In message <E189k3U-0006VX-00@chiark.greenend.org.uk> you write:

|> >I
|> >recently acquired an IPX with a dead NVRAM.  I replaced it, and while
|> >the hostID and ethernet address stick around, I can't seem to get the
|> >clock properly set or started.

|> Hmm.  I had that problem with my SLC when I started using it after it had
|> been idle for a couple of years.  Replacing the NVRAM cured it, but you've
|> done that already...

I have heard somewhere that recent NVRAM chips may cause trouble in
old Suns because the new chips finally adhere to the specs which the
old ones didn't in some parts, such that old Suns that worked around
this brokenness have problems with the nonbroken chips...

IIRC one can work around the workaround with some nvramrc trickery,
but please don't ask for details...