Sun Fire E6900 Server
 
Sun Fire 3800 Server
 
Sun Fire 6800 Server
 
Sun Netra 1280 Server
 
Sun Fire E4900 Server
 
Sun Fire 4800 Server
 
Sun Fire V1280 Server
 
Sun Fire E2900 Server
 
Sun Fire 4810 Server
 

PLA-Support>Sun Systems>SPARC>Enterprise>SN-SPARC: Exx00
 
.Old GCS Categories>Sun Microsystems>Servers>Entry-Level Servers
 
.Old GCS Categories>Sun Microsystems>Servers>Midrange Servers
 
.Old GCS Categories>Sun Microsystems>Servers>Midrange V and Netra Servers
 

Applies to:

Purpose

Troubleshooting disk boot problems from the OBP (ok> prompt)

Troubleshooting Steps

Symptoms

• The system is attempting to boot off of a hard disk drive
• The system cannot locate a proper boot partition, resulting in errors such as:

ERROR: Can't open boot-device
Boot device is unknown
Error: improper device path
Fast Data Access MMU Miss

System Type and Configuration

While the examples in this document were obtained from a 1280, this document can be used to troubleshoot most device path issues for SPARC(R) based systems running Solaris[TM]. The below variables must be true in order for this resolution path to be useful:

• The customer knows the physical location of their intended boot device.
• The system is booting off of a hard disk drive.
• The system is able to get to the ok prompt.

Steps to Follow
Please validate that each troubleshooting step below is true for your environment.  Each step will provide instructions via a link to the document for validating the step and taking corrective action as necessary.
The steps are ordered in the most appropriate sequence to isolate the issue and identify the proper resolution. Please do not skip a step.

1) Confirm that you are able to reach the OBP ( ok> prompt)

If the system is unable to get to the OK prompt please see the resolution path for Troubleshooting boot problems that occur prior to OBP initialization.

Reference:

Sun Fire[TM] 3800, 4800, 4810, 6800, E4900, and E6900: Navigating Between Shells on Sun Fire Mid-range Servers [Video] (Doc ID 1003150.1)

2) Confirm probe-scsi-all is able to see the boot disk

Reference: probe-scsi-all may fail without reset-all on all Sun[TM] Systems (Doc ID 1005013.1)

3) Confirm OBP parameter diag-switch? is set to false

Example output:

To correct the problem:

4) Using show-disks and devalias, output, verify that the boot-device alias matches a show-disks path.

Reference: How to create a boot device alias (Doc ID 1010006.1)

5) Following a reset-all, verify another boot attempt has failed while capturing script data.

Below is an example of a successful boot on a SunFire v1280: 

Reference the man page for script for help capturing script data.

6) At this point, if you have validated that each troubleshooting step above is true for your environment, and the issue still exists, further troubleshooting is required. 

    Collect data and raise a Service Request

At the OK-prompt collect the output of the following commands: printenv, devalias, probe-scsi-all and show-disks and the script data from step 5

For more help in translating recognized device paths use the Solaris[TM] Device Path Decoder located at http://decoder.aus/


At this point, if the customer has validated that each troubleshooting step above  is true for their environment, and the issue still exists, collaborate with the next level of technical support.


Keyword: can't boot, boot fails, system down, down, boot, failed, boot disk, alias, devalias, show-disks, probe-scsi-all, unbootable, normalized

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