Introduction

The PROM is the equivalent of the BIOS or EFI on a standard x86 system.

Approach

To know your PROM version:

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/usr/platform/`uname -m`/sbin/prtdiag -v

or

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prtconf -V

NVRAM

The NVRAM can be modified by a user to change some options on the machine:

NVRAM

Once the NVRAM is stored on the chipset, during the PROM call at boot, it will check the user’s preferences at the NVRAM level in order to apply them.

Diagnostic

To enter Diagnostic mode, press: Stop+D

To stop an ongoing diagnostic: Stop+A

Disabling Keyboard Use

If you want to disable the keyboard at boot, edit the file /etc/default/kbd and uncomment this line:

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KEYBOARD_ABORT=disable

Save, exit and run this command:

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kbd -i

After doing this, you’ll only have access to the Stop+A key sequence.

PROM Commands

I intentionally left the descriptions in English to avoid translation errors:

CommandDescription
bannerDisplays the power-on banner
bootBoots the system
helpLists the main help categories
printenvDisplays all parameters’ current and default values
setenvSets the specified NVRAM parameter to some value
reset-allResets the entire system; similar to a power cycle
set-defaultsResets all parameter values to the factory defaults
sifting textDisplays the FORTH commands containing text
.registersDisplays the contents of the registers
probe-scsiIdentifies the devices on the internal Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) bus
probe-scsi-allIdentifies the devices on all SCSI buses
probe-ideIdentifies devices on the internal integrated device electronics (IDE) bus
probe-fcal-allIdentifies devices on all Fibre Channel loops
show-devsDisplays the entire device tree
devaliasIdentifies the current boot device alias for the system
nvaliasCreates a new device alias name
nvunaliasRemoves a device alias name
show-disksDisplays and allows a selection of device paths for the disks to be used for nvalias
syncManually attempts to flush memory and synchronize file systems
testRuns self-tests on specified devices
ok banner
Sun Ultra 5/10 UPA/PCI (UltraSPARC-IIi 360MHz), Keyboard Present
OpenBoot 3.31, 128 MB (50 ns) memory installed, Serial #11888271.
Ethernet address 8:0:20:b5:66:8f, Host ID: 80b5668f.

Boot

  • This provides an interactive mode:
ok boot -a
Enter filename [kernel/sparcv9/unix]:
Enter default directory for modules [/platform/SUNW,UltraAX-i2/kernel
/platform/sun4u/kernel /kernel /usr/kernel]:
Name of system file [etc/system]:
SunOS Release 5.10 Version s10 64-bit
Copyright 1983-2004 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
Use is subject to license terms.
root filesystem type [ufs]:
Enter physical name of root device
[/pci@1f,0/pci@1/scsi@8/disk@0,0:a]:
  • To boot from a CD/DVD:
ok boot cdrom -s
  • Reconfigure the boot:
ok boot -r
  • Enable verbose mode:
ok boot -v

Help

Here’s the help command:

ok help
Enter 'help command-name' or 'help category-name' for more help
(Use ONLY the first word of a category description)
Examples:  help system -or- help nvramrc
Categories:
boot (Load and execute a program)
nvramrc (Store user defined commands)
system configuration variables (NVRAM variables)
command line editing
editor (nvramrc editor)
resume execution
devaliases (Device aliases)
diag (Diagnostics commands)
ioredirect (I/O redirection commands)
misc (Miscellaneous commands)
ok

Here are some examples:

ok help boot
ok help nvramrc
ok help diag
ok help misc

printenv

This command lists all NVRAM preferences:

ok printenv
Variable Name         Value                          Default Value

tpe-link-test?        true                           true
scsi-initiator-id     7                              7
keyboard-click?       false                          false
keymap
ttyb-rts-dtr-off      false                          false
ttyb-ignore-cd        true                           true
ttya-rts-dtr-off      false                          false
ttya-ignore-cd        true                           true
ttyb-mode             9600,8,n,1,-                   9600,8,n,1,-
ttya-mode             9600,8,n,1,-                   9600,8,n,1,-
pcia-probe-list       1,2,3,4                        1,2,3,4
pcib-probe-list       1,2,3                          1,2,3
mfg-mode		              off                            off
diag-level            max                            max
#power-cycles         273
output-device         screen                         screen
input-device          keyboard                       keyboard
boot-command          boot                           boot
auto-boot?            true                           true
diag-device           net                            net
boot-device           disk net                       disk net
local-mac-address?    false                          false
screen-#columns       80                             80
screen-#rows          34                             34
use-nvramrc?          false                          false
nvramrc               devalias pgx24 /pci1f,0 ...
security-mode         none
security-password
security-#badlogins   0
diag-switch?          false                          false
ok

To display only one parameter:

ok printenv boot-device
boot-device = disk net

Setenv

If the autoboot parameter is set to true, the system will boot automatically, otherwise you’ll get a prompt:

ok printenv auto-boot?

auto-boot? = true

ok
ok setenv auto-boot? false

auto-boot? = false

To turn off the machine, empty the buffers and registers, use this command:

ok reset-all
Resetting ...

Set-defaults

To reset all parameters to default values, use this command:

ok set-defaults
Setting NVRAM parameters to default values.
ok

To reset only one parameter (here diag-level):

ok set-default diag-level

Probe

To find all available probe commands:

ok sifting probe
(f006c954) probe-all        (f006c5a0) probe-all   (f006c378) probe-ide
(f006c1e8) probe-pci-slot   (f006bc8c) probe-scsi
(f006bd78) probe-scsi-all   (f0060fe8) probe-pci
(output truncated)
This command may hang the system if a Stop-A or halt command has been executed. Please type reset-all to reset the system before executing this command.
Do you wish to continue? (y/n) n

If portions of Solaris OS were in RAM when the system was suspended, the probe command could shut down the machine. To avoid this:

ok setenv auto-boot? false
ok reset-all

Otherwise you can use .registers:

ok .registers
       Normal       Alternate      MMU       Vector
0:              0               0         0           0
1:              0               0         0           0
2:              0               0         0           0
3:              0               0         0           0
4:              0               0         0           0
(output edited for brevity)
%PC   0  %nPC   0
%TBA  0  %CCR   0  XCC:nzvc    ICC:nzvc

Check that all values are at 0, otherwise the system may shut down.

Probe-scsi

For a SCSI device, use this command:

ok probe-scsi
Target 1
Unit 0   Disk     FUJITSU MAB3045S SUN4.2G17059825M62990
Target 3
Unit 0   Disk     IBM     DDRS34560SUN4.2GS98E99255C5917
        (C) Copyright IBM Corp.
         1997. All rights reserved.
Target 6
Unit 0   Removable Read Only device SONY CDROM

Probe-scsi-all

Same but for all SCSI devices:

ok probe-scsi-all
/pci@1f,0/pci@1/pci@1/SUNW,isptwo@4
Target 3
Unit 0   Disk FUJITSU MAB3045S SUN4.2G1907
Target 4
Unit 0   Removable Tape EXABYTE EXB-8505SMBANSH20090

Probe-ide

For IDE devices:

ok probe-ide
       Device 0        ( Primary Master )
                       ATA Model : ST 38420A (DISK)

       Device 1        ( Primary Slave )
                       Not Present

       Device 2        ( Secondary Master )
                       Removable ATAPI Model : CRD-8322B (CD-ROM)

       Device 3       ( Secondary Slave )
                       Not Present

Show-dev

To list all devices:

ok show-devs
/SUNW,UltraSPARC-IIi@0,0
/pci@1f,0
/virtual-memory
/memory@0,10000000
/pci@1f,0/pci@1
/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1
/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ide@3
/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/SUNW,m64B@2
/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/network@1,1
/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ebus@1
/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ide@3/cdrom
/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ide@3/disk
/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ebus@1/SUNW,CS4231@14,200000
/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ebus@1/flashprom@10,0
/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ebus@1/eeprom@14,0
/pci@1f,0/pci@1/pci@1
/pci@1f,0/pci@1/pci@1/SUNW,isptwo@4
(output truncated)
ok

Devalias

To identify boot devices:

ok devalias
screen             	/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/SUNW,m64B@2
net                	/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/network@1,1
cdrom              	/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ide@3/cdrom@2,0:f
disk               	/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ide@3/disk@0,0
disk3              	/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ide@3/disk@3,0
disk2              	/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ide@3/disk@2,0
disk1              	/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ide@3/disk@1,0
disk0              	/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ide@3/disk@0,0
ide                	/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ide@3
floppy             	/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ebus@1/fdthree
ttyb               	/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ebus@1/se:b
ttya               	/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ebus@1/se:a
keyboard!          	/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ebus@1/su@14,3083f8:forcemode
keyboard           	/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ebus@1/su@14,3083f8
mouse              	/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ebus@1/su@14,3062f8
name               	aliases

To boot with the devices above:

ok boot

nvalias

To create an alias for an existing device:

nvalias aliasname device_path

To put this alias in NVRAM:

devalias aliasname device_path

Here’s an example:

ok show-disks
a) /pci@1f,0/pci@1/scsi@1,1/disk
b) /pci@1f,0/pci@1/scsi@1/disk
c) /pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ide@3/cdrom
d) /pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ide@3/disk
e) /pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ebus@1/fdthree@14,3023f0
q) NO SELECTION
Enter Selection, q to quit: d
/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ide@3/disk has been selected.
Type ^Y (Control-Y) to insert it in the command line.
e.g. ok nvalias mydev ^Y
        for creating devalias mydev for
/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ide@3/disk
ok nvalias mydisk ^y

To copy the selected path, press Ctrl+Y, then add the LUN (Logical Unit Number) of the disk:

ok nvalias mydisk /pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ide@3/disk@0,0:a

To add the boot to this new alias:

ok setenv boot-device mydisk
boot-device =         mydisk
ok boot

nvualias

To remove an alias:

ok nvunalias aliasname

Example:

ok nvunalias mydisk
ok setenv boot-device disk
boot-device =         disk
ok reset-all
Resetting ...

Then use this command to see the parameters:

/usr/sbin/eeprom

eeprom

To list all parameters with their values:

eeprom

To list only one value:

eeprom boot-device
boot-device=disk

To change the value of a command:

eeprom boot-device=disk2
eeprom auto-boot?=true

Synchronize the PROM

To synchronize the PROM if the system is not responding, for example:

ok sync
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Last updated 29 Nov 2006, 09:51 +0200. history