Bug#523137: installer oops on K6
Martin Michlmayr wrote:
> * John F. Morse <logia@att.net> [2009-04-08 12:45]:
>
>> (alpha), Motorola/IBM PowerPC (powerpc), *Intel IA-32 (i386)*, IA-64
>>
>> The Debian Lenny Net Install CD and the Lenny LiveCD will not run on a PC
>> containing an AMD-K6 CPU. I can only guess there are millions out there,
>> and why nobody has posted this problem anywhere is a mystery.
>>
>> The AMD K6 is a i586-class CPU, two architecture steps newer than the
>> i386 specified above.
>>
>
> Just for the record, our x86 32-bit port is called "i386" for
> historical reasons. We don't support actual i386 hardware anymore,
> but afaik the K6 is still supported. I'm copying the installer and
> kernel teams so they can comment.
>
>
>> The Lenny Net Install comes to a halt right after the keyboard
>> selection process, and after it has checked USB, etc. Then in about
>> two minutes, both the Caps Lock and Scroll Lock start flashing at
>> ~120 FPM. The PC then requires a hard reset.
>>
>
> Can you switch to the 4th virtual console (alt-F4) _before_ this
> happens. Maybe you'll then see the relevant kernel messages.
>
>
>> The Lenny LiveCD gives this clue in an error message when it stops
>> functioning:
>>
>> This kernel requires the following features not present in the CPU:
>> cmov
>> Unable to boot - Please use a kernel appropriate for your CPU.
>>
>
> I'm not sure if the Live CD uses the same kernel as the installer, so
> I'm not sure these are the same issues (it sounds like the installer
> boots fine, but then has a oops). Maybe the Live CD people can
> comment.
>
I will try another install of Lenny and check VT4 to see if there is any
information. IIRC, the keyboard becomes non-responsive, and I may have
even tried the other VTs, and even the Magic SyReq key combinations. The
suspected oops likely blows its mind and makes the keyboard non-responsive.
This will take me a couple of days because I just used up my two spare
AMD-K6 PCs for testing Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Server Edition with INN 2.4.4. I
have an issue involving INN's news.notice log dieing after the syslog is
rotated, and am trying to pinpoint it as either an INN bug or a bug in
Ubuntu.
Yesterday I installed Lenny on a newer PC and then INN 2.4.5 for a test.
The news.notice log continued tailing after the syslog rotation, so the
trouble is not with Lenny and INN 2.4.5. This PC has an AMD Duron 1.6
GHz CPU.
I also have had good logging and no problems with INN 2.4.3 on Sarge
since around 2005. Both Sarge and INN 2.4.3 are kinda long in the tooth,
so I wanted to upgrade everything, but still use the older hardware
because it uses only 25 watts. It would also save a little more on air
conditioning. ;-)
The INN developers and maintainers suggested I submit a bug to Ubuntu,
which I did yesterday, so I want to wait a couple of days until I hear
something from them before stopping the two tests cooking on the two
older AMD-K6 PCs.
In the meantime, I'll watch the 523137 page to see if anything comes up
on this possible Lenny bug.
I'll let you know what I find out on the VT4 exam when I can try
reinstalling Lenny.
Thanks again.
--
John
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