[SunRescue] SPARCstation 2

[Ido Dubrawsky]

On Sun, 13 Feb 2000, Neil Ridley wrote:

> HI! I purchased a SparcStation 2 for $100.00 and I am intending to load
> RedHat 6.1 for Sparc on it. However, I haven't got root's password or any
> other password for that matter to get to the SUNOS 5.3's command line. Being
> a newbie "son of SUN" is there anyway I can change root's password or access
> the system as the floppy and cdrom don't seem to search at boot-up so I am
> unable to use a system boot disk.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Neil Ridley
> 

  When the machine boot's up, just hit the L1-A key sequence (the L1 key is
the top left key on the keyboard -- it should also say "stop").  This will 
drop the machine into the monitor.
  Next, type "n" (without the quotes) and this will put into the "PROM monitor"
mode.  The next command will search your SCSI chain for all devices -- useful
if you want to make sure that everything is in it's proper place.  The command
is "probe-scsi" (again, without the double-quotes").  After a few seconds, you
will be provided with a list of devices found on your system.  The boot disk
is taken to be at SCSI ID-3 (as Paul mentioned) and the CD-ROM should be at
SCSI ID-6.  Under the older SPARCstations 2's I don't think you can boot off
the CD-ROM unless it's at SCSI ID 6 (the PROM expects the CD-ROM to be at that
SCSI ID and I don't think there is any way to change it).
  Anyway, once you've verified that, just type "old-mode" and that should get
you to the non-PROM monitor mode (I don't know what else to call it).  You can
tell the difference between PROM monitor mode and this mode because at the 
PROM monitor mode, the prompt is "ok" and at this mode the prompt is ">".
  Put your Linux/FreeBSD/SunOS disk into the CD-ROM and type: (again, without
the double quotes) "b cdrom".  After a little CD-ROM activity, the machine
will boot from the cdrom and you're on your way.  Good Luck.

  As Paul said, Solaris 2.3 (aka SunOS 5.3) was still pretty bad.  Best to put
Linux or BSD (or Solaris 2.6/7) on it.  Don't bother with trying to save the
Solaris 2.3 install on it.

Ido

--
Ido Dubrawsky
Sr. UNIX System Administrator                   E-mail: ido at globeset.com
Command and Control Group/Application Services
GlobeSET.com
Austin, TX