Viewing the Nterprise Branch Office Boot Sequence
Articles and Tips: tip
01 Feb 2003
By default, the boot sequence is not shown when booting a Novell Nterprise Branch Office 1.0 Server console. However,it can be helpful when a Branch Office box doesn't boot properly and you need to troubleshoot. With these simple steps you can see what commands the console is performing and get to the root of your problem.
First, to view the boot process, the Branch Office console needs to be manually unlocked. This can be done by doing the following:
STEP ONE During boot up you will see, "BOOTING NOVELL® NTERPRISE™ BRANCH OFFICE™" on the server console. Wait a few seconds and go into the debugger by pressing [SHIFT] [SHIFT] [ALT] [ESC]. Be sure to wait a few seconds before entering the debugger, because if you don't, you may have to restart the server due to the keyboard being hung.
STEP TWO Entries in the debugger are case sensitive. Type the following at the debugger prompt and then press [Enter]: c AppScreenLock=0
STEP THREE Then type .s and press [Enter].
STEP FOUR Find and document the 8-digit hexadecimal entry to the left of "Booting Novell® Nterprise™ Branch 0 (non switchable) (active)." Depending on how far you are into the boot sequence the screen name may also be "Novell® Branch Office™ Activity scr (non switchable) (active)". Regardless, in both cases the screen names reference Nterprise Branch Office and state that they are active.
STEP FIVE Type the following and then press [Enter]: c <the 8-digit hexadecimal value from above>+28=0
for example:
c AppScreenLock=0 [Enter]
c xxxxxxxx+28=0 [Enter] (where "xxxxxxxx" is the 8-digit hexadecimal value from the .s command as documented in step 4 above.)
The boot sequence will become unviewable for a second time after the automatic DS repairs execute. Enter the two lines above for a second time. This time the value documented with the .s command will be to the left of, "Novell® Branch Office™ (active)." It will be a different value from the one entered the first time.
When you finish making therecommended changes in the debugger, type G and press [Enter]. After exiting from the debugger you now should be able to toggle screens using the [ALT] [ESC] keystroke sequence. To reactivate the regular Branch Office console after you are done debugging, simply reboot the server.
Note: This information should only be used as required when debugging. Changing memory addresses can cause serious server problems including permanent data corruption. If you change the wrong value by mistake, exit the debugger immediately with the .q command and restart the server. Only change memory values in the debugger under direction and supervision of Novell Technical Support.
* Originally published in Novell Connection Magazine
Disclaimer
The origin of this information may be internal or external to Novell. While Novell makes all reasonable efforts to verify this information, Novell does not make explicit or implied claims to its validity.