Sun Microsystems 220R How to Use POST Diagnostics, Setting Up a tip Connection, Before You Begin

How to Use POST Diagnostics

When you turn on the system power, POST diagnostics run automatically if any of the following conditions apply:

■The OpenBoot PROM (OBP) variable diag-switch?is set to true when you power on the system.

■You hold down the keyboard’s Stop and D (Shift-d) keys as you power on the system.

For information about the various keyswitch positions, see “About the Status and Control Panel” on page 7.

Before You Begin

You can view POST diagnostic and error messages locally on an attached terminal.

To view POST diagnostic and error messages on the local system, you need to connect an alphanumeric terminal or establish a tip connection to another Sun system. For more information, see “About Communicating With the Server” on page 28, or if you already have a console setup see “Setting Up a tip Connection” on page 121. You must also verify baud rates between a system and a monitor or a system and a terminal. See “Verifying the Baud Rate” on page 123.

You can choose to run an abbreviated POST with concise error and status reporting or run an extensive POST with more detailed messages. For more information, see “How to Set the Diagnostic Level for POST and OBDiag” on page 131.

If a console or a monitor is not connected to serial port A (default port) of a system or server to be tested, the keyboard LEDs are used to determine error conditions. See “Error Indications” on page 138.

Setting Up a tip Connection

A tip connection enables you to use a remote shell window on a terminal to display test data from a system. Serial port A (or serial port B of a tested system) is used to establish the tip connection between the system being tested and another Sun system monitor or TTY-type terminal. The tip connection is used in a terminal window and provides features to help with the OBP commands and messages.

Chapter 7 Diagnostics and Troubleshooting 121