AIX

Hi. I just migrated a 5.3 box to 6.1 (standalone, no HMC). This is a System p5 520 Power 5 box

The migration process went smooth but at the end when the server rebooted it never came up. So the bootup process never completes. It gets stuck at the screen with the big AIX logo saying it's loading the software (for more than 24 hours)

I tried to boot into maintenance mode, but it doesn't get past the IBMIBMIBMIBMIBM screen
I tried console access using a serial cable, no good.

I didn't update the firmware before the migration, I think that's the problem.

I don't have a backup to restore from.

How can I upgrade the firmware so I can migrate to 6.1 smoothly?

any ideas?

Boot AIX or a limited maint kernel off a CD? Boot something like DSL (D* small LINUX) on usb/CD and update fw from there? Have any other not updated systems where you could update the FW and then swap?

i tried booting AIX from CD/DVD .. it never reaches maintenance mode.. it gets stuck

Is this the new CD? Do you have the old one?

tried both.. the new 6.1 DVD and the old 5.3 CD...

I power it on, when I see the word keyboard on the screen i press F5 or #5 in the keyboard.. it shows the screen with all the IBMIBMIBMIBMIBM.. and it never gets past this point.. i never get a prompt

Wow, time to call the real AIX IBM support ?

Got an empty disk you can mini-install 5.3 to?

Do you get a code displayed in the display on the hardware? If yes, this one can be used to identify the current problem.

Can you access the ASMI?
Accessing the ASMI

Generally interessting documentation starting point for your system:
9111-520 (p5 520)