Re: DEC 3000/800 AXP boot problem
- From: Robert Deininger <rdeininger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2007 21:14:46 -0400
In article <1188244928.730714.166170@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
urbancamo <mark@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi, just a quick enquiry.
I have aquired a DEC 3000 Model 800 AXP and have a boot problem. The
system was booting about once every ten power ups. The status LEDs
don't move in the case where the system checks do not 'kick in', they
remain on '00'. I have cleaned the entire box and used contact cleaner
on all connections, and re-seated the motherboard and IO module.
Did the system really power on? Were the fans running? Was the LED
idiot light lit up on the power supply?
I've seen systems where the power supply didn't like to come on from a
cold start. Sometimes leaving it switched on (but "dead") for 10
minutes or so, and then cycling the power, would bring them to life.
Previously when the system did 'kick in' all tests completed correctly
except the keyboard/mouse test. I am using a VT520 connected via an
original DECconnect cable.
For this configuration, you want the CONSOLE environment variable to be
SERIAL, i.e.
SET CONSOLE SERIAL
In this mode, missing keyboard/mouse result in "soft" test failures that
don't block progress.
I managed to install both OpenVMS 6.1 (the
original disk received with the unit) and OpenVMS 8.3 (although this
didn't boot, but probably due to the fact that I selected DECnet but
don't have any thick/thin cables connected).
Network cable problems would not keep VMS from booting. I can't think
of a case where it would even keep DECnet from starting.
VMS V8.3 should boot just fine. What are the symptoms? You should be
getting some information on the console terminal.
Sorry to be so long winded. So the question is, apart from reseating/
cleaning cables/connections, is there anything else I could check/test/
try? I have enough competence to measure voltages and possibly even
power ripples and the like, but I don't have a logic analyser.
Do the SROMs age at all?
I haven't heard of the SROMs failing on these systems. If the SROM was
bad, it's very unlikely that you could get to the SRM console prompt.
(The >>> prompt.) The SROM code is loaded into the CPU's instruction
cache at power-up; it contains the first instructions the CPU executes.
Without SROM, you'd never find memory, or the console, or the firmware
ROM.
Firmware ROM corruption is not unheard of, but it should be detected by
checksum and other problems. If you get console output, and no
ROM-related error messages, I'd assume the FW ROMs (there are two
physical ROM parts) are fine.
It is a standard x512 EEPROM. It has a
sticker over the programming window (assuming it has one). Is there a
battery backed module that could be causing intermittent problems?
The NVRAM in this system is integrated into the clock module. If the
system is retaining date and time, and the environment variables, after
you unplug it for a while, the battery in the module is probably fine.
You're well past the 10-year battery life of the module, but if the
system spent most of its life powered on, the battery is probably not
depleted.
-- Robert
.
- Follow-Ups:
- Re: DEC 3000/800 AXP boot problem
- From: urbancamo
- Re: DEC 3000/800 AXP boot problem
- References:
- DEC 3000/800 AXP boot problem
- From: urbancamo
- DEC 3000/800 AXP boot problem
- Prev by Date: Re: Itanium Port Question
- Next by Date: Re: COBOL Transactions?
- Previous by thread: DEC 3000/800 AXP boot problem
- Next by thread: Re: DEC 3000/800 AXP boot problem
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
