Boot Archive Issues

1. To boot from the failsafe archive, perform the following steps: To boot from the failsafe archive, perform the following steps: SPARC servers issue boot F failsafe from the OBP prompt x86 servers select the failsafe GRUB menu item Upon booting the failsafe archive, the system will search for Solaris 10 instances and offer to mount them. If you desire that it do so, select the appropriate instance. NOTE: The failsafe boot will only mount raw disk partitions (not under SVM control) or ZFS pools through this method. Add File(s)to the Boot Archive In the event an additional file or directory must be available in the boot archive, the name of the file or directory should be added to the following file: /boot/solaris/filelist.ramdisk Issue: Boot load failed: Its common issue faced on these server WARNING - The following files in / differ from the boot archive: cannot find: /etc/devices/mdi_ib_cache: No such file or directory The recommended action is to reboot and select "Solaris failsafe" Resolution 1: {0} ok boot -F failsafe Mount root slice of bootdisk on a temp dir # mount /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s0 /mnt # cd /mnt/platform/`uname -m` # mv boot_archive XXXboot_archive # /mnt/sbin/bootadm -a update_all If you see a new boot_archive, remove XXXboot_archive # reboot - Reboot the server Resolution 2 0} ok boot -F failsafe Mount root slice of bootdisk on a temp dir # mount /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s0 /mnt #mount /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s4 /mnt/a # cd /mnt/platform/`uname -m` # mv boot_archive XXXboot_archive # /mnt/sbin/bootadm -a update_all If you see a new boot_archive, remove XXXboot_archive #reboot

WARNING - The following files in / differ from the boot archive: cannot find: /etc/devices/mdi_ib_cache: No such file or directory The recommended action is to reboot and select "Solaris failsafe" option from the boot menu. Then follow prompts to update the boot archive. Resolution: You do not need to use failsafe mode. Fixing this issue is as simple as clearing the boot archive cache, rebuilding the boot archive and rebooting. Log in at the maintenance prompt, then run: svcadm clear system/boot-archive bootadm update-archive shutdown -i 6 Rebuilding the Boot Archive Boot into Failsafe Mode Reset the machine and select the 'Solaris failsafe' option from the Grub menu. The system will boot from a standalone image of Solaris (kept at /boot/x86.miniroot-safe), bypassing the broken boot archive. Failsafe will try to mount your boot partition on /a bootadm update-archive -R /a shutdown -i 6

x86: What to Do If the SMF Boot Archive Service Fails During a System Reboot
Solaris 10 1/06: In this release, if the system crashes, the boot archive SMF service, svc:/system/boot-archive:default, might fail when the system is rebooted. If the boot archive service has failed, a message similar to the following is displayed when you run the svcs -x command:
svc:/system/boot-archive:default (check boot archive content) State: maintenance since Fri Jun 03 10:24:52 2005 Reason: Start method exited with $SMF_EXIT_ERR_FATAL. See: http://sun.com/msg/SMF-8000-KS See: /etc/svc/volatile/system-boot-archive:default.log Impact: 48 dependent services are not running. (Use -v for list.) svc:/network/rpc/gss:default (Generic Security Service) State: uninitialized since Fri Jun 03 10:24:51 2005 Reason: Restarter svc:/network/inetd:default is not running.

See: http://sun.com/msg/SMF-8000-5H See: gssd(1M) Impact: 10 dependent services are not running.

(Use -v for list.)

svc:/application/print/server:default (LP print server) State: disabled since Fri Jun 03 10:24:51 2005 Reason: Disabled by an administrator. See: http://sun.com/msg/SMF-8000-05 See: lpsched(1M) Impact: 1 dependent service is not running. (Use -v for list.)

To correct the problem, take the following action: 1. Reboot the system and select the failsafe archive option from the GRUB boot menu.
2. Answer y when prompted by the system to rebuild the boot archive.

After the boot archive is rebuilt, the system is ready to boot. 3. To continue booting, clear the SMF boot archive service by using the following command.
# svcadm clear boot-archive

Note that you must become superuser or the equivalent to run this command. For more information on rebuilding the GRUB boot archive, see How to Boot an x86 Based System in Failsafe Mode in System Administration Guide: Basic Administration and the bootadm(1M) man page.

SOURCE: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E18752_01/html/817-0403/fxcmh.html

Troubleshooting is merely the methodical application of common sense and technical knowledge to the inevitable problems that crop up in a fallen world. If common sense can be codified (and perhaps it can with AI) then it starts with answers to simple questions like: Why? How? What? In this article I'll try to distill the issues, tools and procedures of troubleshooting Windows XP/2003 boot problems into a small amount of easily digestible information that you as a system

administrator can write on the back of a note card or store in your PDA for easy access when the proverbial poop hits the fan. Let's begin with the Why question.

Why do startup problems happen?

Windows may fail to start for a variety of reasons, and generally speaking in order of decreasing likelihood here they are:

Hardware failure Bad driver Corrupt file or volume System misconfiguration Virus infection

Let me elaborate. A common reason systems fail to start is because some element of the system's hardware has failed. This could range from the simple (someone kicked the power cord out of its socket) to the obvious (smoke emitting from the machine) to the mysterious (something transient that happens only when the moon is full or during sunspot minimum). Next most common is when you update the driver for some piece of hardware (or the BIOS for that matter) and the system won't boot afterwards. After that comes those mysterious messages we'll talk about shortly that usually indicate some key operating system file has somehow become corrupt or gone missing. Misconfiguration is another possible source of boot problems, but this is somewhat rare as in most cases you'll still be able to boot but one or more services may fail to start or your applications may not function as expected. Finally, virus infection can cause a system to fail to boot, but I've listed this in last place because I'm assuming you've got an antivirus solution in place and you're keeping the antivirus signature files updated, right? Now that we know why Windows may fail to start properly, let's ask the logical next question: How can we know which of these underlying causes is the one that might be preventing Windows from successfully booting?

How to diagnose startup problems

Here is where we need to apply our brains and use a bit of common sense to determine what the cause of startup failure might be. Think of the previous list above as a list of disease-causing viruses, and now you have to play doctor and figure out which virus the patient (your sick computer) actually might have. For if you skip this step and try blasting the patient with every possible remedy in your doctor's bag, two things may happen:

One of the remedies you try may actually make the patient worse and indeed could prove fatal. You'll waste a lot of time and the recovery of your patient will be delayed, and your boss may get upset with you as a result since her business is losing money due to downtime.

So careful diagnosis is a step you should always take time for and never avoid, and just like in the medical profession such diagnosis usually begins with your senses. For example, do you smell something burning? Better unplug your system immediately and wait for things to cool off,

then open the case and inspect the damage. Do you hear your CPU fan making a slow grinding sound? Power down your system and replace the fan before your processor burns out and needs replacing. Is your video display flickering? Maybe try reseating the video card after checking if the video cable is seated properly. OK let's assume its not such a simple and obvious problem. Instead, say you get a black screen with one of the following dreaded messages when you try and boot your system:

"NTLDR is missing" "A disk read error occurred" "Invalid partition table" "Error loading operating system" "Could not read from selected boot disk" "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt"

Or you might get a blue screen (called a STOP screen) with some obscure message on it. Or if you're lucky you might make it all the way through the Windows splash screen to the logon box and then suddenly get a dialog box saying "One or more services failed to start". Or your mouse pointer might freeze and your system hang either before or immediately after logon. How can you match these symptoms to the underlying condition that might be causing them? First let's look at some possible "black screen" messages that can occur after the BIOS POST routine finishes but before the Windows splash screen appears: Symptom

Probable Cause Master boot record is corrupt due to hard disk errors or virus infection Boot sector is corrupt due to hard disk errors or virus infection

"Invalid Partition Table" "Missing Operating System" "Invalid Partition Table" "NTLDR is missing" "A disk read error occurred"

System hangs after BIOS POST finishes "Windows could not start Boot.ini file is corrupt, missing, or needs because of a computer disk updating. hardware configuration problem" "Could not read from selected boot disk" "Check boot path and disk hardware" "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt"

Boot volume is corrupt or the referenced system file is missing.

In addition to these error messages, a variety of other startup problems can occur including:

Blue screens. These are typically caused by hardware failure or driver problems but can also be due to virus infection. Hung system. These are typically caused by buggy drivers or by registry corruption but can also be due to virus infection. Dialog box saying "One or more services failed to start". This is typically caused by misconfiguration or registry corruption but can also be caused by application incompatibility of some form.

So what should you do to resolve such problems?

How to resolve startup problems

Like a doctor's mysterious black medical bag full of medical instruments (at least in old movies on TV) the system administrator also has a set of tools provided by Microsoft for resolving startup problems like the ones in the table above. In a nutshell, here's a quick inventory of the main tools:

Last known good. Restores the HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet portion of the registry its version during the last successful logon to the system. Safe mode. Starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and creates a record of which drivers load in %windir%\Ntbtlog.txt. System Restore. Windows XP only feature to restore system to previously saved configuration. Recovery Console. Boots to a command line that allows you to run various commands, see this article by Johannes Helmig for more info. Automated System Recovery (ASR). Restores the boot volume from backup, see this article by Johannes Helmig for more info. Repair. Run Windows Setup from your product CD and select the option to try and repair your installation.

Which tool should you use to address each of the symptoms we described earlier? Assuming there is no obvious hardware problem (no funny smell) and you've already asked yourself the Golden Question ("What was the last thing I did to this system?") then here's a quick outline that maps the type of knife (may be several in order of severity) to the kind of surgery (underlying problem or visible symptom) you need to perform on your system: Problem/Symptom Corrupt master boot record Corrupt boot sector Corrupt or missing boot.ini Corrupt system file Tool(s) to Use Recovery Console (fixmbr) Recovery Console (fixboot) Recovery Console (bootcfg /rebuild) Recovery Console (chkdsk) Restore from ASR backup

Perform a Repair install Corrupt registry Recovery Console (chkdsk) System Restore (XP only) Restore system state from backup Perform a Repair install See this resource first Last known good System Restore (XP only) Safe mode (roll back suspect driver using Device Manager) Last known good System Restore (XP only) Safe mode (roll back suspect driver using Device Manager)

Blue screen

Hung system

"One or more services failed to Don't logon! Reboot and select last known good, log on, start" undo the last configuration steps you performed. Safe mode (undo last configuration steps you performed)

Keeping a System Bootable

The bootadm command handles the details of boot archive update and verification. During the process of a normal system shutdown, the shutdown process compares the boot archive's contents with the root file system. If there have been updates to the system such as drivers or configuration files, the boot archive is rebuilt to include these changes so that upon reboot, the boot archive and root file system are synchronized. The files in the x86 boot archive are located in the /platform/i86pc/amd64/boot_archive directory. The files in the SPARC boot archive are located in the /platform directory. To list the contents of the boot archive by using the bootadm list-archive command, as follows:

# bootadm list-archive

Whenever any files in the boot archive are updated, the archive must be rebuilt. For modifications to take effect, the rebuild of the archive must take place before the next system reboot.

Determining Whether the boot-archive SMF Service Is Running

If the boot-archive service is disabled, automatic recovery of the boot archives upon a system reboot might not occur. As a result, the boot archives could become unsynchronized or corrupted, preventing the system from booting. To determine whether the boot-archive service is running, use the svcs command, as follows:
$ svcs boot-archive STATE STIME online Mar_31

FMRI svc:/system/boot-archive:default

To enable or disable the boot-archive service, type:

# svcadm enable | disable system/boot-archive

To verify the state of the boot-archive service, type:

# svcs boot-archive

If the service is running, the output displays an online service state.

How to Clear a Failed Automatic Boot Archive Update by Manually Updating the Boot Archive
During the process of booting the system, if a warning message that is similar to the following is displayed, take action accordingly:
WARNING: Automatic update of the boot archive failed. Update the archives using 'bootadm update-archive' command and then reboot the system from the same device that was previously booted.

The following procedure describes how to manually update an out-of-date boot archive by using the bootadm command. Note - The same procedure can also be used to manually update the boot archive.

1. Become the root role.

2. To update the boot archive, type the following command:

# bootadm update-archive

Note - To update the boot archive on an alternate root, type the following command:
# bootadm update-archive -R /a -R

altroot Specifies an alternate root path to apply to the update-archive subcommand. Caution - The root file system of any non-global zone must not be referenced with the -R option. Doing so might damage the global zone's file system, compromise the security of the global zone, or damage the non-global zone's file system. See the zones(5) man page.

3. Reboot the system.

# reboot

x86: How to Clear a Failed Automatic Boot Archive Update by Using the auto-rebootsafe Property
Boot archive recovery on x86 platforms is automated through the Fast Reboot feature. However, during the process of booting the system, if a warning similar to the following is displayed:
WARNING: Reboot required. The system has updated the cache of files (boot archive) that is used during the early boot sequence. To avoid booting and running the system with the previously out-of-sync version of these files, reboot the system from the same device that was previously booted.

The system then enters system maintenance mode. As a result, the automatic update of the boot archive fails. To correct the problem, follow the steps in this procedure.
1. Become the root role.

2. Reboot the system.

# reboot

3. If the active BIOS boot device and the GRUB menu entries point to the current boot

instance, follow these steps to prevent a boot archive update failure: a. Set the auto-reboot-safe property of the svc:/system/boot-config SMF service to true, as follows:
# svccfg -s svc:/system/boot-config:default setprop config/autoreboot-safe = true

b. c.

Verify that the auto-reboot-safe property is set correctly.

# svccfg -s svc:/system/boot-config:default listprop |grep config/auto-reboot-safe config/auto-reboot-safe boolean true

SOURCE: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E23824_01/html/821-1451/gldoy.html