Octane: System board NIC diagnostic *FAILED*

[commuter-roach]

Hello Gentlemen,

I have recently acquired an Octane which, at boot, displays the following message:

-----------------------------------------------------------------
System board NIC diagnostic *FAILED*

Check or replace : System board (IP30)

Diagnostics failed.
[Press any key to continue ]
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Once I press a key, I get to the menu and I can boot the system normally. Also running diagnostics from the menu does not find any issues. Any idea?

Thanks!

DaRoach

[robespierre]

The NIC is the Dallas iButton that supplies the system ID. You'll find it on the corner of the IP30 board (or the empty socket where it should be...)

[commuter-roach]

You mean the thing that looks like a PC style round battery?

[commuter-roach]

Is there a replacement for it?

[GRudolf94]

Sorry for replying a month-old thread, I'm not entirely sure I should, but anyway, it's a common Maxim-Dallas part (DS1982). However, I don't know if you could program it with a S/N to match what the PROM expects. Maybe contact one of the SGI stuff vendors to see if someone can supply you one from a dead board.

[JacquesT]

Necro posting again...I may have an old 1.3 Xbow you can have the NIC from. I intend to take the Dallas chip from it. The xbow fan died a while ago and I'm not sure it works 100%.

[robespierre]

The NIC is on the IP30 system board, not the frontplane. It looks like a battery, but is an iButton that just holds the system serial number or hostid.
Additionally, it may not be necessary to actually have it in the computer, as the hostid can be patched in the running kernel using tools available on the net, allowing software licenses to work.

[jan-jaap]

The NIC is on the IP30 system board, not the frontplane. It looks like a battery, but is an iButton that just holds the system serial number or hostid.

You got that in reverse I'm afraid. Here's a picture of the frontplane, with the NIC in the red square (it even says 'system id'):

There's a Dallas RTC with battery backed RAM on the IP30, it is used for the PROM variables.

Come to think about it, in most SGI systems the system ID is tied to the chassis (or front/backplane), not the CPU board.

[robespierre]

Oops, you're right! And I should have known better: apart from the Indy and O2, the hostid is, indeed, tied to the chassis (or on the I/O plane for Fuel or Tezro).
Still, I don't think it is actually needed, if you are able to use software to set the hostid.