> So, I went mailng list archive diving, since i'm sure people have
> reported problems with AXPpci-family (which includes the Multia... 8-)
> machines in the past...

:-) Thanks

> Anyway, I found the following interesting tidbits:
> 
> 	(1) First of all, I don't believe that you have the latest
> 	    firmware.  If a salesweasel told you that, you might want
> 	    to take it with a grain of salt.  I say this because
> 	    John Birrell <jb@cimlogic.com.au> reported a while
> 	    ago that he has AXPpci firmware with versions:
> 
> 		SROM Console Firmware V4.3-3114 for AXPpci33
> 		ARC  Console Firmware V4.36 for AXPpci33
> 
> 	    which he obtained from Digital.  I just checked around on
> 	    gatekeeper.dec.com (a.k.a. ftp.digital.com), and in
> 	    pub/DEC/Alpha/firmware/v3.5/doc/decxappci33_v14_fw_relnote.txt
> 	    are instructions which detail the process of updating to
> 	    firmware which with versions:
> 
> 		SRM Firmware: X4.3-3114
> 		ARC Firmware: 4.42
> 	    
> 	    The firmware images themselves are also in that tree,
> 	    but we all know that we should print and read the docs
> 	    before doing firmware upgrades...  8-)


I believe, and in fact the tech guy from the reseller believes me and you.
*But* the upgrade process for the "Noname" AXPpci (using fwupdate.exe) does
not work on the Multia. I complains about "ROM JUMPER ON ?" (I guess this
is some kind of write protect bit somwhere.

The firmware the tech guy got for me is the latest *multia* firmware, which
according to Digital, is only avilable on the Win NT systems admin CDROM in
a file called firm.zip.

I talked to the Digital people here in the UK, where the multia is looked
after by the "Components and Peripherals" division, since it is classed as
a high end X terminal :) and he could not find any supported archive for
Multia. He found a site mentioned (www.ayo.dec.com I think) but that is not
publicly accesible, and he was "off site" at the time. I will ask him again
(when he is in the office) to have a look for me.

I will try the upgrade again, if I can get the AXPpci firmware in the relevant
form (A floppy containing srm.exe, arc.exe and ????.scr),

> Anyway, i'd suggest:
> 
> 	(1) Making Really Really Really Sure that you're using the
> 	    latest firmware revision, and then, if you still have
> 	    problems,

Oh, I am. I was just hoping...

> 	(2) trying the functions below, calling one or both of
> 	    them early on in lcaattach().  (I'm not sure that that's
> 	    where they should go, and i'm not sure what second
> 	    argument the latter should receive, but it shouldn't be
> 	    too hard to come up with something.)

Any chance of a login somewhere for kernel building ? :) You did/do
have an account on wonderland.org when you wanted to build mh for sparc
a long time ago...

Regards,
-- 
Peter Galbavy                                           peter@wonderland.org
@ Home                                                 phone://44/973/499465
in Wonderland                              http://www.wonderland.org/~peter/
                               snail://UK/NW1_6LE/London/21_Harewood_Avenue/