[wroteafaq]

(A side note: It triggers *my* OCD when people use the terms "FLASH", "NVRAM", and "EEPROM" interchangeably or in combination. They are three completely different things (other than FLASH being a special subset of EEPROM - all FLASH are EEPROM, but not all EEPROM are FLASH) and should not be confused. The only characteristic they have in common is nonvolatility, so if we're going to be sloppy we might as well just call the memory in question "core", because that's nonvolatile too. If anyone needs clarification on this point I'd be happy to offer it.)

All useful information, particularly for those lacking device programmers. But I think you (and the posters in that old comp.sys.sgi.admin thread) have gotten rather far out into the weeds. As I would seem to have found, it's a pretty simple problem to solve: Stuff a blank E^2 into the socket. Power the system up, which initializes the E^2. Use the monitor (3K) or burner (3K, 4K) to enter the MAC address of your choice. Bob's your uncle.

No fussing about with protection registers or checksums needed, afaIk.