System rebooting itself

[byomkesh]

When we try to boot the system using the BOOT command at prompt (>>>), after processing for a while we get the following message :



“STARTING MEMORY DUMP” .



Then after a while we get a new message : “MEMORY DUMP INCOMPLETE . DUMP FILE 55935 BLOCK TOO SMALL “



Then the system automatically starts rebooting itself and the whole procedure is repeated. After a lot of repetitions we get the following message :



“? 04 ISP ERR”

“PC = 802D6004”



And then the system comes back to the prompt (>>>).

[Volker Halle]

byomkesh,

welcome to the OpenVMS ITRC forum.

Your system is crashing. You need to try to determine the reason for that crash. When did this start happening ? What happened before ?

? 04 ISP Error indicates, that the Interrupt Stack Pointer is invalid, the console then HALTS the system.

You might want to provide the bugcheck messages, i.e. the console output preceeding the 'MEMORY DUMP INCOMPLETE' message.

Consider to connect a PC/Laptop with a terminal emulator (e.g. Putty) to the console serial port and log the output into a file. Then post the contents of the file in an attached .TXT file in you next reply.

To obtain even more information about the dump, consider a conversational boot setting the bit 1 in the DUMPSTYLE system parameter (only do this, if you can collect the output via above method):

>>> B/n0000001 ! n=system root
SYSBOOT> SHOW DUMPSTYLE

Consider setting bit 1 and setting bit 0 (selective dump), e.g. if DUMPSTYLE=0 -> SET DUMPSTYLE 3

SYSBOOT> C

Volker.

[Richard W Hunt]

You don't say what kind of system this is - VAX, Alpha, or Itanium. That would help. If there is a way to run memory diagnostics on this system, it would help. On an Alpha, you run MEMEXER from the console rather than reboot it. Won't make bets on what name to use on other consoles.

What is happening is that somewhere in the process that starts with the console scanning memory to find a place for the rudimentary system loader and before the point that SYSINIT takes over, you are taking an exception in your hardware (most probably). The SYSLOA and SYSBOOT phases aren't "smart" enough to handle hardware failures because not enough data structures have been defined yet. Not enough facilities are available yet. So all these parts can do is crash and hope to restart.

You need to test your system in a controlled manner, which is to say, don't run the O/S until you know the hardware works. If you have a system exerciser or memory exerciser, you need to run that for at least a few hours. If the problem persists, it will be time to call in your service rep. Maybe it is time to do so already.

[byomkesh]

The system(Vax VMS V5.5-2) was booting properly. But I forgot the username & password. So I implemented a method of resetting the password which I found on the net. It went fine. But after the implementation of the procedure, when I rebooted the system it started showing memory dump.
During the booting process the normal test cases failed (test cases no. 58,59 & 60). And then a message is prompted that normal operation is not possible and we get the following prompt : >>>.
How can we resolve the issue.? Kindly help.

[Volker Halle]

Erros during power-on-selftest typically indicate hardware errors. What kind of VAX system is this ?

Does the system crash happen, if you type >>> B after the POST failures ?

Could you please capture the bugcheck messages, so we can see what type of bugcheck this is MACHINECHK maybe ?

Volker.

[byomkesh]

When give the command >>>Boot , then the system displays the following message :

>>>Boot DKA0:

Then the system again starts the dump file and the whole procedure is repeated.

our VAX System is VAX 3100-85.

Kindly let me know so as to how to capture the bugcheck messages. I am unaware of this.

[Volker Halle]

The minimum information required would be the bugcheck name from the following line:

*** Fatal BUG CHECK, version = x.x,

You could also connect a PC/Laptop with a serial line to the console port of the MicroVAX and use a terminal emulator (e.g. Putty) to capture the output. Then you could post the power-up messages and the bugcheck output as an attached .TXT file in your next reply.

Volker.

[Volker Halle]

Here is a pointer to the MicroVAX 3100 Model 85/95 Troubleshooting and Diagnostic Information manual:

http://deathrow.vistech.net/~cvisors/DEC94MDS/a0719tmb.pdf

Hope this helps,

Volker.