🚀 go-pugleaf

"DJ" <dkjjr@ohio.net> writes:

>I finally got some time, and a null-modem adapter, to work on the
>SPARCServer 20 video issue I was having (thread started on Jan 18).
>Thanks to Juhan Leemet for telling me to disconnect the keyboard to
>enable serial output as I have never done serial connections before.
>And thanks to Steve S. for telling me what to look at.

This works with every Sun system  I've used. Disconnect the Sun keyboard and
if the NVRAM settings for output and input device are not changed from
defaults, the first serial port gets used as the console. You can change the
settings to manually select the second serial port if you need to.

>I issued a printenv and saw that the output device was indeed set to
>screen, but after making sure the VSIMM was completely in I still saw
>no characters displayed, just a colored background.  There was a video
>card added to the SS20 that I already got working (with the built in
>video & a VSIMM) so I pulled that video card and placed it in the
>non-working SS20, removed the VSIMM and I now have working video!!!
>And I added the extra VSIMM to my other SS20 :-)

Which socket did you have the first VSIMM fitted to? If you have it in the
wrong one, the on-board D13W3 connector won't get any video and you need to
source one of the extremely rare 'auxillary video boards' to bring out the
video signals to one of the Sbus slot openings.

Also, make sure that if you do use a VSIMM in the correct slot, not to
connect the video cable to an Sbus video card since the console *should*
default to the VSIMM unless the Sbus probe setting has been fiddled with in
the NVRAM settings.

Regards,

Craig.

-- 
Craig Dewick - craig@circlet.apana.org.au - Founder/maintainer of the SunShack
at www.sunshack.org - Operator of Jedi (an APANA Sydney PoP) - please visit
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