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Unable to stop network boot on Sun Blade 150 after nvram reprogramming

T

tonata

Experienced Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2019
Messages
206
Location
France
I have replaced the battery for my nvram chip and then I reprogram it. It was not easy!

Here are my resources:

Sun Blade IDPROM Fix | TalOrg

So you have found a nice UltraSparc workstation, the Sun Blade 100 (or 150), but when starting it complains about "The IDPROM contents are invalid". The Ethernet address and Host ID have become invalid as the integrated battery of the NVRAM chip has died.
www.tal.org
github.com

GitHub - MrSparc/idprom-repair: SunBlade100 IDPROM randomizer

SunBlade100 IDPROM randomizer. Contribute to MrSparc/idprom-repair development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com github.com

I rebooted with reset-all (after a few reprogramming attempts) and I do not see the message for the invalid idprom, but I am blocked in an endless boot loop! There is no hdd, the cd-rom does not work, so somehow the Sun Blade thinks that I want a network boot. It never gives up! How can this be?
How do I stop it and enter open boot prompt? I have a PC usb keyboard attached to it, so no "stop" button.
 
I ordered a female to female serial adapter because both the Sun and my Serial to USB are male.
I also tried switching off the power to the nvram by removing the new battery. It does not work because the new one has charged the old one (which is still in place). So I could not reset the settings in the nvram.
 

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The default setting is to auto boot either from the net in diag mode or from the hdd in normal mode so messing with the nvram is pointless.
 
If you don't want to use a serial console then setup a netboot or jumpstart server then boot into the solaris installer drop into a shell and run eeprom auto-boot?=false.
 
I got my Female to Female adapter ... and it does not work.
I think it is because I need a serial modem cable and I have a straight serial cable right now. The TX goes to TX now.
Is that correct?
 
In Putty you have a menu where you can select "Special Commands" -> "Break", but of course it does not work.
 
That did it! Thank you. I removed the keyboard and I started getting messages.
I was already thinking that serial port access is a myth and retro computing is just another name of masochism.
Now I can not send the break key or maybe break is not the correct thing to do? I tried sending a "break" command with Putty and TeraTerm and it did not work.
Actually I am not sure I can even type. When I press keys, nothing appears.
 
The break won't do anything until it prints the banner and starts testing / initializing the memory or trying to boot from something. The break is telling it to stop doing that and drop to an interactive prompt. Can you post here what messages you get.

Here's a banner from an ss10 for reference.

screen not found.
Can't open input device.
Keyboard not present. Using tty for input and output.

SPARCstation 10MP (3 X 390Z55), No Keyboard
ROM Rev. 2.9, 512 MB memory installed, Serial #2056808.
Ethernet address 8:0:20:6c:f6:b, Host ID: 721f6268.


Boot device: /iommu/sbus/espdma@f,400000/esp@f,800000/sd@3,0 File and args:
SCSI device 3,0 is not responding
Can't open boot device

Type help for more information
<#0> ok
 
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