Hi all,

While trying to figure out what was causing SCSI errors on my Ultra 2
(in the end I think it was a faulty CD writer), I changed the
following settings at the "ok" prompt:

diag-level = max
diag-switch? = true

Then I restarted the machine and left it switched on for a couple of
hours without getting any output on the screen. Apparently under these
settings it chooses to boot from the network, which is annoying as I
don't have one available.

To get the machine working again I borrowed an NVRAM chip from a
broken machine. But I think the battery in this chip is failing. Does
anyone know how to reset the values to defaults in order to make the
first chip usable again? I don't have a spare machine or a null modem
cable at the moment.

Suggestions would be appreciated.

Best wishes,

Chris Tidy

Christopher Tidy skrev:
> Hi all,
>
> While trying to figure out what was causing SCSI errors on my Ultra 2
> (in the end I think it was a faulty CD writer), I changed the
> following settings at the "ok" prompt:
>
> diag-level = max
> diag-switch? = true
>
> Then I restarted the machine and left it switched on for a couple of
> hours without getting any output on the screen. Apparently under these
> settings it chooses to boot from the network, which is annoying as I
> don't have one available.
>
> To get the machine working again I borrowed an NVRAM chip from a
> broken machine. But I think the battery in this chip is failing. Does
> anyone know how to reset the values to defaults in order to make the
> first chip usable again? I don't have a spare machine or a null modem
> cable at the moment.
>
> Suggestions would be appreciated.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Chris Tidy
>

break?

should pop you to the OBP prompt...
then you can undo your changes or reset the values

/Johan A

Christopher Tidy wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> While trying to figure out what was causing SCSI errors on my Ultra 2
> (in the end I think it was a faulty CD writer), I changed the
> following settings at the "ok" prompt:
>
> diag-level = max
> diag-switch? = true
>
> Then I restarted the machine and left it switched on for a couple of
> hours without getting any output on the screen. Apparently under these
> settings it chooses to boot from the network, which is annoying as I
> don't have one available.
>
> To get the machine working again I borrowed an NVRAM chip from a
> broken machine. But I think the battery in this chip is failing. Does
> anyone know how to reset the values to defaults in order to make the
> first chip usable again? I don't have a spare machine or a null modem
> cable at the moment.
>
> Suggestions would be appreciated.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Chris Tidy
>


Power it off, then press Stop-N and power it on, while holding down the
Stop and N keys. Sometimes it has not worked for me, so I did it 2 or 3
times. But I think you must power it on in that state.

--
Dave (from the UK)

Please note my email address changes periodically to avoid spam.
It is always of the form: month-year@althorne.org
Hitting reply will work for a few months only - later set it manually.

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On Feb 20, 9:11 pm, "Christopher Tidy" <christopher.t...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> While trying to figure out what was causing SCSI errors on my Ultra 2
> (in the end I think it was a faulty CD writer), I changed the
> following settings at the "ok" prompt:
>
> diag-level = max
> diag-switch? = true
>
> Then I restarted the machine and left it switched on for a couple of
> hours without getting any output on the screen. Apparently under these
> settings it chooses to boot from the network, which is annoying as I
> don't have one available.

I suspect that you need to connect something to the serial port to see
what is going on & to interrupt things. My memory is a bit vague but
I think that diagnostic stuff always happens there. Certainly if you
see *no* output then there's something odd going on, because if it
tries and fails to boot from the net you should see that happening:
hence my suspicion that it's talking to the serial port.

--tim

Christopher Tidy wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> While trying to figure out what was causing SCSI errors on my Ultra 2
> (in the end I think it was a faulty CD writer), I changed the
> following settings at the "ok" prompt:
>
> diag-level = max
> diag-switch? = true
>
> Then I restarted the machine and left it switched on for a couple of
> hours without getting any output on the screen. Apparently under these
> settings it chooses to boot from the network, which is annoying as I
> don't have one available.
>
> To get the machine working again I borrowed an NVRAM chip from a
> broken machine. But I think the battery in this chip is failing. Does
> anyone know how to reset the values to defaults in order to make the
> first chip usable again? I don't have a spare machine or a null modem
> cable at the moment.
>
> Suggestions would be appreciated.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Chris Tidy
>

Setting diag-switch? = true; on reboot it follows the path in
diag-device= by default it is net.
Set it to disk or whatever boot-device is.

Setting diag-switch? back to false and it will boot from boot-device.

Bill

On Feb 22, 4:09 am, Bill Goodridge <billg...@nyc.rr.com> wrote:
> Christopher Tidy wrote:
> > Hi all,
>
> > While trying to figure out what was causing SCSI errors on my Ultra 2
> > (in the end I think it was a faulty CD writer), I changed the
> > following settings at the "ok" prompt:
>
> > diag-level = max
> > diag-switch? = true
>
> > Then I restarted the machine and left it switched on for a couple of
> > hours without getting any output on the screen. Apparently under these
> > settings it chooses to boot from the network, which is annoying as I
> > don't have one available.
>
> > To get the machine working again I borrowed an NVRAM chip from a
> > broken machine. But I think the battery in this chip is failing. Does
> > anyone know how to reset the values to defaults in order to make the
> > first chip usable again? I don't have a spare machine or a null modem
> > cable at the moment.
>
> > Suggestions would be appreciated.
>
> > Best wishes,
>
> > Chris Tidy
>
> Setting diag-switch? = true; on reboot it follows the path in
> diag-device= by default it is net.
> Set it to disk or whatever boot-device is.
>
> Setting diag-switch? back to false and it will boot from boot-device.
>
> Bill

The question is, how do I do that with no output on the monitor?

Best wishes,

Chris

On Feb 21, 2:04 am, "Dave (from the UK)" <see-my-
signat...@southminster-branch-line.org.uk> wrote:
> Christopher Tidy wrote:
> > Hi all,
>
> > While trying to figure out what was causing SCSI errors on my Ultra 2
> > (in the end I think it was a faulty CD writer), I changed the
> > following settings at the "ok" prompt:
>
> > diag-level = max
> > diag-switch? = true
>
> > Then I restarted the machine and left it switched on for a couple of
> > hours without getting any output on the screen. Apparently under these
> > settings it chooses to boot from the network, which is annoying as I
> > don't have one available.
>
> > To get the machine working again I borrowed an NVRAM chip from a
> > broken machine. But I think the battery in this chip is failing. Does
> > anyone know how to reset the values to defaults in order to make the
> > first chip usable again? I don't have a spare machine or a null modem
> > cable at the moment.
>
> > Suggestions would be appreciated.
>
> > Best wishes,
>
> > Chris Tidy
>
> Power it off, then press Stop-N and power it on, while holding down the
> Stop and N keys. Sometimes it has not worked for me, so I did it 2 or 3
> times. But I think you must power it on in that state.
>
> --
> Dave (from the UK)

That sounds like a good solution, Dave. I'll try it tomorrow.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Sorry I've taken a while to reply.
I've had a hectic week.

Best wishes,

Chris

Christopher Tidy wrote:
> On Feb 22, 4:09 am, Bill Goodridge <billg...@nyc.rr.com> wrote:
>> Christopher Tidy wrote:
>>> Hi all,
>>> While trying to figure out what was causing SCSI errors on my Ultra 2
>>> (in the end I think it was a faulty CD writer), I changed the
>>> following settings at the "ok" prompt:
>>> diag-level = max
>>> diag-switch? = true
>>> Then I restarted the machine and left it switched on for a couple of
>>> hours without getting any output on the screen. Apparently under these
>>> settings it chooses to boot from the network, which is annoying as I
>>> don't have one available.
>>> To get the machine working again I borrowed an NVRAM chip from a
>>> broken machine. But I think the battery in this chip is failing. Does
>>> anyone know how to reset the values to defaults in order to make the
>>> first chip usable again? I don't have a spare machine or a null modem
>>> cable at the moment.
>>> Suggestions would be appreciated.
>>> Best wishes,
>>> Chris Tidy
>> Setting diag-switch? = true; on reboot it follows the path in
>> diag-device= by default it is net.
>> Set it to disk or whatever boot-device is.
>>
>> Setting diag-switch? back to false and it will boot from boot-device.
>>
>> Bill
>
> The question is, how do I do that with no output on the monitor?
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Chris
>

Re-install the original chip and use stop-A
If stop-A does not drop the display into the ok prompt, you will need
to use the serial port.

Bill

<snip>

> Power it off, then press Stop-N and power it on, while holding down the
> Stop and N keys. Sometimes it has not worked for me, so I did it 2 or 3
> times. But I think you must power it on in that state.

Thanks a lot, Dave. Stop-N worked first time for me.

Best wishes,

Chris