Restoring a Sun Microsystems IPX
Refurbishing a Sun Microsystems IPX This Blog follows the refurbishment of my Sun Microsystems IPX. There's a good source for refurbishment info at a couple of blogs https://www.rs-online.com/designspark/restoring-a-sun-sparcstation-ipx-part-1-psu-and-nvram and https://www.oldsilicon.com/sparcstation-ipx . There are a couple of things I didn't follow in the DesignSpark blog: He eventually recommends the "Dremmel" approach to modding the existing NVRAM chip. I simply replaced it with with a M48T02-150PC1 chip from RadioSpares (UK) for less than £20. This was based on first hand advice from a colleague at The National Museum of Computing who recently restored another IPX. Still get NRAM failure message, and the clock still isn't being saved between power-ups, meaning you can't autoboot. Like his, my IPX also needed a new fan, however the replacements are connected using modern lead free solder, needing a lot more heat to melt. I managed to cook one joint...