ENTRY_INIT Status = -4

[Bob Helferich]

Happy Holidays to everyone!

I've added two 2GB SE-SCSI disks to a D250/2-way. I want to do a fresh install of HP-UX 11 from CD-ROM so I've got the core OS CD loaded (p/n B3782-10475).
After I interrupt the boot process to boot from the CD-ROM I get the following message:

Booting...
Cannot find ENTRY_TEST.
Failed to initialize.
ENTRY_INIT
Status = -4

This is followed by a hex display of eight columns by four rows.

Research shows that the -4 status is usually indicative of a bad drive, bad termination, or bad cabling. What puzzles me though is that I get this message even if I unplug both hard disks, leaving only the CD-ROM and DAT on the internal SCSI bus.
This box did successfully boot before the installation of these drives. It was previously connected to a Nike array. With the array gone I needed to install the internals.
Any ideas? Seems to me I might have had a SCSI conflict; but I can't get this thing to boot with only the CD & DAT. Other combinations of one or both drives have not been successful.
Any help is appreciated.

[Paula J Frazer-Campbell]

Hi
This may help

http://my1.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,1150,0xd7def841489fd4118fef0090279cd0f9,00.html

Paula

[Darrel Louis]

In The Technical Knowledge base
http://europe-support.external.hp.com/cki/bin/doc.pl/sid=decd264c18fa141615/screen=ckiSearchResults

Found a doc. with id: UXDNKBRC00001016

ENTRY_INIT -4 Causes:
- the disk is experiencing hardware faults and needs replacing.
- the path to the disk is experiencing problems. e.g.. Termination, cabling, SCSI adapter, SCSI adapter seating.

So can you check the termination of your system.

[CHRIS_ANORUO]

Hi Tim,

Re-seat firmly the peripheral bay that contains your removal media and also check the seating of your new hard disks. Push in every one of them firmly.

[Patrick Wallek]

You might also want to check and make sure that you do not have any duplicate SCSI IDs on the chain that your CD is on.

[Bob Helferich]

Paula, all the connections look good to me--I do not see any obvious signs of oxidation. I've been connecting and disconnecting the drives several times so hopefully any non-conductive spots on the connections are gone by now. There are no bent pins or things of that nature.

Darrel, I know how to set the SCSI ID of the drives, but how to check for termination? These drives use the internal SCSI bus which runs from its connection spot on the motherboard via a ribbon cable to the first drive, where there's a connection point, then to the second drive's connection point, and then to the removable media bay where it makes one connection for both the CD and DAT. It appears to be terminated at this point. Again, it was working previously and this hasn't been changed. I don't think there needs to be any kind of termination on any of these drives I'm trying to add; termination appears to be correctly applied at the end of the SCSI chain.

Chris, everything seems to be seated fine though I don't have everything "torqued down" just yet as I've been swapping these drives around quite a bit. Are you suggesting there could be a grounding problem or some other esoteric response from the system because I don't have all the screws tightened down? I don't have the cover on either but surely that doesn't make a difference, does it?

I'm running out of ideas here guys. What it boils down to, for me, is why can't I boot up from the CD-ROM when no internals are connected?
Does anyone know what the SCSI ID is set to on a D250's CD-ROM and DAT drive? The hardware path to the CD is 8/16/5.2; the DAT is 8/16/5.0. I assumed that the CD has a SCSI ID of 2 and the DAT 0 so I set the internals to 1 & 5. But even if I'm wrong it doesn't explain why the box won't boot from the CD when the internals are disconnected.

All ideas appreciated. Happy holidays!

[Kofi ARTHIABAH]

Tim:

I have had this situation before and I tend to agree with others that it is indicative of a duplicate SCSI ID or poorly terminated drives, however, I noted that you are asking why you cannot boot from the CD-ROM - does that mean that you can boot from the internal disks (ie. if they have an OS on them?) IF the problem seems to be with your loading from the CD-ROM, then I am afraid you may have a defective CD - is it possible that the CD-ROM is scratched somehow ? are you able to mount the cd on another machine?

at the IPL try doing a
SEAR
to search for bootable devices and see what it comes up with.

Regarding your questions :
-yes the SCSI IDs for the DAT is 0 and the CD is 2.
-There must be a terminator at the back of the D250 that terminates the chain - if there isnt one, plug one in.

good luck

[Patrick Wessel]

Tim,
it's almost to simple to ask... but did you try to clean the CD-drive?

[Bob Helferich]

Kofi, I have not been able to boot from the internal disks because I have yet to install the OS on them. That's why I need to boot from the CD-ROM. Sorry if I didn't make that clear. No combination of internals seems to work (0, 1, or both disks; switching their locations).
When I do an SEA command the drives are visible and they have unique SCSI IDs. But then when I try to BO ALT P1 (for the CD-ROM) I get the Status = -4 message.
Patrick, I have NOT yet tried cleaning the CD-ROM. That will be my next step; I'll report back here if that has any effect. And I'll use a different CD (same part number) just in case there's a problem with the physical media.

Thank you all for your continued help with my problem.

[Curtis Larson]

If P1 is your cdrom then you should be doing a bo P1.

[Patrick Wallek]

I think Curtis has the right idea. If you do a 'BO ALT P1' then I think the P1 will be ignored and it will try to boot from what ever your alternate boot path is currently set at.

Try doing a 'BO P1' and see if that doesn't do it for you.

[Paula J Frazer-Campbell]

Hi
Curtis and Patrick are correct.

If you do a bo alt p1 then you are asking the machine to boot from your alt path and the cd at the same time.

so bo p1 is the correct command .

Paula

[Bob Helferich]

Curtis, Patrick, and Paula,
Thank you for your responses. I know how to boot from an alternate boot device--THIS IS WHAT IS NOT WORKING! The CD-ROM has the core OS on it and is what one would usually boot from when installating HP-UX 11 on a system. And that's what I'd like to do: boot from the CD so I can install the OS onto one or both of these drives I pulled from an 877S. But I get the ENTRY_INIT Status = -4 message using any combination of drives.
I was able to create a firmware tape (v36.34) and boot from it. Although the system was already at this level of firmware it tells me that the internal SCSI bus and DAT drive are operational. The CD-ROM and drives are on the same bus.
I cleaned the CD-ROM but that had no affect.
My next attempt will be to create an Ignite tape from another D-box and see if it will boot this D250. I have yet to try another core OS CD to test whether the one I've been using is defective.
Again, thank you all for your continued help. All ideas are welcome. Ho Ho Ho!

[Roger Baptiste]

I faced a similar problem few weeks
back , while upgrading internal
boot disks for a Kbox. The problem
turned out to be a mixture of
"clashing scsi ids" and "loose
termination" and "improper contact
of the Bay with the backpanel" --
all to varying degree at different
times of try.

Firstly, reconfirm whether your
newdisks have different Scsi id's
or not. Check the manual which
came with the disk and see
which jumper settings are for
scsi ids. Be sure about this.

ANother important thing is the
SCSI CABLE!! Some of these
new disks come with a different
revision of Scsi Cable. The old internal scsi cables (which come with the old k boxes ) may not
be compatible .

Once you make yourself
sure about this, then spend
time in making sure that
you firmly insert the Bay into
the backpanel. It has to be
locked shut neat and clean.

That should hopefully solve
the problem. Otherwise,
get some spare disk to
confirm the source of the problem.

All the best!

[Bob Helferich]

Today I created an ignite tape on a D310 and used it to boot this problematic D250. I found another spare drive, only 1GB, to use for experimentation.

Upon booting from the ignite tape I can see the 1GB drive but not the other internal on the same bus (a 2GB drive with unique SCSI ID). Bad drive? Maybe.

I go through the process of setting up this system using the recovery feature of Ignite. Problem: the OS does not load successfully in only 1GB. Maybe I could fiddle with some of the file system sizes and get it to work, but my gut feeling is that 1GB isn't enough.

So my next attempt was to remove the 2GB internal that wasn't seen by the OS and replace it with the other one. I DO see this 2GB drive when I boot from the ignite tape (from the SEA option of IPL) so I am hopeful that I can combine it with the 1GB to successfully load the OS. Configuring...

Ignite can't recognize the 2GB internal drive. Why is this, especially when it is visible with IPL? Is there something that would prevent a disk that was last used in an HP-UX 9.04 environment from being used in an 11.0 system? There is a section in the install that allows one to modify File System information and in that section there is an option to add additional disks. When I select that option the system doesn't recognize any other disks. When I reboot and interrupt to get to IPL I do see the 2GB drive by using the SEArch command.

Nothing is ever simple, is it? So now do I not only not know why I can't boot from my CD, now I don't know why Ignite can't see this additional drive.

To further muddy the waters, now when I try to boot from the CD again (P1 @ 8/16/5.2, Random Access Media) the system tells me it is booting from tape! How can that be? Yes, in fact, Ignite has started again! Is something wrong with the IPL that could be my root cause?

All hints, ideas, suggestions, and encouragement are appreciated.

[Bob Helferich]

Continuing where I left off...

I eject the tape, boot from the CD, and now I'm back to the Status = -4 situation. I'm using a different boot CD too, by the way, so the problem doesn't appear to be bad media.

I still don't know why it booted from the ignite tape the last time, when I told it to boot from the CD.