like them in
computers and I loath them in Tektronix test equipment - that is why my
oscilloscope is a 547. There are lots of other Tek scopes that do not use a
stupid chip with a battery but mine happens to be a 547.
--
Richard Loken VE6BSV, Unix System Administrator : "Anybody can be a father
Athabasca University : but you have to earn
Athabasca, Alberta Canada : the title of 'daddy'"
** richardlo at admin.athabascau.ca ** : - Lynn Johnston
3423
days inactive
3423
days old
4 comments
4 participants
participants (4)
-
bobvines00＠gmail.com -
richardlo＠admin.athabascau.ca -
robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com -
scaron＠umich.edu