Hello,

I am attempting to install NS 3.3 on a Sun Sparc 5. (Why? I need to
rerun some old programs and old data.) I inherited the Sparc 5 at no
cost. This is not quite an "off-the-shelf" model and was designed to
run as a data collection unit in unattended mode -- thus there may
be some hardware issues that need to be solved. It has:

-192 MB RAM
-Two internal 1 GB SCSI disk drives (Quantum)
-Internal CDROM (model number: Toshiba XM-5401TASUN4XCD103604/12/95).
-TurboXGX

The case has the following information:

-SvCD: S5-110
-SN: 639F01C4

The machine currently has SunOS 4.1.3 running and boots just dandy into
that OS. I halt the machine and at the OK: prompt enter "boot cdrom".

The machine reboots, reads the NS 3.3 Installer CD and starts the
process. Much information scrolls by, including:

....
Registering: Display0
....
Registering: TYPE5Keyboard0
....
Registering: en0
....
Resetting SCSI Bus...
Registering: sc0
Registering: sg0 at sc0
Registering: sg1 at sc0
Registering: sg2 at sc0
Registering: sg3 at sc0
Registering: event0
Registering: kmDevice0

....and then nothing else happens. It will quietly sit there for hours
(yes, I really did let it sit that long).

Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I searched the
comp.sys.next.* archives at Google but could not find anything specific
to this problem. (Wrong keywords, maybe???)

Thanks,

-db-


+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| David O. Blanchard Flagstaff, Arizona dob@uneedspeed.net |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

In article <dk1a0g$col$1@boulder.noaa.gov>,
David Blanchard <dob@uneedspeed.net> wrote:

A followup to my own post. Haven't heard from anyone yet so it's
possible that I've stumped the crowd. Hope not.

A few things that I've checked since the original message include:

-open boot prom (v2.24 which is a new enough rev to work)
-removed and reinstalled the memory...one chip at a time. Nope.
-removed one of the scsi disks so that only the boot disk remains
-carefully reseated all the cards in the event that some had worked loose

Still...no joy on the install boot. It still hangs in the same place
each and every time. If it's a hardware issue, I've run out of easy
things to check. But it might also be a bad CD so I'll follow that
line of investigation by getting...somehow...another copy.

Anyone with ideas or suggestions? Thanks!

David

Still trying to solve this? I know nothing about SUNs, but have and was
running (currently stored) three NeXT m68k machines.

First off, check for SCSI termination issues. I'm not sure why your
machine is hanging. I would try hitting "interrupt" in the middle of
the hangup. On my machine Control + C. IIRC. This should make it
bypass whatever is hanging it up, and it may or may not decide to
continue the boot process.

I would also suggest trying with the network unplugged if you are
not/have not done so.

If the instructions below do not work ...

Try contacting Steven D. Blackford at <kb7sqi@nc.rr.com> or
<kb7sqi@freeshell.org>. I have an e-mail from him in the binder which
indicates that he runs NS on a Sparc5, as well as several other NeXT
machines. Maybe he can be of additional assistance?

Not sure if this is exactly what you are/were looking for (and be
warned, it will overwrite your SUNs drive ... which is I assume okay for
what you are trying to do) but ... IIRC, the install CD booted to a
point on my NeXTstation and then froze similarly. The way around this
to complete the install was to specify that the machine should use the
root file system on another disk half-way through the install.

These commands need to be issued at the prompt in the ROM Monitor
window, before your machine launches its OS.

Looking in my binder here, I posted approximately the following on
comp.sys.next.sysadmin under the subject "YES! [was:Re: Network
Services, Unplugged ...], dated Thursday, September 25th, 2003:

Set CD-ROM to SCSI ID 0, set internal HD to SCSI ID 1.

at NeXT> prompt type "bsd(0,0,0)"

This causes NeXTstation to boot from NS 3.3 install CD-ROM, and
installation programme (on my copy) will automatically launch and ask
where to install. Follow the prompts. When prompted to do so, reboot,
halt process as soon as it starts (at ROM Monitor) and at the NeXT>
prompt type "bsd(0,0,0) -a". (This allows you to use Root on another
disk--in this case the internal hard drive will be used. When prompted
for Root Disk, enter "sd1" for internal HD. Will boot from CD to
"Install NeXTstep" window. Configure your packages, click install and
go drink some coffee for a while. When done, shutdown and change HD
SCSI ID back to 0, CD-ROM back to whatever other than 0 or 7. Boot.
Should now work.



David Blanchard wrote:


--
Regards,

Dante McLean
Dante McLean Photography
dante.mclean@sympatico.ca
nextstation@sympatico.ca --> NeXTMail welcome at this address!

DS16 (Diller-Schwill 16) Sail/Hull #19
"A Humming Bird"
Christian Island, Ontario
N44° 51.472' W080° 12.349'

<http://www3.sympatico.ca/dante.mclean/geek_block.html>
If you don't know what the above is, look here: <http://www.geekcode.com/>

In article <43DD957B.7070405@sympatico.ca>,
Dante McLean <dante.mclean@sympatico.ca> wrote:


The problem was solved. It turned out that the Sun Sparc 5 had some
SBUS cards added in two of the slots. Removal of the cards allowed a
normal installation to take place. The card causing the problem was
for a high speed serial port. The other card was an additional
ethernet port.

Since I don't need either of these cards...they are sitting in a
drawer collecting dust. NS3.3 now runs just fine.

-db-