Hi All:
Hi,

Need help with an Ultra-1E, OpenBoot PROM, and Solaris 8 (9). I can't
boot Solaris 8 or 9 after an OpenBoot PROM update.

Background:

I have a SUN Ultra-1/170E which has been running SUN/OS 5.5.1 with
OpenBoot PROM version 3.11.1 I decided it was time to move to Solaris
8 and start exploring it's 64 bit capabilities. The Solaris 8 CDROM
(packaged version) booted up just fine, poped up the CDE and began the
installation questions. Upon reboot, it displayed the banner stating
that both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions were loaded but I need to
upgrade the OpenBoot PROM to use 64-bit and read boot(1M). It worked
fine in 32-bit mode. It never offered to load the update to the
OpenBoot PROM during the install or if it did, I somehow missed it.
The PROM was still at version 3.11.1 after the install.

I proceeded to upgrade the OpenBoot PROM using the latest version
(3.33) and standalone procedure off the Sun Support site
http://sunsolve.sun.com The patch header is listed here (this is a
very new patch, note release date);

Patch-ID# 104288-08
Keywords: desktop standalone flash prom update security
Synopsis: Hardware/PROM: Ultra 1E Standalone Flash PROM Update
Date: Feb/05/2004

All went well, or so it seemed. After flashing the PROM, I rebooted
with the following result:

ok
ok boot
boot device: /sbus/SUNW,fas@e,8800000/sd@0,0 File and args:
krtld: load_exec: fail to expand cpu/$CPU
krtld: error during initial load/link phase
panic - boot exitto64 returned from client program
program terminate
ok

I attempted to boot off the install CD with the same result. Today I
download Solaris 9 and attempted to boot it, same result. Finally, I
reloaded SUN/OS 5.5.1 and it works just fine!

The OpenBoot PROM seems to function normally on testing but it has to
be the problem (?). I'd like to roll it back to an earlier version but
how? I can find only the latest version (3.33) on SUN's site!

Any ideas on what's wrong and how to fix it or where to find earlier
PROM versions would be greatly appreciated!!

TIA

- Jim L.
Fremont,CA.

On Tue, 10 Feb 2004, JimL wrote:

> The OpenBoot PROM seems to function normally on testing but it has to
> be the problem (?). I'd like to roll it back to an earlier version but
> how? I can find only the latest version (3.33) on SUN's site!
>
> Any ideas on what's wrong and how to fix it or where to find earlier
> PROM versions would be greatly appreciated!!

I can email or ftp you a copy of the previous rev of that patch,
104288-07, if you like. It is successfully running on several
Ultra 1Es here. BTW, while you're at it, you might as well go
straight to Solaris 9.

--
Rich Teer, SCNA, SCSA

President,
Rite Online Inc.

Voice: +1 (250) 979-1638
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