We have a V240 2x1.5GHz 2G RAM w/ Solaris 9 which had been running fine
for months. I installed the latest recommended patchset which went
fine. Prior to rebooting I then tried to install 121683-04 to update
the PROM. I used the ./unix.flash-update.SunFire240.sh method but it
failed. It would clear, program & verify the top half of the PROM but
when it tried the bottom half it tried to clear 4-5 times then gave
up. I tried running it twice with identical results. Nothing in the
output made me suspect the system was left in a precarious state so I
figured I'd reboot and worry about the PROM later.

Now the system won't boot. ALOM works, both serial and network.
Nothing displays in either consolehistory or console (the system has no
framebuffer or keyboard so the only way I get to the console is through
ALOM).

I've tried a variety of combinations of key switch, bootmode
(normal,diag,clearnvram), poweroff, poweron and reset but never get a
single byte on the console. I've also tried unplugging the unit,
resetsc and have upgraded the ALOM from 1.5.1 to 1.6.3 via flashupdate
and an ftp server.

showenvironment and showfru all look OK and match working systems.

I tried moving JP13 back and forth as described in 802-3233-25.ps but
it didn't have any effect.

The patches and flash update worked fine on an identical system so I'm
pretty sure the downloads were good.

I had a identical system that hadn't been installed yet so I moved the
SC card and disks from the broken system and it booted up fine.

My current hypothesis is that either the failed flash upgrade corrupted
stuff, or that something was wrong before (but showing no symptoms)
which is why the flash upgrade failed.

So, does anyone have any ideas for what to do next? Is there any way
to refresh the PROM when you can't get to the "ok" prompt? If this
ends up needing a service call is it likely to be to replace the whole
motherboard?

Thanks for any help you can provide.
--
Jim Prescott - Computing and Networking Group jgp@seas.rochester.edu
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of Rochester, NY

Jim Prescott wrote:
> We have a V240 2x1.5GHz 2G RAM w/ Solaris 9 which had been running fine
> for months. I installed the latest recommended patchset which went
> fine. Prior to rebooting I then tried to install 121683-04 to update
> the PROM. I used the ./unix.flash-update.SunFire240.sh method but it
> failed. It would clear, program & verify the top half of the PROM but
> when it tried the bottom half it tried to clear 4-5 times then gave
> up. I tried running it twice with identical results. Nothing in the
> output made me suspect the system was left in a precarious state so I
> figured I'd reboot and worry about the PROM later.
>
> Now the system won't boot. ALOM works, both serial and network.
> Nothing displays in either consolehistory or console (the system has no
> framebuffer or keyboard so the only way I get to the console is through
> ALOM).
>
> I've tried a variety of combinations of key switch, bootmode
> (normal,diag,clearnvram), poweroff, poweron and reset but never get a
> single byte on the console. I've also tried unplugging the unit,
> resetsc and have upgraded the ALOM from 1.5.1 to 1.6.3 via flashupdate
> and an ftp server.
>
> showenvironment and showfru all look OK and match working systems.
>
> I tried moving JP13 back and forth as described in 802-3233-25.ps but
> it didn't have any effect.
>
> The patches and flash update worked fine on an identical system so I'm
> pretty sure the downloads were good.
>
> I had a identical system that hadn't been installed yet so I moved the
> SC card and disks from the broken system and it booted up fine.
>
> My current hypothesis is that either the failed flash upgrade corrupted
> stuff, or that something was wrong before (but showing no symptoms)
> which is why the flash upgrade failed.
>
> So, does anyone have any ideas for what to do next? Is there any way
> to refresh the PROM when you can't get to the "ok" prompt? If this
> ends up needing a service call is it likely to be to replace the whole
> motherboard?
>
> Thanks for any help you can provide.

Call Sun Service!

> So, does anyone have any ideas for what to do next? Is there any way
> to refresh the PROM when you can't get to the "ok" prompt? If this
> ends up needing a service call is it likely to be to replace the whole
> motherboard?
>
> Thanks for any help you can provide.
> --
> Jim Prescott - Computing and Networking Group jgp@seas.rochester.edu
> School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of Rochester, NY

I'd say it is almost 100% guaranteed Sun will replace the system board if
they go out to service the machine.
For a bad flash I can't think of much else you can do on a Sun Fire
V210/V240 type system.

Hopefully it's under warranty and/or under contract.

Trinean