[jvakon]

Hi,

I recently salvaged a Fuel from being disposed. The system does not power up and I get a whole bunch of ALERT messages when connected to the L1 port on the system board:

ALERT: NODE EEPROM read error, no acknowledge
ALERT: Error initializing the NODE 0 monitor, no acknowledge
ALERT: Error initializing the NODE 1 monitor, no acknowledge
ALERT: Error initializing the NODE 2 monitor, no acknowledge
ALERT: Error initializing the PIMM monitor, no acknowledge
ALERT: Error initializing the ODYSSEY monitor, no acknowledge
ALERT: Error initializing the BEDROCK monitor, no acknowledge

and so on, complaining on voltages, fan speeds, temperature sensors etc. Then, after many lines:

****************************************
controller firmware panic!  resetting...
****************************************

IMAGE B: Rev. 1.30.16
[thread ID 300013cc stack]
  TR: ffecb6e4 ffec85dc ffedc4c4 ffedc710 ffedc87e ffedaaa0 ffedb41a
  TR: ffedb604 ffeb8918 ffeb8a5e ffec41ec ffe805cc ffeb1728 00000000

(if you see this, please email ssh@sgi.com and include
the output from the 'log' command and a description of
what caused the problem)
ALERT: Running Flash image A because image B failed during boot and is probably corrupt.

The same ALERT messages then repeat in semi-random order for flash image A. It does not drop to a prompt at any point.

Does anyone know what might be causing this? I think it's unlikely both flash images are corrupted. Is it a PSU problem?

Thanks for any hints!

John

[weblacky]

If it's complaining of Fan speeds and temps then it may have environmental monitoring disease (not a huge issue), if it complains of PSU voltages, then yes PSU needs addressing/fixing/replacing. After those issues are addressed you'd have to see what's left. Most of this stuff is on I2c bus.

Also try reseating stuff, that's a lot of complaints at once, so check PIMM connection and reseat.

Either Way, are you willing to put some money in to trying? The best thing would be to get a replacement PSU and make sure the power is clean, then see what's left. If you have a PSU problem...using it as-is may lead you further into trouble. Even if you don't have a PSU problem, making sure you have clean power for additional troubleshooting is a big deal.

However, the log isn't totally complete. If you could please save the entire L1 log for us and not edit it so we can see more?

[Raion]

Based on what you're seeing, I think the most likely culprit is your env monitoring chip has died. You can turn that off in the L1 but PLEASE do not run the system long term without this, as it won't scale the fans to keep the system cool. Should this work, you know you need to replace the chip. It's an SMD chip in a tricky location though.

[hamei]

As an experienced failed-Fool owner, sorry to say this but those are not the messages from a failed env chip. And if the power supply dies, she don't come up for nobody nohow no way, so not likely to be that either.

I am afraid that this box has bigger problems than the usuals .....

[weblacky]

Wouldn’t a shorted i2c line the monitors use/share cause this kind is message? Seems like this could totally be a failed monitoring chip, just one that is static shorting the shared communication line?

I’m not an expert by any means but the Nekochan archives we have left imply that most people believe all the monitors share a single parallel i2c bus, should that be true a single misbehaving node brings down all communication.

I’d temporarily remove the graphics card (won’t boot any OS but L1 will run) and see if those acknowledge messages change and the system board ones go away!

If the system (e.i. PIMM) don’t go away, I’d then use a multimeter on all the monitor chips and check both with and without power for the i2c bus being held in a bad state.

I’d be hopeful you could find the bad IC once you locate any known IC using the shared i2c. It’s a chore to be sure.

If all the system board messages go away, I’d blame the graphics card and try to get another one.

[jvakon]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the input and sorry for not replying earlier. So, at this stage:
1) I've removed and re-seated all components, including fan leads, the RTC chip, CPU board, graphics etc. It hasn't made a difference.
2) The PSU gives 5.15V in the 5V AUX line when unplugged from the system, with no ripples seen in the multimeter. With a resistive load or when plugged in I see 5.05V in the 5V AUX line, so I don't think it's a PSU issue.
3) Turning env off has no effect; system still doesn't power up.
4) But, the env command reports the following voltages:

Description State Warning Limits Fault Limits Current
-------------- ---------- ----------------- ----------------- -------
12V Wait Pwr 10% 10.80/ 13.20 20% 9.60/ 14.40 0.00
12V IO Wait Pwr 10% 10.80/ 13.20 20% 9.60/ 14.40 0.00
5V Wait Pwr 10% 4.50/ 5.50 20% 4.00/ 6.00 0.00
3.3V Wait Pwr 10% 2.97/ 3.63 20% 2.64/ 3.96 0.55
2.5V Wait Pwr 10% 2.25/ 2.75 20% 2.00/ 3.00 0.05
1.5V Wait Pwr 10% 1.35/ 1.65 20% 1.20/ 1.80 0.23
5V AUX Wait Pwr 10% 4.50/ 5.50 20% 4.00/ 6.00 3.95
3.3V AUX Wait Pwr 10% 2.97/ 3.63 20% 2.64/ 3.96 0.00
PIMM 12V BIAS Wait Pwr 10% 10.80/ 13.20 20% 9.60/ 14.40 0.00
SRAM Wait Pwr 10% 2.25/ 2.75 20% 2.00/ 3.00 0.00
VCPU Wait Pwr 10% 1.44/ 1.76 20% 1.28/ 1.92 0.00
PIMM 1.5V Wait Pwr 10% 1.35/ 1.65 20% 1.20/ 1.80 0.00
PIMM 3.3V AUX Wait Pwr 10% 2.97/ 3.63 20% 2.64/ 3.96 0.00
PIMM 5V AUX Wait Pwr 10% 4.50/ 5.50 20% 4.00/ 6.00 0.00

So, the 5V AUX is reported as 3.95V (I've also seen 3.75V at times) i.e. is mis-read compared to true voltage from the PSU. I think that points to a faulty chip somewhere. This Nekochan archived thread might be pointing to a similar problem with another Fuel: https://gainos.org/~elf/sgi/nekonomicon/...206/1.html

Thanks for any input!

[weblacky]

Yo,
The testing you describe has an issue that needs attention. You claim a misread, but you claim to have it unplugged the first time, then you say resistive load or plugged in?

Again what load did you you try and when did you measure it plugged back in?

Most of the PSU issues we see the PSU starts out just fine, then after some time (minutes) slowly dips until the L1 complains. I have seen several instances where it goes 3-10 minutes and all that time the voltages goes lower and lower until it trips the failsafe due to low voltage. Usually on the lower voltage rails.

Can you please describe the testing? Did you leave the multimeter on the 5v line with min/max and watch it? Or did you measure it, put it away, then typed into the L1, then noticed the reporting?

Did you witness both values at the same time?

The way you phrased it, the time between the two could easily be enough to really have a voltage drop. I’ve seen I myself on my Tezro twice (right starting voltage the slowly drops until unacceptable).

Can you please perform the multimeter read at the same time you’re reading the L1?

Because this sounds like a PSU issue as initially proposed right now.

Aged caps can still perform before they heat up. We see it enough here. Initial starts work, the voltage drops as old caps get to temp, causing about 1v-1.5v drop in a few minutes on the 3.3v or 5v lines.

I don’t see that you have enough data on this issue.

[jvakon]

Hi,

Sorry, I should have been more specific. I first measured the PSU unplugged, with no load, and the 5V AUX was at 5.15V. I then applied a resistive load so that current would be 2A (the rated current of that line) and re-measured the voltage: 5.05V. Finally, I plugged the PSU back on the MB and measured the same line by sticking wires from the top of the molex connector, while also connected to the L1 via the MB serial port. In this last configuration the multimeter voltage was again 5.05V, L1 at the same time was reporting ALERT messages as earlier, and env was reporting 5V AUX voltage as 3.75V.

I should also mention that the L1 ALERT messages come up as soon as power is plugged to the PSU; there is no delayed response similar to what you describe.

That's why I think that the PSU 5V line is fine, and the issue is elsewhere.

Thanks again!

[Raion]

I understand why you think the issue lies elsewhere other than with your power supply but we already established that power supplies for this particular model are not very reliable. Furthermore we're getting into things that are not well documented. At this point all we can do is throw guesses at it until you start actually throwing parts at the problem. And the least expensive and easiest fix is to get a sufficient ATX PSU and pick up one of the ATX adapters.

At the very least, this can rule out it being a power supply issue. I'm pretty confident that it's probably not your processor module or graphics card.

[jvakon]

That a fair point! The PSU would be indeed the simplest thing to change :-)

I'm sure I have a beefy ATX supply somewhere around here.

Thanks again and will update!