User's Manual Part 2

RVP8 User’s Manual
April 2003
TTY Nonvolatile Setups (draft)
3–3
number (if it is not zero) in the printout of the ”V” command. Likewise, the minor release
number of the code that last saved the nonvolatile RAM is also shown. This is an improvement
over having to check the date of the code to determine which minor release was running.
Note that the RVP8 does not actually begin using the current settings until after the “Q”
command is entered, so that the processor exits the TTY setup mode and returns to normal
operation.
3.1.3 Processor Reset Command
The “*” command may be used to reset the signal processor from the TTY. This can be handy
when the other methods of reset (power-up, parallel interface reset signal, or SCSI bus reset) can
not easily be done. The command is robust in that pressing the Escape key followed by “*”,
followed by two Returns, always resets the RVP8. There are certain wait conditions from which
a TTY ESC does not immediately enter the setup monitor. However, the above four-key
sequence always forces a full reset.
The RVP8 diagnostics can run in a continuous loop that is useful during production burn–in
testing. In this mode the complete set of powerup tests is repeated approximately once per
second. The green LEDs on the RVP8/Main and RVP8/AUX boards will blink on each run as a
progress indicator. All red LEDs will initially be on, but each will begin to blink if any
diagnostic ever fails on that board. A line of text is also printed to the setup TTY to show the
progress of the tests and a summary of any errors.
The RVP8’s Perpetual Diagnostic Loop maintains a histogram of receiver IF-Input noise levels
in 1dB steps from –85dBm to –72dBm. You can view the accumulated noise distribution by
typing “N” while the diagnostic loop is running. This feature is intended for use during factory
burn-in and testing of RVP8/IFD units.
This special test mode can be started in two ways. One is to powerup the processor with the
RVP8/Main I/O jumpers JP17–JP22 in the (somewhat illegal) pattern: JP17:BC, JP18:BC,
JP19:AB, JP20:AB, JP21:AB, JP22:AB. This method has the advantage of not requiring a TTY
connection. The second method is to reset the processor from the local TTY monitor using the
”*+” command. This is the normal reset command, but with a plus sign (debugging) suffix.
3.1.4 V — View Internal Status
The “V” command allows you to view some internal status within the RVP8. This information
is available for inspection only, and can not be changed from the TTY. The view listing begins
with the banner:
Jumpers and Internal Status
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––
and then prints the following lines:
Rev.B board, ROM V14.12 from Mon Jul 12 19:29:07 1999
This line shows the revision level of the RVP8 board, the ROM code version, and the
date and time that this release was compiled. This lets you know the age of the
release, even if the release notes have been misplaced. The date can also be helpful
in keeping track of “unofficial” interim releases.