Annotation of wikisrc/ports/news68kfaq.mdwn, revision 1.2
1.2 ! ryoon 1: [[!meta title="NetBSD/news68k Frequently Asked Questions"]]
1.1 mspo 2:
1.2 ! ryoon 3: [[!toc startlevel=1 levels=2]]
1.1 mspo 4:
5: * * * * *
6:
1.2 ! ryoon 7: # General Questions
1.1 mspo 8:
1.2 ! ryoon 9: ## How can I set up a serial console?
1.1 mspo 10:
11: First, turn off DIP switches 1-3 to specify to use serial console for
12: the PROM monitor. (See [DIP switch descriptions](#dip_sw) for details)
13:
14: The NEWS machines use CH0 port for serial console, with 9600bps, 8 bit
15: char, no parity and 1 stop bit.
16:
17: Serial ports of news1400/1500/1600/1700 use ordinary 25P D-sub
18: connectors, so you just need a null modem cable.
19:
20: news1200 uses female 9P D-sub connectors. It has the same pin layout
21: with PCs, though they have male 9P connectors.
22:
23: See the [NetBSD Serial Port
1.2 ! ryoon 24: Primer](http://www.NetBSD.org/docs/Hardware/Misc/serial.html)
! 25: for more information.
1.1 mspo 26:
1.2 ! ryoon 27: ## My NEWS does not print anything to console!
1.1 mspo 28:
29: The NEWS machines use the MK48T02 NVRAM chip, which is also used in the
30: SPARCstation machines. If the NVRAM battery is dead, the machine won't
31: boot properly.
32:
33: What you need to do, both with a new NVRAM, or one with a dead battery
34: is to press the POWER/RESET buttons in the following order to force the
35: PROM monitor to re-initialize the NVRAM:
36:
37: - Press and hold POWER button
38:
39: - Press RESET, while still holding POWER
40:
41: - Release RESET first
42:
43: - And then release POWER
44:
45: Unlike SPARCstations, you don't have to restore any data like the
46: ethernet MAC address. The MAC address is stored in ROM on NEWS, and only
47: thing you have to set is the time of the day for the clock.
48:
49: If you are going to replace the dead NVRAM, the [Sun NVRAM/hostid
50: page](http://www.squirrel.com/squirrel/sun-nvram-hostid.faq.html) has
51: lots of useful information about the chips. Maybe you could try to
52: [attach a new battery onto the
53: NVRAM](http://www.squirrel.com/squirrel/sun-nvram-hostid.faq.html#attach),
54: but on some NEWS models the NVRAM might be soldered to the mainboard
1.2 ! ryoon 55: without a socket :-(
1.1 mspo 56:
1.2 ! ryoon 57: ## How should I set the DIP switches?
1.1 mspo 58: news68k machines have one block of 8 dip switches:
59:
1.2 ! ryoon 60: ### Table 1
! 61: [[!table data="""
! 62: Switch 1,2,3 |console settings
! 63: OFF,OFF,OFF |ANSI terminals (i.e., serial console)
! 64: OFF,OFF,ON |NWB-512 monochrome bitmap console
! 65: ON ,OFF,OFF |NWB-225A color bitmap console
! 66: ON ,ON ,ON |newer framebuffers which support autoselection functions (NWS-251, NWB-514, etc.)
! 67: """]]
! 68:
! 69: ### Table 2
! 70: [[!table data="""
! 71: Switch 4 |boot device
! 72: OFF |boot from SCSI disk: `hd()`
! 73: ON |boot from floppy disk: `fh()`
! 74: """]]
! 75:
! 76: ### Table 3
! 77: [[!table data="""
! 78: Switch 5 |autoboot
! 79: OFF |PROM monitor
! 80: ON |auto boot
! 81: """]]
! 82:
! 83: ### Table 4
! 84: [[!table data="""
! 85: Switch 6 |diagnostic (?)
! 86: OFF |Diag off (default)
! 87: ON |Diag on
! 88: """]]
! 89:
! 90: # Table 5
! 91: [[!table data="""
! 92: witch 7,8 |unused
! 93: default off |
! 94: """]]
! 95:
! 96: ## How can I turn off the machine other than by unplugging the cable?
1.1 mspo 97:
1.2 ! ryoon 98: Just press the RESET button (without POWER), or use the `"off"`
1.1 mspo 99: command on the PROM prompt.
100:
1.2 ! ryoon 101: ## NetBSD/news68k install floppy does not boot
1.1 mspo 102:
103: There are some reports that some news1500 machines cannot boot the
104: install floppy because of read errors. It might be caused by a bug in
105: the PROM monitor or boot loader, but could be actual media errors. Try
106: cleaning up your drive and booting several times with several disks.
107:
1.2 ! ryoon 108: ## Kernel prints `"level 3 interrupt:"` forever after boot with power cycle
1.1 mspo 109:
110: Some old versions of PROM monitors do not initialize framebuffers in
111: expansion slots properly when serial console is specified, which leads
112: to the framebuffer causing spurious interrupts.
113:
114: The workaround is to reset the machine (using the POWER+RESET method
115: mentioned above) with bitmap console settings once, and then reset again
116: with serial console.
117:
1.2 ! ryoon 118: ## Can I install both NetBSD and NEWS-OS in the same disk?
1.1 mspo 119:
120: It is not well tested and not recommended, but yes, it is possible.
121:
122: NetBSD/news68k can recognize NEWS-OS disklabels and mount NEWS-OS disks,
123: but once NetBSD modifies the NEWS-OS disklabel, NEWS-OS cannot recognize
124: them. It is recommended to install each OS on its own disk.
125:
126: * * * * *
127:
1.2 ! ryoon 128: # PROM monitor Questions
! 129:
! 130: ## What commands can I use at the PROM prompt?
! 131:
! 132: The `help` command will show all the commands. On a NWS-1750 it says:
! 133:
! 134: [[!template id=programlisting text="""
! 135: NEWS> help
! 136: bf [.{b|w|l}] <bgn> {<end>|:<cnt>} <data> : Block Fill
! 137: bm <bgn> {<end>|:<cnt>} <dest> : Block Move
! 138: bo [<dev>] : BOot
! 139: bp [<addr> [:<cnt>]] ... : BreakPoint set
! 140: cp <src_dev> <bgn>:<cnt> <dst_dev> <dest> : CoPy
1.1 mspo 141: format {fd|fh} : FORMAT floppy
1.2 ! ryoon 142: go [<addr> [<bkpt> [:<cnt>]]] : GO to user program
1.1 mspo 143: help : display this
1.2 ! ryoon 144: md [.{b|w|l}] [<bgn> [{<end>|:<cnt>}]] : Memory Display
! 145: ms [.{b|w|l}] [<addr> [<data>]] : Memory Set
1.1 mspo 146: mu : Memory Usage
1.2 ! ryoon 147: nobp [<addr>] ... : NO BreakPoint
1.1 mspo 148: off : turn power OFF
149: rc : Re-assign Console
150: rd [{dreg|areg|preg|creg|mreg}] ... : Register Display
151: rr : Register Reset
1.2 ! ryoon 152: rs [<reg> [<data>]] : Register Set
! 153: set [<var>[=<value>]] : SET variable
! 154: st [:<cnt>] : Stack back Trace
! 155: tr [:<cnt>] [branch] [{dreg|areg|preg|creg|mreg}] : instruction TRace
1.1 mspo 156: vers : VERSion number
1.2 ! ryoon 157: NEWS>
! 158: """]]
! 159:
! 160: Other machines might print these messages differently, but they should be mostly the same.
! 161:
! 162: For the boot command, you can specify the following options:
1.1 mspo 163:
1.2 ! ryoon 164: ### Table 6
! 165: [[!table header="no" data="""
! 166: bo |boot from default device (usually sd0)
! 167: bo /1 |boot with RB_ASKNAME (i.e., ask for root device before mountroot)
! 168: bo /2 |boot with RB_SINGLE (i.e., go to single-user mode)
! 169: bo fh() |boot from 1.44M floppy
! 170: bo hd(1) |boot from SCSI disk with ID 1
! 171: bo /2 hd()/netbsd.0 |boot "netbsd.0" on sd0 in single-user mode
! 172: """]]
! 173:
! 174: ## Can NetBSD/news68k boot via network?
1.1 mspo 175:
176: No, not yet.
177:
178: The PROM monitor of news68k machines uses "remote disk (rd)" for
179: diskless boot, but it is only supported by NEWS-OS and there is no
180: documentation about it.
181:
1.2 ! ryoon 182: `rd_rpc.h` or `rd_srq.h` in NEWS-OS might be helpful, but
1.1 mspo 183: currently no one is working on it.
184:
185: * * * * *
186:
1.2 ! ryoon 187: # Hardware Questions
1.1 mspo 188:
1.2 ! ryoon 189: ## What are the specs of my NEWS?
1.1 mspo 190:
191: See this [page of SONY NEWS
192: specifications](http://katsu.watanabe.name/doc/sonynews/model.html). It
193: is written in Japanese, but still has lots of good information for
194: non-Japanese readers.
195:
1.2 ! ryoon 196: ## Which type of SIMM can be used for my NEWS?
1.1 mspo 197:
198: For news1600/1700 machines, 30pin 1M SIMMs with 9 chips can be used to
199: upgrade to 16M bytes. SIMMs with 3 chips or SIMMs without parity cannot
200: be used. To upgrade from 16M to 32M, the optional memory board is
201: required.
202:
203: For news1400/1500 machines, 30pin 1M SIMMs with 8 or 9 chips can be used
204: (these machines don't use the parity bit). SIMMs with 2 or 3 chips
205: cannot be used.
206:
1.2 ! ryoon 207: ## Is there any hope to support NWS-18x0 models?
1.1 mspo 208:
209: Unfortunately, there are many barriers to supporting news1800 machines.
210: news1800 models have dual 68030 CPUs. One is a main processor, and
211: another is an "I/O Processor". All devices (tty, ethernet, SCSI, etc.)
212: are connected to the IOP, but there is little information about how to
213: handle them. NEWS-OS provides a special module for the IOP called "MRX",
214: and it is loaded by the PROM at boot time from the root directory.
215:
216: Some people have asked for NEWS device information from Sony, and Sony
217: once had planned to open their NEWS-OS sources. But there were many
218: problems with source license issues, and the NEWS development division
219: in Sony had already been dissolved, so no one could resolve the issues
220: officially.
221:
1.2 ! ryoon 222: ## How about NWS-8xx and NWS-7xx models?
1.1 mspo 223:
224: The one problem is that news800 models also use an I/O processor, which
225: is mentioned in the above entry. Another problem is that news800 uses
226: m68020 and Sony's own MMU, not Motorola's m68851 MMU. news700 also has
227: an original MMU like news800. There is little information about it,
228: either.
229:
230: * * * * *
231:
1.2 ! ryoon 232: # Other sources of information
1.1 mspo 233:
1.2 ! ryoon 234: ## Other sources of information from NetBSD.org
1.1 mspo 235:
236: - [NetBSD/news68k 6.0 install
1.2 ! ryoon 237: notes](http://ftp.NetBSD.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-6.0/news68k/INSTALL.html) - supported hardware and how to install.
1.1 mspo 238:
239: - [port-news68k mail list](../../mailinglists/#port-news68k)
240: ([archive](http://mail-index.NetBSD.org/port-news68k/)) - if you
241: have any additional questions please subscribe.
242:
1.2 ! ryoon 243: - [History of NEWS machines](http://www.NetBSD.org/ports/newsmips/history.html) - A brief
1.1 mspo 244: history of machines running NetBSD/newsmips and NetBSD/news68k.
245:
1.2 ! ryoon 246: - [NetBSD Serial Port Primer](http://www.NetBSD.org/docs/Hardware/Misc/serial.html)
! 247:
! 248: - [General NetBSD Documentation](http://www.NetBSD.org/docs/) - for questions not specific to NetBSD/news68k.
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