[Infiltratr]

Do Octanes have a real-time clock/battery on the mainboards themselves?  

Mine does not seem to be keeping the date and time when I turn it off but I can't see a battery there to try and replace?

[mosiniak]

There is RTC with builtin battery. See the image (in the bottom on right hand side there is IC with alarm clock picture on it). It is RTC with builtin battery.

Probably You have to replace whole RTC (they are still available) or hack it and connect external battery to internal contacts.

[bjames]

I thought the battery hack to the Dallas chip was only relevant on older sgi,s like the Indy. The octane has a battery on the front plane that also stores the system identification. So the octane doesn’t suffer from the memory loss if the Dallas chip runs out of power which = an easy recovery. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

[mosiniak]

Mine does not seem to be keeping the date and time when I turn it off

I focused myself on RTC. If there is second battery - I don't know.

[jan-jaap]

I thought the battery hack to the Dallas chip was only relevant on older sgi,s like the Indy.  The octane has a battery on the front plane that also stores the system identification.  So the octane doesn’t suffer from the memory loss if the Dallas chip runs out of power which = an easy recovery.  Please correct me if I’m wrong.

Yeah you're wrong.

The battery on the front plane that also stores the system identification *only* stores the system ID and isn't a battery at all. It's a 1-wire iButton device

The difference with an Indy is that the Indy stores the system ID in the Dallas so when it runs out, the MAC address is random and the network doesn't initialize.

It's still probably a good idea to replace or rework the Dallas when it runs out. At the very least it will keep the time and stop complaining about a preposterous date in the filesystem at boot.

[bjames]

So the Dallas chip on the octane is similar to the Indy where there is a battery in cased in the chip?

[Infiltratr]

Thanks, guys .

I have bought a few of these to replace them on the mainboard.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1pcs-DS1687-...2749.l2649

I think I could hack them aok but if I only need to change an IC once every 15 years (and it's even in a chip carrier) I can do that and it would look better imo

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So the Dallas chip on the octane is similar to the Indy where there is a battery in cased in the chip?

yep, seems to be.  

The chip number is DS1687-5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pJ2F6OjyIU

[stormy]

I'm from the Atari community and have knowledge of the Dallas RTC in the Atari Falcon. The Atari community have created a few different replacements for the Dallas RTC chip which incorporate a standard coin cell.

I was wondering if the chips could be compatible, if they are we could replace the Dallas inside our Octanes with Atari Falcon RTC replacements with coin cells.

The Octanes RTC:
https://uk.farnell.com/maxim-integrated-...dp/2515431
The Falcons RTC:
https://eu.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Maxi...WUs%252BYA==

Examples of Falcon replacement coin cell units:
https://www.exxoshost.co.uk/atari/last/storenew/#0089
https://centuriontech.eu/product/rtc-falcon030/

[Trippynet]

Jan-jaap has done this kind of "surgery" with some Dallas chips previously, albeit in a slightly more bodgey way. His method (if I recall) was to use a dremel to grind away a bit of the casing of the Dallas chip to expose the internal connections to the battery. By severing these and soldering the connectors to a coin-cell holder (stuck onto the top of the Dallas chip), you end up with a Dallas chip with a replaceable battery.

Saying that, a more bespoke unit like those Falcon ones does look good! I don't know enough about how the Dallas chips for SGIs work though to know if this kind of unit would be feasible or not. Very nice idea though!

Edit: The result looks like this: https://hackaday.com/2017/01/06/keep-an-...e-ticking/

[Trippynet]

It is a risky fix, but worth a shot. I might have to try it when batteries in either my Fuel or Indigo2 give up. The Indigo2 still has the original Dallas in it from when I bought it from Ian, the Fuel's has been replaced, however I (foolishly) didn't keep the dead one. I do have a spare for the Fuel, but nothing for the Indigo2.