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SOLARIS 8 problem

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Uwe Holz

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Dec 23, 2004, 2:05:22 AM12/23/04
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Hello,

i ecounter a problem installing sol8.

i use an Ultra60 via ttya and the following settings in openboot:
input and output set to ttya with 9600,8,n,1.

when i boot my sol8 02/02 installation cd via boot cdrom my U60
starts working and shows some info about solaris5.8 (boot info
message).
after that a bar starts turning over and stops in a horizontal
position. in this state nothing is going on any more. no disk or cdrom
activity and no further output for about 10 hours now.

times ago i installed sol8 succesfully on this machine. meanwhile i
tried linux but this was not the right choice for me. now i have this
strange problem reinstalling sol8.

since i can't find some information regarding this problem i did like
to ask if someone can tell me how to proceed or where to find
information.

best regards
uwe

Richard B. Gilbert

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Dec 23, 2004, 8:00:57 AM12/23/04
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Uwe Holz wrote:

Have you tried booting the "1 of 2" disk instead of the installation disk?

Howard Applesdale

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Dec 28, 2004, 1:12:01 PM12/28/04
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Uwe Holz schrieb:
here is the exact phrase it comes with:

{0} ok boot cdrom
Boot device: /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3/disk@6,0:f File and args:
SunOS Release 5.8 Version Generic_108528-13 64-bit
Copyright 1983-2001 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.
WARNING: /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3/sd@0,0 (sd0):
corrupt label - bad geometry

Label says 35379200 blocks, Drive says 35378533 blocks

Howard Applesdale

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Dec 28, 2004, 1:13:09 PM12/28/04
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Richard B. Gilbert schrieb:

> Uwe Holz wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>>
>> i ecounter a problem installing sol8.

>>
>>


> Have you tried booting the "1 of 2" disk instead of the installation disk?

yes i tried, but things are the same:

Bryan Brock

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Dec 28, 2004, 2:31:56 PM12/28/04
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You could try "boot -v" to get more info about where it is hanging.

You could also enable diag-mode in the OBP before you boot like this:

ok setenv diag-switch? true
ok setenv diag-level = max

Take a look at http://docs.sun.com/source/805-4496-10/chap3.htm for
more on diag mode.

Howard Applesdale

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Dec 28, 2004, 3:30:58 PM12/28/04
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Bryan Brock schrieb:

hi,

i have set the diag level as described above. as far as i can see there
is no hardware problem. i am also able to boot an debian installation
cdrom with no problems.

here is the output of an attempt to boot the SOLARIS 8 02/02
installation cd. maybe you can figure out whats going wrong:

i think its depending on the harddisk label. there is a message about a
linux label, but i can't figure out, how to set up the disk in another
way. i tried erasing all partitions with the linux fdisk program. i even
tried to create a new sun disklabel with linux, but have had no success.
You see that linux custom line?


Rebooting with command: boot cdrom -v1f> Mon
Master CPU online Test
Boot device: /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3/disk@6,0:f File and args: -v
Slave Version: 0000.0000.1700.11a0M Address Tes
Loading ufs-file-system package 1.4 04 Aug 1995
13:02:54.0000.0000.0040.0000
0
FCode UFS Reader 1.11 97/07/10 16:19:15.

%o0 = 0000.0000.0000
Redirected to slice: 1

Executing Pow
Loading: /platform/SUNW,Ultra-60/ufsboot

0>
pcipsy0 is /pci@1f,4000
pcipsy1 at root: UPA 0x1f 0x2000
pcipsy1 is /pci@1f,2000
/pci@1f,4000/scsi@3 (glm0):
Rev. 5 Symbios 53c875 found.
PCI-device: scsi@3, glm0
glm0 is /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3
/pci@1f,4000/scsi@3,1 (glm1):
Rev. 5 Symbios 53c875 found.
PCI-device: scsi@3,1, glm1
glm1 is /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3,1
sd0 at glm0: target 0 lun 0
sd0 is /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3/sd@0,0
<Linux custom cyl 17274 alt 0 hd 64 sec 32>
sd6 at glm0: target 6 lun 0
sd6 is /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3/sd@6,0
root on /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3/disk@6,0:b fstype ufs
PCI-device: ebus@1, ebus0
su0 at ebus0: offset 14,3083f8
su0 is /pci@1f,4000/ebus@1/su@14,3083f8
su1 at ebus0: offset 14,3062f8
su1 is /pci@1f,4000/ebus@1/su@14,3062f8
se0 at ebus0: offset 14,400000
e0 is /pci@1f,4000/ebus@1/se@14,400000

Bryan Brock

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Dec 28, 2004, 3:51:10 PM12/28/04
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>i think its depending on the harddisk label. there is a message about
a
>linux label, but i can't figure out, how to set up the disk in another
>way. i tried erasing all partitions with the linux fdisk program. i
even
>tried to create a new sun disklabel with linux, but have had no
success.
>You see that linux custom line?

I do see it, and I was going to suggest the sun disklabel using fdisk
(type BE for Solaris boot), but you've already done that.

Have you tried the following?

ok boot -s cdrom

The -s might bypass whatever is reading the Linux partition and give
you a shell.

>From the shell you should be able to run the format command, create a
partition, and label the disk.

Not sure if you also need to do a newfs on the partition to fix your
boot problem, but while you're there, it might be a good idea.

Richard B. Gilbert

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Dec 28, 2004, 4:01:44 PM12/28/04
to
Howard Applesdale wrote:

It appears to be complaining about your hard drive! If you boot -s you
should be able to use the format utility to rewrite the label. This
will, of course, make any data on your hard drive unreadable so be
certain you have good backups of anything you don't want to lose.


Howard Applesdale

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Dec 28, 2004, 4:32:55 PM12/28/04
to

> Have you tried the following?
>
> ok boot -s cdrom
>
> The -s might bypass whatever is reading the Linux partition and give
> you a shell.
>
>>From the shell you should be able to run the format command, create a
> partition, and label the disk.
>
> Not sure if you also need to do a newfs on the partition to fix your
> boot problem, but while you're there, it might be a good idea.
>

sounds like a good plan, but unfortunately both versions "boot -s cdrom"
and "boot cdrom -s" don't work. i tried this with the SOL8 027=2 install
disk and the software 1of2 disk. the result is a hanging system. do you
know another way to come to a command shell?

Boot device: disk File and args:Access Test
The file just loaded does not appear to be executable.
2> <00> IMMU TLB Tag Access Test
{0} ok boot cdrom -v -s
2> <00> IMMU TL
Boot device: /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3/disk@6,0:f File and args: -v -sache

2>INFO: CPU 450 MHz: 4096KB Ecache
Size: 338336+89970+75914 Bytes <00> Ecache RAM Addr Test


pcipsy0 is /pci@1f,4000
pcipsy1 at root: UPA 0x1f 0x2000
pcipsy1 is /pci@1f,2000
/pci@1f,4000/scsi@3 (glm0):
Rev. 5 Symbios 53c875 found.
PCI-device: scsi@3, glm0
glm0 is /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3
/pci@1f,4000/scsi@3,1 (glm1):
Rev. 5 Symbios 53c875 found.
PCI-device: scsi@3,1, glm1
glm1 is /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3,1
sd0 at glm0: target 0 lun 0
sd0 is /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3/sd@0,0
<Linux custom cyl 17274 alt 0 hd 64 sec 32>
sd6 at glm0: target 6 lun 0
sd6 is /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3/sd@6,0
root on /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3/disk@6,0:b fstype ufs
PCI-device: ebus@1, ebus0
su0 at ebus0: offset 14,3083f8
su0 is /pci@1f,4000/ebus@1/su@14,3083f8
su1 at ebus0: offset 14,3062f8
su1 is /pci@1f,4000/ebus@1/su@14,3062f8
se0 at ebus0: offset 14,400000

se0 is /pci@1f,4000/ebus@1/se@14,400000

D. Rock

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Dec 28, 2004, 4:50:23 PM12/28/04
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Howard Applesdale <har...@gmx.de> wrote:
>
>> Have you tried the following?
>>
>> ok boot -s cdrom
>>
>> The -s might bypass whatever is reading the Linux partition and give
>> you a shell.
>>
>>>From the shell you should be able to run the format command, create a
>> partition, and label the disk.
>>
>> Not sure if you also need to do a newfs on the partition to fix your
>> boot problem, but while you're there, it might be a good idea.
>>
>
> sounds like a good plan, but unfortunately both versions "boot -s cdrom"
> and "boot cdrom -s" don't work. i tried this with the SOL8 027=2 install
> disk and the software 1of2 disk. the result is a hanging system. do you
> know another way to come to a command shell?

You could try "boot cdrom -bv"

The "normal" single user mode does start some scripts. Maybe one of them
is hanging after it finds this 'strange looking' disk label.

After you got to a shell prompt with "boot cdrom -bv" there is more work
to do, because you have to create the device tree by hand. Afterwards you
should be able to overwrite the disk label.


--
Daniel

Howard Applesdale

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Dec 29, 2004, 7:19:46 AM12/29/04
to
D. Rock schrieb:

even this way i cant get a shell... the system hangs

Bryan Brock

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Dec 29, 2004, 1:44:56 PM12/29/04
to
Next step would be to printenv and take another look at all your OBP
settings. What does printenv look like for this box?

Are you stopping the boot process with <Stop>-a, or is auto-boot set to
false? Set it to false if you haven't already.

Are you powering down the system before you try to boot? Power down
between boot attempts.

If you disconnect the hard drive, does "boot -s cdrom" still fail? If
the boot still hangs with the hard disk disconnected, then the linux
partition type is not your problem.

Are there any other cards in the machine? If you have a
framebuffer/SCSI/FCAL card (excluding the SCSI connection to the
CD-ROM), can you temporarily remove them and try another "boot -s"?

Howard Applesdale

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Dec 30, 2004, 4:18:35 AM12/30/04
to
Bryan Brock schrieb:

> Next step would be to printenv and take another look at all your OBP
> settings. What does printenv look like for this box?

{0} ok printenv
Variable Name Value Def


scsi-initiator-id 7 7

keyboard-click? false false

keymap
ttyb-rts-dtr-off false false

ttyb-ignore-cd true true

ttya-rts-dtr-off false false

ttya-ignore-cd false true

ttyb-mode 9600,8,n,1,- 9600,8,n,1,-

ttya-mode 9600,8,n,1,- 9600,8,n,1,-

pcia-probe-list 1,2
pcib-probe-list 1,3,2,4,5 1,3,2,4,5

enclosure-type 540-3251
banner-name Sun Ultra 60 UPA/PCI

energystar-enabled? true
mfg-mode off off

diag-level max min

#power-cycles 162
system-board-serial# 5014450127318
system-board-date 3886c948
fcode-debug? true false

output-device ttya screen

input-device ttya keyboard

load-base 16384 16384

boot-command boot boot

auto-boot? true true
watchdog-reboot? false false
diag-file
diag-device net net
boot-file
boot-device disk net disk net
local-mac-address? false false
ansi-terminal? true true
screen-#columns 80 80
screen-#rows 34 34
silent-mode? false false
use-nvramrc? false false
nvramrc
security-mode none
security-password
security-#badlogins 0
oem-logo
oem-logo? false false
oem-banner
oem-banner? false false
hardware-revision
last-hardware-update
diag-switch? false false
{0} ok

> Are you stopping the boot process with <Stop>-a, or is auto-boot set to
> false? Set it to false if you haven't already.

it's set to false now. until now i did issue the stop-a to make a manual
boot.

> Are you powering down the system before you try to boot? Power down
> between boot attempts.

that's what i normally do.

> If you disconnect the hard drive, does "boot -s cdrom" still fail? If
> the boot still hangs with the hard disk disconnected, then the linux
> partition type is not your problem.

this is, what it says without a harddisk:

{0} ok boot cdrom -v1.65
Boot device: /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3/disk@6,0:f File and args: -vext at
[0x1070110, 0x10883df] data at 0x184aa98/pci@1f,4000/sc
Size: 338336+89970+75914 Bytes


SunOS Release 5.8 Version Generic_108528-13 64-bit

ttyS01 at 0x1fff1
module /platfo
Copyright 1983-2001 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.0

avail mem = 1539670016
root nexus = Sun Ultra 60 UPA/PCI (2 X UltraSPARC-II 450MHz)
pcipsy0 at root: UPA 0x1f 0x4000


pcipsy0 is /pci@1f,4000
pcipsy1 at root: UPA 0x1f 0x2000
pcipsy1 is /pci@1f,2000
/pci@1f,4000/scsi@3 (glm0):
Rev. 5 Symbios 53c875 found.
PCI-device: scsi@3, glm0
glm0 is /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3
/pci@1f,4000/scsi@3,1 (glm1):
Rev. 5 Symbios 53c875 found.
PCI-device: scsi@3,1, glm1
glm1 is /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3,1

sd6 at glm0: target 6 lun 0
sd6 is /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3/sd@6,0
root on /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3/disk@6,0:b fstype ufs
PCI-device: ebus@1, ebus0
su0 at ebus0: offset 14,3083f8
su0 is /pci@1f,4000/ebus@1/su@14,3083f8
su1 at ebus0: offset 14,3062f8
su1 is /pci@1f,4000/ebus@1/su@14,3062f8
se0 at ebus0: offset 14,400000
se0 is /pci@1f,4000/ebus@1/se@14,400000

> Are there any other cards in the machine? If you have a


> framebuffer/SCSI/FCAL card (excluding the SCSI connection to the
> CD-ROM), can you temporarily remove them and try another "boot -s"?
>

there is nothing in the pci/upa slots. its the bare Ultra60 with two
cpus, memory and one harddisk and one cdrom. as you can see in my boot
environment i'm hooked up via serial line.

what i have tried beside your suggestions:
1) used another scsi-cdrom-drive: no difference
2) removed internal sca-scsi-disk and hooked up a *new* external disk
(id0): no difference.
3) tried SOL8 inst and 1of2, SOL10 1of4 : no difference

SOL10:

module /platform/sun4u/kernel/cpu/sparcv9/SUNW,UltraSPARC-II: text at
[0x11cbf40MMAND_INVA
Enter 'help command-name' or 'help category-nam
SunOS Release 5.10 Version s10_72 64-bit.

Copyright 1983-2004 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved...

0> <0
(Use ONLY the first word of a cate
Use is subject to license terms.
avail mem = 1562443776
root nexus = Sun Ultra 60 UPA/PCI (2 X UltraSPARC-II 450MHz)
pseudo0 at root
pseudo0 is /pseudo
scsi_vhci0 at root
scsi_vhci0 is /scsi_vhci
pcipsy0 at root: UPA 0x1f 0x4000
pcipsy0 is /pci@1f,4000
/pci@1f,4000/scsi@3 (glm0):
Rev. 5 Symbios 53c876 found.


PCI-device: scsi@3, glm0
glm0 is /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3

sd6 at glm0: target 6 lun 0
sd6 is /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3/sd@6,0
root on /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3/disk@6,0:b fstype ufs
PCI-device: ebus@1, ebus0

ebus0 is /pci@1f,4000/ebus@1

Bryan Brock

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Dec 30, 2004, 2:15:22 PM12/30/04
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With the CD and internal disk plugged in, what does probe-scsi-all
return?

You should see both the disks, the CD-ROM should be SCSI ID 6, and it
looks like your internal disk was set to ID 0, so you should see that
too.

If that looks OK, then I'd suspect some kind of hardware problem
(memory, system board, or boot PROM). Some of the lines in the boot
messages appear to be truncated or corrupted.

There is also an Open Boot PROM (OBP) diag utility for the Ultra60
(obdiag, and obtest from the ok prompt) here:
http://docs-pdf.sun.com/805-3683-10/805-3683-10.pdf

...and some additional hardware diags here:
http://sunsolve.sun.com/pub-cgi/show.pl?target=content/content9

See if your diag output resembles the examples in the PDF document.

When you're running the diags, you might disconnect the box from the
network just in case it does anything strange with the Ethernet card.

If the diags don't point to any problems, I'd be surprised.

If diags point to hardware problems and you do not have a hardware
support contract, your choices are limited. You probably only have one
Ultra 60 system board, so you can't swap that out.

You could try removing some of the memory if the diags point to memory.
See the following first:

http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/coll/181.5

Make sure you check the size of each SIMM and arrange them according to
the following guides. Having mixed size SIMMs can give you
unpredictable results. I know you were able to boot and run solaris
and linux before with no hw changes, but I'm running out of ideas.

Remove a couple of the SIMMs and try to boot from CD again. Make sure
to be careful and follow the vendor recommended procedures to avoid
zapping any SIMMs with static (ground strap, etc).

If the boot still fails, try swapping the remaining SIMMs with the ones
you took out.
Use the hardware guide for the Ultra60 to make sure you're putting the
correct number of SIMMs in the right slots.

If diags point to CPUs, you can try swapping out one CPU at a time. If
you use a single CPU, you might need to put it in a specific slot. Try
the boot with one CPU, then swap in the other one. Have another look
at the hardware guide to make sure you're doing it right.


If diags look OK. I'm out of ideas. As a last resort, you could try
updating the OBP, but *don't* do this if there are _any_ hardware
problems. If there are hardware problems, and the OBP update hangs,
your system will probably become completely unusable. At least you can
boot Linux with it the way it is now.

Even if there appear to be no hardware problems, and the machine powers
off for any reason during the OBP update, that might also make the
machine unusable, so do this at your own risk.

OBP Update
(*CAREFUL* this may make your system unusable! Don't do this if the
diags indicate _any_ kind of hardware problem.)
http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/advsearch.do?collection=PATCH&type=collections&queryKey5=106455&toDocument=yes

Howard Applesdale

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Dec 30, 2004, 2:39:40 PM12/30/04
to
Howard Applesdale schrieb:

> Bryan Brock schrieb:
>
>> Next step would be to printenv and take another look at all your OBP
>> settings. What does printenv look like for this box?
>
>

strange things:

i downloaded the install image of SOL8 2/04 and boot cdrom -s worked
fine! i came to a shell with no problems and i am able to install.

this is exactly what i tried with SOL8 2/02 and the newest SOL10.

but don't be afraid, i will surely have some questions in near future :)

btw: does somebody know a good starting point for SOLARIS administration?

thank you
Uwe

Howard Applesdale

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Dec 30, 2004, 2:45:07 PM12/30/04
to
as in my last post you can see, that i am able to install now.

i forgot to mention, that i disconnected the lan-cable and installed a
graphics card (upa-craetor thing, cant specify) and connected a monitor
and a keyboard. all things lend by a colleague. so these are the
hardware modifications beside the fact, that i used another install source.

greetings and thanks!
Uwe

Bryan Brock schrieb:


> With the CD and internal disk plugged in, what does probe-scsi-all
> return?

...

Bryan Brock

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Dec 30, 2004, 3:35:42 PM12/30/04
to
> i downloaded the install image of SOL8 2/04 and boot cdrom -s
> worked fine! i came to a shell with no problems and i am able to
> install.

Ahhh!...the install media! Well at least I learned some cool stuff
about diags, so it wasn't a total loss. I'm glad it's working for you
now. Good job.

> btw: does somebody know a good starting point for SOLARIS
> administration?

I like the following resources:
http://docs.sun.com/
http://sunsolve.sun.com/
http://www.sunfreeware.com/
http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/
http://forum.sun.com/

...and of course newsgroups...
comp.unix.solaris
comp.unix.admin
comp.unix.questions

Good luck.

Bryan Brock

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Dec 30, 2004, 3:44:35 PM12/30/04
to
> btw: does somebody know a good starting point for SOLARIS
> administration?

also take advantage of the search engines. I found every one of the
documents above using http://www.google.com/

run this through google:
solaris +"system administration" site:docs.sun.com

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