Re: Installing Debian 3.0r1 Sparc on Sun Blade 100

[Kent West <westk@acu.edu>]

Xander Meadow wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I've been banging my head against a Sun Blade 100 running Sun OS 
> Release 5.8 Version Generic_108528-08 64-bit, with 256MB of RAM, 
> OpenBoot 4.0.  I am trying to trash the the Solaris system currently 
> running on the machine and install Debain 3.0r1 - woody.  I have 
> downloaded and burned the first three binary discs.  After inserting 
> the first one I press "stop - a" to get to the ok prompt and then type 
> "boot cdrom" to boot from the CD.  After booting from the cdrom I get 
> the following on my screen:
>
> --------------
> Welcome to Debian GNU/Linux 3.0!
>
> <then some description and a disclaimer>
>
> [ ENTER - Boot install ]    [ type "rescue" - Boot into rescue mode ]
> boot:
> -------------
>
> After determining that I want to install Debian, and not perform a 
> rescue I hit enter whereupon I get the following message:
>
> Loading initial ramdisk....
> Fast Data Access MMU Miss
> ok
>
> and I'm back to the ok prompt.  I can then type "cd" and it will take 
> me to a location that has choices such as memory@0,0, aliases, 
> options, etc.  I have read that by typing in "limit-ecache-size" as a 
> command I can fix this problem.  But this has not worked for me.  
> Either I am typing it to the wrong location or I have a different 
> problem.  If anyone knows what my problem might be I would greatly 
> appreciate any and all help.  Thanks very much.

I had this sort of problem when trying to boot from a (Woody? Potato?) 
CD on a Sunblade 100 a year and a half or so ago. I eventually gave up 
on the CD, and did a tftpboot with a tftp-based kernel image that I 
pulled off a Sun server set up for tftp feeds.

This year I tried installing on a Sunblade 1000 (not the 100), and using 
the official tftpboot kernel image found by following the 
instructions/links in the Installation Manual at the Debian site, I 
again ran into all sorts of boot problems, including the "Fast Data 
Access MMU Miss" problem. So I googled for a different kernel, and found 
Ben Collins' site 
(http://auric.debian.org/~bcollins/disks-sparc/current/sparc64/) which 
had a kernel image that booted right up.

I say all this to say: try a different kernel.

--
Kent