Rui Paulo wrote:
> It seems to me the stack is mangled. The last time I saw a problem
> like this on i386 it was due to the kernel not handling SSE
> exceptions (fixed by Christos).

Well, this made me wonder if I had either a bad CD-ROM ISO
image or some sort of hardware trouble.  I did a quick check
of some of the checksums on the CD, and all appeared to be OK.

Then, I started pulling memory modules out of the machine,
taking it down to 384Mb.  That installed and ran OK, so I'm
now trying to isolate the duff memory.  Can anyone recommend
a really good memory tester for the UltraSparc?

> I don't know the sparc arch very well to understand what's going on
> where and I can be pretty damn wrong :-)

I think you were absolutely correct!

Thanks to all, and sorry for the false alarm.

-- 
John Honniball
coredump@gifford.co.uk