Re: panic at boot on 4/200

On Mon, Jan 12, 2026 at 9:36 PM foo bar <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> So after testing all this I've realized I've never tried using a VME
> device on a 4300 board. It could be that bad cache or bad memory on
> the 4200 is just a red herring and the real issue is broken VME
> support that I never noticed before since the 4300 has everything
> builtin. That wouldn't explain why SunOS couldn't boot on the 4200 but
> that could just be bad luck. I'm going to spend some time testing VME
> boards on the 4300 now as well as some other things.

Some results from testing VME boards in my 4/330 with two different
4300 CPU boards. Testing the Sun-3 SCSI HBA with the first caused an
error in POST about an unexpected interrupt, On the second NetBSD
booted but got a panic different from what the 4200 gets. Both 4300
boards work fine without the SCSI board present which is not a good
sign. I should note that this SCSI board works just fine with my 3004
and 3200 CPU boards in SunOS and NetBSD. I am surprised it's giving me
so much trouble with SPARC machines.

 [   1.0000000] Copyright (c) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003,
[   1.0000000]     2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013,
[   1.0000000]     2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023,
[   1.0000000]     2024, 2025, 2026
[   1.0000000]     The NetBSD Foundation, Inc.  All rights reserved.
[   1.0000000] Copyright (c) 1982, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1993
[   1.0000000]     The Regents of the University of California.  All rights rese
rved.

[   1.0000000] NetBSD 11.99.4 (SUN4) #5: Tue Jan 13 22:47:19 EST 2026
[   1.0000000]  xun@stuff:/usr/obj/sys/arch/sparc/compile/SUN4
[   1.0000000] total memory = 32704 KB
[   1.0000000] avail memory = 27760 KB
[   1.0000000] timecounter: Timecounters tick every 10.000 msec
[   1.0000000] bootpath: /obio0/esp0/sd@0,0
[   1.0000000] mainbus0 (root): SUN-4/300 series: hostid 23406b33
[   1.0000000] cpu0 at mainbus0: CY7C601 @ 25 MHz, L64812 or ACT8847 FPU
[   1.0000000] cpu0: cache chip bug; trap page uncached
[   1.0000000] cpu0: 128K byte write-back, 16 bytes/line, sw flush: cache enable
d
[   1.0000000] obio0 at mainbus0
[   1.0000000] timer0 at obio0 addr 0xef000000: delay constant 10,
frequency = 1000000 Hz
[   1.0000030] dma0 at obio0 addr 0xfa001000 level 4: DMA rev 0
[   1.0000030] le0 at obio0 addr 0xf9000000 level 6: address 08:00:20:10:ad:b3
[   1.0000030] le0: 8 receive buffers, 2 transmit buffers
[   1.0000030] esp0 at obio0 addr 0xfa000000 level 4: ESP100A, 24MHz, SCSI ID 7
[   1.0000030] scsibus0 at esp0: 8 targets, 8 luns per target
[   1.0000030] clock0 at obio0 addr 0xf2000000: mk48t02
[   1.0000030] memreg0 at obio0 addr 0xf4000000
[   1.0000030] zs0 at obio0 addr 0xf1000000 level 12 softpri 6
[   1.0000030] zstty0 at zs0 channel 0 (console i/o)
[   1.0000030] zstty1 at zs0 channel 1
[   1.0000030] zs1 at obio0 addr 0xf0000000 level 12 softpri 6
[   1.0000030] zstty4 at zs1 channel 0
[   1.0000030] zstty5 at zs1 channel 1
[   1.0000030] zs2 at obio0 addr 0xe0000000 level 12 softpri 6
[   1.0000030] zstty2 at zs2 channel 0
[   1.0000030] zstty3 at zs2 channel 1
[   1.0000030] sparcvme0 at mainbus0
[   1.0000030] vme0 at sparcvme0
[   1.0000030] si1 at vme0 addr 204000 irq 2 vector 40
[   1.0000030] si1: options=07<RESELECT,DMA_INTR,DMA>
[   1.0000030] scsibus1 at si1: 8 targets, 8 luns per target
[   1.0000030] WARNING: system needs entropy for security; see entropy(7)
[   1.9302710] scsibus0: waiting 2 seconds for devices to settle...
[   1.9445770] scsibus1: waiting 2 seconds for devices to settle...
[   3.9504410] sd0 at scsibus0 target 0 lun 0: <ZULUSCSI, HARDDRIVE,
2.0> disk fixed
[   3.9906460] sd0: 670 MB, 2144 cyl, 16 head, 40 sec, 512 bytes/sect
x 1372160 sectors
[   4.0123600] sd0: async, 8-bit transfers
[   4.8105140] entropy: best effort
[   6.8107270] trap type 0x2: pc=0xf0002000 npc=0xf0002004 psr=0x118000c3<S,PS>
[   6.8230920] kernel: illegal instruction trap
Stopped in pid 0.0 (system) at  f0002000:       illtrap         f0002000
db> bt
0xf0002000(0xf03f1474, 0xf031d974, 0xf031d500, 0x0, 0xf03cc2c0, 0xf03cc2c0) at n
etbsd:aprint_debug+0x20
aprint_debug(0xf035af90, 0xf03f1474, 0x64, 0xfffffc18, 0xf031d400, 0x0) at netbs
d:config_finalize+0xdc
config_finalize(0x39, 0xf03c8c64, 0xf03f1400, 0xf03cd278, 0xf0329ec0, 0x0) at ne
tbsd:main+0x724
main(0xf03ed800, 0xf03d2800, 0xf03da400, 0xf03da4b0, 0xf03d0000, 0xf03f1400) at
netbsd:nmi_common+0x924
db>

I also tested my Sun3/E SCSI/Ethernet board. Both CPU boards booted
into NetBSD but got a panic when attaching ie3. I don't use this board
much since you can't boot off it so it may just not work.

[   1.0000030] sparcvme0 at mainbus0
[   1.0000030] vme0 at sparcvme0
[   1.0000030] ie3 at vme0 addr 35ff02 addr 300000-33ffff irq 3 vector 77cpu0: d
ata fault: pc=0xf0018944 addr=0xfe028742 ser=0x80<INVAL>
[   1.0000030] panic: kernel fault
[   1.0000030] cpu0: Begin traceback...
[   1.0000030] 0x0(0xf0327900, 0xf03bde28, 0xf03f24f0, 0x104, 0xf03f2400, 0xf03f
1800) at netbsd:panic+0x20
[   1.0000030] panic(0xf0327900, 0x0, 0xf0018944, 0xfe028742, 0xf03bde48, 0xf032
5440) at netbsd:mem_access_fault+0x3e8
[   1.0000030] mem_access_fault(0x9, 0x80, 0xfe028742, 0xf0018944, 0x40, 0xf03bd
f20) at netbsd:memfault_sun4+0x138
[   1.0000030] memfault_sun4(0xf03bf7a0, 0xfe027f02, 0x840, 0x2000, 0xff360000,
0xff360000) at netbsd:bus_space_read_2+0x10
[   1.0000030] bus_space_read_2(0xf03bf7a0, 0xfe027f02, 0x840, 0x848, 0x0, 0xf05
758bc) at netbsd:ie_vme_attach+0x110
[   1.0000030] ie_vme_attach(0xf03beba0, 0xf058ac00, 0xf03be1a8, 0x300000, 0xf05
75580, 0xf03be044) at netbsd:config_attach_internal+0x238
[   1.0000030] config_attach_internal(0xf058aa00, 0x1, 0xf03be1a8, 0x0, 0xf0370e
20, 0xf03cfb94) at netbsd:config_attach+0x3c
[   1.0000030] config_attach(0xf058aa00, 0xf03cf864, 0xf03be1a8, 0xf0026e68, 0x0
, 0x76) at netbsd:vmesubmatch+0x7c
[   1.0000030] vmesubmatch(0x1, 0xf03cf864, 0x0, 0x0, 0x76, 0xf04ff1e0) at netbs
d:config_search_internal+0x174
[   1.0000030] config_search_internal(0xf058aa00, 0x0, 0xf03be2ac, 0xf03f1484, 0
xf032143c, 0xf03cf864) at netbsd:config_search+0x78
[   1.0000030] config_search(0xf058aa00, 0x0, 0xf03be334, 0x1, 0x0,
0x0) at netbsd:vmeattach+0x160
[   1.0000030] vmeattach(0xf058a800, 0xf058aa00, 0xf03be51c, 0x0, 0x1, 0xf04ff1e
0) at netbsd:config_attach_internal+0x238
[   1.0000030] config_attach_internal(0xf058a800, 0x1, 0xf03be51c, 0x0, 0xf03249
38, 0xf03cfb94) at netbsd:config_found_acquire+0x48
[   1.0000030] config_found_acquire(0xf03cf7ec, 0xf03be51c, 0x0, 0x0, 0xf058a800
, 0xf03be434) at netbsd:config_found+0x24
[   1.0000030] config_found(0xf058a800, 0xf03be51c, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0) at netbs
d:vmeattach_mainbus+0xd8
[   1.0000030] vmeattach_mainbus(0xf0540200, 0xf058a800, 0xf03be6e0, 0x0, 0xf03d
a000, 0xf03beb68) at netbsd:config_attach_internal+0x238
[   1.0000030] config_attach_internal(0xf0540200, 0x1, 0xf03be6e0, 0x0, 0xf0370e
28, 0xf03cfb94) at netbsd:config_found_acquire+0x48
[   1.0000030] config_found_acquire(0xf03cf8c4, 0xf03be6e0, 0xf0015dd8, 0x0, 0xf
0540200, 0xf03be60c) at netbsd:config_found+0x24
[   1.0000030] config_found(0xf0540200, 0xf03be6e0, 0xf0015dd8, 0x0, 0x1e8, 0x58
8) at netbsd:mainbus_attach+0xf4
[   1.0000030] mainbus_attach(0x0, 0xf0540200, 0x0, 0xf0015c00, 0xf03bf7a0, 0xf0
3bf7e8) at netbsd:config_attach_internal+0x238
[   1.0000030] config_attach_internal(0x0, 0x1, 0x0, 0x0, 0xf0326100, 0xf03cfb94
) at netbsd:config_attach+0x3c
[   1.0000030] config_attach(0x0, 0xf03cf7bc, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0xf03cf7bc) at netb
sd:config_rootfound+0x38
[   1.0000030] config_rootfound(0xf03cf7bc, 0x0, 0x11400fe6, 0xfe014000, 0x1, 0x
f0326100) at netbsd:cpu_configure+0x300
[   1.0000030] cpu_configure(0xf03260a0, 0x0, 0xf03bf830, 0xf03ed800, 0xf03260a8
, 0x0) at netbsd:main+0x488
[   1.0000030] main(0xf03ed800, 0xf03cc000, 0xf03da400, 0x1548000, 0x1ff0000, 0x
660) at netbsd:nmi_common+0x924
[   1.0000030] cpu0: End traceback...

Finally I tested a cgthree. NetBSD can successfully boot into multi
user with it but no wsdisplay support so it doesn't actually do
anything. I'm slowly working on a patch for that.

[     1.000000] Copyright (c) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003,
[     1.000000]     2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013,
[     1.000000]     2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023,
[     1.000000]     2024, 2025, 2026
[     1.000000]     The NetBSD Foundation, Inc.  All rights reserved.
[     1.000000] Copyright (c) 1982, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1993
[     1.000000]     The Regents of the University of California.  All
rights reserved.

[     1.000000] NetBSD 11.99.4 (SUN4) #5: Tue Jan 13 22:47:19 EST 2026
[     1.000000]     xun@stuff:/usr/obj/sys/arch/sparc/compile/SUN4
[     1.000000] total memory = 32704 KB
[     1.000000] avail memory = 27760 KB
[     1.000000] timecounter: Timecounters tick every 10.000 msec
[     1.000000] bootpath: /obio0/esp0/sd@0,0
[     1.000000] mainbus0 (root): SUN-4/300 series: hostid 23406b33
[     1.000000] cpu0 at mainbus0: CY7C601 @ 25 MHz, L64812 or ACT8847 FPU
[     1.000000] cpu0: cache chip bug; trap page uncached
[     1.000000] cpu0: 128K byte write-back, 16 bytes/line, sw flush:
cache enabled
[     1.000000] obio0 at mainbus0
[     1.000000] timer0 at obio0 addr 0xef000000: delay constant 10,
frequency = 1000000 Hz
[     1.000000] timecounter: Timecounter "timer-counter" frequency
1000000 Hz quality 100
[     1.000003] dma0 at obio0 addr 0xfa001000 level 4: DMA rev 0
[     1.000003] le0 at obio0 addr 0xf9000000 level 6: address 08:00:20:10:ad:b3
[     1.000003] le0: 8 receive buffers, 2 transmit buffers
[     1.000003] esp0 at obio0 addr 0xfa000000 level 4: ESP100A, 24MHz, SCSI ID 7
[     1.000003] scsibus0 at esp0: 8 targets, 8 luns per target
[     1.000003] clock0 at obio0 addr 0xf2000000: mk48t02
[     1.000003] memreg0 at obio0 addr 0xf4000000
[     1.000003] zs0 at obio0 addr 0xf1000000 level 12 softpri 6
[     1.000003] zstty0 at zs0 channel 0 (console i/o)
[     1.000003] zstty1 at zs0 channel 1
[     1.000003] zs1 at obio0 addr 0xf0000000 level 12 softpri 6
[     1.000003] zstty4 at zs1 channel 0
[     1.000003] zstty5 at zs1 channel 1
[     1.000003] zs2 at obio0 addr 0xe0000000 level 12 softpri 6
[     1.000003] zstty2 at zs2 channel 0
[     1.000003] zstty3 at zs2 channel 1
[     1.000003] sparcvme0 at mainbus0
[     1.000003] vme0 at sparcvme0
[     1.000003] cgtwo0 at vme0 addr 400000: cgtwo, 1152 x 900
[     1.000003] cgtwo0: attached to /dev/fb0
[     1.000003] WARNING: system needs entropy for security; see entropy(7)
[     1.000003] timecounter: Timecounter "clockinterrupt" frequency
100 Hz quality 0
[     1.930274] scsibus0: waiting 2 seconds for devices to settle...
[     3.950478] sd0 at scsibus0 target 0 lun 0: <ZULUSCSI, HARDDRIVE,
2.0> disk fixed
[     3.990497] sd0: 670 MB, 2144 cyl, 16 head, 40 sec, 512 bytes/sect
x 1372160 sectors
[     4.012049] sd0: async, 8-bit transfers
[     4.810527] entropy: best effort
[     6.820762] swwdog0: software watchdog initialized
[     6.850765] sd0: 64820 trailing sectors not covered by disklabel
[     6.864224] root on sd0a dumps on sd0b
[     6.890821] sd0: 64820 trailing sectors not covered by disklabel
[     6.910746] sd0: 64820 trailing sectors not covered by disklabel
[     6.940779] root file system type: ffs
[     6.951622] kern.module.path=/stand/sparc/11.99.4/modules
[    13.761412] WARNING: lwp 4 (system softbio/0) flags 0xa0000060:
timecounter went backwards from (13 + 0xc5727998918329eb/2^64) sec to
(13 + 0xc2fa0d7629798fd3/2^64) sec in netbsd:mi_switch+0xec
[    37.743762] entropy: ready