Replacing NVRAM on a Sun Microsystems Ultra 80 (525-1430).

Hi all,

I am new to Sun Microsystems hardware. I have a Sun Microsystems Ultra 80, with
four Gigabytes of memory and four 400 MHz processers. Just recently the NVRAM
(525-1430) chip has given up. I have purchased a new replacement chip part
number 525-1430.

But I would really appreciate an idiots step by step guide on taking out the
current NVRAM (525-1430) chip and replacing it with the new one. Please note I
do not have the Host id or MAC address of the machine. I would also need help
on the open boot commands to re-program the new chip.

Thank you in advance.

Best regards.

Matthew Lake.

On 2012-08-09, <> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I am new to Sun Microsystems hardware. I have a Sun Microsystems Ultra 80, with
> four Gigabytes of memory and four 400 MHz processers. Just recently the NVRAM
> (525-1430) chip has given up. I have purchased a new replacement chip part
> number 525-1430.

From Sun? Then you probably just need to unplug the old one, and
plug in the new, unless you have license keyed software installed on the
system.

If you do, you should have pulled the NVRAM before ordering, and
ordered quoting the barcode number on the chip (which with Sun's
database would allow them to look up and duplicate the HostID and MAC
address.

If you don't have license keyed software, and if the chip is
specific to the Sun 80 (thus has a valid HostID and MAC address, even if
not what you had before), just unplug and replace.

Note, that I have never had an Ultra-80, so I don't know how
difficult it is to gain access to where it is on the board.

If you don't have a copy of the Sun Field Engineer's Handbook
(FEH) I would suggest that you visit the Sunshack web site in Australia

<http://www.sunshack.org/data/sh/2.1.8/infoserver.central/data/syshbk/index.html>

I can't reach there at the moment for whatever reason, so I can't be
sure whether I made a mistake in typing that URL. My browser only
presents it from the bookmarks when I have reached it, or when I'm
hovering the mouse over the bookmark to read it and type.

Anyway, I *do* have a dead-tree FEH, so I can tell you that the
NVRAM is close to the keyboard connector, and it's long dimension is
parallel to the back edge of the system board. It should be in a black
holder with ears at each end of the chip to grip and pull up on.

The drawing which I have here does not show whether the chip's
socket is hidden under the power supply, but given the location of the
power connector on the board, I suspect that it may be -- in which case
you will probably need to unplug the power supply at J4107 (and perhaps
some others to disk and/or tape drives and unscrew the power supply from
the back panel and pull it out to gain access. (I've encountered
similar problems with the Ultra-60, which I have owned a couple of.

O.K. I've found a "service view" and I see that the chip is
visible off the end of the second of four CPU boards, with a yellow
label with a barcode. The power supply is under the system board, like
that on the Sun Blade [12]000, so it is out of the way.

I hope that your hand is fairly small -- that looks like a tight
place to have to reach for it. (Unless the cooling shroud and the CPU
boards are all removed).

> But I would really appreciate an idiots step by step guide on taking out the
> current NVRAM (525-1430) chip and replacing it with the new one. Please note I
> do not have the Host id or MAC address of the machine. I would also need help
> on the open boot commands to re-program the new chip.

For this -- if needed -- check out:

<http://www.squirrel.com/sun-nvram-hostid.faq.html>

which seems to have information up through the Sun 4u (UltraSPARC)
systems.

> Thank you in advance.
>
> Best regards.
>
> Matthew Lake.

Good Luck,
DoN.

--
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Hi,

Thanks, that a great help.

Regards

Matthew


On Friday, August 10, 2012 1:34:06 AM UTC+1, DoN. Nichols wrote:
> On 2012-08-09, <> wrote:
>
> > Hi all,
>
> >
>
> > I am new to Sun Microsystems hardware. I have a Sun Microsystems Ultra 80, with
>
> > four Gigabytes of memory and four 400 MHz processers. Just recently the NVRAM
>
> > (525-1430) chip has given up. I have purchased a new replacement chip part
>
> > number 525-1430.
>
>
>
> From Sun? Then you probably just need to unplug the old one, and
>
> plug in the new, unless you have license keyed software installed on the
>
> system.
>
>
>
> If you do, you should have pulled the NVRAM before ordering, and
>
> ordered quoting the barcode number on the chip (which with Sun's
>
> database would allow them to look up and duplicate the HostID and MAC
>
> address.
>
>
>
> If you don't have license keyed software, and if the chip is
>
> specific to the Sun 80 (thus has a valid HostID and MAC address, even if
>
> not what you had before), just unplug and replace.
>
>
>
> Note, that I have never had an Ultra-80, so I don't know how
>
> difficult it is to gain access to where it is on the board.
>
>
>
> If you don't have a copy of the Sun Field Engineer's Handbook
>
> (FEH) I would suggest that you visit the Sunshack web site in Australia
>
>
>
> <http://www.sunshack.org/data/sh/2.1.8/infoserver.central/data/syshbk/index.html>
>
>
>
> I can't reach there at the moment for whatever reason, so I can't be
>
> sure whether I made a mistake in typing that URL. My browser only
>
> presents it from the bookmarks when I have reached it, or when I'm
>
> hovering the mouse over the bookmark to read it and type.
>
>
>
> Anyway, I *do* have a dead-tree FEH, so I can tell you that the
>
> NVRAM is close to the keyboard connector, and it's long dimension is
>
> parallel to the back edge of the system board. It should be in a black
>
> holder with ears at each end of the chip to grip and pull up on.
>
>
>
> The drawing which I have here does not show whether the chip's
>
> socket is hidden under the power supply, but given the location of the
>
> power connector on the board, I suspect that it may be -- in which case
>
> you will probably need to unplug the power supply at J4107 (and perhaps
>
> some others to disk and/or tape drives and unscrew the power supply from
>
> the back panel and pull it out to gain access. (I've encountered
>
> similar problems with the Ultra-60, which I have owned a couple of.
>
>
>
> O.K. I've found a "service view" and I see that the chip is
>
> visible off the end of the second of four CPU boards, with a yellow
>
> label with a barcode. The power supply is under the system board, like
>
> that on the Sun Blade [12]000, so it is out of the way.
>
>
>
> I hope that your hand is fairly small -- that looks like a tight
>
> place to have to reach for it. (Unless the cooling shroud and the CPU
>
> boards are all removed).
>
>
>
> > But I would really appreciate an idiots step by step guide on taking out the
>
> > current NVRAM (525-1430) chip and replacing it with the new one. Please note I
>
> > do not have the Host id or MAC address of the machine. I would also need help
>
> > on the open boot commands to re-program the new chip.
>
>
>
> For this -- if needed -- check out:
>
>
>
> <http://www.squirrel.com/sun-nvram-hostid.faq.html>
>
>
>
> which seems to have information up through the Sun 4u (UltraSPARC)
>
> systems.
>
>
>
> > Thank you in advance.
>
> >
>
> > Best regards.
>
> >
>
> > Matthew Lake.
>
>
>
> Good Luck,
>
> DoN.
>
>
>
> --
>
> Remove oil spill source from e-mail
>
> Email: <> | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
>
> (too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
>
> --- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

writes:
>Thanks, that a great help.

There's also the FAQ documnet that should be still applicable to an
Ultra 80..

http://www.squirrel.com/squirrel/sun-nvram-hostid.faq

On Saturday, August 11, 2012 12:44:46 AM UTC+1, Doug McIntyre wrote:
> writes: >Thanks, that a great help. There's also the FAQ documnet that should be still applicable to an Ultra 80.. http://www.squirrel.com/squirrel/sun-nvram-hostid.faq

Thanks, I will have a look at that.

MAtthew

On 08/11/12 10:18, wrote:

> Thanks, I will have a look at that.
>
> MAtthew

If you have lost the mac address, then it should be on a label on the
outside of
the case somewhere, or even on the mainboard.

The devices themselves are standard parts, which can be bought from
Farnell or
similar distributors, though they will come unprogrammed...

Regards,

Chris

Thank ChrisQ


ChrisQ wrote:
> On 08/11/12 10:18, wrote:
>
>> Thanks, I will have a look at that.
>>
>> MAtthew
>
> If you have lost the mac address, then it should be on a label on the
> outside of
> the case somewhere, or even on the mainboard.
>
> The devices themselves are standard parts, which can be bought from
> Farnell or
> similar distributors, though they will come unprogrammed...
>
> Regards,
>
> Chris
>
>
>

On 2012-08-12, ChrisQ <> wrote:
> On 08/11/12 10:18, wrote:
>
>> Thanks, I will have a look at that.
>>
>> MAtthew
>
> If you have lost the mac address, then it should be on a label on the
> outside of
> the case somewhere, or even on the mainboard.

On Suns? Only if someone else has added it.

Sun puts a barcode on each NVRAM chip, which can be used to look
up the proper MAC address and hostid in their database. (Now Oracle.)

And the lower part of the MAC address should match the lower
part of the hostid, while the top-most byte of the hostid will define
what particular system it is for the use of the OS when booting. (It
tells the OS where to expect that interfaces).

However, there is no true requirement that the MAC address match
the hostid -- as long as you don't have any licensed software which
needs that to match the key. One technique for getting a unique MAC
address was to pick up an ancient ethernet card for a PC, take the MAC
address from it (usually listed on it), and then pull the small ROM chip
which contains the lower part of the MAC address and destroy it, so
nothing else will have the same MAC address.

> The devices themselves are standard parts, which can be bought from
> Farnell or
> similar distributors, though they will come unprogrammed...

IIRC -- he already had bought the chip from somewhere. If it
was bought from Sun/Oracle -- and if they knew that it was for an
Ultra-80, it should already have a valid hostid and MAC address in it --
though not the original one.

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Remove oil spill source from e-mail
Email: <> | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
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--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---