In this section, I will give you an overview of what is the OpenBoot, and you will be given the main commands you need to know in order to test your hardware and to install Linux.
If you are used to PC hardware, you are used to interact with its BIOS. SPARC computers have an Openoot, it may seem to be like your BIOS, but it is actually far more powerfull. The Openoot performs the following tasks:
In this section, we will juste use a small set of the OpenBoot's capabilities, in order to test hardware and to boot the system. First you have to enter in the OpenBoot, just hit the stop
and a
keys simultaneously. Then you should see a ok
prompt, if instead you see the >
prompt then type n
. Now you can proceed to the next section.
The OpenBoot, gives you a lot of commands to test and to gather information about your hardware.
.version
Displays version and date of the startup PROM.banner
You will see the banner, that is displayed at power-on. It is useful to gather some data about CPUs.pcia-probe-list
Test PCI on computers that have a PCI bus.module-info
This will display the Buses clockspeed, and processors frequency and amount of cache.probe-scsi
This will test all devices connected to the on board SCSI controler.probe-scsi-all
This will test all devices connected to all the SCSI controlers.show-devs
This displays all installed and probed devices.show-sbus
Use this, if you just want to display a list of installed and probed SBus devices.test-all
This will test all devices in the system that have a self test program.test floppy
If a floppy drive is installed, it will test it reminding you to have a formated floppy disk inside.test-memory
If the system diag-switch?
is set to true
, this will test the memory.test net
This will test the network interfaceswatch-aui
This will test the AUI ethernet link. You will see '.' for good packets and 'X" for bad ones. Strike any key to abort.watch-clock
This will test the real time clock chip, it will tick once a second. To stop this test strike any key.watch-net
This will check the network connection ( both AUI and TP ). You will see '.' for good packets and 'X" for bad ones. Strike any key to abort.watch-net-all
This will test all Ethernet interfaces. You will see '.' for good packets and 'X" for bad ones. Strike any key to abort. When you abort one, it will test the next one.watch-tpe
This will check the TPE ethernet interface. You will see '.' for good packets and 'X" for bad ones. Strike any key to abort.The OpenBoot allows you to boot from various devices, the command you are the more likely to enter are below.
boot
Boot kernel from default device.boot cdrom
Boot kernel from CDROM drive.boot net-tpe
Boot kernel from network urnel from CDROM drive, this is the command you are the more likely to type when installing Linux.boot net
Boot kernel from network using auto-selected interface.boot net-aui
Boot kernel from network using AUI interface.boot net-tpe
Boot kernel from network using TPE interface.boot tape
Boot default file from tape.eject-floppy
Ejects the floppy.power-off
Poweroff the workstation.power-off
For more informations on the OpenBoot you can read it's FAQ