Q: When I'm booting my machine up, I get the banner and then "Initializing Memory ... |" and it freezes. What do I do?

A: We have found two common conditions under which this will happen.

SUMMARY:

1) OBP problem
2) Bad memory - usually just one stick.


DETAILED:

OBP PROBLEM:
The first thing you should test for is the OBP problem, because it doesn't require you to start taking the machine apart.

1) To do this, power off the machine and let it sit for 10 seconds. As a rule of thumb, you never want to turn a machine off and back on immediately. Always give it at least a few seconds rest in between.

2) After the pause, power the machine back on. If you are using a Sun keyboard, have your fingers ready over the STOP and the "A" keys. If you are consoled into the system via a terminal program (HyperTerminal, TeraTerm, Minicom, etc), you should know what the keystroke is for sending a break -- be ready to press those keys.

As soon as you see the banner, press the STOP+A or the send break key sequence. Press it a few times if you have to. You should eventually get an OK prompt.

3) At the OK prompt, type:

set-defaults

You will get a response similar to the following:
Setting NVRAM parameters to default values.

4) Type:
reset-all

The computer will reset itself. If you are using a monitor/keyboard (not console program), the screen will go blank and may take a little while to come back on. You will get the banner and the "Initializing memory... |" message again.

At this point, if the problem has been fixed, it will continue through and boot into the operating system. If the problem persists (still freezing at "Initializing memory...") chances are you have some bad RAM. Use the following steps to determine which sticks of RAM are bad.

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BAD RAM:
In order to find out what sticks of RAM are bad, you will need to open the machine up. In order to complete the following section, you will need a basic understanding of hardware and how to work with it. If you do not have this
understanding, please do not continue on, as there is possiblity of electric shock or physical damage to the components inside your system.

5) Make sure you have grounded yourself properly. Lay it down on its side so you can easily work inside the machine.

6) Take the cover off and make sure you can get at the RAM.

7) Notice how many sticks of RAM you have. Take out all the sticks of RAM except for Bank 0.

8) Turn on the machine. If it freezes at "Initializing memory...", chances are the RAM that is in there is bad. Take it out and set it aside.

9) Fill Bank 0 with new sticks of RAM. Repeat step 8 until you are able to get the machine to come up on it's own. When you find bad sticks of memory and you pull them out of the system, be sure to keep them separate from 'untested'
sticks or 'known good' sticks.

10) When the machine gets past the "Initializing memory..." part, add RAM bank by bank until it freezes again. At some point you will have all the RAM in except for the bad RAM.

NOTE: The fix outlined in the "BAD RAM" section of this solution requires hardware knowledge of the system you are working on. You must know where bank 0 is, how many sticks are required to fill bank 0 (some systems can be only 2, some require 4 and still others require 8), etc... If you are not comfortable working with your system from a hardware perspective, please consult a qualified Sun hardware technician.