Understanding DECsystem 5100 Self Test Failure

[Sean Caron]

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]
> > 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
> 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
> >
>
> 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
>