From: Scott Hodgdon on
Seems when updating from update 7 to update 8, everything seems fine,
but when we try from update 3 we have problems.
My guess is that it is because SCR is not installed or has a pre-req.
Also tried running update3 to update7 and then 8 but still a problem.
See detail below.

PATCH INSTALL
Executing prePatch script...
Checking installed patches...
Re-installing patch 118833-36...
Installing patch packages...

Patch 118833-36 has been successfully installed.
See /var/sadm/patch/118833-36/log for details
Executing postpatch script...

Patch packages installed:
SUNWcsr

You must perform a reconfigure reboot before invoking any additional
patch commands.
You must perform a reconfigure reboot before invoking any additional
patch commands.
You must perform a reconfigure reboot before invoking any additional
patch commands.
You must perform a reconfigure reboot before invoking any additional
patch commands.
You must perform a reconfigure reboot before invoking any additional
patch commands.
You must perform a reconfigure reboot before invoking any additional
patch commands.
You must perform a reconfigure reboot before invoking any additional
patch commands


AFTER REBOOT
Rebooting with command: boot -r
Boot device: /pci(a)1f,700000/scsi@2/disk@0,0 File and args: -r
SunOS Release 5.10 Version Generic_141414-09 64-bit
Copyright 1983-2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Use is subject to license terms.
Hardware watchdog enabled
libscf.c:3340: scf_handle_bind() failed with unexpected error 1017.
Aborting

ONCE IN SINGLE USER MODE
root@(/)>>svcs -a
svcs: Could not bind to repository server: incompatible SCF version.
Exiting.