Thankfully I have never come across the problem you are describing on
any of the Netvistas we played with. The only thing I saw that sounds
like your problem is this, from the IBM 2800 Reference Manual:
When you power on the NetVista thin client, the system LED shows a solid
green color, or a flashing amber color, and the monitor does not display
any screens. The software on the NetVista thin client may be damaged.
Contact IBM Service and Support, and refer to “Appendix D. Recovering
the boot block image” on page 53 for information on recovering the
software on the NetVista thin client.
As for the connectors, the one labeled BOOTBLK allows you to recover the
bootblock image (bios) (see Appendix D. Recovering the boot block image
in the 2800 reference manual), the PASSWOD OVRD resets the bios and
allows access to the thin client setup utility. Both of these should be
in the position furthest away from the front panel. The WAKE connector I
believe is wake on modem or lan. There is also a connector for aux audio
in (from a cd drive maybe). The VIP Connector (Video Input Port) is for
things like TV tuners, HDTV (high definition TV) cards, etc. VIP is an
industry standard connector port. The 4 pin connector near the ide
connector is power for a hard drive (not sure of the pinout but the
mating connector is a Molex 43025-0400)
Some other information: List of IBM thin client publications http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/netcom/html/pub.htm
List of pdfs of the 2800 reference manual in various languages http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/netcom/html/n2800e_reference.htm
2800 manual in English http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/netcom/pdfs/qb3a9y00.pdf
Set The BIOS to boot from the CF
We used the following to set the BIOS parameters: 1. Reset BIOS defaults 2. Change the following: a. Devices and I/O -> Network Setup -> Network Support = Disabled (probably not necessary for you if you are using the onboard NIC) b. Start Options -> Startup Sequence -> Primary Startup Sequence => First Startup Device = Hard Disk 0 c. Start Options -> Firmware Selection = Workspace on Demand (very important, otherwise the 2800 will not attempt to boot from the CF d. Start Options -> Power-On Self Test = Quick (Optional - speeds boot time but skips some memory testing) e. Advanced Setup -> PCI Control -> Network Adapters = Enabled 3. Save Settings (Will also reboot system)
Good luck and let us know how you are progressing.
Have a great day.
Mike Cook
Hermann Schaefer wrote:
Hi,
with google I found some hints on your mailinglist about Netvista NPCs and Linux.
I got a 8364-EXX here, but the problem I have:
- machine boots via network from a server (though it took my hours to figure out how the server (NT) has to be installed and configured..)
- machine has now BIOS update from 2001
- machine won't switch to "workspace on demand"
As soon as I switch from netboot to workspace, the monitor gets dark and the power-LED on the front start to blink. No matter what I try, I just cannot enter the "other" BIOS. Resetting/poweroff|on the machine shows the same effect - blinking LED. Pressing esc after power-on brings me back to the BIOS-choice-menu and I can switch back to netboot.
Attaching several IDE-devices seems to work somehow, I can see eg. an IDE-harddisk shown as flash-card in BIOS (though the machines seems to have the 8GB limit in BIOS for hd's). With netbooting everything works as supposed to, but the "other" side of the BIOS seems to be dead. I tried loading BIOS defaults for several times, do all the steps you wrote, but no chance as soon as I switch to the workspace on demand-BIOS. Anyone has an idea what the second jumper is for? Labeled "BOOTBLK", just beneath the "PASSWOD OVRD"? Or the connector called "VIP CONN" with 26 pins? The jumper 17 "WAKE" with 3 pins - wake on LAN?
My goal is to install Linux or FreeBSD on it to use it as a little firewall. These machines are very cheap to buy atm on eBay, consume not much power and are quite quiet. But forced to boot the kernel via nfs isn't what I really want..
any hints?
tia, Hermann
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