Hi,

I'm trying to install & configure an annex box on my admin ws which is
on sol 10. The entry in my /etc/remote is as follows:

tc:\
:dv=/dev/term/a:br#9600:el=^C^S^Q^U^D:ie=%$e=^D:

I tip it in & power on the box & hold the test button until the power
light start blinking and release it. After waiting for a few minutes
which should have been 1 minute max, I don't see anything on my
terminal (i.e, monitor: except just a letter "Q~". The light pattern
on my tc is as follows:

Power: green
Unit: green
Net: green
Attn: off
Load: off
Active: blinking
Test: off

I already try on 2 different annex boxes & they both have the same
behavior.

Question: Is there a coincidence that both of my tc are bad? If they
are not, is there a way to fix it?

I don't know annex box very well & hope some experts here could light
up the darkness for me Any helps/ suggestions are appreciated.

TIA,
-Chris

"lazyboy_2k@yahoo.com" <lazyboy_2k@yahoo.com> writes:
> tc:\
> :dv=/dev/term/a:br#9600:el=^C^S^Q^U^D:ie=%$e=^D:

I'd use /dev/cua/a ...

> I tip it in & power on the box & hold the test button until the power
> light start blinking and release it.

That's the reset sequence. If you press the button again, the "test"
light will come on. Then the right hand four LEDs will go through a
test sequence, and you should get a "monitor:: " prompt on the
console.

> Power: green
> Unit: green
> Net: green
> Attn: off
> Load: off
> Active: blinking
> Test: off

That means it's attempting to boot off the network or off of FLASH.
If you don't have a unit with FLASH (it's an optional feature) and you
don't have a configured TFTP server on your network, then it's never
going to come up.

> Question: Is there a coincidence that both of my tc are bad? If they
> are not, is there a way to fix it?

I don't think they're bad. At least not from this description.

If the box fails self test, you should see an SOS (morse code
....---...) pattern on the LEDs.

--
James Carlson, KISS Network <james.d.carlson@sun.com>
Sun Microsystems / 1 Network Drive 71.232W Vox +1 781 442 2084
MS UBUR02-212 / Burlington MA 01803-2757 42.496N Fax +1 781 442 1677

James Carlson wrote:
> "lazyboy_2k@yahoo.com" <lazyboy_2k@yahoo.com> writes:
> > tc:\
> > :dv=/dev/term/a:br#9600:el=^C^S^Q^U^D:ie=%$e=^D:
>
> I'd use /dev/cua/a ...
>

I try your suggestion with cuab:dv=/dev/cua/a:br#9600, and it still
doesn't work. I know the original entry is good enough but just want to
try something else...

> > I tip it in & power on the box & hold the test button until the power
> > light start blinking and release it.
>
> That's the reset sequence. If you press the button again, the "test"
> light will come on. Then the right hand four LEDs will go through a
> test sequence, and you should get a "monitor:: " prompt on the
> console.
>

Already do it as well & still doesn't work.

> > Power: green
> > Unit: green
> > Net: green
> > Attn: off
> > Load: off
> > Active: blinking
> > Test: off
>
> That means it's attempting to boot off the network or off of FLASH.
> If you don't have a unit with FLASH (it's an optional feature) and you
> don't have a configured TFTP server on your network, then it's never
> going to come up.
>

This machine is not on network & there is no tftp server on it. So, I
need to setup a tftp server in order to get it work? If it is, mind to
show me how to set it up?


> > Question: Is there a coincidence that both of my tc are bad? If they
> > are not, is there a way to fix it?
>
> I don't think they're bad. At least not from this description.
>
> If the box fails self test, you should see an SOS (morse code
> ...---...) pattern on the LEDs.

I'm glad to hear that.

Thank you for your helps,
-Chris

Btw, I already configure tftpboot server by comment out tftp param in
/etc/inetd.conf file and reboot the server. I also create /tftpboot
w/ perm 777 & I still have a problem to get my annex box to boot up.
However, when I run netstat -a |grep tftp, I get nothing. So, I wonder
what is missing when I setup a tftpboot server? I'm running sol 10 +
patches. Any ideas to get my annex box to work are really appreciated.

TIA,
-Chris

"lazyboy_2k@yahoo.com" <lazyboy_2k@yahoo.com> writes:
> Btw, I already configure tftpboot server by comment out tftp param in
> /etc/inetd.conf file and reboot the server. I also create /tftpboot
> w/ perm 777 & I still have a problem to get my annex box to boot up.

Did you install one of the Annex boot images in /tftpboot? You're not
going to get far unless you have one of the boot images. They look
like "oper.42.inet" for an Annex 3 and "oper.52.inet" for a Micro
Annex XL.

If you don't have one of these, you should have been gotten it from
the person who sold you the box. Otherwise, contact Nortel for
support. ("Annex" is their product -- they bought Bay, who bought
Xylogics, who bought the product from Encore -- not Sun's.)

> However, when I run netstat -a |grep tftp, I get nothing.

You won't see anything there, because that's what inetd does: the
inetd process itself listens for packets sent for TFTP, and will
launch the program on demand.

> So, I wonder
> what is missing when I setup a tftpboot server? I'm running sol 10 +
> patches. Any ideas to get my annex box to work are really appreciated.

Snoop the network. Look to see what file the Annex is attempting to
open.

You'll need to make sure that the Annex network parameters are
configured correctly as well. Given that you haven't accessed the
"monitor::" prompt, it sounds like you haven't gotten that far, which
means that fooling around with the TFTP server won't help.

Start by trying to get the "monitor::" prompt. Perhaps the cable
you're using is wired incorrectly or is just plain broken.

--
James Carlson, KISS Network <james.d.carlson@sun.com>
Sun Microsystems / 1 Network Drive 71.232W Vox +1 781 442 2084
MS UBUR02-212 / Burlington MA 01803-2757 42.496N Fax +1 781 442 1677

Hi James,

Thanks for taking the time to troubleshoot the problem w/ me. Really
appreciate it....

> Did you install one of the Annex boot images in /tftpboot? You're not
> going to get far unless you have one of the boot images. They look
> like "oper.42.inet" for an Annex 3 and "oper.52.inet" for a Micro
> Annex XL.
>

Yes, I already copied oper.42.inet & oper.52.net files into /tftpboot &
change perm to 777.

> Snoop the network. Look to see what file the Annex is attempting to
> open.
>
> You'll need to make sure that the Annex network parameters are
> configured correctly as well. Given that you haven't accessed the
> "monitor::" prompt, it sounds like you haven't gotten that far, which
> means that fooling around with the TFTP server won't help.

Here is the snoop output:

OLD-BROADCAST --> BROADCAST DHCP/BOOTP BOOTREQUEST
OLD-BROADCAST --> BROADCAST DHCP/BOOTP BOOTREQUEST
OLD-BROADCAST --> BROADCAST DHCP/BOOTP BOOTREQUEST
OLD-BROADCAST --> BROADCAST RARP C who is 0:80:2d:ed:5f:97 ?
OLD-BROADCAST --> BROADCAST RARP C who is 0:80:2d:ed:5f:97 ?
OLD-BROADCAST --> BROADCAST RARP C who is 0:80:2d:ed:5f:97 ?

I already verify that this is a mac address of the Annex box.

> Start by trying to get the "monitor::" prompt. Perhaps the cable
> you're using is wired incorrectly or is just plain broken.

This is what exactly I'm trying to get & so far I haven't gotten any
luck Yes, these are new cable which I order from Sun.

I really want to get these Annex boxes to work.... please help....

Thanks,
-Chris

I finally get my annex box to work. Thanks a lot to everyone,
especially to James & everyone who responded back to my email.