jcmiller@hydra.unm.edu (Jeff Miller) (09/07/90)
I have had this repetitive problem with my SGI 4d/20 system that I am rebuilding. Every time I try to boot, cold-start or reboot the system, I get the following sequence of events: (Actually, I usually get just the error message, with some or all of the other stuff. The following is what I always get after powerup) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Console DUART test PASSED Memory walking bit test PASSED Memory address uniqueness test PASSED Non-volatile RAM checksum is incorrect: Initializing the non-volatile RAM parameters. Interrupt mask registers test PASSED Graphics subsystem test PASSED Non-volatile RAM checksum is incorrect: Initializing the non-volatile RAM parameters. ---------------------------------------------------------------- I suspected that the problem might be a low lithium battery, but my DVM quickly cleared up that question. Besides, my clock keeps *perfect* time, even with the power off for 2-3 days (more, perhaps, but that is about as long as I care to leave it off 8-) I suppose that this could be a software problem, since I have not been able to find any information about how to initialize the NVRAM in the limitted number of manuals that I own. My problem is that the system keeps telling me that it is, "Initializing the non-volatile RAM parameters," and yet the system complains that the parameters have not been initialized. A friend said that the problem might be a bad NVRAM chip on the motherboard. Can someone tell me whether or not the NVRAM is really an EEPROM or just simply a battery-backed CMOS static RAM? Perhaps it is combined with the clock/calendar chip, as it is with some of Motorola's clock chips. (The clock chip in my system happens to be made by National Semiconductors --> DP8572AN <-- I have no spec sheet on it...) Any comments, solutions, remarks, etc. would be GREATLY appreciated! jcmiller@hydra.unm.edu
wiltse@sgi.com (Wiltse Carpenter) (09/08/90)
In article <1990Sep7.071805.22982@ariel.unm.edu> jcmiller@hydra.unm.edu (Jeff Miller) writes: > > I have had this repetitive problem with my SGI 4d/20 system that >I am rebuilding. > : >Non-volatile RAM checksum is incorrect: Initializing the non-volatile > RAM parameters. > > I suspected that the problem might be a low lithium battery, but The battery powers only the time of day clock and does not affect the non-volatile ram (an EEPROM). > A friend said that the problem might be a bad NVRAM chip on the >motherboard. The non-volatile ram is actually on a small pc board with the reset button connected to the motherboard by a small ribbon cable. It contains some of the stuff that gets printed when you do a ``printenv'' from the PROM's manual mode prompt (e.g. bootfile) and generally gets set with the setenv command from the same prompt. It also contains the Ethernet address so that switching electronics modules does not change the machine's address. > Any comments, solutions, remarks, etc. would be GREATLY > appreciated! Perhaps the little cable is disconnected (try typing eaddr in the PROM to see if your Enet address looks reasonable), or maybe the EEPROM is bad. -Wiltse