On some SPARC systems with an onboard Ethernet controller (also called "LAN-On-Motherboard", or "LOM"), fwupdate is unable to obtain details about the controller. Wthout this information, fwupdate cannot be used to update the firmware of the controller.
Before attempting to update firmware on a SPARC system, display information using fwupdate list. If the output does not show device information (such as the current firmware version) for the system's onboard network controller, you cannot use fwupdate to update the controller firmware.
This issue is seen with network interface controllers on some SPARC systems. The fwupdate command can still be run successfully on other devices. For a list of systems and controllers supported for use with fwupdate, refer to the Support Matrices at: http://www.oracle.com/goto/ohmp.
If the onboard network controller firmware for these systems needs to be updated, contact Oracle Support.