Causes of an LED 609 During a Sysback Network Boot


Contents

About this document
Causes of an LED 609
Causes and recovery procedures
Workaround for Versions 3 and 4 of Sysback

About this document

This document summarizes the causes and recovery procedures for an LED 609.

The information in this document has been verified for AIX Versions 3.2, 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3. It has also been verified for sysback.obj 3.3.3 and sysback.rte 4.1.x.x.


Causes of an LED 609

Generally, an LED 609 occurs during a Sysback network boot because of failure to tftp the file /tftpboot/clienthostname.sbinfo from the server system during the network boot.


Causes and recovery procedures

When the following conditions result in an LED 609, perform the solutions shown:

  1. The /tftpboot/clienthostname.sbinfo file does not have read permissions for other. The following example shows how permissions should be set:
        -rw-r--r--   1 root     system     110 Dec 23 1996  mars.sbinfo 
    

    SOLUTION

    Enter the following command:

        chmod 644 /tftpboot/<clienthostname>.sbinfo 
    

    where clienthostname is the host name of the client system that is hanging during the network boot.

  2. The /tftpboot/clienthostname.sbinfo file does not exist. clienthostname is the host name of the client system.

    SOLUTION

    Add the network information for the client system using the SMIT sysback command. Enter:

        smitty sysback 
    

    Choose:

        Configuration Options 
        Network Boot Configuration 
        Add or Change a Network Boot Client 
    
  3. The IP address entries in the /etc/bootptab file are incorrect for the client system to boot from the boot server.

    SOLUTION

    Add the network information for the client system using the SMIT sysback command. Enter:

         smitty sysback 
    

    Choose:

         Configuration Options 
         Network Boot Configuration 
         Add or Change a Network Boot Client 
    

    Make sure each entry is filled in correctly, as shown:

    Client network adapter type              [token-ring] 
    Client platform/kernel type              [rspc] 
    Client hostname                          [mars.aix.dfw.ibm.com] 
    Server IP address                        [9.19.129.186] 
    Client gateway address (optional)        [9.19.141.241] 
    Client subnet mask (optional)            [255.255.240.0] 
    Client adapter hardware address (optional)     [] 
    
  4. On PCI-based systems (7043, 7248, 7024, 7025, S70), you cannot use the leading zeros for any of the IP addresses in the System Management Services (SMS) menu. Even though the first tftp works, the second run will fail, hanging on LED 609.

    SOLUTION

    Do not use leading zeros on the client in the SMS menu on the PCI-based system for any of these entries:

        Client IPaddress 
        Server IPaddress 
        Gateway IPaddress 
    

    EXAMPLE

    Incorrect method:

        Client IPaddress:  009.019.145.165 
    

    Correct method:

        Client IPaddress:  9.19.145.165 
    
  5. If you are booting a PCI-based system (7043, 7248, 7024, 7025, S70) over the network from a server on the same subnet, you could possibly hang on LED 609. This will affect both sysback.obj 3 and sysback.rte 4.1.1.0 through 4.1.3.1. This has been fixed with sysback.rte 4.1.3.3 and above.

Workaround for Versions 3 and 4 of Sysback

Enter all the following commands on the Sysback boot server system.

  1. cd /usr/lpp/sysback/netinst/boot

  2. Make a backup copy of the rc.boot or rc.boot4 file depending on the level of Sysback 6000 you have installed.

    cp rc.boot4 rc.boot4.org    (For sysback.obj 3)
    cp rc.boot rc.boot.org    (For sysback.rte 4)

  3. Using your favorite editor, edit the following file:
        rc.boot 
    
    • Search for this line:
      [ "$BOOT_GATE_IP" = "$BOOT_SERV_IP" ] && BOOT_GATE_IP=0 
      
    • Change that line to:
      [ "$BOOT_GATE_IP" = "$BOOT_SERV_IP" -o "$BOOT_GATE_IP" \ 
        = 0.0.0.0 ] && BOOT_GATE_IP=0 
      
  4. Rebuild the network boot image by performing the following:
        smitty sysback 
    

    Choose:

        Configuration Options 
        Network Boot Configuration 
        Configure/Update a Network Boot Image 
    

If you followed all of the preceding steps and the system still stops at an LED 609 during a network boot to service mode, you may want to pursue further system recovery assistance from one of the following:

All of the preceding avenues for assistance may be billable.

For reasons of time and the integrity of your AIX operating system, the best alternative at this point may be to reinstall AIX.


[ Doc Ref: 90605189714756     Publish Date: Mar. 19, 2001]