Orolia / Spectracom NetClock 9483 - GPS Time Server repair

[Omn]

I stumbled upon a faulty Spectracom NetClock 9483 recently that I've just started to troubleshoot.

The u-blox M8T GPS module checked out, as did the internal battery & memory module etc. I tried the serial port but wasn't getting anything out of it.

I haven't come across this before in an appliance but socketed in the main mainboard is a SOM-4455 - System On Module - containing an AMD CPU, memory socket and a bunch of IO interfaces.

I spotted what looked to be a VGA connector on the mainboard near the SOM module and plugged in a monitor just for fun - here's the result:




Quite cool to get a picture up on the screen. I tested the CF card externally, and sure enough - it was stuffed.

I plugged a keyboard in to the USB port on the back of the appliance and was able to use it to get into the BIOS as well:



I read a few of @SoundTech-LG's posts about these units and reached out for help and they found the internal VGA connectivity quite interesting like I did and worth a post

[SoundTech-LG]

Hi, yes the mini computer module (SOM) does have that VGA connector on it. Thought you were referring to a connector on the outer case. Trying to remember if I hooked it up before. The Display results look familiar. Either way it is very good to know.
If the serial port was working it's possible you could see interactions on the CLI (command line interface). Not sure if the serial port should work with no CF card installed.

[rkrenicki1]

I know that this is an ancient post, but I have recently been able to recover one of these NetClock 9400/SecureSync 1200 units by rebuilding the CF card.  The SOM CF slot is supposed to be empty, it boots from the 1GB card that is in the slot on the backplane board.  There are a pair of images on archive.org that will get this up and going.  Search for "SecureSync 1200" and you will find it.

I did have a question about the GPS module though.  Both of my SecureSync units have Trimble GPS modules.  I purchased a generic u-Blox M8T module to try to upgrade one of them to support Galileo and BeiDou, but the system does not recognize it.  I am unsure if it is either incompatible or defective.  The form factor of the module is identical and it bolts straight in, so I figured it was a standard. If you still happen to still have your unit, can you tell me how you checked your M8T module?  Also, if you can post a photo of it so I can see if mine is actually the same, that would be super helpful too.