RS6k 7012/320H woes
Since RS6K systems have been mentioned recently, I thought I should ask for advice. I have a Powerserver 320H with 32MB of RAM, an 8-port async EIA-232 adapter, a SCSI adapter and a 400MB HD. No framebuffer or keyboard; no LAN card. Because of the last issue, I haven't tried to do much with it. I tried getting it to talk on the serial console (Serial 1 connector in the back), following all the advice I found on the net: The pinout of the MODU serial connector, the null modem cable with full handshake (also driving the DCD line in the 320H). I turn it on in service mode, and it spits a lot of LED codes, finds the HD, spins it up and it apparently loads something (I suppose AIX) from it. But nothing is ever sent out on the serial 1 port, or any other serial port. I believe that during the POST it fails to initialize the serial 1 and 2 ports, because the 320H's DTR and RTS lines are never asserted (the ports in the async RS232 card do assert these on power up, but they are equally silent). I made sure that the CTS, DSR and DCD inputs of the 320H are being driven by the external terminal. I made a video of the LED codes during POST and found some problems; here are the codes and their meaning: 120 BIST starting a CRC check on the 8752 EPROM. 122 BIST started a CRC check on the first 32K bytes of the OCS EPROM. 124 BIST started a CRC check on the OCS area of NVRAM. 130 BIST presence test started. 101 BIST started following reset. 153 BIST started ACLST test code. 154 BIST started AST test code. 100 BIST completed successfully; control was passed to IPL ROS. 211 IPL ROM CRC comparison error (irrecoverable). !!! 214 Power status register failed (irrecoverable). !!! 218 RAM POST is looking for good memory. 219 RAM POST bit map is being generated. 290 IOCC POST error (irrecoverable). !!! 291 Standard I/O POST running. 252 Attempting a Service mode IPL from 7012 DBA disk-attached devices specified in IPL ROM Default Device List. 253 Attempting a Service mode IPL from SCSI-attached devices specified in the IPL ROM Default Device List. 299 IPL ROM passed control to the loaded program code. 814 NVRAM being identified or configured. 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration method. 813 Battery for time-of-day, NVRAM, and so on being identified or configured, or system I/O control logic being identified or configured. 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration method. 520 Bus configuration running. 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration method. 869 SCSI adapter being identified or configured. 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration method. 954 400MB SCSI disk drive being identified or configured. 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration method. 539 The configuration method has terminated, and control has returned to the configuration manager. 551 IPL varyon is running. 553 IPL phase 1 is complete. The code 290 above is particularly worrysome, I think. The NVRAM battery reads 2.85 volts even after all these years. I reseated all of the chips that are on bases, all of the cards, and connectors; there was no change. Any ideas on how to proceed? carlos.
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
On Tue, Nov 6, 2018, 17:30 Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org wrote: > The code 290 above is particularly worrysome, I think. The NVRAM > battery reads 2.85 volts even after all these years. I reseated all of > the chips that are on bases, all of the cards, and connectors; there was > no change. Any ideas on how to proceed? > > carlos. > I wouldn't worry about any of the bad-sounding codes. How long have you waited? A model 320 is REALLY slow for an RS/6000, and you should get more codes as AIX boots up, and it should eventually clear the display once it's finished booting. Codes are only errors if the system doesn't advance past the code after more than several minutes. Also, the system won't send anything to the console port until well into the boot process, so no output doesn't mean that the serial port is dead. That's what the LED display is for. :) If you've waited at least 10-15 minutes after the last code it displayed, it sounds like you may need to reinstall, or maybe you have a failing or missing hard drive. I'd suggest finding a SCSI CDROM drive for it and get a copy of AIX install media. Note that you *need* install media or another system to rescue a machine with a lost root password, so I'd recommend that anyway. Earlier machines like the 320H would have originally done this off of 8mm tape, but I wouldn't recommend trying that since CD-ROMs are way easier. 10Mb Ethernet cards, compatible CD-ROM drives, and a copy of the media shouldn't be too hard to find. I'm sure someone here or over on the Sunhelp rescue list will be able to help you. If you're in the US, I know a few people here could source you parts. Pat >
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
Those code you highlighted are only a problem if it halts on that code if it continues on then its ok, in fact it is finding something to boot off of 299 means that it has loaded the bootable code from somewhere, in your case likely the disk and has transferred control to it. Do you know if this machine ever had a graphics card of some kind installed? if so then it would likely have been defined as the console, if not then it may be a matter of finding out which serial ports where set up as TTYs. If the disk does in fact have AIX installed on it you will only see activity on ports that have a getty running on them. Do you have anything like diagnostic diskette or original install media you could boot from? Either one of those would check all the serial ports for a terminal. The RS/6000 is very picky about the serial connections and does want to see certain signals present before it will talk to a serial port. Search for the manual "Adapters Devices and Cabling Information for Microchannel Systems" near the back there is a section about cabling pay attention to the device called printer/terminal interposer there is a wiring diagram, it is effectively a null modem. Another potentially useful manual is "Diagnostic Information for Microchannel Systems" There are equivalent manuals for the early PCI systems as well substitute "Multibus" for Microchannel" Paul. On 2018-11-06 6:29 PM, Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez via cctalk wrote: Since RS6K systems have been mentioned recently, I thought I should ask for advice. I have a Powerserver 320H with 32MB of RAM, an 8-port async EIA-232 adapter, a SCSI adapter and a 400MB HD. No framebuffer or keyboard; no LAN card. Because of the last issue, I haven't tried to do much with it. I tried getting it to talk on the serial console (Serial 1 connector in the back), following all the advice I found on the net: The pinout of the MODU serial connector, the null modem cable with full handshake (also driving the DCD line in the 320H). I turn it on in service mode, and it spits a lot of LED codes, finds the HD, spins it up and it apparently loads something (I suppose AIX) from it. But nothing is ever sent out on the serial 1 port, or any other serial port. I believe that during the POST it fails to initialize the serial 1 and 2 ports, because the 320H's DTR and RTS lines are never asserted (the ports in the async RS232 card do assert these on power up, but they are equally silent). I made sure that the CTS, DSR and DCD inputs of the 320H are being driven by the external terminal. I made a video of the LED codes during POST and found some problems; here are the codes and their meaning: 120 BIST starting a CRC check on the 8752 EPROM. 122 BIST started a CRC check on the first 32K bytes of the OCS EPROM. 124 BIST started a CRC check on the OCS area of NVRAM. 130 BIST presence test started. 101 BIST started following reset. 153 BIST started ACLST test code. 154 BIST started AST test code. 100 BIST completed successfully; control was passed to IPL ROS. 211 IPL ROM CRC comparison error (irrecoverable). !!! 214 Power status register failed (irrecoverable). !!! 218 RAM POST is looking for good memory. 219 RAM POST bit map is being generated. 290 IOCC POST error (irrecoverable). !!! 291 Standard I/O POST running. 252 Attempting a Service mode IPL from 7012 DBA disk-attached devices specified in IPL ROM Default Device List. 253 Attempting a Service mode IPL from SCSI-attached devices specified in the IPL ROM Default Device List. 299 IPL ROM passed control to the loaded program code. 814 NVRAM being identified or configured. 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration method. 813 Battery for time-of-day, NVRAM, and so on being identified or configured, or system I/O control logic being identified or configured. 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration method. 520 Bus configuration running. 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration method. 869 SCSI adapter being identified or configured. 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration method. 954 400MB SCSI disk drive being identified or configured. 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration method. 539 The configuration method has terminated, and control has returned to the configuration manager. 551 IPL varyon is running. 553 IPL phase 1 is complete. The code 290 above is particularly worrysome, I think. The NVRAM battery reads 2.85 volts even after all these years. I reseated all of the chips that are on bases, all of the cards, and connectors; there was no change. Any ideas on how to proceed? carlos.
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
Paul Berger via cctalk wrote: Those code you highlighted are only a problem if it halts on that code if it continues on then its ok, in fact it is finding something to boot off of 299 means that it has loaded the bootable code from somewhere, in your case likely the disk and has transferred control to it. Do you know if this machine ever had a graphics card of some kind installed? if so then it would likely have been defined as the console, if not then it may be a matter of finding out which serial ports where set up as TTYs. If the disk does in fact have AIX installed on it you will only see activity on ports that have a getty running on them. Do you have anything like diagnostic diskette or original install media you could boot from? Either one of those would check all the serial ports for a terminal. The RS/6000 is very picky about the serial connections and does want to see certain signals present before it will talk to a serial port. Search for the manual "Adapters Devices and Cabling Information for Microchannel Systems" near the back there is a section about cabling pay attention to the device called printer/terminal interposer there is a wiring diagram, it is effectively a null modem. Another potentially useful manual is "Diagnostic Information for Microchannel Systems" There are equivalent manuals for the early PCI systems as well substitute "Multibus" for Microchannel" Since it does not stop after the "290 IOCC POST error (irrecoverable)." code, then perhaps there's hope. I made diagnostic diskettes from images that I found on the net, and the system reads the diskette on power up, but after a while it goes back to reading the HD instead. When it reads the diskette it does not sound like it fails to seek or read, but it is possible that the diskette was not written correctly. As for the null modem cable, I actually tried several schemes in an RS-232 break-out box, but none worked. Just silence, and most important, no assertion of the DTR or RTS lines on the part of the 320H, even when CTS, DCD and DSR are being asserted from my terminal. I am pretty sure that this machine was always headless; it was used for accounting and inventory in a small business and all it had was terminals, a printer, and the tape drive. If it seems like it can be revived, perhaps I will invest in a LAN card for it. My only experience with AIX was as a user in a big SP system at Cornell in the 90's; I loved it, but it was only from a user's perspective, not an admin. Carlos.
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
On 11/06/2018 05:39 PM, Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez via cctalk wrote: As for the null modem cable, I actually tried several schemes in an RS-232 break-out box, but none worked. Are you connecting a computer to act as a client? Or are you actually connecting a (dumb) terminal? -- Grant. . . . unix || die
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
On 2018-11-06 8:39 PM, Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez via cctalk wrote: Paul Berger via cctalk wrote: are equivalent manuals for the early PCI systems as well substitute "Multibus" for Microchannel" Since it does not stop after the "290 IOCC POST error (irrecoverable)." code, then perhaps there's hope. I made diagnostic diskettes from images that I found on the net, and the system reads the diskette on power up, but after a while it goes back to reading the HD instead. When it reads the diskette it does not sound like it fails to seek or read, but it is possible that the diskette was not written correctly. As for the null modem cable, I actually tried several schemes in an RS-232 break-out box, but none worked. Just silence, and most important, no assertion of the DTR or RTS lines on the part of the 320H, even when CTS, DCD and DSR are being asserted from my terminal. I am pretty sure that this machine was always headless; it was used for accounting and inventory in a small business and all it had was terminals, a printer, and the tape drive. If it seems like it can be revived, perhaps I will invest in a LAN card for it. My only experience with AIX was as a user in a big SP system at Cornell in the 90's; I loved it, but it was only from a user's perspective, not an admin. Carlos. For loading the diagnostic from diskettes diskettes see the section "running diagnostic program from diskette" in the previously mentioned "Diagnostic Information for Microchannel Systems" the key switch has to be in the service (wrench) position insert the appropriate boot diskette there are two 8MB of memory and >16MB of memory turn on power and after the self test it should start reading the diskette and when it finishes it will display C01 to prompt for the next diskette if that does not happen either the image is bad or there is a problem with the diskette drive. There is a reasonable good chance that there is an issue with the diskette drive, especially if it was sitting on a carpeted floor. Typically the diskette drive was rarely used and the fans in the system will draw air in through the diskette drive carrying all kinds of contamination with it, you may want to open the drive up and clean it out and clean the heads. It is very likely that the diskette drive in the machine has the power lines in the ribbon cable instead of a separate power connector making replacements hard to find. As for the serial there is only one scenario that works fully pined cables with a null modem that matches the wiring of the printer terminal interposer. I don't think that an ethernet card is going to be a big help if you want to use the AIX that is on the disk as you have no way of configuring the ethernet network unless you can get a terminal working. Another roadblock may be the root password, it is possible to break in when you have physical access to the machine however you still need a terminal and you also need original install media at the same level of AIX or a mksysb backup tape from the same level of AIX to boot into maintenance mode. The original install media for a machine of this vintage would have been a tape or lots and lots of diskettes. Getting diagnostics to work would be a really good start. The AIX on the SP2 would have been the same, in fact the hardware on the SP2 nodes was similar to the regular RS/6000 boxes except the console was through a special serial network in the frame and accessed through the control workstation. Most regular users likely accessed the nodes through a LAN. Paul.
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
> Getting diagnostics to work would be a really good start. I may have install media and diagnostic disks for the 320H kicking around. > The AIX on the SP2 would have been the same, in fact the hardware on the > SP2 nodes was similar to the regular RS/6000 boxes except the console > was through a special serial network in the frame and accessed through > the control workstation. Most regular users likely accessed the nodes > through a LAN. Someday I would like an SP or SP2 system. What was the internal network on the original SP machines? Did they use that weird forgotten optical port the first generation RS/6000s had? -- Will
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
Grant Taylor via cctalk wrote: On 11/06/2018 05:39 PM, Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez via cctalk wrote: As for the null modem cable, I actually tried several schemes in an RS-232 break-out box, but none worked. Are you connecting a computer to act as a client? Or are you actually connecting a (dumb) terminal I am actually connecting a Macbook Pro with Serial.app (worth the $$$) and a USB-RS232 adapter; this has worked fine with many kinds of hardware. The only real terminals that I have are a vt220 and two IBM 3151's that actually came with this system. carlos.
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
Grant Taylor via cctalk wrote: On 11/06/2018 05:39 PM, Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez via cctalk wrote: As for the null modem cable, I actually tried several schemes in an RS-232 break-out box, but none worked. Are you connecting a computer to act as a client? Or are you actually connecting a (dumb) terminal I am actually using a Macbook Pro with Serial.app (worth the $$$) and an USB-RS232 adapter; this has worked fine with many kinds of hardware. The only real terminals that I own are a VT220 and two IBM 3151's that actually came with this system; all of them are functional. carlos.
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
Paul Berger via cctalk wrote: For loading the diagnostic from diskettes diskettes see the section "running diagnostic program from diskette" in the previously mentioned "Diagnostic Information for Microchannel Systems" the key switch has to be in the service (wrench) position insert the appropriate boot diskette there are two 8MB of memory and >16MB of memory turn on power and after the self test it should start reading the diskette and when it finishes it will display C01 to prompt for the next diskette if that does not happen either the image is bad or there is a problem with the diskette drive. There is a reasonable good chance that there is an issue with the diskette drive, especially if it was sitting on a carpeted floor. Typically the diskette drive was rarely used and the fans in the system will draw air in through the diskette drive carrying all kinds of contamination with it, you may want to open the drive up and clean it out and clean the heads. It is very likely that the diskette drive in the machine has the power lines in the ribbon cable instead of a separate power connector making replacements hard to find. As for the serial there is only one scenario that works fully pined cables with a null modem that matches the wiring of the printer terminal interposer. I don't think that an ethernet card is going to be a big help if you want to use the AIX that is on the disk as you have no way of configuring the ethernet network unless you can get a terminal working. Another roadblock may be the root password, it is possible to break in when you have physical access to the machine however you still need a terminal and you also need original install media at the same level of AIX or a mksysb backup tape from the same level of AIX to boot into maintenance mode. The original install media for a machine of this vintage would have been a tape or lots and lots of diskettes. Getting diagnostics to work would be a really good start. The AIX on the SP2 would have been the same, in fact the hardware on the SP2 nodes was similar to the regular RS/6000 boxes except the console was through a special serial network in the frame and accessed through the control workstation. Most regular users likely accessed the nodes through a LAN. Paul. Thank you, I'll double check the null cable and clean the diskette drive. The diagnostics disk's images that I found are simply labeled "AIX diagnostics" with four 1.44MB images named disk1-disk4; there is no mention of different versions according to RAM size. I suppose that if I wanted to reset the root password I could mount the HD on another system, bvi the raw disk, look for the "root:" string and edit the next few bytes... but right now it seems like the AIX installation in that disk is hosed anyway. We did connect via LAN to Cornell's SP2. I loved that everything just worked. Later, Cornell retired that system and replaced it with an NT Velocity cluster. The user experience was nowhere near as good. carlos.
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
On 2018-11-06 10:58 PM, Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez via cctalk wrote: Grant Taylor via cctalk wrote: On 11/06/2018 05:39 PM, Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez via cctalk wrote: As for the null modem cable, I actually tried several schemes in an RS-232 break-out box, but none worked. Are you connecting a computer to act as a client? Or are you actually connecting a (dumb) terminal I am actually connecting a Macbook Pro with Serial.app (worth the $$$) and a USB-RS232 adapter; this has worked fine with many kinds of hardware. The only real terminals that I have are a vt220 and two IBM 3151's that actually came with this system. carlos. You might try one of the 3151 they are known to work. for diagnostics set comm parms to 9600,N,8,1 Paul.
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
On Wed, Nov 7, 2018 at 12:58 AM Patrick Finnegan via cctalk wrote: > > Earlier machines like the 320H would have originally done this off of 8mm > tape, but I wouldn't recommend trying that since CD-ROMs are way easier. > 10Mb Ethernet cards, compatible CD-ROM drives, and a copy of the media > shouldn't be too hard to find. I'm sure someone here or over on the > Sunhelp rescue list will be able to help you. If you're in the US, I know > a few people here could source you parts. > I had a couple of 7012-320 and 7012-320H a few years ago that I couldn't give away locally and ended up taking them to a recycler. While I had them I did get around to doing clean installs of AIX V3.2.5 from tape. Not 8mm, I used QIC DC6150 tapes. I probably still have that set of 5 or 6 V3.2.5 installation tapes around, but not the external tape drive I used at the time.
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
Paul Berger via cctalk wrote: The AIX on the SP2 would have been the same, in fact the hardware on the SP2 nodes was similar to the regular RS/6000 boxes except the console was through a special serial network in the frame and accessed through the control workstation. Most regular users likely accessed the nodes through a LAN. Paul. So, if I were to hunt for installation media for AIX, which version would you recommend for a 320H with 32MB of memory, i.e., the latest that would run and not get too bogged down by that amount of memory? I can switch to a larger SCSI disk if it need be, but hopefully not larger than 2GB. Carlos.
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
On 2018-11-07 8:57 PM, Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez via cctalk wrote: Paul Berger via cctalk wrote: The AIX on the SP2 would have been the same, in fact the hardware on the SP2 nodes was similar to the regular RS/6000 boxes except the console was through a special serial network in the frame and accessed through the control workstation. Most regular users likely accessed the nodes through a LAN. Paul. So, if I were to hunt for installation media for AIX, which version would you recommend for a 320H with 32MB of memory, i.e., the latest that would run and not get too bogged down by that amount of memory? I can switch to a larger SCSI disk if it need be, but hopefully not larger than 2GB. Carlos. I am no longer sure when support for microchannel was dropped from AIX, I have always been on the hardware side with limited involvement with software. Doing a quick look it would seem that it is likely that some level of version 5 was the last one. Version 6.1 was 64 bit only and required a POWER4 or later processor. Paul.
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
On Wed, Nov 7, 2018 at 7:57 PM Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > So, if I were to hunt for installation media for AIX, which version > would you recommend for a 320H with 32MB of memory, i.e., the latest > that would run and not get too bogged down by that amount of memory? I > can switch to a larger SCSI disk if it need be, but hopefully not larger > than 2GB. > > 5.1L should work on anything given enough RAM, though it might be a bit tight with only 32MB of RAM. 4.3.3 might work better with that amount of RAM. I know that 5.2 dropped support for Microchannel systems, so you'll need something before that. Pat
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
Technically, anything up to 5.1L should run on a 320H. 2GB of disk is plenty ;) With 32MB 5.1 is probably a bit of a stretch, but 4.2.1 or 4.3.3 should run fine, and it's easier to get modern-ish things to compile than on 3.x. PM me if you need help finding media. On Thu, Nov 8, 2018 at 1:57 AM Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > Paul Berger via cctalk wrote: > > > > The AIX on the SP2 would have been the same, in fact the hardware on > > the SP2 nodes was similar to the regular RS/6000 boxes except the > > console was through a special serial network in the frame and accessed > > through the control workstation. Most regular users likely accessed > > the nodes through a LAN. > > > > Paul. > So, if I were to hunt for installation media for AIX, which version > would you recommend for a 320H with 32MB of memory, i.e., the latest > that would run and not get too bogged down by that amount of memory? I > can switch to a larger SCSI disk if it need be, but hopefully not larger > than 2GB. > > Carlos. > > >
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
http://ps-2.kev009.com/rs6000/serialconsole.html On Tue, Nov 6, 2018 at 3:30 PM Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > Since RS6K systems have been mentioned recently, I thought I should ask > for advice. I have a Powerserver 320H with 32MB of RAM, an 8-port async > EIA-232 adapter, a SCSI adapter and a 400MB HD. No framebuffer or > keyboard; no LAN card. Because of the last issue, I haven't tried to do > much with it. I tried getting it to talk on the serial console (Serial > 1 connector in the back), following all the advice I found on the net: > The pinout of the MODU serial connector, the null modem cable with full > handshake (also driving the DCD line in the 320H). I turn it on in > service mode, and it spits a lot of LED codes, finds the HD, spins it up > and it apparently loads something (I suppose AIX) from it. But nothing > is ever sent out on the serial 1 port, or any other serial port. I > believe that during the POST it fails to initialize the serial 1 and 2 > ports, because the 320H's DTR and RTS lines are never asserted (the > ports in the async RS232 card do assert these on power up, but they are > equally silent). I made sure that the CTS, DSR and DCD inputs of the > 320H are being driven by the external terminal. > > I made a video of the LED codes during POST and found some problems; > here are the codes and their meaning: > > 120 BIST starting a CRC check on the 8752 EPROM. > 122 BIST started a CRC check on the first 32K bytes of the OCS EPROM. > 124 BIST started a CRC check on the OCS area of NVRAM. > 130 BIST presence test started. > 101 BIST started following reset. > 153 BIST started ACLST test code. > 154 BIST started AST test code. > 100 BIST completed successfully; control was passed to IPL ROS. > 211 IPL ROM CRC comparison error (irrecoverable). !!! > 214 Power status register failed (irrecoverable). !!! > 218 RAM POST is looking for good memory. > 219 RAM POST bit map is being generated. > 290 IOCC POST error (irrecoverable). !!! > 291 Standard I/O POST running. > 252 Attempting a Service mode IPL from 7012 DBA disk-attached > devices specified in IPL ROM Default Device List. > 253 Attempting a Service mode IPL from SCSI-attached devices > specified in the IPL ROM Default Device List. > 299 IPL ROM passed control to the loaded program code. > > 814 NVRAM being identified or configured. > > 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration > method. > 813 Battery for time-of-day, NVRAM, and so on being identified or > configured, or system I/O control logic being identified or > configured. > 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration > method. > 520 Bus configuration running. > 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration > method. > 869 SCSI adapter being identified or configured. > 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration > method. > 954 400MB SCSI disk drive being identified or configured. > 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration > method. > 539 The configuration method has terminated, and control has > returned to the configuration manager. > 551 IPL varyon is running. > 553 IPL phase 1 is complete. > > The code 290 above is particularly worrysome, I think. The NVRAM > battery reads 2.85 volts even after all these years. I reseated all of > the chips that are on bases, all of the cards, and connectors; there was > no change. Any ideas on how to proceed? > > carlos. > >
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
I use a DEC DECConnect system on mine... I have a DB25 to MMJ on the RS/6000 side, and a DB9 to MMJ on the other. Plus you can swap out the MMJ adapters on either end of the cable to talk to whatever you need. I highly recommend them because they do the right thing 99.9% of the time. From: cctalk on behalf of Kevin Bowling via cctalk Sent: Thursday, November 8, 2018 10:24 AM To: Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez; General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts; carlos_muri...@ieee.org Subject: Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes http://ps-2.kev009.com/rs6000/serialconsole.html Obtaining console on RS/6000 - Kev009.com<http://ps-2.kev009.com/rs6000/serialconsole.html> ps-2.kev009.com Obtaining console on RS/6000. This often throws people for a loop. There are all sorts of reasons you won't get console from your rs6k. Make sure you are using a fully wired Laplink-style null modem cable. On Tue, Nov 6, 2018 at 3:30 PM Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > Since RS6K systems have been mentioned recently, I thought I should ask > for advice. I have a Powerserver 320H with 32MB of RAM, an 8-port async > EIA-232 adapter, a SCSI adapter and a 400MB HD. No framebuffer or > keyboard; no LAN card. Because of the last issue, I haven't tried to do > much with it. I tried getting it to talk on the serial console (Serial > 1 connector in the back), following all the advice I found on the net: > The pinout of the MODU serial connector, the null modem cable with full > handshake (also driving the DCD line in the 320H). I turn it on in > service mode, and it spits a lot of LED codes, finds the HD, spins it up > and it apparently loads something (I suppose AIX) from it. But nothing > is ever sent out on the serial 1 port, or any other serial port. I > believe that during the POST it fails to initialize the serial 1 and 2 > ports, because the 320H's DTR and RTS lines are never asserted (the > ports in the async RS232 card do assert these on power up, but they are > equally silent). I made sure that the CTS, DSR and DCD inputs of the > 320H are being driven by the external terminal. > > I made a video of the LED codes during POST and found some problems; > here are the codes and their meaning: > > 120 BIST starting a CRC check on the 8752 EPROM. > 122 BIST started a CRC check on the first 32K bytes of the OCS EPROM. > 124 BIST started a CRC check on the OCS area of NVRAM. > 130 BIST presence test started. > 101 BIST started following reset. > 153 BIST started ACLST test code. > 154 BIST started AST test code. > 100 BIST completed successfully; control was passed to IPL ROS. > 211 IPL ROM CRC comparison error (irrecoverable). !!! > 214 Power status register failed (irrecoverable). !!! > 218 RAM POST is looking for good memory. > 219 RAM POST bit map is being generated. > 290 IOCC POST error (irrecoverable). !!! > 291 Standard I/O POST running. > 252 Attempting a Service mode IPL from 7012 DBA disk-attached > devices specified in IPL ROM Default Device List. > 253 Attempting a Service mode IPL from SCSI-attached devices > specified in the IPL ROM Default Device List. > 299 IPL ROM passed control to the loaded program code. > > 814 NVRAM being identified or configured. > > 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration > method. > 813 Battery for time-of-day, NVRAM, and so on being identified or > configured, or system I/O control logic being identified or > configured. > 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration > method. > 520 Bus configuration running. > 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration > method. > 869 SCSI adapter being identified or configured. > 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration > method. > 954 400MB SCSI disk drive being identified or configured. > 538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration > method. > 539 The configuration method has terminated, and control has > returned to the configuration manager. > 551 IPL varyon is running. > 553 IPL phase 1 is complete. > > The code 290 above is particularly worrysome, I think. The NVRAM > battery reads 2.85 volts even after all these years. I reseated all of > the chips that are on bases, all of the cards, and connectors; there was > no change. Any ideas on how to proceed? > > carlos. > >
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
On 11/08/2018 12:21 PM, Benjamin Huntsman via cctalk wrote: I use a DEC DECConnect system on mine... I have a DB25 to MMJ on the RS/6000 side, and a DB9 to MMJ on the other. Plus you can swap out the MMJ adapters on either end of the cable to talk to whatever you need. I highly recommend them because they do the right thing 99.9% of the time. That sounds very similar to what I've seen done with DB9 / DB25 to RJ45 (read: 8P8C) adapters. It's my understanding it's possible to use a straight through cable between the two adapters to connect equipment. The ""special nature was in how the adapter was wired. Maybe it required a rolled cable to form a null modem and connect Tx and Rx. (Mental cobwebs.) The idea was that you can use the proper adapter for the piece of equipment and then use stock cabling between everything. I don't think there was anything special that required Modified Modular Jack vs traditional 8P8C jack. -- Grant. . . . unix || die
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
Paul Berger via cctalk wrote: On 2018-11-07 8:57 PM, Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez via cctalk wrote: So, if I were to hunt for installation media for AIX, which version would you recommend for a 320H with 32MB of memory, i.e., the latest that would run and not get too bogged down by that amount of memory? I can switch to a larger SCSI disk if it need be, but hopefully not larger than 2GB. Carlos. I am no longer sure when support for microchannel was dropped from AIX, I have always been on the hardware side with limited involvement with software. Doing a quick look it would seem that it is likely that some level of version 5 was the last one. Version 6.1 was 64 bit only and required a POWER4 or later processor. Paul. Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Here's an update: 1) The "terminal interposer cable" implements exactly what I had already tried with my rs-232 breakout box, namely (taken from the net): DB25 to DB25 or DB9 2 TD to 3 RD - 3 3 RD to 2 TD - 2 4 RTS to 5 CTS - 8 5 CTS to 4 RTS - 7 7 GND to 7 GND - 5 6 & 8 DSR & DCD to 20 DTR - 4 (very important) 20 DTR to 6 & 8 DSR & DCD - 6 & 1 Still, no luck making the console work; the 320H does not assert DTR or RTS even though it is seeing DSR, CTS, and DCD asserted. 2) I cleaned the floppy drive (it wasn't that dirty), re-wrote the four aix diagnostics floppies and tried them once more in service mode. The same thing happened: it reads the complete first disk (apparently without error), but then it goes again to read the hard drive and stalls in the same spot. Does anybody have images of diagnostics floppies that would be known to work in a 320H? 3) I now have AIX 4.3.3 install CDs. Does the 320H expect a CDROM drive to be at a specific SCSI ID? Carlos.
Re: RS6k 7012/320H woes
Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez wrote:
Still, no luck making the console work; the 320H does not assert DTR
or RTS even though it is seeing DSR, CTS, and DCD asserted.
2) I cleaned the floppy drive (it wasn't that dirty), re-wrote the
four aix diagnostics floppies and tried them once more in service
mode. The same thing happened: it reads the complete first disk
(apparently without error), but then it goes again to read the hard
drive and stalls in the same spot. Does anybody have images of
diagnostics floppies that would be known to work in a 320H?
3) I now have AIX 4.3.3 install CDs. Does the 320H expect a CDROM
drive to be at a specific SCSI ID?
Carlos.
I have made some progress here. I imaged the original hard drive and by
searching this image in bvi I found that the
original AIX version in it is AIX 3.1. I found another set of
BOSboot diskettes on the net, but for AIX 3.2, and some
advice about not running the getrootfs script in the maintenance shell
of V3.2 in a V3.1 system. I was able to boot the
maintenance shell off these diskettes (Finally the console came up! My
console cable and my MODU serial connector
kludge were fine). I figured a way to mount the hard drive's partitions
in this ramdisk-based maintenance shell and
get around the very limited commands in this shell (no ed, ex, vi, ls,
or many others) to modify /etc/security/passwd,
/etc/inittab to something basic. I found that there is no /sbin or
/usr/sbin in this hard drive, but then I noticed that
most of the commands that usually reside in those directories were to be
found in /etc . With one major omission: there
is no /etc/mount anywhere to be found. I found that the programs in the
hard drive bomb immediately ("Killed") in
the V3.2 maintenance shell, so I believe that they are
binary-incompatible. After all of this, I was able to boot
(partiallly, see below) the machine and log in the root account. But,
since the mount command is missing,
the file systems in /etc/filesystems were not mounted, so I do not have
access to /usr . I copied the /etc/mount
command in the V3.2 maintenance shell to /etc/mount in the hard drive,
but this command also bombs under V 3.1.
So, I need a copy of the /etc/mount binary from AIX V3.1 . I think that
I can mount a DOS floppy and transfer
this binary that way (this system does not have a network card). Or, I
can copy the /usr/bin/uudecode binary from
the /usr partition to /etc/uudecode in the root partition while in the
maintenance shell and then use that to get the
binary while under V3.1 .
So, does anybody have access to an AIX V3.1 /etc/mount binary?
My inittab generates some errors, all of which seem to be attributable
to the fact that /usr is not mounted.
Eventually, I will probably install AIX 4.3.3, but first I need to get
more SD2SCSI devices, so that will take a while.
carlos.
