SS2 SparcStation 2 upgrade/hardware questions

[Bruce Allen]

I am upgrading my SS1 to an SS2.  The upgrade just arrived yesterday.  I
have a bunch of questions.  In decreasing order of importance, they are:

1. Can I take the Mostek NVRAM/Time-of-day-clock/Lithium battery chip from
   my old system (SS1) and put it into the new (SS2) system, in place of the
   analagous module?  This way I would keep the old hostid, and wouldn't have
   to hassle with changing to a new one.  Has anyone tried this?

2. My SS2 will not have any internal hard disks (mine is external).  As
   delivered, the SS2 has a 4 Ohm load resistor (no kidding!) which has been
   attached to a plastic hard disk mounting bracket, and draws current from
   one of the internal hard disk power connectors.  I am opposed to having
   another 6.25 watts (V^2/R) of uneccesary heat production inside the
   system.  However this must have been put there for a reason: could some
   one enlighten me?  Is it safe to remove this load resistor, or will the
   PS/pc-board traces only work correctly with it?

3. Another small fan has been added, in the front of the system.  Hence
   there are now two fans: one in the power supply and one in between the
   floppy disk mounting location and the hard disks. It looks like this is to
   cool the internal disks (which I don't have).  Can I safely disconnect
   this fan, and reduce the hideous whining noise?  Note that my system has
   16 4Meg simms, and thus 64 Mbytes of memory, so there is some extra heat
   generation (and current draw, re question 2 above).  My system also has a
   floppy disk drive.

4. I have a Fujitsu 2263S which I have jumpered internally to do Synch
   SCSI.  My other disk is a CDC Wren V model 94181.  Can this disk do Sync
   SCSI?  If so, are there jumpers to set, or is it automatic?  The OEM
   manual (page 2, line 5) under the list of standard features, says
   "Synchronous SCSI bus data transfer protocol" but there are no details
   about how to get it.  Are there any jumpers to be set, or does the drive
   negotiate this automatically with the SCSI host?

5. The upgrade does not seem to require returning the old
   keyboard/mouse/pad.  Is this correct?  Should I hang onto the old ones as
   spares; ie will they work correctly on the SS2?  Will Sun send me a bill
   for these after 30 days?

I would be quite grateful for answers to any or all of these questions.
Please post on the net, and also send me a copy directly to
ballen at csd4.csd.uwm.edu since I don't read news on a regular basis.
Thanks for any advice.

	Bruce Allen
	University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Physics Department
	voice phone: 414-229-6439