Restoring a vintage Sun SPARCstation IPX workstation involves repairing a dead power supply and replacing failed NVRAM. The SPARCstation IPX, introduced in 1991 with a 40MHz SPARC CPU, was a compact UNIX workstation that cost around $15,000 with monitor and keyboard. These machines were prized for their advanced multitasking capabilities and RISC architecture, standing out from the standard PCs of the early 1990s.

A common failure point in these machines is the power supply's electrolytic capacitors, which often leak and corrode the PCB. Both of my IPX units suffered from dead power supplies, requiring replacement of all electrolytic capacitors except the main filter capacitor. The repair process involved replacing capacitors ranging from 1μF to 3300μF with modern equivalents from manufacturers like Nichicon and Panasonic.

After the PSU repair, the next challenge was replacing the NVRAM chip, which stores configuration settings and the unique host ID. The original M48T02 chip integrates SRAM, RTC, and battery, failing when the internal battery dies. The replacement process requires programming a new MAC address and host ID to ensure network compatibility and software licensing. With both repairs complete, this classic UNIX workstation can once again run OpenBoot PROM and legacy applications.