Sparc - Installing FreeBSD
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Installation of FreeBSD on the Sparc architechture is nearly identical to the [[Installing FreeBSD | x86 architecture installation]], although booting from media differs somewhat from the x86 install procedures: | Installation of FreeBSD on the Sparc architechture is nearly identical to the [[Installing FreeBSD | x86 architecture installation]], although booting from media differs somewhat from the x86 install procedures: | ||
| − | The first step is getting your target machine to boot off of your install media. Sun's Sparc machines have a few quirks, the most relevant of which for you right now is | + | The first step is getting your target machine to boot off of your install media. Sun's Sparc machines have a few quirks, the most relevant of which for you right now is Open Boot Firmware. |
Boot from the console (or console via terminal,) and during boot-up, hit the STOP button and the letter "a" on the keyboard. If this does not halt the POST and bootup, and there is already a version of unix on the machine (e.g., Solaris,) then you can get to the firmware prompt by executing | Boot from the console (or console via terminal,) and during boot-up, hit the STOP button and the letter "a" on the keyboard. If this does not halt the POST and bootup, and there is already a version of unix on the machine (e.g., Solaris,) then you can get to the firmware prompt by executing | ||
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At the <b>OK></b> prompt, type in "boot cdrom" (if you've got a bootable cdrom for the sparc arch in the cd drive of the machine) or "boot net" if you're trying to do a net install from a network server. From here on in, the install should be nearly identical to an [[Installing FreeBSD | x86 install]]. | At the <b>OK></b> prompt, type in "boot cdrom" (if you've got a bootable cdrom for the sparc arch in the cd drive of the machine) or "boot net" if you're trying to do a net install from a network server. From here on in, the install should be nearly identical to an [[Installing FreeBSD | x86 install]]. | ||
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| + | see also: [http://sunsolve.sun.com/handbook_pub/General/OBP.html Open Boot Firmware (off-site link to sun.com's info on Open Boot parameters).] | ||
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[[Category : Architecture-Specific]] | [[Category : Architecture-Specific]] | ||
Revision as of 19:26, 23 August 2004
Installation of FreeBSD on the Sparc architechture is nearly identical to the x86 architecture installation, although booting from media differs somewhat from the x86 install procedures:
The first step is getting your target machine to boot off of your install media. Sun's Sparc machines have a few quirks, the most relevant of which for you right now is Open Boot Firmware.
Boot from the console (or console via terminal,) and during boot-up, hit the STOP button and the letter "a" on the keyboard. If this does not halt the POST and bootup, and there is already a version of unix on the machine (e.g., Solaris,) then you can get to the firmware prompt by executing
init 0
as root.
This will drop you to the OK prompt. This is the Open Firmware prompt, which is a close cousin of the Mac OS X Open Firmware (off-site link). It may help to think of it as a BIOS-commandline.
The OK prompt may be displayed thus:
OK
or
OK>
this can be one of the other depending on which version of the Open Firmware the machine is running.
If you're running on a machine with multiple processors, you may see
OK {0}
or
OK {1}
this will only be seen on machines with multiple processors and the number within the parenthesis is to let you know which processor you're currently running on.
At the OK> prompt, type in "boot cdrom" (if you've got a bootable cdrom for the sparc arch in the cd drive of the machine) or "boot net" if you're trying to do a net install from a network server. From here on in, the install should be nearly identical to an x86 install.
see also: Open Boot Firmware (off-site link to sun.com's info on Open Boot parameters).
