EK-KA825-MA-001 KA825 Maintenance Advisory (FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY) MARCH, 1987 1.0 Purpose of Document This document provides a general description of the VAX 8250/8350 systems by stating only the differences from the VAX 8200/8300 systems. It is intended as a guide to assist VAX 8200/8300 trained field service engineers in the maintenance of the VAX 8250/8350 systems. 2.0 Product Description 2.1 VAX 8200/8300 and VAX 8250/8350 Differences Overview The VAX 8250 and 8350 systems are enhanced systems giving around 20% greater performance than the standard 8200/8300 systems. This has been accomplished by installing a faster CPU module, the KA825, in place of the KA820. This new module is a T1001-YA and is a faster version of the T1001-00 module currently used for the KA820. Both modules physically look the same, except that the T1001-YA contains faster components and a faster clock crystal ( see Table 1 below ). Architecturally, the KA820 and KA825 are identical. All registers and console commands are identical for the KA825 as well. The differentiating factor between the two CPUs is bit 23 of the SID register (most significant bit in the major revision field) which is set for a KA825. 2.2 CPU Differences The differences between the KA820 and KA825 CPU module are summarized in Table 1 below. Table 1 ------- Elements | KA825 | KA820 ---------------------------------------------------------------- CPU Module | T1001-YA | T1001-00 ---------------------------------------------------------------- BI Clock | 200 nanoseconds | 200 nanoseconds ---------------------------------------------------------------- CPU Clock | 160 nanoseconds | 200 nanoseconds ---------------------------------------------------------------- Xtal | 50 MHz | 40 MHz ---------------------------------------------------------------- Cache/TB RAMs | 35 nanoseconds | 45 nanoseconds ---------------------------------------------------------------- V11 chip set | 160ns parts | 200ns parts ---------------------------------------------------------------- DC346 | date code 8644 min | all date codes ---------------------------------------------------------------- DC347 | date code 8649 min | all date codes ---------------------------------------------------------------- DC348 | date code 8644 min | all date codes ---------------------------------------------------------------- 3.0 OPERATING SYSTEMS 3.1 VMS The first version of VMS that will officially support the KA825 is version 4.5. However, the error logger in this version of VMS will report the KA825 as a KA820. This will be fixed in version 4.6 of VMS. 3.2 ULTRIX-32 The first version of ULTRIX that will officially support the KA825 is version 2.0. 4.0 DIAGNOSTICS Changes have been made to both the Diagnostic Supervisor, (EBSAA) and the EEPROM Utility, (EBUCA) to support the KA825 CPU. These two programs should be available in diagnostic release 28. Until this happens, a utility program floppy disk containing both the correct Diagnostic Supervisor, and EEPROM Utility program will be found in the loose parts bag that ships with the 8250 and 8350 systems. Replace the Utility Program floppy in the Owner's Manual, found in the software box, with this new floppy. Copy this new Diagnostic Supervisor from the utility floppy into your diagnostic account for use when running diagnostics on the system. Also the Diagnostic Supervisor that is on the floppy marked "VAX 8200 Diag Super + Auto" needs to be updated. To do this delete the old Diagnostic Supervisor "EBSAA.EXE" on the "VAX 8200 Diag Super + Auto" floppy, and copy the new one from the utility floppy. Writeboot will have to be run on this disk again to allow the Diagnostic Supervisor to be booted. Invoke the Writeboot program by typing, MC Writeboot. Then answer the target file question with the drive the floppy is in, account and program name. As shown: EX: CSA2:[sysmaint]EBSAA.EXE The next question will be logical block number, which should be answered 2. The last is starting address which should be answered, 10000. The new revisions are as follows: EBSAA Rev 10.6 min EBUCA Rev 2.3 min 4.1 EBSAA The changes made to the Diagnostic Supervisor are to the software timing loop to compensate for the faster CPU speed. NOTE ---- The human interface section of the Diagnostic Supervisor has NOT been modified in this release to understand KA825 as a legal CPU type. Therefore, it must be attached as a KA820. 4.2 EBUCA The EEPROM Utility program has been modified in this release to understand the difference between KA820 and KA825 CPUs, and report them appropriately. Since it is the most significant bit (23) of the CPU revision field in the SID register that determines the type of CPU, the CPU revision will always be the decimal equivalent of the CPU revision plus 16. Table 2 KA825 at CPU revision A1 SID Bit Positions | 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 19 | -------------------------------------------------- Register contents | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -------------------------------------------------- Bit weights | 16 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | -------------------------------------------------- Decimal value | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -------------------------------------------------- CPU rev field = 16 + 1 or 17 4.3 EBKAX EBKAX version 1.5 will get a "Hard error while testing KA0. More than one RX50 interrupt received." error in test 39 when run on a KA825 CPU. This is caused by the speed increase of the KA825 CPU coupled with the algorithm the diagnostic uses to service interrupts. For the present time it is recommended that EBKAX version 1.3 be used in place on EBKAX version 1.5. Version 1.3 does not contain the tests that check the RX50 therefore this version will not see the problem. EBKAX version 1.3 was distributed in prerelease B for the KA820, kit part number; PR-FG87B-DE. 5.0 MICROCODE The KA825 will ship with microcode revision 23. 6.0 MAINTENANCE The VAX 8250/8350 system maintenance strategy is the same as that established for the VAX 8200/8300 systems. All procedures currently used for VAX 8200/8300 systems should be followed for the VAX 8250/8350 systems. 7.0 SITE PREPARATION The same site preparation procedures and considerations that were established for the VAX 8200/8300 systems apply to the VAX 8250/8350 systems. These consist of site layout, electrical, and environmental requirements. 8.0 INSTALLATION If there is a KDB50 installed in the system, be sure it has a pass 5 BIIC. If it doesn't, you will see a memory illegal confirmation error on booting the system. A pass 5 BIIC can be identified by the part number, which is stamped in one of the corners of the BIIC chip. A pass 4 has a part number of 324D; a pass 5 will be 324E. Otherwise, the VAX 8250/8350 installation procedures will follow the same procedures as those established for the VAX 8200/8300 systems. 9.0 CD KIT There will be a new CD Kit generated that will contain the T1001-YA module. The part number for this kit is A2-W1228-10. 10.0 DOCUMENTATION Title Document Number --------------------------------------------------- VAX 8200 Owner's Manual AZ-GN4AA-TE VAX 8200 Installation Guide AZ-GN5AA-TE VAX 8200 Minireference Manual AZ-GN6AA-TE KA820 Processor Technical Manual EK-KA820-TM VAX 8200 Field Maint. Printset MP01786-01 This current set of documentation for the 8200/8300 systems will be updated to include the 8250/8350 systems. This updated documentation should be available during Q1 of FY'88.