If you experience the following error during the first reboot of SLES9:

 boot: linux 
 Please wait, loading kernel...
   Elf64 kernel loaded...
 Loading ramdisk...
 Claim failed for initrd memory
 ramdisk load failed !
 ENTER called ok
 0 > 

Try the following workaround:

In the OF prompt, type:

 dev nvram
 wipe-nvram

Now the partition should reboot.

This behaviour has been observed with the following scenarios:

• SUSE SLES9 SP2 on OpenPower using firmware levels SF235_160 and SF235_180
• SUSE SLES9 SP3 on IBM pSeries p570 using firmware level SF235_185