[octaneirix6530]

Hello,

Is there a way to reset the M48T08 using a dipswitch on a sparcstation 5 ?
I received a remplacement component, which, when plugged-in gives
the message "IDPROM content invalid", which is correct, but, also,
says the PROM is password protected. Thus, I cannot initialize its content.

Any idea ? Considering the component I received, I strongly think it is fake (see the picture included).

thank you

[weblacky]

I'm not a SUN user, nor have direction knowledge...but I'm good at GOOGLE:

PROM password for your station isn't stored in PROM OR NVRAM, replacing either won't help you at all. This page claims to tell you how to hack to reset the password, I'M not responsible if this advice bricks your system!

URL:
https://jmtd.net/hardware/sparcstation/

Content:
I was given my sparcstation 5 by Durham University by way of the Durham University Computer Society (thanks!). Unfortunately, the boot PROM was passworded, making it impossible to interfere with the boot process, e.g. to boot from a CD-ROM rather than hard disk.

I googled around and most advice suggested you needed to buy a new boot PROM chip. I didn't fancy that much. I found a single usenet post describing a method of clearing the boot PROM but no supporting posts saying it worked.

The technique
boot the machine and enter the boot PROM. Get a password prompt.
Crack open the case and remove the PROM chip whilst the machine is on.
Hit enter on the password prompt: since it can't confirm the password against the PROM, it lets you through.
Re-sit the PROM chip in the machine, whilst turned on.
You now need to clear or disable the PROM password. Either:
setenv security-mode none to disable the password, or
password to be prompted for a new one.

[octaneirix6530]

the nvram has been tested bad. so just fake one....

[weblacky]

the nvram has been tested bad. so just fake one....

where’s your original chip?  You said replacement, no need for a replacement if you were trying to remove the password (wouldn’t work anyway).  

Is there a reason you cannot put the original chip back?

[robespierre]

I'm not a SUN user, nor have direction knowledge...but I'm good at GOOGLE:
...
PROM password for your station isn't stored in PROM OR NVRAM

Be careful of equivocations. The boot code of a computer is sometimes called its "PROM", especially in the SGI world. Sun just called it OpenBoot and most PCs call it "BIOS" or "UEFI".
A PROM device is a specific type of IC (bipolar, non-erasable, and very fast). The boot code "PROM" is not necessarily (in fact almost certainly not) in a PROM!
By the 1980s, EPROM technology was rapidly developing and would be used for almost all firmware storage. In the 1990s this mostly switched over to Flash which is a dense type of EEPROM.
This mostly happened in parallel with a switch from large DIP packages to smaller PLCC and TSOP packages for firmware chips, but some designs held over. For example, the Indigo2 and Indy both use large, DIP40 EPROM chips for firmware, but the SparcStation 5 uses a PLCC32 Flash chip.

The boot parameters are something quite different and are stored in a different location (it wasn't until the 2000s that Flash chips with internal parameter storage were available). Both EEPROM (byte-by-byte erasable, reprogrammable storage) and NVRAM (SRAM with battery backup power) were used to store settings, and computer vendors mixed up the terminology a lot.

The page you quoted from is hopelessly confused on this point. The author appears to believe that he is removing the "PROM" chip but doesn't know what that means.

[weblacky]

I'm not a SUN user, nor have direction knowledge...but I'm good at GOOGLE:
...
PROM password for your station isn't stored in PROM OR NVRAM

Be careful of equivocations. The boot code of a computer is sometimes called its "PROM", especially in the SGI world. Sun just called it OpenBoot and most PCs call it "BIOS" or "UEFI".
A PROM device is a specific type of IC (bipolar, non-erasable, and very fast). The boot code "PROM" is not necessarily (in fact almost certainly not) in a PROM!
By the 1980s, EPROM technology was rapidly developing and would be used for almost all firmware storage. In the 1990s this mostly switched over to Flash which is a dense type of EEPROM.
This mostly happened in parallel with a switch from large DIP packages to smaller PLCC and TSOP packages for firmware chips, but some designs held over. For example, the Indigo2 and Indy both use large, DIP40 EPROM chips for firmware, but the SparcStation 5 uses a PLCC32 Flash chip.

The boot parameters are something quite different and are stored in a different location (it wasn't until the 2000s that Flash chips with internal parameter storage were available). Both EEPROM (byte-by-byte erasable, reprogrammable storage) and NVRAM (SRAM with battery backup power) were used to store settings, and computer vendors mixed up the terminology a lot.

The page you quoted from is hopelessly confused on this point. The author appears to believe that he is removing the "PROM" chip but doesn't know what that means.

Uh...I'm really unsure what this above statement was, I don't read anything the way you're presenting it.  The two do not link up in my mind...so I'll restate the intent as it was unclear.

The author of the page I linked to claims to REMOVE THE SYSTEM PASSWORD.  That may be the REAL complaint of the post.  It seemed like the original post was trying to replace this chip get get around the password protection.  The info I researched (not that linked page) claims that won't work and SUN originally designed the protection to have to call them with dumped values to give you a reset code. Blanking the NVRAM or the changing the PROM will not get around the system firmware password protection...period...it's documented.

The above link claims this hack can be used to end-run the protection to reset the password system.  If you can reset or disable the password...then the original reason to replace the chip might not be relevant anymore.

The original post never claimed the chip was missing...only that they tried a replacement.  So my post was pointing out that...if you solve the password protection, perhaps the intent of the replacement is voided.  So then they can use the original chip.

This is why I asked if they even had the original chip...because it was unclear.

My link MIGHT solve problem #2...which might resolve problem #1.

[octaneirix6530]

no my point was just replacing the nvram with a new since battery died

[weblacky]

Ah, then just research drilling the old chip...like 90% of out of production RTCs offered on eBay or Amazon, etc are fake. I'd drill the old unit.

[octaneirix6530]

already done that, was just hoping for a new one