[SunRescue] SPARCsystem 600MP needs an OS

[James Lockwood]

On Sat, 4 Sep 1999, Chris Sterling wrote:

> Hey guys, I just got a SPARCServer 330. It boots, but it looks like it's
> drives are formatted. All I have it Solaris 2.6, which does not support
> this hadrware (or so the boot error told me).  I'd love to run SunOS
> 4.1.x if there is a place to find a copy around somewhere. I've got a
> bootable external CDROM and a CD burner, so I hope all I'm missing is a
> OS. I've even got some extra SCSI drives around in case the giant's in the
> 330's case are dead. 
> 
> So, where can I find SunOS 4.1.x? with some install help/howto's if
> possible?  I'm already downloading netBSD just in case. 
> 
> 
> The boot message goes something like this: 
> 
> SPARCsystem 600MP (2 x 390Z55) Keboard present
> ROM rev 2.14, 128MB memory  ...
> 
> I'm not finding too much in the FAQ's about the processor speed, etc. I
> take it this is a 600MP in a 330's chassis?  

Yes.  This is technically a 4/630, which was a configuration supported by
Sun, but it appears that someone built yours with a 4/330 chassis (the
first /x30 configuration made) and a 4/600 board.  There are no 4/300
parts left in it except the label, I expect.

It's basically a Sparc 10 with a VME interface and a few other minor
differences.  With the right CPU's it should really haul.  The 128MB is
probably 32 4MB SIMMs, a great setup.

The good news is that the boot message (2 x 390Z55) means that you have 2
SuperSPARC CPU's with SuperCache (1MB per CPU).  These are
SM41/51/61/71/81's, you can find out how fast they are by typing
"module-info" at the "ok" prompt.  They are probably SM41's or SM51's.

> It's also got a Comm processor II card in it, with serial RS232 and RS449.

Ok, there are a few different ways you can go with this:

Find and run SunOS 4.1.x.  This is unsupported on multi-CPU SMxx
configurations but will work.  Be warned that SMP support is _lousy_
(only one kernel lock).  Not recommended.

Run *BSD or SparcLinux.  The BSD's don't support SMP 4/600's and Linux
support is spotty with regards to VME devices.  Not recommended.

Get Solaris 2.5.1/SPARC.  This is the last officially supported version of
Solaris for the 4/600.  If you must use the VME cards included with the
system (the ALM2 card, right?) then this is your best option.

Patch Solaris 2.6 or 7 to run on the 4/600.  This is easy to do, though
you have to repeat it after every kernel patch you apply.  Since you have
128MB and dual SM41's (at a minimum) it should run 2.6 like a champ.
Unless you absolutely have to use other VME cards in the chassis I would
go with this.  It's rock-solid and quite nice.

Do you have another machine on your network that you could netboot this
beast off of?  If so you can just use adb on the server to patch the
netbooted kernel, otherwise you will have to invoke kadb when you boot the
2.6 CD locally and do the patching on-line.  I can give you directions on
this procedure if you need them, you just NOP out a single halt
instruction.  Look for the halt after the call to iam_ss600 near the
startup code.

-James