ROM Flash without OS Guide
From Parvi - Open source software and patches
WARNING!!!! THIS IS NOT THE IDEAL WAY TO UPDATE YOUR ROM!!!
By doing this you are voiding your warranty, if you have one, with Sun Microsystems.
You can completely kill your RaQ or Qube by doing this! I am not responsible if you do, but I'll take credit if it works.
Contents |
Introduction
In order to boot newer kernels (2.4.x and 2.6.x) you need to update your RaQ or Qube's ROM image. Your here because you don't have a bootable OS on the system. My first recommendation, put one on the system just for updating the ROM image. Why? You can backup the current image, so if your write of the fails you can write back the original.
Getting Started
First, you need a system you can use as a serial console for the RaQ or Qube. Download the image for your system from the Cobalt ROM project on SourceForge. If you don't know which image size you need, you'll have to figure it out. Count chips, search Google.
Boot the RaQ/Qube and when prompted press <space> to enter the boot menu.
Type boot and press <enter>.
Load The New ROM Image
For documentation purposes my ROM image file is named new_image.rom, be sure to substitute this for the name of the image you downloaded. I will also be specifying /dev/ttyS0, if this is not the serial port your are connected to on your console, make sure to change what you type to match.
Type dl_kernel and press <enter>.
Now send your ROM image over the serial console by typing cat new_image.rom > /dev/ttyS0 and press <enter>.
Wait.
Writing The New ROM Image
Re-enter the console.
Type main and press <enter>.
Type eeprom and press <enter>.
This is the point of no return!
Type erase_eeprom 0 and press <enter>.
Type write_eeprom 0 and press <enter>.
Finding Out If It Worked
Even if you don't believe in doing it, pray. Pray a lot. Reboot.
After The Dust Settles
I hope you succeeded. If not, you were warned.