TN105 - Sun OpenBoot Prom

105.1    General

        Sun computers use a boot monitor program called "OpenBoot". From
        the boot monitor we can perform certain hardware tests, issue
        boot instructions, and set many parameters stored in nonvolatile
        RAM on the CPU board. Some of these setting must be adjusted
        for particular situations.

        Full documentation is available at:

        http://docs.sun.com:80/ab2/coll.216.2/@Ab2CollView

105.2    Getting to the boot monitor

        The best way is to cause an orderly system shutdown with
        one of these commands, shown in order of preference:

                shutdown -yi 0
                init 0
                halt

        If this is not possible then it can be forced by:

          From the tty console send a RS-232 BREAK signal.
          (serial consoles default to 9600,8,N,1)

          From a Sun Framebuffer/keyboard press the STOP key
          and the 'a' key at the same time.

        In general this method is BAD and has the same risks to
        the file system as just turning off the power.

        If you accidently sends a break or STOP-a, you can safely
        return to the running OS state with this command:

                ok> go

        If you issue ANY other commands first then go may not work.

105.3    Restore default NVRAM settings

             ok> set-defaults

105.4    Set boot device

             ok> setenv boot-device disk

             Other options include:

                        disk0   main SCSI controller target 0
                        disk1   main SCSI controller target 1
                        disk2   main SCSI controller target 2
                        disk3   main SCSI controller target 3
                        disk is same as disk3

             [if disk is not main SCSI controller ]

             ok> nvalias disk /sbus@1,f8000000/dma@3,81000/esp@3,80000/sd@3,0

             System may take 30 seconds during POST to show any response.
             Setting diag-switch? true will cause the POST to print details and
             system will show a response immediately but POST may take 2
             minutes.

             With diag-switch? true the boot device is set by diag-device

105.5    Other good open boot commands to know

             reset                    - reset system (like power cycle)
             devalias                 - Display all device aliases
             devalias <name> <value>  - Create or change a device alias
             show-devs                - Display the names of all devices
             show-disks
             diag-switch? true        - extended POST diags
             nvunalias  <alias>       - This will unset an alias - you must
                                        then reset for it to take affect.
             setenv diag-switch? true - turn on diagnostic messages (will boot
                                        from diag boot device also.)

105.6    ttya console with framebuffer and keyboard attached

             ok> setenv output-device ttya
             ok> setenv input-device ttya

105.7    Show SCSI devices

             ok> probe-scsi
             ok> probe-scsi-all

             it may be necessary to set auto-boot?=false and then reset
             before probe-scsi will work
                Syntax: setenv auto-boot? false

105.8    Show fiber channel devices

             ok> probe-fcal-all

             it may be necessary to set auto-boot?=false and then reset
             before probe-scsi will work
                Syntax: setenv auto-boot? false

             ok> show-disks
             a) /sbus@3,0/SUNW,fas@3,8800000/sd
             b) /sbus@2,0/SUNW,soc@d,10000/SUNW,pln@b0000000,87300d/SUNW,ssd
             c) /sbus@2,0/SUNW,soc@d,10000/SUNW,pln@a0000000,8a1abd/SUNW,ssd
             q) NO SELECTION
             Enter Selection, q to quit:  c

             ok> nvalias ra001 ^Y@3,0:a

105.9    Booting

        ok> boot        # Normal boot

        ok> boot -v     # Normal boot, verbose output

        ok> boot -s     # boot single user

        ok> boot -r     # boot and reconfigured devices
                        # necessary when new devices are added

        ok> boot -a     # ask for configuration info
                        # if /etc/system file was damaged try:
                        #  /etc/system.orig or /dev/null

105.10    LOMlite

        Some systems support Lights Out Management. LOMlite is a monitor program
        available on the system console when the system is powered off and
        provides event monitoring the running OS.

        LOMlite is documented in the "LOMlite User's Guide" 806-2038-10 and in
        the Netra t1 User and Administration Guide.

        Summary of common LOM commands

          #.              To get to LOM from when the console is used by the
                          boot monitor or the OS

          console         To get return the console to it original state.

          environment     Display status of system

          faulton         Turn fault light on

          faultoff        Turn fault light off

          reset           Reset system

          poweron         Turn power on

          poweroff        Turn power off

          show            Show all available info


        From Solaris LOM can be configured using lomctl. There is a
        configuration file /etc/lom.conf.

        By default systems with LOM run a watch dog process: tsdog started by
        /etc/init.d/tsaldog. /etc/init.d/lomlited starts daemon that reports any
        state changes to syslogd.

        See also lomctl(1M), lominfo(1M), lomprog(1M), lom(7d), tsdog(1M),
        tsctl(1M), tsstate(1M), and tsunlock(1M) man pages.

        The LOM software for Solaris is not included in the standard
        distribution. To reinstall order CD: X6972A.

105.11    Keyboard interrupt sequence (RS-232 BREAK Signal)

        By default consoles attached via the serial port interrupt the system
        and bring up the boot monitor when an RS-232 Break is received.

        A BREAK condition that originates from an erroneous electrical signal
        cannot be distinguished from one deliberately sent by the attached
        terminal or terminal server. The Cisco 2511 terminal for example
        typically sends a BREAK when it is power cycled, causing the attached
        Sun's to stop and go the boot monitor prompt. It may also be caused by
        unplugging or plugging in a serial cable. While the Sun can be restarted
        by typing 'go' it may be better to prevent the problem.

        Solaris 8 provides a solution. For a full explanation see the man page
        on kbd.

        For a general discussion of the problem:

            http://www.stokely.com/unix.sysadm.resources/faqs.sun.html

        For Cisco's discussion of the problem:

            http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/770/fn-tsbreak.html

        For a list of terminal servers that do and don't have the problem:

            http://www.conserver.com/consoles/breakoff.html

        For a device that prevents it:

            http://www.nudata.com/workstationproducts1.htm