Dear Frank:
Thanks very much for replying. If you don't mind, I have not yet properly researched the issue but here are three logical questions: 1. the ok boot -net command and the EEPROM boot-file goes back to my Sun OS 4.1.3 days. How is this fundamentally different than wanboot? One ref is: man boot(1M). Can boot -net be used with some kludge or the other? 2. How difficult would it be (of course $$s too) to issue a minor sun4U OBP update that addresses only this specific install issue? As I recall, Sun Service used to call these one-off, untested, UAYOR modifications "specials". Of course this incurred the customer a fee at $260 hr, (then) two hour minimum. Given the historical existence of boot -net, I do not intuit that this issue is as complex as, for example, a driver issue. Rather, it seems to be an issue of additional command arguments, or file location and identification. Most of the FORTH code may already exist from later processor family OBPs. I have seen procedures for OBP manual editing (again UAYOR!). Are both the old and current OBP FORTH code sets available for comparison? 3. Re the SPARC bootable ISO, I have wondered for a decade just why is it that an ISO must be burned at all? Several years ago I cribbed the good LOFS-based (loopback virtual file system) CD-ROM ISO un-ISO script at BigAdmin. After some trial and much error, I extensively modified it into a brute-force series of progressive subscripts and directories to install Solaris 9 and later Solaris 10, on a stand-alone host, without a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or a network host. It worked fine for this tar-ball head. The biggest issue seemed to be to extract the boot block. But again, why waste the plastic to burn an OS CD or DVD that may be obsolete in a week? That is one of the good things about the OpenSolaris community, rapid updates. Solaris 10 already offers the ability to load a subsequent OS on a separate partition via Live Update. Is not there someway to make down-loadable, plastic-less install easier for the non-enterprise admin or stand-alone user? I also suppose the single partition ZFS might preclude the latter install approach. For background, see: [The original BigAdmin article (Singapore? author) is AWOL, and Sun search appears obtuse.] also: http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/content/submitted/boot_usb_flash.jsp "I really wish this were a supported installation method." http://wikis.sun.com/display/BigAdmin/Creating+a+bootable+ISO+image Installation - How to create ISO images for Solaris 10 U6 (10/08) SPARC CD 1 and DVD http://forums.sun.com/thread.jspa?threadID=5349350&tstart=0 "Please check previous postings in the various forums. This type of question has been asked many times. Obviously the image can be downloaded, burned and booted, since many people have done so. Other forum replies include questions on DVD media quality, hardware errors if you try to mount the disc on a running system, etc. Maybe you want to try the latest release S10 U8 (10/09) and see if you have any issues." 4. In sum, from the above comment, ironically the reverse issue of creating ISOs, it seems that there has been regular and reoccurring discussion of the overall issue of installation via flexible means. (This is not an identical issue to JumpStart, flash images, automated remote install to client clusters, or automatic provision of LDOM and virtual clients, etc.) Perhaps a top-level: "How and why do we do this task in this way?" would be a useful and productive inquiry. Of course, after two decades of fat-thumbing Sun OS, I might just be approaching that confused state ... Thanks. mechsys -- This message posted from opensolaris.org
