Re: 170 - Power it off or keep it powered on?

[Keith Carpenter <entropypool@xxxxxxxxx>]

DeLong, Eric wrote:
> Didn't IBM once store system information in the control panel?  When a system was powered down for too long, the power for the cache memory ran out, and you needed to enter it again on next IPL.
>
> Hmm, maybe this is what I'm thinking....
>
> http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l/200307/msg01368.html
>
> Eric
>   
Eric,

That was my experience with old 9404s where the control panel contains a 
battery and obviously some memory.  I would not assume this is the same 
on other models.   I've not taken apart a 170 control panel, but the 
only batteries I know of is the button battery on the motherboard and 
the battery pack on the RAID card.  My guess is the system password 
state is stored on the motherboard.

AFAIK, system passwords are not reusable.  Once it expires, the system 
generates a new password version code which is needed by IBM to generate 
you a new matching system password.  The process is a nuisance worth 
avoiding.

Keith