============== SUMMARY of THE ORIGIN QUESTION ==================
> I'm trying to install a Wren VII (ST41200N) as an external bootable disk.
> This disk has been used for over a year as a data disk on this machine.
> and is still in its own external enclosure.
> The system is a 4-processor 630MP(upgraded from a 4/330)
> 64Megs SunOs 4.1.2
> Wren IV (ST4376N) as the current internal disk. (SCSI Target #2)
> ALM-2 in the extra slot.
>
> In doing this I disconnected the regular external SCSI Disk enclosure, and
> connected this normally-powered-off Wren VII disk and enclosure.
> Then ran Suninstall and things seemed to be installed on the Wren VII.
> Suninstall ran with no error messasges, and said the bootblock is installed.
> Then command: "boot disk2" resulted in (From my hand copied notes:)
>
> Resetting ...
> SPARCServer 600MP
> ROM ...
> Ethernet Address..
> .......
> Rebooting with command disk2
> Boot Device /sd@2,0
.....
> Can't Read Disk label
> Can't Open disk label packaging
> boot-block startup failed
......
> Is there some quirk or defect in the Wren VII?
> Are some modifications needed in my format.dat?
> Could it be that the boot block didn't get installed properly?
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There were three types of solutions:
1: Don't boot from the first part of the disk (cyls 0-1).
This can be done by repartitioning partition "a" to begin with
cyl 2. THIS WAS THE SIMPLE SOLUTION THAT WORKED FOR ME!
Or, install and boot from a later partition on the disk.
2: Get a more recent PROM chip for the disk. (I called Seagate helpline
and the engineer had never heard of this boot problem. He suggested
changing the format.dat data. He said a new PROM should't be necessary.)
I didn't spend much time on this path.
3: Apply an nvram patch when in the PROM monitor mode. This patch is
supposed to work for Sparc 2's. It had no effect on my 630MP.
I couldn't get ahold of detail documentation for nvram programming:
"Open Boot PROM 2.0 Toolkit User' Guide" or "PROM User's Manual",
which may have allowed me to modify the patch code to work on the MP.
The nvram patch procedure that I used was:
<ok> setenv boot-device disk2 // My Wren 7 is SCSI Target 2
<ok> nvedit
0: setenv use-nvramrc? false
1: true to fcode-debug?
2: probe-all install-console banner
3: cd /sd
4: patch 0 1 sstart
5: device-end
6: setenv use-nvramrc? true
7: <ctrl>-C
<ok> nvstore
<ok> setenv use-nvramrc? true
<ok> reset
....... Here the System tries to boot ....
....... But comes up with the same old errors. .....
Can't Read Disk label
Can't Open disk label packaging
boot-block startup failed
I may have done something wrong here, but without the PROM docs, ...
----------------------------------------------
Thanks especially to birger@vest.sdata.no
for Solution #1.
Also thanks to:
Stephen Fitzgerald sjf@mod.dsto.gov.au
Svein Nedrehagen nedre@stavanger.sgp.slb.com
Everett Schell, schell@molbio.cbs.umn.edu
SysAdm+, MBCC, Bio Sciences -- U of Minnesota
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Fri Sep 28 2001 - 23:07:40 CDT