[rescue] SPARCstation 1 boot woes (David McMackins II)

Fri May 30 16:00:32 EDT 2025

Concur, especially if network is not configured correctly.

T

---
Todd Vernon
Entrepreneur | Investor
Email: todd at toddvernon.com
LinkedIn: toddvernon
On May 30, 2025 at 12:38 PM -0600, silcreval via rescue <rescue at sunhelp.org>, wrote:
> Hi David
>
> It might have been mentioned previously, but its worth nothing that the SS1 can take a very long time to boot when in diagnostic mode.
>
> This has caught me out a few times in the past when the MB just seems to be dead.
>
> I always leave these earlier machines for half an hour before deciding they are dead.
>
> Also with the SS1, I generally fix the NVRAM chip with the usual 'flying lead and button cell' fix. This can be handy as you can remove the button cell for a full reset of the NVRAM. I usually leave it for an hour or so just to be sure.
>
> Last but not least - I remove all the 'spare' RAM and any SBUS cards when debugging SS motherboards. Just put the minimum 4 SIMMs in position. This helps to speed up the boot.
>
> I've lost count of the number of SS motherboards that seem completely dead, and then spring back into life so dont give up!
>
> - Ian
>
>
> > On 30 May 2025, at 17:00, rescue-request at sunhelp.org wrote:
> >
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> > Today's Topics:
> >
> > 1. Re: SPARCstation 1 boot woes (David McMackins II)
> > 2. Re: SPARCstation 1 boot woes (Ethan Hawke)
> > 3. Re: SPARCstation 1 boot woes (Dave McGuire)
> >
> >
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Message: 1
> > Date: Thu, 29 May 2025 19:02:48 -0500
> > From: David McMackins II <contact at mcmackins.org>
> > To: The Rescue List <rescue at sunhelp.org>
> > Subject: Re: [rescue] SPARCstation 1 boot woes
> > Message-ID:
> > <4cf65b5d64a5c9c9ea6df43332429d2bce8de31f.camel at mcmackins.org>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
> >
> > > > It's definitely v1.0. I set up MAME to emulate a 4/60 with the
> > > > above-mentioned ROM, it came up fine, and the banner said 1.0. I
> > > > think you're probably ok to try this with your last chip.
> >
> > So a little while ago I got out my ROM programmer (whose box in which I
> > also store my PROMs) and noticed that I in fact had two! So I went
> > ahead and programmed one with that image I found. Unfortunately, this
> > did not turn out as I'd hoped.
> >
> > Despite having already programmed the NVRAM, I saw a message on the
> > serial line that the checksum was bad and that it was resetting to
> > default values, after which it never seemed to do anything else. I then
> > decided to try removing the battery to erase it and try again. The same
> > thing happened, but this time I got a message about starting the RTC as
> > well.
> >
> > At this point, upon powering up the machine, nothing seems to happen
> > and I get no messages on the serial line. Occasionally, I will see the
> > connected monitor display a message that it's going into power-saving
> > mode, which indicates that it got just a flicker of signal. I did also
> > try disconnecting the keyboard in case there were messages it was
> > trying to display on screen. I should point out that on the 2.9 ROM, I
> > was getting a picture on the screen and able to interact from the
> > keyboard.
> >
> > I suppose it's possible that after those initial messages, it's still
> > outputting over serial but at a different data rate for some reason,
> > but that seems unlikely to me. This is beginning to seem more like a
> > hardware issue after all.
> >
> > --
> > Regards,
> >
> > David E. McMackins II
> > www.mcmackins.org
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------
> >
> > Message: 2
> > Date: Fri, 30 May 2025 10:37:14 +1000
> > From: Ethan Hawke <ehawk at ember.systems>
> > To: The Rescue List <rescue at sunhelp.org>
> > Subject: Re: [rescue] SPARCstation 1 boot woes
> > Message-ID: <a7ac9c35-81cc-47ea-97c1-9f25ffcb2c33 at ember.systems>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"; Format="flowed"
> >
> > There is indeed, I created just such a tool for someone else,
> >
> > https://ember.systems/eprom_dumpv2.b
> >
> > This will dump the (sun4c/sun4m/sun4d/sun4e) PROM over XMODEM.
> >
> > You can boot the file over TFTP or even over serial (with dlbin).
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Ethan
> >
> > On 5/30/25 05:27, Todd Vernon via rescue wrote:
> > > > Is there a way to read the EPROM into a file without using the
> > > > burner?? If so, I could get the 1.0 OBP version pretty quick.
> > > >
> > > > -t
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Todd Vernon
> > > > Entrepreneur | Investor
> > > > Email: todd at toddvernon.com
> > > > LinkedIn: toddvernon <https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddvernon/>
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On May 29, 2025 at 1:22:04 PM, Dave McGuire via rescue
> > > > <rescue at sunhelp.org> wrote:
> > > > >> On 5/29/25 11:26, David McMackins II wrote:
> > > > > > >>>> ???We have an SS1 running on exhibit at LSSM.? The next time I'm over
> > > > > > >>>> there (which may be tonight) I'll start it up and see what revision of
> > > > > > >>>> OBP that machine has, and if it's 1.x, I'll read the EPROM for you.
> > > > > >>>
> > > > > >>> Wonderful! I would kindly request on behalf of others that you dump the
> > > > > >>> EPROM even if it is a different 2.x version, because 2.9 is the only
> > > > > >>> one that seems to be available on the web. These old boot images seem
> > > > > >>> to be at risk of becoming lost media. I'm happy to upload it to the
> > > > > >>> Internet Archive if you don't want to do that yourself. :)
> > > > >>
> > > > >> ??I had a few minutes so I ran over to the museum. (it's down the
> > > > >> street from where I work) ?The SPARCstation-1 on exhibit there is
> > > > >> actually an SS1+ with an SS1 top cover, which annoyed me a bit; I'm
> > > > >> going to have to have a little chat with the guy who built that exhibit.
> > > > >> ?I'll change it out at some point.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> ??But either way, it has OBP v1.3.? I should be able to open up that
> > > > >> machine and read the EPROM this weekend.? But something from a "real"
> > > > >> SS1 will take me a bit longer.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> ???????????-Dave
> > > > >>
> > > > >> --
> > > > >> Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
> > > > >> New Kensington, PA
> > > > >>
> > > > >> _______________________________________________
> > > > >> rescue list - http://sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue_sunhelp.org
> > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > rescue list -http://sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue_sunhelp.org
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> >
> > ------------------------------
> >
> > Message: 3
> > Date: Thu, 29 May 2025 21:13:06 -0400
> > From: Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com>
> > To: The Rescue List <rescue at sunhelp.org>
> > Subject: Re: [rescue] SPARCstation 1 boot woes
> > Message-ID: <307c9369-0736-41ff-9567-eac12c830e44 at neurotica.com>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
> >
> >
> > Oh! That's handy. That would be interesting to read; do you plan to
> > release the source code?
> >
> > -Dave
> >
> > On 5/29/25 20:37, Ethan Hawke via rescue wrote:
> > > > There is indeed, I created just such a tool for someone else,
> > > >
> > > > https://ember.systems/eprom_dumpv2.b
> > > >
> > > > This will dump the (sun4c/sun4m/sun4d/sun4e) PROM over XMODEM.
> > > >
> > > > You can boot the file over TFTP or even over serial (with dlbin).
> > > >
> > > > Cheers,
> > > > Ethan
> > > >
> > > > On 5/30/25 05:27, Todd Vernon via rescue wrote:
> > > > >> Is there a way to read the EPROM into a file without using the
> > > > >> burner?? If so, I could get the 1.0 OBP version pretty quick.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> -t
> > > > >>
> > > > >>
> > > > >> Todd Vernon
> > > > >> Entrepreneur | Investor
> > > > >> Email: todd at toddvernon.com
> > > > >> LinkedIn: toddvernon <https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddvernon/>
> > > > >>
> > > > >>
> > > > >> On May 29, 2025 at 1:22:04 PM, Dave McGuire via rescue
> > > > >> <rescue at sunhelp.org> wrote:
> > > > > >>> On 5/29/25 11:26, David McMackins II wrote:
> > > > > > > >>>>> ???We have an SS1 running on exhibit at LSSM.? The next time I'm over
> > > > > > > >>>>> there (which may be tonight) I'll start it up and see what revision of
> > > > > > > >>>>> OBP that machine has, and if it's 1.x, I'll read the EPROM for you.
> > > > > > >>>>
> > > > > > >>>> Wonderful! I would kindly request on behalf of others that you dump the
> > > > > > >>>> EPROM even if it is a different 2.x version, because 2.9 is the only
> > > > > > >>>> one that seems to be available on the web. These old boot images seem
> > > > > > >>>> to be at risk of becoming lost media. I'm happy to upload it to the
> > > > > > >>>> Internet Archive if you don't want to do that yourself. :)
> > > > > >>>
> > > > > >>> ??I had a few minutes so I ran over to the museum. (it's down the
> > > > > >>> street from where I work) ?The SPARCstation-1 on exhibit there is
> > > > > >>> actually an SS1+ with an SS1 top cover, which annoyed me a bit; I'm
> > > > > >>> going to have to have a little chat with the guy who built that exhibit.
> > > > > >>> ?I'll change it out at some point.
> > > > > >>>
> > > > > >>> ??But either way, it has OBP v1.3.? I should be able to open up that
> > > > > >>> machine and read the EPROM this weekend.? But something from a "real"
> > > > > >>> SS1 will take me a bit longer.
> > > > > >>>
> > > > > >>> ???????????-Dave
> > > > > >>>
> > > > > >>> --
> > > > > >>> Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
> > > > > >>> New Kensington, PA
> > > > > >>>
> > > > > >>> _______________________________________________
> > > > > >>> rescue list - http://sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue_sunhelp.org
> > > > >>
> > > > >> _______________________________________________
> > > > >> rescue list -http://sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue_sunhelp.org
> > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > rescue list - http://sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue_sunhelp.org
> >
> >
> > --
> > Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
> > New Kensington, PA
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------
> >
> > Subject: Digest Footer
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> >
> > ------------------------------
> >
> > End of rescue Digest, Vol 270, Issue 19
> > ***************************************
>
>
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