Verify Disk is Present When Booting From Alternate Media

Asset ID:	1-71-1005531.1
Update Date:	2010-07-06
Keywords:

Solution Type Technical Instruction Sure

Solution 1005531.1 : Verify Disk is Present When Booting From Alternate Media

Related Items


Sun Fire E6900 Server
 Sun Fire V245 Server
 Sun Fire V250 Server
 Sun Fire V440 Server
 Sun Fire V480 Server
 Sun Fire V445 Server
 Sun Fire V880z Visualization Server
 Sun Fire 3800 Server
 Sun Fire 6800 Server
 Sun Netra 1280 Server
 Sun Fire V210 Server
 Sun Fire V890 Server
 Sun Fire E4900 Server
 Sun Fire V880 Server
 Sun Fire 4800 Server
 Sun Fire E2900 Server
 Sun Netra 1290 Server
 Sun Fire V490 Server
 Sun Fire 4810 Server

Related Categories


GCS>Sun Microsystems>Servers>Midrange V and Netra Servers
 GCS>Sun Microsystems>Servers>Entry-Level Servers
 GCS>Sun Microsystems>Servers>Midrange Servers

PreviouslyPublishedAs
207661

Description
This document will help determine that status of a suspect disk.

The disk might be suspected to be defective, in need of file system check (fsck), and the system may be unable to boot if the disk involved is the boot device. Utilize this method to validate the disk's status when you are able to boot off an alternate device.

Steps to Follow
To determine if a disk can be seen, the system must be booted by a known good operating environment.
A known good environment would be achieved by being booted off either cdrom (DVD) or off a jumpstart image.

To do this, perform the following:
ok> boot -s cdrom
or
ok> boot -s net

The system will boot to single user mode. At this point format will show all the drive the system can see.

# format
Searching for disks...done
AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS:
       0. c1t1d0 <SUN72G cyl 14087 alt 2 hd 24 sec 424>
          /pci@8,600000/SUNW,qlc@4/fp@0,0/ssd@w21000004cf8ebc46,0
       1. c1t2d0 <SUN72G cyl 14087 alt 2 hd 24 sec 424>
          /pci@8,600000/SUNW,qlc@4/fp@0,0/ssd@w210000186277b043,0
Specify disk (enter its number): 0
selecting c1t1d0
[disk formatted]

Select the drive that is suspected of having a problem. In this case, c1t1d0 or 0.

Then check the partition table of the drive to find the root slice.

FORMAT MENU:
        disk       - select a disk
        type       - select (define) a disk type
        partition - select (define) a partition table
        current    - describe the current disk
        format     - format and analyze the disk
        repair     - repair a defective sector
        label      - write label to the disk
        analyze    - surface analysis
        defect     - defect list management
        backup     - search for backup labels
        verify     - read and display labels
        save       - save new disk/partition definitions
        inquiry    - show vendor, product and revision
        volname    - set 8-character volume name
        !<cmd>     - execute <cmd>, then return
        quit
format> partition

PARTITION MENU:
        0      - change `0' partition
        1      - change `1' partition
        2      - change `2' partition
        3      - change `3' partition
        4      - change `4' partition
        5      - change `5' partition
        6      - change `6' partition
        7      - change `7' partition
        select - select a predefined table
        modify - modify a predefined partition table
        name   - name the current table
        print - display the current table
        label - write partition map and label to the disk
        !<cmd> - execute <cmd>, then return
        quit
partition> print
Current partition table (original):
Total disk cylinders available: 14087 + 2 (reserved cylinders)
Part      Tag    Flag     Cylinders         Size            Blocks
0       root    wm       0 - 13673       66.35GB    (13674/0/0) 139146624
1       swap    wu   13674 - 14086        2.00GB    (413/0/0)     4202688
2     backup    wm       0 - 14086       68.35GB    (14087/0/0) 143349312
3 unassigned    wm       0                0         (0/0/0)             0
4 unassigned    wm       0                0         (0/0/0)             0
5 unassigned    wm       0                0         (0/0/0)             0
6 unassigned    wm       0                0         (0/0/0)             0
7 unassigned    wm       0                0         (0/0/0)             0

partition> quit

Here we see the root slice is partition 0.

At this point the drive should be checked and mounted.

Start with checking the file system.

# fsck /dev/dsk/c1t1d0s0 (this is the drive info we just got from format)

Fix any errors that are reported.
Run the fsck till it runs with no errors. Then it is time to mount the drive.

To mount the drive:

# mount /dev/rsdk/c1t0d0s0 /a

Change directory onto the drive see if there is a file system there.

# cd /a

At this point the drive sh Sun Fire V890 Server
Sun Fire V880 Server
Sun Fire V490 Server

Internal Comments
This document contains normalized content and is managed by the the Domain Lead(s) of the respective domains. To notify content owners of a knowledge gap contained in this document, and/or prior to updating this document, please contact the domain engineers that are managing this document via the "Document Feedback" alias(es) listed below:

Domain Engineer/Lead : Dencho Kojucharov Feedback alias: VSP-SPARC-Normalization@sun.com
normalized, boot alternate media, boot cdrom, boot net, fsck, disk, HDD, failed disk, can't boot, boot fails
Previously Published As
91500

Change History
Date: 2009-11-6
User Name: 103287
Action: Update
Comment: Refreshed per the ESG Content Team; modified keywords and made some format changes.
Date: 2007-12-20
User Name: 7058
Action: Approved
Comment: Updated products - OK to republish.
Version: 6
Date: 2007-12-20
User Name: 7058
Action: Accept
Comment:
Version: 0
Date: 2007-12-20
User Name: 77482
Action: Approved
Comment: Added the Sun Fire 1280 - 6900 servers to the product list

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