Sunblade 100 IDPROM not valid
Rebooting my Sunblade 100 stopped at the ok prompt, the startup
information included something like this:
Ethernet address ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff, Host ID ffffffff
And there was a message about the IDPROM being not valid.
ok>
The Debian installation guide mentions this briefly:
-------
5.1.4. IDPROM Messages
If you cannot boot because you get messages about a problem with
“IDPROM”, then it's possible that your NVRAM battery, which holds
configuration information for you firmware, has run out. See the Sun
NVRAM FAQ for more information.
--------
The suggested FAQ link is very detailed and helpful but involves
replacing the dead battery chip:
http://www.squirrel.com/sun-nvram-hostid.faq.html
The machine is about 5 years old and has run almost continuous all
that time. But it was powered off for about a week recently.
When it failed I wanted a quick fix that did not involve hardware and
found the following which may be helpful to someone else.
I have only tried it with a reboot command, not power-off or net boot
yet.
Step 1
boot failed.
Ethernet address ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff, Host ID ffffffff
Machine fails to boot, does not load SILO, stops at ok>
Now it appears that most commands do not work, but fortunately "boot"
works
ok> boot
Step 2
SILO loads, select required kernel from the menu
Boot sequence stops with message "CLOCK: Clock was stopped. Kick start "
Then it appears to hang.
But wait a minute or less and the boot continues...
The machine boots up but ifconfig shows the ethernet address is
FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF
and network cannot be reached.
Step 3
Gentoo gives a clue here in Code List 3.2/3.4
http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/gentoo-sparc-faq.xml
So i did this as root:
# eeprom local-mac-address?=true
# reboot
If I understand correctly, this forces the MAC address from the
network card and the machine reboots with a valid MAC address.
Maybe I was just lucky, or the battery is not completely dead yet?
But i am reporting this as it might be a temporary fix that will help
someone in a hurry.
The mentioned NVRAM FAQ explains the proper solution.
thanks
Jim
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