Re: Memtest86 equivalent for Sparc architectures
David Johnson wrote:
> Normally during boot a basic test is run, but if you Stop-A into the PROM
> itself you can manually run a more thorough memory test, although I forget
> how (probably 'test memory' or similar depending on PROM version).
>
> Although only the larger servers have a keyswitch, all systems (AFAIK) have
> a 'diag-switch?' PROM variable which you can set to true to make the system
> run more advanced tests automatically when booting.
The SS1000E I've got here effectively has two completely different programs in
its PROMs- the first (lower in memory, probably written by Xerox) is custom C
code which provides detailed configuration and test facilities for each board,
the second (higher in memory, written by/for Sun) is the Forth runtime and
custom routines which comprise OpenBoot. Unless the key is in the diag position
(I don't believe that diag-switch? is relevant here) you can't get into the
former and see no indication that it's being run, but once you're into it you
can see things like JTAG device IDs and- I think- the final stage where the
multiple system boards are merged into a single computer before OpenBoot runs.
I don't know how much of this was carried forward to later machines, but I'm
hoping to get my hands on an E4500 (in uncertain condition) before too long.
--
Mark Morgan Lloyd
markMLl .AT. telemetry.co .DOT. uk
[Opinions above are the author's, not those of his employers or colleagues]
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