Subject: blinking lights and video artifacts
To: Port-SPARC <Port-SPARC@NetBSD.org>
From: Don Yuniskis <auryn@gci-net.com>
List: port-sparc
Date: 10/14/2001 20:17:40
Greetings!
    I have a few IPC and Classics running NBSD, 
here -- all running headless, etc.
    Recently built a new kernel with "options BLINK"
(a cheap way for me to tell when a "shutdown -p"
is complete on the IPC's).  It works as expected
on the IPC's.
    Copied that over to the Classic's and note that
it doesn't seem to work as intended on all machines!
The short question is:  is this a board revision
or a *firmware* revision issue?  (i.e. is it worth
dragging out a monitor and checking the versions
of the boot roms and burning a new one as needed?)

    I have also noticed that some of the hosts
(sorry, didn't take notes while doing the installs
to know *which* and if the problem was just part
of INSTALL or remains in GENERIC...) had problems
leaving artifacts on the screen (console) when
backspacing (delete left) existing text -- all
characters to the *right* of the cursor would be
"smudged" (as if the blitter was confused).
     Again, is this a (known) firmware issue
that has been resolved or *caused* (?) by "option
RASTERCONSOLE"?  I can, of course, drag out a monitor 
and dig through this in depth but it hasn't been
a big enough issue for me (since they *are* run
headless).

Thx!
--don