Synopsis

On the Sun Enterprise [TM] 220R and Sun Enterprise [TM] 420R platforms, when the keyswitch is in the Locked position it is possible to send a break from within Solaris and drop to OBP. This is the correct behavior on these platforms.

Details

On many Sun Microsystems platforms, it is not possible to send a break from Solaris to drop to OBP when the keyswitch is in the Locked position. Instead, this procedure only works when the keyswitch is in the Power-On/Off position. However, on the E220R and E420R platforms, a break can be sent when the keyswitch is in either the Locked or Power-On/Off positions. This is the correct behavior for these two platforms.

The existing documentation may not be clear on this issue. In both the Sun E220R and Sun E420R Server Owner's Guides, the description of the break procedure does not mention that a break can be sent when the keyswitch is in the Locked position:

Note: Perform this procedure with the power on and the keyswitch in the Power-On/Off position.

1. With the keyswitch in the Power-On/Off position, press the Break key on your alphanumeric terminal's keyboard, or enter the Stop-a sequence on a Sun keyboard.

To enter the Stop-a sequence, press the 'Stop' key and the 'a' key simultaneously. The ok prompt is displayed.

Also, the description of the Locked position does not explicitly state how the machine will react to a break signal sent when the keyswitch is in the Locked position:

This setting disables the system's Power button, and also locks the front doors preventing access to the disk drives and to the power supplies.

The Locked position is the recommended setting for normal day-to-day operation of the system.

Internal Summary

Bug Id: 4420924

Author: benjamin.fan@sun.com