Dear all,
Question was: given a mad DU box deciding to boot into NT after a
somewhat prolonged shutdown period how do I get it back to booting
UNIX?
Marvellous set of summaries which I am snipping together below. In the
meantime an important note:
It appears from one of the responses that some PWS were shipped with
the backup battery connector not quite touching the backup battery or
in any case it looks like mine got loose. I followed the instructions
to get the box back into booting UNIX but when waiting the 45s it lost
the info again! So, the solution was to press the reset switch - not
something I would recommend but it worked.
Thanks to:
Joe Fletcher <joe_at_meng.ucl.ac.uk>
Olle Eriksson <olle_at_cb.uu.se>
Henry Holtzman <holtzman_at_mit.edu>
Richard Bemrose <rb237_at_phy.cam.ac.uk>
Thomas Leitner <tom_at_radar.tu-graz.ac.at>
for their fast responses (trimmed below). Note in particular Richard's
comment about the battery which, in my case, turns out to be correct.
Ciao,
Arrigo
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From: Joe Fletcher <joe_at_meng.ucl.ac.uk>
To: arrigo_at_albourne.com
Subject: RE: Du 4.0D PWS 500au now thinks it is an NT box :-(
Date: Mon, 08 Mar 1999 10:28:39 GMT0
Message-ID: <009D4CD6.E4F1A8F1.1_at_meng.ucl.ac.uk>
Hi,
Halt the system. If you are still in the ARC console then run through the
menus until you find the console select and pick SRM. This should get you
back to booting unix. Make sure the console variable os_type is set to
unix. SHOW DEVICES will give you some idea whether or not a disk has either
failed or had it's id reasssigned somehow.
IIRC some of the PWS systems came with both NT and unix preinstalled.
You just pick which one you want to run.
See how you get on.
Cheers.
Joe
------------------------------
From: Henry Holtzman <holtzman_at_mit.edu>
To: Arrigo Triulzi <arrigo_at_albourne.com>
Subject: Re: Du 4.0D PWS 500au now thinks it is an NT box :-(
Date: Mon, 08 Mar 1999 05:58:52 -0500
Message-ID: <36E3AD6C.EC9DA8D7_at_mit.edu>
The au comes with two sets of firmware -- one for booting to NT, called
AlphaBios, the other for booting to unix, called SRM.
Here are the instructions from the user's guide for switching from
AlphaBios to SRM.
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/products/workstations/combomtr.pdf
(pages 3-28/29)
Switching from Windows NT to DIGITAL UNIX
To switch from the Windows NT operating system to DIGITAL UNIX, follow
these steps:
1. From Windows NT, choose Shut down.
2. Restart the computer.
3. Press [F2] to enter AlphaBIOS Setup.
4. To change console selection, from the Setup menu, choose CMOS Setup.
5. Press [Enter].
6. Press [F6] to enter Advanced Setup.
7. Tab to Console Selection.
8. Select Digital UNIX (SRM).
9. Press [F10] twice to save your selections.
10. Press [Enter].
11. Press [Esc] to exit Setup.
12. Power cycle the machine.
NOTE: Wait 45 seconds before turning the system back on.
13. The SRM console prompt >>> displays.
14. Boot the UNIX disk.
(For example, type >>>boot dkc0.)
15. Verify the time and date.
------------------------------
From: Richard Bemrose <rb237_at_phy.cam.ac.uk>
To: Arrigo Triulzi <arrigo_at_albourne.com>
Subject: Re: Du 4.0D PWS 500au now thinks it is an NT box :-(
Date: Mon, 8 Mar 1999 10:33:07 +0000 (GMT)
Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.96.990308102317.31499C-100000_at_alpha6.poco.phy.cam.ac.uk>
Hi,
On Mon, 8 Mar 1999, Arrigo Triulzi wrote:
/snip/
> Could anyone tell me how to get back to Digital UNIX? Please tell me I
> haven't lost the disk and/or I have to ship it back to Digital. I have
> all CDs, i.e. 4.0D & firmware 7.0 (CD, I think it is 6.2-20 for
> PWSs). ASAP hasn't yet shipped me 4.0E before you ask.
/snip/
To change back to AlphaBIOS select BIOS setting from the menu and then
press F10 for advanced settings. Then simply tab down to the O/S selection
and select Digital UNIX. Save these settings to BIOS.
BTW, you may want to check the CMOS battery or the battery connection. We
have a DPW 500au which did exactly the same until I bent the battery
connection arm onto the battery.
[I speak for myself. I take no responsibility for your actions.]
Regards,
Rich
------------------------------
From: Thomas Leitner <tom_at_radar.tu-graz.ac.at>
To: Arrigo Triulzi <arrigo_at_albourne.com>
Subject: Re: Du 4.0D PWS 500au now thinks it is an NT box :-(
Date: Mon, 8 Mar 1999 11:20:07 +0100 (MET)
Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.4.10.9903081118520.31976-100000_at_finwal01.tu-graz.ac.at>
On Mon, 8 Mar 1999, Arrigo Triulzi wrote:
Look through the AlphaBios Menus. There is a menu entry somewhere
which allows you to change the console back to SRM. It's called "Unix
Console" or something like that. You need to change the menu entry and
then power-cycle the machine as far as I know.
Hope this helps // Tom
------------------------------
From: Olle Eriksson <olle_at_cb.uu.se>
To: Arrigo Triulzi <arrigo_at_albourne.com>
Subject: Re: Du 4.0D PWS 500au now thinks it is an NT box :-(
Date: Mon, 8 Mar 1999 11:22:41 +0100 (MET)
Message-Id: <Pine.ULT.4.05.9903081119490.13527-100000_at_jagularen.cb.uu.se>
Your machine have changed from SRM to ARC firmware for some reason (could
be a back backup battery). However you can easily with the menus in ARC
(although I don't remember the exact details) change the default back to
SRM and boot DUX. Your system is probably not affected in any way, just
the deafult firmware.
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Received on Mon Mar 08 1999 - 11:54:29 NZDT