Subject: Re: port-sparc/37080: second stage boot loader fails on SparcStation 2
To: None <port-sparc-maintainer@netbsd.org, gnats-admin@netbsd.org,>
From: Georg Brein <georg.brein@unibas.ch>
List: netbsd-bugs
Date: 11/12/2007 08:00:07
The following reply was made to PR port-sparc/37080; it has been noted by GNATS.

From: Georg Brein <georg.brein@unibas.ch>
To: gnats-bugs@NetBSD.org
Cc: 
Subject: Re: port-sparc/37080: second stage boot loader fails on SparcStation 2
Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2007 08:57:11 +0100

 The problem described is definitively caused by an incompatibility
 between NetBSD 4.0 sparc (both RC1 and RC3) and version 2.2 of the
 SparcStation 2 firmware; after upgrading to version 2.9 the second
 stage boot loader works smoothly, and a few other nuisances (onboard
 le ethernet reporting and using bogus MAC address, incompatibility
 with qec/qe ethernet FCode, failure to boot Solaris from a 2 GB root
 slice) went away as well.
 
 I don't know whether the NetBSD developers aim at supporting firmware
 revisions older than 2.9; if not (and I'd consider this legitimate
 since even I, a confirmed 100 percent software guy, succeeded in
 upgrading the firmware, though it was my first try at EPROM burning
 and I had to get hold of the necessary equipment beforehand), bug
 port-sparc/37080 would degenerate to a mere lack of documentation
 stating the lowest supported (resp. tested) firmware revision.
 
 Many thanks for your troubles!
 
 Yours sincerely,
 Georg Brein