----- Original Message -----
From: "Tony Duell" <ard_at_p850ug1.demon.co.uk>
To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2000 5:36 PM
Subject: Re: DECstation 5000/200 battery backed NVRAM failure?
> > I have two DECstation 5000/200 systems. When I got them, one powered on
=
> > but did not do
> > anything (no output on serial console on port 3), while one would work =
> > fine (console output
> > on port 3, seemed to be functional, etc). I did not have any external =
> > SCSI storage for them
> > at the time, so I decided to store them until I could make use of them.
> >
> > About a week ago, I finally got a SCSI drive enclosure to mount a disk =
> > in, so I decided to try
> > getting one of the systems up and running with NetBSD/pmax. To my =
> > surprise, however, now
> > both of them do nothing on power-on! I had not touched them since I had
=
> > power-on tested them
> > a few months previous, so I was at a loss as to knowing what had =
> > happened.
>
>
> First question (so I don't go off in totally the wrong direction). Does
> _anything_ happen when you turn on the machine? Power on light? Fans
> turning? Do you have a voltmeter? If so, check the 5V line at any of the
> chips or at an internal drive connector.
>
> I want to establish if this is a power supply fault (probably an
> open-circuit startup resistor) or a logic problem (which could be due to
> the NVRAM losing its contents).
>
> -tony
>
The machine _seems_ to power on fine - the power light comes on, the fans
turn, the diagnostic LEDs come on (although I'll have to check the
combination
when I return home; I'm at work right now), and major chips on the board
seem to dissipate heat which would indicate that they're at least getting
power.
The DECstation 5000 series boxes are just board-and-power supply systems
with no provision for mounting any internal disk drives (they were all
housed in
storage expansion cabinets), and in terms of power, the only things that are
available are three cables to the motherboard. It's not particularly obvious
which
cable does what, so I've not actually had an oppertunity to check what the
supply
is putting out in terms of voltage. I'll take another look at that too.
Thanks,
-Sean Caron (root_at_diablonet.net) |
http://www.diablonet.net
Received on Wed Sep 13 2000 - 13:40:36 BST