Cannot install or run Solaris 8 on Sun Blade 150

Hi everybody,
I'm having big troubles in installing Solaris 8 on a Sun Blade 150.
Here are some system specs:

Sun Blade 150 (UltraSPARC-IIe 550MHz)
RAM: 256MB 
OBP    4.10.6    2003/06/06    12:30
POST    2.0.1    2001/08/23    17:13

When I try to boot from Solaris 8 CD with boot cdrom or boot cdrom -s I receive the following messages:

SunOS Release 5.8 Version Generic_108528-05 64-bit
Copyright 1983-2000 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.
WARNING: pcisch0: no portid property

WARNING: pcisch0: no portid property

Cannot assemble drivers for root /pci@1f,0/ide@d/cdrom1,0:b
Cannot mount root on /pci@1f,0/ide@d/cdrom1,0:b fstype ufs

panic[cpu0]/thread=10408000: vfs_mountroot: cannot mount root

0000000010407970 genunix:vfs_mountroot+70 (10435400, 0, 0, 104108d8, 10, 14) 
%l0-3: 0000000010435400 0000000010438b48 000000000e000000 00000000104357f0 
%l4-7: 0000000000000000 00000000104135a8 00000000000b514c 000000000000114c 
0000000010407a20 genunix:main+94 (10410120, 2000, 10407ec0, 10408030, fff2, 1004
df6c) 
%l0-3: 0000000000000001 0000000000000001 0000000000000015 0000000000000e69 
%l4-7: 00000000104287d0 0000000010461d38 00000000000ca498 0000000000000498

skipping system dump - no dump device configured 
rebooting... 
Resetting ...

This process creates a boot loop. I have to stop+A to end it.

I've also managed to install Solaris 8, from same CDs, on another Sun Blade 150, with similar hardware and software (the Openboot is a bit holder on this one: OBP 4.6.5). After a successful installation I moved the HDD to the other Sun Blade, the one who gives me problems. The result is the same: I get the same error that I receive when I try to boot from CD.

I'm going crazy!
Please help!

Thanks in advance!

Alessio.

Please, can someone help me with this issue?

Any help would be appreciated!

looks like a hardware error... so there won't be much that you can do... what i would try is a POST with MAX settings to see if the system can detect any errors during powerup. you'll need a seriell connection to the system to check the output of the POST.

I'm not sure if it is a Hardware issue... you try to install a very old Solaris version... Try to start the installation using a SOlaris 10 DVD, if it works it could be the driver solaris 8 is using or even a bug on the Solaris 8 installation process.

Try to find the latest solaris 8 Installation CDs, that might fix it as well..

Good luck

solaris 10 will not work with 256mb ram... i think 384 (or 348)mb ram is minimum for solaris 10. the newest solaris 8 release should work fine with a blade 150 (which is a rather old system, too).
GA date for the blade 150 was august 2002. a minimum release of solaris 8 2/02 is needed! so yes, maybe your used solaris 8 version is to old for the blade...

Solaris 10 min req is 256MB though ... Anyway I suggested to try with that DVD to just to discard any HW problem.

yes but with 256mb there will be no GUI installer, only textmode. maybe not wanted for a workstation. but should work if no GUI is needed.

Thank you for your answer!
It's pretty difficult to find Solaris 8 relase, but I will look for that.
I can install Solaris 10, but I will need a graphical interface on this machine.
Is somehow possible to download Solaris 9?

Thanks again for replying!

Try here:

Solaris 9 Download � SPARC and X86 [500mb per link] | Derlediklerim�

Not official, but should work. I downloaded the x86 version and it worked. And I guess this is not for a production environment.

Juan

1 Like

did you mean, sol10 has no GUI? pls correct me if I didn't get it rite

Can I request you to try borrowing the cables from the working box to replace the cables on the box which is has issues ?

@juan.brein: thank you real much for the link! I will try to download and install it on my machine!

@solaris040: I've cheched the cables, and they're working. I know solaris10 has GUI, but this machine has only 256MB RAM. So, probably, it's not suitable for
Solaris10 GUI.