I received responses from a number of helpful souls about my Sun3 boot
problems. I was looking to boot a Sun3/160 (and also a Sun4/280) from
SCSI tape to install SunOS 4.1.
The trick was to specify which file on the tape was the mini-unix.
SunOS 3.5 tapes had file #2 as mini-unix, whereas 4.1 has munix in file
#4.
The shortest and most direct reply is included. Many thanks to all who
responded.
---------The answer--------------
Excerpts from mail: 6-Jun-95 Re: SunOS 4.1 tape boot pro.. by "Will
Madison @desnews.c
> Date: Tue, 6 Jun 1995 13:51:31 -0600 (MDT)
> From: "Will Madison (Systems)" <will@desnews.com>
> To: Steven Lloyd Auterman <sa1y+@andrew.cmu.edu>
> Subject: Re: SunOS 4.1 tape boot problems on Sun3
>
> Hi Steve:
>
> Here's what you need to do to load mini-unix:
>
> > b st()
> Boot: st(0,0,4)
> loads copy program into memory and runs it.
> From: st(0,0,5)
> specifies location of mini-unix on tape.
> To: sd(0,0,1)
> copies mini unix to swap area
> Boot: sd(0,0,1)vmunix -as
> boot mini-unix in single user mode from swap area.
> Root device? sd0*
> specifies root device.
>
> Mini-unix should now be loaded.
------------------Original message----------------------
Hi all,
I've got a Sun3/160 that I need to install a new system on, or more
specifically install SunOS 4.1 for Sun-3's from 1/4" tape. I try to
boot the tape as per the instructions and I'm getting to a boot prompt
I'm not expecting.
Specifically, I insert the tape into the 1/4" tape drive (internal) and
at the hardware prompt type 'b st()'. It spins the tape for a few
seconds and comes back with a "Boot:" prompt. At this point, I haven't
a clue what to do, since I can type anything I wish and not get an
appropriate response. It'll only respond when I give it some
'st()mini-root' or 'st()boot', but it still comes back to the "Boot:"
prompt. It seems to be requiring some more information, but I've got
nothing to give it.
If I do give it something like 'st()boot' or 'st()mini-root', it says
"Not a file system." 'st()' give "Not executable" and anything else it
just accepts but doesn't do anything.
Any help you could give would be fantastic. I'm trying to get this
thing up and running enough to format a disk or two and reinstall it
standalone.
Steve Auterman
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Auterman | sa1y+@andrew.cmu.edu |
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