Sun Fire V40z Server
 
Sun Fire V20z Server
 

PLA-Support>Sun Systems>x86>Server>SN-x64: MISC-SERVER
 
_Old GCS Categories>Sun Microsystems>Servers>x64 Servers
 

Applies to:

Goal

Description

How to verify your boot media exists and is bootable on a Sun X64 server.

Symptoms:

• System can't boot
• boot fails

Purpose/Scope:

This document provides some pointers on how to verify your boot media exists and is bootable on a Sun X64 server, and identifies which documents are available

Solution

Steps to Follow

Boot devices are many and varying, the most common being:

• CD-/DVD-ROM (virtual or physical)
• Hard disk or RAID volume on the internal disk controller
• RAID volume on an optional RAID controller card
• PXE boot over the network

To keep things as straight-forward as possible, this document will only consider the basic steps to verifying the boot media and configuration.

How to check that your bootable device is in the boot list

Press F8 during POST to display the BIOS Boot Specification (BBS) popup window.

(Note: Users of Sun Fire V20z & V40z Servers should skip this section and instead refer to the Sun Fire V20z - V40z Servers User Guide (817-5248) chapter on BIOS configuration).

Example Output

AMIBIOS(C)2006 American Megatrends, Inc.
BIOS Date: 09/08/06 14:54:49 Ver: 08.00.12
CPU : Dual-Core AMD Opteron(tm) Processor 2216
Speed : 2.40 GHz    Count : 4
DRAM Clocking CPU0 Core0/1 = 667 MHz, CPU1 Core0/1 = 667 MHz

Sun Fire X4100 M2, 2 AMD North Bridges, Rev F2
1 AMD 8132 PCI-X 2.0 Controller, Rev B2
1 NVidia CK8-04 PRO SB, 1 NVidia IO-4 Slave Bridge(s)
Board Serial Number   : 1005LCB-0636GB0095
BMC Firmware Revision :  1.00.07
CPLD Revision : 3.0
Initializing USB Controllers .. Done.
Press F2 to run Setup (CTRL+E on Remote Keyboard)
Press F8 for BBS POPUP  (CTRL+P on Remote Keyboard)
Network selected as first boot device for current boot
.
.
.

****************************************
*      Please select boot device:      *
****************************************
* ATAPI CDROM                          *
* Hard Drive                           *
* IBA GE Slot 0108 v1250               *
* IBA GE Slot 0109 v1250               *
* IBA GE Slot 0110 v1250               *
* IBA GE Slot 0111 v1250               *
*                                      *
*                                      *
*                                      *
****************************************
*  Use arrow keys to move selection    *
*     ENTER to select boot device      *
*      ESC to boot using defaults      *
**************************************** 

If your boot device does not appear in the BBS popup, check if the device is seen by the BIOS:

• Reboot, and Enter BIOS by pressing F2 on the console during POST.
• Using the arrow keys, navigate to the Boot tab (Note: BIOS screen layouts may differ from platform to platform) .
• Enter the Boot Device Priority menu and verify that the device you wish to boot from is listed, and at a relevant priority.
• Press ESC to return to the Boot Settings screen.
• Select the relevant menu option for your chosen bootable media and press ENTER:
  Boot Device Priority
  Hard Disk Drives
  Removable Drives
  ATAPI CDROM Drives
• Additional options for your selected boot device will be displayed. The following example shows internal hard disk drives for a Sun Fire [TM] X4200 Server system (output may differ slightly from system to system). If you press enter for any device, more detail is given.
  * *** Options *** *
  * #218 ID00 LUN0 LSILOGIC Logical *
  * #218 ID01 LUN0 FUJITSU MAV2073R *
  * Disabled *
• Confirm the device you want to boot from is listed.
• Back out of the Boot menu, navigate to the BIOS Exit menu, save changes if necessary and exit.

If the device you wish to boot form is not visible in the BIOS, refer to the Server Product Notes to check for possible known issues and workarounds.

Here are two such examples of commonly hit known issues:

• Option ROM Space For PXE Booting Can Be Exhausted Before All Devices Can Be Scanned.
• Twelve-Boot-Device Limitation Can Be Exceeded Before All Devices Can Be Scanned By BIOS.

How to check your DVD-/CD-ROM media

If you insert a DVD-/CD-ROM media from which you wish to boot, and the boot fails, check out the following:

• Make sure you setup the right boot media order in the BIOS of the system
• When the drive is blinking all the time, it's indicating that the media isn't readable (e.g. broken or empty media). In this case please check the media and try to boot from a different media. The media will be ignored and the boot process selects the next boot media, e.g. hard disk or network.
• If the media isn't bootable, e.g. just contains data but no bootable block, the DVD-/CD-ROM media will be ignored and the system try to start from a different media, e.g. hard disk or network.

How to check your ILOM or ELOM Virtual CDROM or floppy drive

ILOM and ELOM based Service Processors provide a Virtual CDROM drive via the Java Remote Console feature of the SP Web interface, which allows a user to attach an ISO image or the CD/DVD drive on their workstation from which to boot the Sun X64 Server. Some common problems with this include:

• Volume management software on the workstation (such as vold in Solaris) may need to be disabled to allow Java Remote Console access to the CD/DVD drive.
• Firewalls, NATs and other network infrastructure can interfere with the additional TCP ports that are used by Java Remote Console for CDROM/Floppy redirection. Check the ELOM or ILOM Administration Guide for information on which TCP ports are required for CDROM / floppy redirection to.work correctly.

How to check your PXE boot configuration

If you are trying to boot your system over the network, e.g. to install an Operating System on the server, you use PXE boot for this process. If you select the network interface as boot device, you will see the following during the startup process:

Booting from - IBA GE Slot 0108 v1211

Intel(R) Boot Agent GE v1.2.11
Copyright(C) 1997-2003, Intel Corporation

Intel(R) Boot Agent PXE Base Code (BA1211BC)
Copyright(C) 1997-2003, Intel Corporation

CLIENT MAC ADDR: 00 03 BA F1 27 F8 GUID: 00000000 0000 0000 0003BAD87B31

At this point the PXE boot agent tries to get the TFTP server address and boot image information from the DHCP server.

PXE Issues and documentation

Please see the Operating System Installation Guide for your platform, for PXE specific instructions regarding each supported operating system, available at:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/documentation/oracle-x86-servers-190077.html

Previously Published As 91613

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