Probable causes and solutions to this situation


First, press CTRL-C to stop the system from attempting to boot.

You will see the system enter the IBM splash screen with choices to boot into SMS, Open Firmware or using the default or stored boot list.

As you see the choices across the screen press 1 to enter SMS :

IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM

1 = SMS Menu 5 = Default Boot List
8 = Open Firmware Prompt 6 = Stored Boot List

Memory Keyboard Network SCSI Speaker


Bad boot list or bad device in boot list
We can check the current boot list and set a new one if necessary from SMS.

PowerPC Firmware
Version AM780_068
SMS 1.7 (c) Copyright IBM Corp. 2000,2008 All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Main Menu
1. Select Language
2. Setup Remote IPL (Initial Program Load)
3. Change SCSI Settings
4. Select Console
5. Select Boot Options

In the SMS menu choose 5

Then on subsequent screen choose:
2. Configure Boot Device Order


Configure Boot Device Order
1. Select 1st Boot Device
2. Select 2nd Boot Device
3. Select 3rd Boot Device
4. Select 4th Boot Device
5. Select 5th Boot Device
6. Display Current Setting
7. Restore Default Setting

To see the current boot list setting choose 6. The system will probe the attached busses for the items in the boot list.

In this example below we see that either the boot list was cleared, was set to a disk that was not bootable (has no hd5 boot partition), or was not available to the system.

Current Boot Sequence
1. Device is not bootable or removed.
2. Device is not bootable or removed.
3. Device is not bootable or removed.
4. Device is not bootable or removed.
5. None

Press <ESC> to go back to the previous menu "Configure Boot Device Order"
Press 1 to set the first boot device

Select Device Type
1. Diskette
2. Tape
3. CD/DVD
4. IDE
5. Hard Drive
6. Network
7. None
8. List All Devices

Pick 5 to select Hard Drive.
Select Media Type
1. SCSI
2. SSA
3. SAN
4. SAS
5. SATA
6. USB
7. IDE
8. ISA
9. None
10. List All Devices

Select the Media Type (i.e. bus type) and you will be presented with choices for all adapters of that type. When an adapter is chosen SMS will probe the adapter for bootable devices.

If you don't know what type the boot disk is, you can select 10 List All Devices.

After this you will see a list of possible bootable devices:

Select Device
Device Current Device
Number Position Name
1. - Interpartition Logical LAN
( loc=U9117.MMD.067A967-V5-C22-T1 )
2. 1 SCSI 9 GB Harddisk, part=2 (AIX 7.1.0)
( loc=U9117.MMD.067A967-V5-C20-T1-L8100000000000000 )
3. 2 SCSI 9 GB Harddisk, part=2 (AIX 7.1.0)
( loc=U9117.MMD.067A967-V5-C21-T1-L8100000000000000 )
4. - SCSI CD-ROM
( loc=U9117.MMD.067A967-V5-C21-T1-L8200000000000000 )
5. None

Selecting one of these allows you to set it as a boot device or print more information on it.

SCSI 9 GB Harddisk, part=2 (AIX 7.1.0)
( loc=U9117.MMD.067A967-V5-C20-T1-L8100000000000000 )

1. Information
2. Set Boot Sequence: Configure as 1st Boot Device

Option 1 will give you a screen like this:

Device Information
/vdevice/v-scsi@30000014/disk@8100000000000000
: (Bootable)
DEVICE : SCSI 9 GB Harddisk, part=2 (AIX 7.1.0)
( loc=U9117.MMD.067A967-V5-C20-T1-L8100000000000000 )
NAME : disk
DEVICE-TYPE : block

Parent Information
IBM,FW-ADAPTER-NAME: Virtual SCSI
NAME : v-scsi
DEVICE-TYPE : vscsi

Use option 2 to set the device as the first bootable device in the list.

Current Boot Sequence
1. SCSI 9 GB Harddisk, part=2 (AIX 7.1.0)
( loc=U9117.MMD.067A967-V5-C20-T1-L8100000000000000 )
2. Device is not bootable or removed.
3. Device is not bootable or removed.
4. Device is not bootable or removed.

Once a boot device is set, you may exit SMS and boot the server.

X = eXit System Management Services

Are you sure you want to exit System Management Services?
1. Yes
2. No

Type 1 and hit enter