[GanjaTron]

Hi Tri0x,

sorry to be late to the party. Has there been an update on the Crimsons?

FWIW, I'd also like to chip in my experience with the GE8 board included in the RE. These are loaded with heavy, heatsinked QFPs and apparently have a tendency to walk out of their sockets. This results in a redscreening RE or at least one that isn't recognised. I had to painstakingly remove and literally bash the chips all back in with a mallet (!), a nerveracking procedure I've done at least thrice in the last few years. I think this has something to do with the thermal cycles and the fact these top-heavy chips are mounted vertically in the cardcage. YMMV, and I hope you don't run into that problem. Also: have a serial terminal (emulator) handy so you can catch msgs from the console when (rather than if...) the RE fails.

The RTC issue is well documented and there are a number of options. I mounted a CR2032 battery holder in the empty space at the front edge of the IO4 which appears to be intended for a coax (ethernet?) connector. I soldered the negative pin into the pad intended for the connector's shield, and ran a single positive lead directly to the Dallas chip's battery input. As a precaution, I disconnected the old potted batteries with a Dremel (no need to remove them) in case they short and drain the CR2023.

As Jan mentioned, consider yourself lucky to find the PowerOne PSU installed. These are modular and easier to work on than the Cherokees. They are also quite robust and resilient to shorting the 300VDC bus. Don't ask how I found out...
Apart from the caps in the output modules (particularly the 12V one), you should also replace all the small (10µF?) caps on the backplane. Also inspect the PSU fan connector for corrosion from leaked electrolyte; mine failed during repair as the fan connector just disintegrated during reassembly.

Also, if you have one of those ancient Toshiba CD drives that still use a caddie, you should check the weird miniature caps inside. They fail big-time. Thankfully this type is very uncommon; I've never seen them anywhere else. Unfortunately Crimson / Power Series doesn't seem to play with never drives as the firmware doesn't know how to set the SCSI block size, and expects it to be fixed (I forget to what).

Hope I haven't left anything out. Looking forward for an update. Good luck!

--Roland