HI.  Sorry this is long... Just upgraded an older mvme system to a
mvme147 board I purchased used a while back ($150).  Got a 712
transition module for it this week ($20).  Put p2 board,transition
module and mvme147 board in today for the first time.  Was very happy to
see the 147-bug come up on my terminal, however, the self test is
complaining that the nvram battery is dead (not surprizing).  Also,
after the selftest, there's no mention of Onboard RAM start, stop at
all, just goes from saying COLD Start to 147-Bug> prompt.  Anyway, does
anyone know of a source for a new nvram chip in the US?  

  I understand that this is the same type (mostek mk48502b) that's in my
slc--however when I got my replacement for the slc from Sun, it had of
course been programed w/ hostid/mac address specific for sun--so I don't
suppose it would be possible to get another one from sun and use it in
this application, even though they're the same chip, right?  I'd have to
find one specific for the mvme, right? 

  In the mean time, I put in a 345 meg maxtor scsi and attempted to
starting installing, figuring that, like my old sun slc, I could get a
functional system w/o the nvram by setting defaults by hand, etc.  Have
been playing w/ the iot 147-bug command to see if I can get it to see
the scsi-controller and disk--no luck thus far.  If I do a iot;t, it
hangs (probably due to bad nvram?), if I do a iot;h, it only shows this:
        Disk Controllers Available

LUN     Type        Address   #  dev
 0      VME0      $00000000   0

Nothing about a VME147, or any scsi disks.  Is the VME0 that's mentioned
actually the scsi controller, just labeled differently for this version
of the 147?  I understand that the 147 can't detect newer scsi disks, if
that's the case, how do I boot from disk, or would I always have to use
s-records and then boot from the network?  
 
   I also have an mvme350 (qic tape controller) w/ tape drive in the
unit, this isn't seen by iot;h, nor is the mvme320b winchester/floppy
controller.  I had an older mvme132 cpu board which was able to access
both the tape drive and the winchester controller drive (before the
drive crashed).  In fact, the old mvme132 board booted sys/v 68 from the
tape.  I upgraded to a 147 board in order to run linux or netbsd on the
board.  I have also tried removing all other vme cards, leaving just the
mvme147 board (and rejumpering the backplane appropriately for the blank
slots) and still, nothing about scsi controller or drive, and iot;t
still hangs.   Doesn't look good at this point.  After switching to
147-diag w/ sd, running a self test with st shows everything passing. 
However, without a working scsi controller or tape drive, it's not much
use.  

  Have played w/ env and env;d to try and reset default values, but this
hasn't helped when trying to get it to talk to the builtin scsi
controller or tape drive.  If I do a env, no options, it asks if I want
to edit the Disk Map.  If I say y, it hangs.  If I say n, it asks fora 
controller lun, drive lun.  If I try to set up the tape controller
manually, by entering 04 as controller lun, 00 as device lun, it always
says invalid lun.  grrrrr.  

  Here's a dumb question--can the mvme147 be booted by tape if the nvram
is dead?  Can it be booted at all w/o the nvram working.  Also, even if
it is working, can the machine boot (ab)  from a newer scsi drive?

  Any tips on getting this machine up or pointers to a new nvram would
be appreciated.  Thanx...

 


************************************************************************
Frederick Koehler               koehler@valinor.chem.ohiou.edu
Clippinger Labs 393             http://valinor.chem.ohiou.edu/~koehler
Ohio University
Athens, OH 45701                Grammar Tip #15: eschew obfuscation   
1-740-593-1934        
************************* Soli Deo Gloria  *****************************