[KGLlewellyn]

Hey,

So I recently picked up an Octane, for the most part it works great but the network port, not so much. It's having issues with auto-negotiation (and only maintains a link at 10Mbps, but not 100Mbps), and it appears that while the port can send packets out, it can't receive them.

Therefore, I'm looking to replace the RJ-45 socket, the part is Transpower RJ517-NT. Transpower was acquired by TRP Connector/Bel, but I cannot find the datasheet for this part. Nor can I identify a suitable replacement. Has anyone else had any luck replacing this part?

Thanks,

Kai

[Raion]

The physical port? We don't exactly have documentation on how to do that. One of the issues is on Nekochan.net people would just say "just throw it away and get another part" which encouraged a throwaway culture (especially with Fuels destroying VPro cards)

That all said, I would trace a pin out, find a similar part off a 10/100 nic, and replace it.

[weblacky]

Do you have the shoebox (PCI card cage) because Gigabit cards work on Octane. I’d you have one, just go Gigabit.

I’ve never found a real port replacement for any SGI (we do need them). But the bigger issue will be safely replacing it. Assuming it has no legs under the port (all exposed for soldering when Ethernet port is in place on the board, you’ll need to heat the entire board to enough to remove the “heat sinking” during removal.

Basically you’re risking the entire board for this replacement. If that’s something you’re aware of and will to do, just ensure you know the connection points and you are willing heat your board to like around 250F or potentially a little higher along with a hot air tool at around 500F for removal without ripping pads off the board.

Also be aware that if the port was powrred on during its damage the Ethernet controller itself may be damaged.


Also while there may not be any right now for the past year I’ve seen several eBay lot sales of rusted Octane boards. So you might look out for an incredibly cheap Octane board that obviously has rushed or broken parts on it and use it specifically to try to gently grab the Ethernet port off of. Which would be a great exercise for you. If you can successfully remove The donor ethernet port from a donor board that is otherwise meant for the trash then you know you can successfully remove it on the board you care about.

[KGLlewellyn]

No, I don't have the PCI Card Cage sadly.

The Ethernet port is through-hole soldered, so there's absolutely no need to heat the entirety of the board to swap out the port. I'm reasonably experienced with soldering and I am confident in being able to swap it, but sourcing the part is problematic.

Issue is that it's not a bog-standard RJ45 connector, it's actually got a circuit built into it with transformers, which ordinarily would be separate components on the board itself. I don't know what the pinouts are for the RJ45 headers on the Octane board.

The other issue is that I cannot get into this Octane as the previous owner has passwords set. I can't boot it up over the network because of this issue and I don't have a way of getting the SCSI disk connected to another machine right now. So I think my options for getting into it are pretty limited unless there's a way of mounting the drive through the Command Monitor and clearing out the passwords that way.

Idk if I can bruteforce the password via the Serial Interface from another machine?

Also does basically any gigabit card work in the PCI cage or are specific cards needed? Is it possible to boot from those?

[stormy]

Gotta be supported cards: http://serenityconnection.com/octane-har...ggregator/

Don't worry about the OS being locked out.. just get your Network fixed then re-install using Booterizer: https://github.com/unxmaal/booterizer
Or connect a scsi cd-rom and install from cd.

It's also possible someone has a faulty CPU board out there, maybe you can source one for parts. Perhaps ask on the buy/sell forum.

[Raion]

I see, I would not know how to get a specific replacement part here. It's quite likely the part is either purpose built, out of production, or equally rare.

The PROM won't be able to help here. You can get in by using a miniroot install to replace the hash in the passwd file (it's a standard Unix crypt() with no shadow by default, and even with shadow it's still crypt()). So get a SCSI CDROM drive hooked up (I recommend the HP Enterprise DVD drives on eBay, they work) and then use a CD to start a mini root. From inst, admin, then shell to get a shell, navigate to the passwd file, bingo.

[chulofiasco]

I see, I would not know how to get a specific replacement part here. It's quite likely the part is either purpose built, out of production, or equally rare.

The PROM won't be able to help here. You can get in by using a miniroot install to replace the hash in the passwd file (it's a standard Unix crypt() with no shadow by default, and even with shadow it's still crypt()). So get a SCSI CDROM drive hooked up (I recommend the HP Enterprise DVD drives on eBay, they work) and then use a CD to start a mini root. From inst, admin, then shell to get a shell, navigate to the passwd file, bingo.

which HPE drive is your fave?