5 Jun
2025
5 Jun
'25
1:16 a.m.
Hi all,
by surprise I got a Tadpole Sparcbook 2 some time ago.
Sadly there seems to be almost no documentation available in the net for
a Sparcbook 2, neither a technical/service nor a user manual, only for
Sparcbook 1 and later models.
I do have the following issues:
- the battery pack is missing.
I found two ressources, e.g. the CHM - but none does have any infos
about the battery pack
- The external power connector requieres 18V - no problem
- After connecting the fitting power the Sparcbook does power up, the
display is lit and the unit is trying to boot from the internat SCSI
disc. Nevertheless the boot process is failing this is a good sign.
- after trying to reboot the unit will be almost dead. While pressing
the power on button the LEDs on the left upper side of the display will
be lit shortly, but nothing else will happen.
- trying to reboot an power on the same as above will happen
If I'll keep the unit several weeks/months unpowered the unit will power
up again - but of course will be stuck again while trying to boot from
disk and the same semidead issues as noted above.
I'm suspecting the TOD chip/battery is deads or are there any other
sugegstions?
Up to today I didn't have a look inside of the unit ...
Does any have the manuals hidden in theirs shelves?
Best
Andreas
5 Jun
5 Jun
6:30 a.m.
I have three Sun OS laptops waiting to be analyzed in a single Tadpole box
so I assume they’re some form of Tadpole..I will check to see what
model(s). My brief testing of the units revealed similar symptoms to
yours. I forget the model(s).
Bill
On Thu, Jun 5, 2025 at 4:23 AM Andreas Holz via cctalk <
cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
Hi all,
by surprise I got a Tadpole Sparcbook 2 some time ago.
Sadly there seems to be almost no documentation available in the net for
a Sparcbook 2, neither a technical/service nor a user manual, only for
Sparcbook 1 and later models.
I do have the following issues:
- the battery pack is missing.
I found two ressources, e.g. the CHM - but none does have any infos
about the battery pack
- The external power connector requieres 18V - no problem
- After connecting the fitting power the Sparcbook does power up, the
display is lit and the unit is trying to boot from the internat SCSI
disc. Nevertheless the boot process is failing this is a good sign.
- after trying to reboot the unit will be almost dead. While pressing
the power on button the LEDs on the left upper side of the display will
be lit shortly, but nothing else will happen.
- trying to reboot an power on the same as above will happen
If I'll keep the unit several weeks/months unpowered the unit will power
up again - but of course will be stuck again while trying to boot from
disk and the same semidead issues as noted above.
I'm suspecting the TOD chip/battery is deads or are there any other
sugegstions?
Up to today I didn't have a look inside of the unit ...
Does any have the manuals hidden in theirs shelves?
Best
Andreas
9:58 a.m.
They name of the laptop model is "PowerLite 85" I have the manuals for this
model.
On Thu, Jun 5, 2025 at 9:30 AM Bill Degnan <billdegnan(a)gmail.com> wrote:
I have three Sun OS laptops waiting to be analyzed in
a single Tadpole box
so I assume they’re some form of Tadpole..I will check to see what
model(s). My brief testing of the units revealed similar symptoms to
yours. I forget the model(s).
Bill
On Thu, Jun 5, 2025 at 4:23 AM Andreas Holz via cctalk <
cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> by surprise I got a Tadpole Sparcbook 2 some time ago.
>
> Sadly there seems to be almost no documentation available in the net for
> a Sparcbook 2, neither a technical/service nor a user manual, only for
> Sparcbook 1 and later models.
>
> I do have the following issues:
>
> - the battery pack is missing.
> I found two ressources, e.g. the CHM - but none does have any infos
> about the battery pack
>
> - The external power connector requieres 18V - no problem
>
> - After connecting the fitting power the Sparcbook does power up, the
> display is lit and the unit is trying to boot from the internat SCSI
> disc. Nevertheless the boot process is failing this is a good sign.
>
> - after trying to reboot the unit will be almost dead. While pressing
> the power on button the LEDs on the left upper side of the display will
> be lit shortly, but nothing else will happen.
>
> - trying to reboot an power on the same as above will happen
>
> If I'll keep the unit several weeks/months unpowered the unit will power
> up again - but of course will be stuck again while trying to boot from
> disk and the same semidead issues as noted above.
>
> I'm suspecting the TOD chip/battery is deads or are there any other
> sugegstions?
>
> Up to today I didn't have a look inside of the unit ...
>
> Does any have the manuals hidden in theirs shelves?
>
> Best
>
> Andreas
>
>
6 Jun
6 Jun
12:43 p.m.
Andreas Holz via cctalk writes:
- after trying to reboot the unit will be almost dead.
While pressing=20
the power on button the LEDs on the left upper side of the display will=20
be lit shortly, but nothing else will happen.
If this is happening with external 18 VDC applied, suspect any/all
of the electrolytic capacitors in the internal power converter.
I've never seen one of these inside, but given its age, those caps
stand a good chance of being replaceable without requiring a
microscope.
--lyndon
9 Jun
9 Jun
10:59 a.m.
Sadly there seems to be almost no documentation
available in the net for a
Sparcbook 2, neither a technical/service nor a user manual, only for
Sparcbook 1 and later models.
I do have a SPARCbook 2 and its printed documentation; however the
``Technical Reference Manual'' was not bundled with the machine and had
to be ordered separately from Tadpole, and I don't have a copy of it.
- the battery pack is missing.
I found two ressources, e.g. the CHM - but none does have any infos about
the battery pack
There are no details about the battery in the manual, except that they
are made of ``the latest generation of Nickel Cadmium batteries'', where
latest means 1992.
- After connecting the fitting power the Sparcbook
does power up, the
display is lit and the unit is trying to boot from the internat SCSI disc.
Nevertheless the boot process is failing this is a good sign.
- after trying to reboot the unit will be almost dead. While pressing the
power on button the LEDs on the left upper side of the display will be lit
shortly, but nothing else will happen.
Upon initial power up, can you interrupt the boot process by pressing a
key, and asking for diagnostics? (option 4 in the menu)
You might also want to connect a serial terminal (9600 8N1), there
should be diagnostics messages on it if the display does not initialize.
HTH,
Miod
10 Jun
10 Jun
7:54 a.m.
On 6/9/25 12:59, Miod Vallat via cctalk wrote:
There are no details about the battery in the manual, except that they
are made of ``the latest generation of Nickel Cadmium batteries'', where
latest means 1992.
Ah HAH! That confirms my suspicions from the original
message, that the machine would partially boot once, then
never again until left unpowered for a few weeks. I guessed
that there was a CMOS battery that was rechargeable, and the
several weeks wait allowed that battery to fully discharge.
The issue is the partial boot leaves some corrupted data in
the battery-backed RAM.
Jon
8:29 a.m.
On Tue, Jun 10, 2025, 9:04 AM Jon Elson via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
wrote:
On 6/9/25 12:59, Miod Vallat via cctalk wrote:
Isn't there a command in OpenFirmware to reset that? Or to set things like
MAC address that might 'fix' this before the kernel gets a chance to freak
out...
Warner
There are no details about the battery in the manual, except that they
are made of ``the latest generation of Nickel Cadmium batteries'', where
latest means 1992.
Ah HAH! That confirms my suspicions from the original
message, that the machine would partially boot once, then
never again until left unpowered for a few weeks. I guessed
that there was a CMOS battery that was rechargeable, and the
several weeks wait allowed that battery to fully discharge.
The issue is the partial boot leaves some corrupted data in
the battery-backed RAM.
1:15 p.m.
Meanwhile I got a Sparcbook 1 technical reference manual.
Even the 1 version does have a battery backed sram e.g. responsible for the RTC using a
MK48T02.
Maybe the same or similar within the SB 2.
Suspect is a dead battery and corrupt sram.
Best
Andreas
Am 10.06.2025 um 18:28 schrieb Miod Vallat via cctalk
<cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>rg>:
Isn't there a command in OpenFirmware to reset that? Or to set things like
MAC address that might 'fix' this before the kernel gets a chance to freak
out...
Tadpole SPARCBook prior to generation 3 do not use OpenFirmware and
hardly store anything in battery-backed memory. 
3:06 p.m.
Can you get the manual scanned and put on Bitsavers?
On Jun 10, 2025, at 4:24 PM, hupfadekroua via cctalk
<cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
Meanwhile I got a Sparcbook 1 technical reference manual.
Even the 1 version does have a battery backed sram e.g. responsible for the RTC using a
MK48T02.
Maybe the same or similar within the SB 2.
Suspect is a dead battery and corrupt sram.
Best
Andreas
> Am 10.06.2025 um 18:28 schrieb Miod Vallat via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>rg>:
>
>
>>
>> Isn't there a command in OpenFirmware to reset that? Or to set things like
>> MAC address that might 'fix' this before the kernel gets a chance to
freak
>> out...
>
> Tadpole SPARCBook prior to generation 3 do not use OpenFirmware and
> hardly store anything in battery-backed memory.
17
days inactive
22
days old
9 comments
8 participants
participants (8)
-
Andreas Holz -
Bill Degnan -
hupfadekroua
-
Jon Elson -
Lyndon Nerenberg (VE7TFX/VE6BBM) -
Michael Thompson -
Miod Vallat -
Warner Losh