Updating the PROM
Before you can run the 64-bit version of Solaris 9 on a Sun system, your system must meet the minimum firmware level for your system, as described in Table 10.17.
| System Type | Minimum Firmware Version |
|---|---|
| SUNW,Ultra-1-Engine | 3.10.0 |
| SUNW,Ultra-1 | 3.11.1 |
| SUNW,Ultra-2 | 3.11.2 |
| SUNW,Ultra-4 | 3.7.107 |
| SUNW,Ultra-Enterprise | 3.2.16 |
Sun Ultra systems must have PROM version 3.25.<nn> or later to use the DHCP network boot.
Note
If you choose to run the 32-bit Solaris operating environment on any Sun or UltraSPARC system, the Flash PROM update is not needed.
On Sun Ultra systems, you can install an updated version of the PROM’s firmware to keep your PROM (and your version of OpenBoot) up-to-date. Here’s an overview of the process:
1. |
Determine the system’s current Flash PROM firmware revision. |
2. |
Compare the current Flash PROM firmware revision with the available or latest Flash PROM firmware revisions. |
3. |
If the current Flash PROM firmware revision is lower than the latest available firmware revision in this patch, proceed to the next step. If not, stop! Do not continue. |
4. |
Prepare the system for the Flash PROM update. |
5. |
Run the Flash PROM utility. |
6. |
Verify that the Flash PROM update was successful. |
7. |
Restore the system. |
8. |
How to Determine If the Update Is Necessary
Use one of the following commands to determine the current firmware version. If the OS is running, use the following command to determine the current system firmware version:
/usr/sbin/prtconf -V
You’ll see something like this displayed:
OBP 3.15.2 1998/11/10 10:35
If the OS is not running and you’re at the OpenBoot prompt, type the following at the ok prompt:
.version
If the current Flash PROM revision matches the version numbers displayed with one of the preceding commands, an upgrade is not necessary. If the current Flash PROM firmware revision is lower then the latest firmware revision needs to be installed, proceed to the next step.
Note
If your firmware is below the minimum required to run 64-bit Solaris, you will receive a message during the installation process asking if you want to upgrade your firmware.
Preparing the System for the Update
You need to obtain the update from Sun. For this example, I downloaded the update as a patch from Sun’s website. The process of downloading a patch from Sun is described in Chapter 12, “Software Package Administration.” You’ll copy the update file to the root (/) directory and set the permissions to 755 as follows:
cp <filename> / chmod 755 <filename>
Note
To boot the binary, it must be located within the root partition. Note the exact location of the update file so that the binary can be booted later.
As root, shut down the OS and, when you see the ok prompt, turn off power to the system.
Disable Write Protection on the PROM
Before you can update your system’s Flash PROM, you must set the appropriate jumper (or front-panel keyswitch) to disable write protection. If it’s not set to write enable, the Flash update will fail. The instructions to set this jumper can be found in the Sun Flash PROM Guide for your particular system.
After you’ve finished setting the jumper, power on the system.
Running the Flash Update Utility
During the power-on sequence, use Stop+A to abort the autoboot sequence. This process is described in Chapter 9.
Note
If the Flash update completes normally, the values contained within the system’s NVRAM configuration variables will be retained. However, if the update process is somehow interrupted, it is possible that any nondefault values contained in NVRAM will be lost. For this reason, it is recommended that you write down on paper the contents of any NVRAM configuration variables that have been customized so that they can be manually restored at a later time if necessary. (Use the PROM’s printenv command to list the variables and their values.)
From the OpenBoot ok prompt, boot the Flash update utility as follows:
boot disk /<path to update file> Answer the questions as prompted by the utility.
Here’s an example of when I ran the Flash update utility on an Ultra5 system. Much of the information that is displayed by your system will be different from what is shown here. In addition, make sure you read the instructions that came with the firmware update. They might differ from the instructions shown in this section. Failure to follow the installation procedure that comes with your firmware upgrade could result in damage to the system board and could prevent your system from booting.
Warning
Failure to follow instructions could result in either a defective board or an unsuccessful Flash PROM update. An unsuccessful PROM upgrade could prevent your system from booting.
This procedure cannot be performed on an outline operating system because the install instructions require that the system be brought down. Be sure to schedule downtime to perform this operation.
Installation of a firmware upgrade requires a hardware jumper change. If you are unsure of how to open the system box, make sure a qualified person, with the static wrist strap kit needed to service electronic equipment, is available to complete this activity. Failure to use the static wrist protection kit or improper handling could result in the damage of the system board.
Take every precaution to ensure that the upgrade is not interrupted after it is started!
ok boot disk /flash-update-Ultra510-latest
Resetting ...
Sun Ultra 5/10 UPA/PCI (UltraSPARC-IIi 333MHz), No Keyboard
OpenBoot 3.19, 128 MB (50 ns) memory installed, Serial #12599081.
Ethernet address 8:0:20:c0:3f:29, Host ID: 80c03f29.
Rebooting with command: boot disk /flash-update-Ultra510-latest
Boot device: /pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ide@3/disk@0,0 File and args: /flash-update-Ultra510-
latest
|
Standalone Flash PROM Update Utility, Rev. 2.7
Ultra(tm) 1
Ultra(tm) 2
Ultra(tm) 5/10
Ultra(tm) 30
Ultra(tm) 60 / E220R
Ultra(tm) 80 / E420R
Ultra(tm) Enterprise(tm) 250
Ultra(tm) Enterprise(tm) 450
Sun Blade(tm) 100
Sun Blade(tm) 1000
Sun Fire (tm) 280R
Netra(tm) T4
Sun Fire (tm) 880
This utility allows you to interactively update the firmware revisions in specific
system Flash PROM components.
Type h for help, q to quit, Return or Enter to continue: <enter> I pressed Enter to continue, and the following message was displayed:
Every precaution should be taken to prevent the loss of system power during the Flash PROM programming process! Type h for help, q to quit, Return or Enter to continue: <enter>
I pressed Enter to continue, and the following was displayed:
Firmware Release(s) Firmware Release(s) Currently Existing in the System Available for Installation / Install? ---------------------------- -------------------------------------- OBP 3.19.4 1999/04/28 15:05 OBP 3.31.0 2001/07/25 20:36 no POST 3.0.7 1999/04/28 14:24 POST 3.1.0 2000/06/27 13:56 no
Take special note to make sure that the firmware revisions on your system (shown in the left-hand column) are lower than the firmware revisions that you plan to install (shown in the right-hand column).
Type sa if you wish to select all available firmware releases for installation. Type h for help, quit to exit, or cont to continue: sa
I typed in sa and then pressed Return. The following message displayed:
Firmware Release(s) Firmware Release(s) Currently Existing in the System Available for Installation/ Install? ------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- OBP 3.19.4 1999/04/28 15:05 OBP 3.31.0 2001/07/25 20:36 YES POST 3.0.7 1999/04/28 14:24 POST 3.1.0 2000/06/27 13:56 YES
Notice that the firmware release is now marked with YES in the right-hand column.
Type sa if you wish to select all available firmware releases for installation. Type h for help, quit to exit, or cont to continue: cont
I typed in cont to continue.
The Flash programming process is about to begin. Type h for help, q to quit, Return or Enter to continue : <enter>
I pressed Enter to continue, and the following messages appeared:
Erasing the top half of the Flash PROM. Programming OBP into the top half of the Flash PROM. Verifying OBP in the top half of the Flash PROM. Erasing the bottom half of the Flash PROM. Programming OBP into the bottom half of Flash PROM. Verifying OBP in the bottom half of the Flash PROM. Erasing the top half of the Flash PROM. Programming POST into the top half of Flash PROM. Verifying POST in the top half of the Flash PROM. Programming was successful. Resetting ... Restoring previous NVRAM environment settings... #power-cycles = 143 boot-device = disk:a security-#badlogins = 0 nvramrc = <custom nvramrc> OK Resetting ...
Verifying a Successful Flash PROM Update
By typing in the .version command at the OpenBoot ok prompt, I can verify that the firmware has been updated, as follows:
ok .version Release 3.31 Version 0 created 2001/07/25 20:36 OBP 3.31.0 2001/07/25 20:36 POST 3.1.0 2000/06/27 13:56
Restore the System
Shut down the system and power off the computer as described in Chapter 13, “Setting Up User Accounts.” Move the jumper back in place to write-protect the PROM.
Resume Operations
Turn on the system power and allow the system to boot the operating system.
After the system has rebooted, you might want to remove the Flash Update binaries and documents since they will no longer be needed, as follows:
rm /flash-update*
Remember to remove the files from their original location if they were not extracted directly into the root directory.