aix5.2/p630 doesn't want to boot from tape, please HELP!

1.Can any other server use this tape as boot image?
2.When the keyboard console and beep appears on the console, use F1 or 1, then make sure you set the right bootup list

hi
i tried to use 1 (sms menu) and sat rmt0 as first boot device but it didn't work
This my only IBM server I can't test it anywhere else.
bootlist normal :
hdisk0 hdisk1 rmt0
bootlist service :
rmt0 cd0 hdisk1

i also tried to put rmt0 as first boot device in normal bootlist.

mksysb -i -X -v -V /dev/rmt0 (made a mistake in my first post)

Try to use "smitty mksysb" to do another mksysb if you couldn't prove the tape you have is a good image. Have a nice weekend.

hi again
I also tried smitty mksysb (successfully) and did all my last tests with this one. I spent more than 3 hours trying to make it work but it didn't. I just can find out what else to test.
Thank you for answering and have a nice week end too.

HI,

Possibly you have a problem accessing your tape.
To confirm:

dd if=/dev/rmt0 bs=512 count=8 |strings

This will try to read 8 blocks from the tape and will display whatever ascii charachters are there.
It the tape will move (see leds) - you will know it's accessible.
If not - check errpt for rmt0 errors,can point to some hardware issue (cable/termination/HBA/device).

If the above works OK - set the tape to be the boot device:

bootlist -m normal rmt0

Then just reboot the system and do not press any keys,it should boot OK from tape,given the image is OK.

"Long live king Moshiach !"

Hi
Here is what the dd command outputs :

?¬5)ÿü@
}'HP}6HP9)ÿü
?¬5)ÿü@
ÿä|ç²
}$(P|Ö0P
?¬5)ÿü@
|ç:x9
(> ÿ3b1
~0ú¦L
8~Pû¦L
}<C¦}=C¦Kÿÿ¸8`
|°ú¦|¥
x|°û¦L
0à|c#x|uC¦|uB¦<
|c 9,
ÿð8`
|tC¦|
C¦|uB¦<
|c 9,
ÿð<`
Q|c#x|uC¦|uB¦<
|c 9,
ÿð<`
|uC¦|uB¦<
|c 9,
¦8dÿü|sû¦|`
¦|qû¦<`ÿÿ`cÿÿ8
¬|}û¦|
,|h&quot;¦<
À|c#x|x#¦L
,KÿþÔ
#x8`
|°ú¦|¥
x|°û¦L
0à|c#x|uC¦|uB¦<
|c 9,
ÿð8`
|tC¦|
C¦|uB¦<
|c 9,
ÿð<`
Q|c#x|uC¦|uB¦<
|c 9,
ÿð<`
|uC¦|uB¦<
|c 9,
ÿð|óû¦8`
|qû¦<`ÿÿ`cÿÿ8
@|}û¦|
û¦|h&quot;¦<
À|c#x|x#¦L
:< p
<`ÿ3`c
|°ú¦L
,8ÀÿþxÆ
|È(8}
}=C¦}<C¦N
|c#x|¥3x|éCx}
8+0 records in.
8+0 records out.

I'll set the normal bootlist to rmt0 in a few hours and try to reboot (now i'm offsite, can't do it from here. I'll let you know the results.
In case, if it doesn't boot at all what should I do?
Thanx a lot!

So the tape moved ok?
Anything in errpt regarding rmt0?
Next step is to boot as advised,if it failes - your image is bad.

&quot;Long live king Moshiach !&quot;

No error in errorlog (errpt).
I guess the tape device is alright.
Thanx

What I do normally to create a bootable image is :

/usr/bin/mksysb '-i' /dev/rmt0

&quot;Long live king Moshiach !&quot;

finally i called IBM support it seems like there's a kind of bug :


SYMPTOM:
System fails to boot from tape containing a system backup
created with the mksysb utility. Common failure symptoms are
error code 20EE000B displayed on the LED display or a text
displayed on the system console containing the words &quot;default catch&quot;. Additionally, 7028, 7029, 7038, and 7040 with recent
levels of system firmware installed will display error 20EE000A.
A potential cause for these symptoms is that the boot image on
the media is larger than 12MB. This condition is only known to
occur on systems with 5.1 or 5.2 levels of AIX installed. This
symptom can be experienced on any CHRP system.

Procedure for all CHRP systems:
1) Obtain AIX install media that matches version AND maintenance
level of the system that the mksysb was created from.
2) Boot the system from the install CD
3) From the &quot;Installation and Maintenance Menu&quot;, select option
#3, &quot;Start Maintenance Mode for System Recovery&quot;.
4) Select option 4, &quot;Install from a System Backup&quot; and choose
the appropriate tape device.
5) Insert the tape and select the appropriate option to continue the installation.

kat115 can you post the apar# for this?

this bug is not corrected...! IBM told us that they're working on it. The procedure they gave is a workaround. The other way to workaround this, is to uninstall drivers we don't use in order to make the boot image size lower than 12MB (but we won't do it).
I'm running AIX 5.2 ML2.
I hope this help!

Hi kat115,

I got the same problem as yours. I am taking my backup from smit and it displays an attention message while it backing up. I had not the ability to test the bootimage on the tape but I think it is not bootable.
This error began after we upgrade from aix 5.2 to 5.2ML2.

Does anyone has Aix installation CD's with ML2

Here is the Attention message:

***** ATTENTION *****
The boot image you just created might fail to boot because
the size exceeds the system limit. For information about
fixes or workarounds, see /usr/lpp/bos.sysmgt/README.
***** ATTENTION *****

/usr/lpp/bos.sysmgt/README file :

IBM_PROLOG IBM_PROLOG_BEGIN_TAG
IBM_PROLOG This is an automatically generated prolog.
IBM_PROLOG
IBM_PROLOG bos52B src/bos/usr/sbin/mkcd/README.S 1.3
IBM_PROLOG
IBM_PROLOG Licensed Materials - Property of IBM
IBM_PROLOG
IBM_PROLOG Restricted Materials of IBM
IBM_PROLOG
IBM_PROLOG (C) COPYRIGHT International Business Machines Corp. 2003
IBM_PROLOG All Rights Reserved
IBM_PROLOG
IBM_PROLOG US Government Users Restricted Rights - Use, duplication or
IBM_PROLOG disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contract with IBM Corp.
IBM_PROLOG
IBM_PROLOG IBM_PROLOG_END_TAG

Installing from a tape backup whose boot image is too large

As more and more devices become supported on AIX, the boot image continues to
grow in size until it reaches a pre-existing limit at which point it is not
possible to boot directly from the tape media containing an over-the-limit boot
image. This condition is only known to occur on CHRP systems with AIX 5.1 or
5.2 installed.

To determine you system type, run the following command:

# bootinfo -a

A 3 means CHRP.


SYMPTOM:

The symptoms of this problem are that the system might appear to hang with
the message: &quot;Software starting... Please wait&quot; At this point the system
continues trying to boot from this device without success. Codes that might
be displayed on the LCD are 20EE000B, 20EE000A or E14D. Also, text displayed
on the system console containing the words &quot;default catch&quot;. Or, it may
boot off the next bootable device in the bootlist.


SOLUTIONS:

Note: Solutions 2 and 3 may require that you create a new backup.

1). Boot off of media that has a smaller boot image and is at the same level
as the backup. (For example, the AIX product media, or network boot image.)
Then, select &quot;3 Access Advanced Maintenance Functions&quot;, select &quot;4 Install
from a System Backup&quot;, select tape drive and install. If you do not have AIX
product media at the same level, see &quot;CREATING BOOTABLE CD MEDIA&quot; below.

Note: If install media is not at equal to or higher maintenance level than
the level of the backup image being installed, unpredictable results might occur.

2). Remove filesets from the system that would result in a smaller boot image
and then create a new backup.

This option might not be valid if the system requires all the filesets that it
currently has on it to run. This includes filesets whose names begin with
devices, for example: devices.pci.xxxxxx.rte). Do not remove any filesets
for devices that you might have on other systems in your environment because
the resulting backup may not be able to boot or install onto those systems.

3). This solution does not work on models 7028, 7029, 7038, and 7040 systems.
If APAR IY40824 (AIX 5.1) or IY40975 (AIX 5.2) was installed prior to making
the backup, then you may boot from the backup and go to the open firmware
prompt. To get to the open firmware prompt, when the system beeps twice after
powering it on, press F8 on the keyboard (or the 8 key on an ASCII terminal).
You can also get to the open firmware prompt from SMS. The open firmware
prompt is also referred to as the &quot;OK&quot; prompt. On some systems there will be
a menu option located on the initial SMS menu. On others, it will be located
under the Multiboot menu. From the open firmware prompt execute the following:

&gt;setenv real-base 1000000
&gt;reset-all

Notes:
a) To use this option, the backup must have this APAR in it and therefore
must be created after installing the APAR.
b) The above commands will have to be executed each time you boot from the
large boot image backup media.


CREATING BOOTABLE CD MEDIA:

Preferably on the same system that the non-bootable backup came from, execute
the following commands:

# cd /var/adm/ras
# ls ./bosinst.data ./image.data | backup -ivqf/tmp/fakemksysb
# mkcd -m /tmp/fakemksysb -d /dev/cdx # Where cdx is an attached cdwriter
OR
# mkcd -m /tmp/fakemksysb -S # Will create a CD image which can be
# transferred to a system with a cdwriter

Note: The final mkcd command in the previous example makes an image that could
be transferred to another system (AIX or non-AIX) for burning.
Note: The bosinst.data file must be set for a prompted install (PROMPT = yes).

**** END OF DOCUMENT ****


Baanman

Hi baanman,
how would you transfer that to say a windows2k server and then burn to bootable cd? What mastering sofwtare have you used, settings that work, etc...

I have tried this and neevr gotten it to work. IBM told me to give it up and get a burner for the rs6k but thats just not in the cards for me at the moment.

WiccaChic ,
after you created the image download it to your computer and write on a empty cd as ISO file.

There is also additional info about this case at the below.


Baanman

Hi All,
a new firmware has yet been released to fix this problem. Here is more info for this;


Updated microcode for 7028-6C4 Systems

Added support for system boot from tape devices containing
boot images larger than 12MB. Must be used in conjunction
with AIX 5.1 APAR IY54804 or AIX 5.2 APAR IY53546. To
create a boot image larger than 12MB on tape media, you
must first apply the appropriate APAR. The firmware must
be at 3R040323 (or later) before the image can be restored.
Added support for new or replacemnt CPU cards manufactured
after March 2004.
Improved isolation for Remote I/O (RIO) loop failures.
Corrects SCAN_ERROR_CHRP error log entries with SRC
B0061406 on initial boot after AC power is removed. Only
affects systems with firmware level 3R031021 installed.

Baanman