[rescue] Ultra 5 NVRAM problems, boot command = bggt

[John Edwards]

On Fri, Sep 14, 2007 at 01:50:49PM -0400, Mark Brown wrote:
> ...probably is a dead nvram battery - but did you issue a "set-defaults" 
> at the OBP, to clear up any "corruption"?

Thanks for the email.

I've tried a replacement NVRAM battery, same problem (see below).
And I've issued set-defaults as in the NVRAM FAQ (several times).


> If you boot from something other than IDE, then you may need to setup 
> your disk paths for your boot devices again....

I usually boot Linux from the hard disk, and I've also tried CDROM and 
network. Another symptom is that none of the network and IDE devices 
are showing up in show-devs.


> John Edwards wrote:
> > Hi
> >
> > I had my last Ultra 5 die in the middle of the night this week 
> > and when I tried to reboot it complained about the boot command 
> > being set to "bggt". Running the 'printenv' command at the 
> > Openboot prompt also showed a few other important setting were 
> > wrong, eg:
> >
> > output-device was "screef" instead of "screen"
> > diag-device was "fet" instead of "net"
> > pcia-probe-list was "1$2$3$4" instead of "1,2,3,4"
> > pcib-probe-list was "1$2$3" instead of "1,2,3"
> >
> > Some values are OK, such as numerical values or those set to 
> > true or false.
> >
> > When I try to correct the wrong values (eg changing to "boot") 
> > they are still shown as the wrong value (eg "bggt").
> >
> > There is a pattern here - each of the letters that are wrong are 
> > eight less then they should be. Not sure what could cause that.
> >
> > Also there is no VGA output, possibly because the "output-device" 
> > is wrong, but that's not too much of a problem as I mainly use a 
> > serial cable. Other symptoms include not finding the hard disk or 
> > CDROM devices.
> >
> >
> > I did a few web search but the only page I found that mentioned 
> > this problem was in Korean:
> >   http://www.solarisschool.com/qna_new/view.html?board=qna1&no=18854&start=&sselect=&mode=&qry_string=
> >
> > Which from a babelfish translation seems to be talking about the 
> > NVRAM battery. Which made sense to me at the time because if the 
> > battery was starting to fail it might not be holding values 
> > correctly.
> >
> >
> > So I ordered a replacement NVRAM battery (M48T59Y-70PC1) from 
> > Farnell and it arrived today. I then followed the "quick and dirty" 
> > instructions at the great Sun NVRAM FAQ:
> >   http://www.squirrel.com/squirrel/sun-nvram-hostid.faq.html
> >
> > But after replacing the NVRAM battery the problem persists.
> >
> >
> > Serial output with original NVRAM battery back in place are:
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Starting real time clock...
> > This slot excluded from probing...
> > This slot excluded from probing...
> > bad databits '$'
> > bad databits '$'
> > screef not found.
> >  not found.
> > Starting real time clock...
> > This slot excluded from probing...
> > This slot excluded from probing...
> > bad databits '$'
> > bad databits '$'
> >
> > Sun Ultra 5/10 UPA/PCI (UltraSPARC-IIi 333MHz), No Keyboard
> > OpenBoot 3.25, 256 MB (50 ns) memory installed, Serial #15795685.
> > Ethernet address 0:0:20:f1:5:e5, Host ID: 80f105e5.
> >
> >
> > The IDPROM contents are invalid
> >
> >
> > Evaluating: bggt
> > bggt ?
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >
> > Running 'show-devs' does not show the IDE, network or VGA:
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > /SUNW,UltraSPARC-IIi at 0,0
> > /pci at 1f,0
> > /virtual-memory
> > /memory at 0,10000000
> > /aliases
> > /options
> > /openprom
> > /chosen
> > /packages
> > /pci at 1f,0/pci at 1
> > /pci at 1f,0/pci at 1,1
> > /pci at 1f,0/pci at 1,1/ebus at 1
> > /pci at 1f,0/pci at 1,1/ebus at 1/SUNW,CS4231 at 14,200000
> > /pci at 1f,0/pci at 1,1/ebus at 1/flashprom at 10,0
> > /pci at 1f,0/pci at 1,1/ebus at 1/eeprom at 14,0
> > /pci at 1f,0/pci at 1,1/ebus at 1/fdthree at 14,3023f0
> > /pci at 1f,0/pci at 1,1/ebus at 1/ecpp at 14,3043bc
> > /pci at 1f,0/pci at 1,1/ebus at 1/su at 14,3062f8
> > /pci at 1f,0/pci at 1,1/ebus at 1/su at 14,3083f8
> > /pci at 1f,0/pci at 1,1/ebus at 1/se at 14,400000
> > /pci at 1f,0/pci at 1,1/ebus at 1/SUNW,pll at 14,504000
> > /pci at 1f,0/pci at 1,1/ebus at 1/power at 14,724000
> > /pci at 1f,0/pci at 1,1/ebus at 1/auxio at 14,726000
> > /openprom/client-services
> > /packages/sun-keyboard
> > /packages/SUNW,builtin-drivers
> > /packages/disk-label
> > /packages/obp-tftp
> > /packages/deblocker
> > /packages/terminal-emulator
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >
> > Has anyone got any ideas on what to investigate next?
> _______________________________________________
> rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue

-- 
#---------------------------------------------------------#
|    John Edwards   Email: john at cornerstonelinux.co.uk    |
|                                                         |
| A. Because it breaks the logical sequence of discussion |
| Q. Why is top posting bad ?                             |
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