Subject: Re: Sparc Classic dilemma
To: Patrick Larkin , <port-sparc@netbsd.org>
From: Steven Grunza <steven_grunza@ieee.org>
List: port-sparc
Date: 06/01/2000 11:27:00
My experience is with SPARCstations/servers but you're either:

a) partly hosed if the EEPROM is not password protected

or

b) really hosed if the EEPROM is password protected.

To figure out which, power the machine up with a keyboard and monitor or
with a serial terminal plugged into TTYA.  If you can press either {L1}A on
the keyboard or {Break} on the terminal and get to the PROM command prompt,
you're in situation (a), partly hosed.

If you're asked for a password when you hit {L1}A or {Break}, you're in
situation (b), really hosed.

To get from situation (b) to situtation (a), you'll need to reset the
EEPROM.  I seem to recall the magic keyboard invocation as something like
{L1}n but I'm not certain.  Once the EEPROM is back to normal (no
password), you're at situation (a).

To get from situtation (a) to a running NetBSD system, you'll need to
netboot the box since you say you don't have a CDROM or a floppy.  See the
installation documentation for how to netboot.

NOTE:  The above is based on my experience with SS1's and SS1+'s.  The
SPARC Classic may be different enough for the above to not work.  YMMV.

Steven G.



At 11:16 AM 6/1/00 -0400, Patrick Larkin wrote:
>The good news is someone gave me a Sparc Classic.
>
>The bad news is that they didn't know the root password.
>
>I'm wondering how I can get NetBSD on this thing.  It has no floppy or CDROM
>drive.  
>
>
>
>
>-- 
>Patrick Larkin
>Network Automation 
>BASD
>
>
>