RS6k 7012/320H woes

[Benjamin Huntsman]

I use a DEC DECConnect system on mine... I have a DB25 to MMJ on the RS/6000 side, and a DB9 to MMJ on the other.  Plus you can swap out the MMJ adapters on either end of the cable to talk to whatever you need.  I highly recommend them because they do the right thing 99.9% of the time.




________________________________
From: cctalk <cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org> on behalf of Kevin Bowling via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Sent: Thursday, November 8, 2018 10:24 AM
To: Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez; General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts; carlos_murillo at ieee.org
Subject: Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes

http://ps-2.kev009.com/rs6000/serialconsole.html
Obtaining console on RS/6000 - Kev009.com<http://ps-2.kev009.com/rs6000/serialconsole.html>
ps-2.kev009.com
Obtaining console on RS/6000. This often throws people for a loop. There are all sorts of reasons you won't get console from your rs6k. Make sure you are using a fully wired Laplink-style null modem cable.





On Tue, Nov 6, 2018 at 3:30 PM Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez via cctalk <
cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:

> Since RS6K systems have been mentioned recently, I thought I should ask
> for advice.  I have a Powerserver 320H with 32MB of RAM, an 8-port async
> EIA-232 adapter, a SCSI adapter and a 400MB HD.   No framebuffer or
> keyboard; no LAN card.  Because of the last issue, I haven't tried to do
> much with it.  I tried getting it to talk on the serial console (Serial
> 1 connector in the back), following all the advice I found on the net:
> The pinout of the MODU serial connector, the null modem cable with full
> handshake (also driving the DCD line in the 320H).  I turn it on in
> service mode, and it spits a lot of LED codes, finds the HD, spins it up
> and it apparently loads something (I suppose AIX) from it.  But nothing
> is  ever sent out on the serial 1 port, or any other serial port.  I
> believe that during the POST it fails to initialize the serial 1 and 2
> ports, because the 320H's DTR and RTS lines are never asserted (the
> ports in the async RS232 card do assert these on power up, but they are
> equally silent). I made sure that the CTS, DSR and DCD inputs of the
> 320H are being driven by the external terminal.
>
> I made a video of the LED codes during POST and found some problems;
> here are the codes and their meaning:
>
> 120 BIST starting a CRC check on the 8752 EPROM.
> 122 BIST started a CRC check on the first 32K bytes of the OCS EPROM.
> 124 BIST started a CRC check on the OCS area of NVRAM.
> 130 BIST presence test started.
> 101 BIST started following reset.
> 153 BIST started ACLST test code.
> 154 BIST started AST test code.
> 100 BIST completed successfully; control was passed to IPL ROS.
> 211 IPL ROM CRC comparison error (irrecoverable). !!!!!!!
> 214 Power status register failed (irrecoverable).           !!!!!!!
> 218 RAM POST is looking for good memory.
> 219 RAM POST bit map is being generated.
> 290 IOCC POST error (irrecoverable).                         !!!!!!!
> 291 Standard I/O POST running.
> 252 Attempting a Service mode IPL from 7012 DBA disk-attached
>           devices specified in IPL ROM Default Device List.
> 253 Attempting a Service mode IPL from SCSI-attached devices
>           specified in the IPL ROM Default Device List.
> 299 IPL ROM passed control to the loaded program code.
>
> 814 NVRAM being identified or configured.
>
> 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration
>           method.
> 813 Battery for time-of-day, NVRAM, and so on being identified or
>           configured, or system I/O control logic being identified or
>           configured.
> 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration
>           method.
> 520 Bus configuration running.
> 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration
>           method.
> 869 SCSI adapter being identified or configured.
> 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration
>           method.
> 954 400MB SCSI disk drive being identified or configured.
> 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration
>           method.
> 539 The configuration method has terminated, and control has
>           returned to the configuration manager.
> 551 IPL varyon is running.
> 553 IPL phase 1 is complete.
>
> The code 290 above is particularly worrysome, I think.  The NVRAM
> battery reads 2.85 volts even after all these years. I reseated all of
> the chips that are on bases, all of the cards, and connectors; there was
> no change.  Any ideas on how to proceed?
>
> carlos.
>
>