Alastair Watts wrote:
On Thu, 4 Apr 2002, Liam Bedford wrote:well, IIRC, the 2.0 MILO doesn't support sparse superblocks (which Debian asks about). And I'm trying to remember if I could boot 2.4 kernels from it..It can boot 2.4 kernels, but you need to compile the 2.4 kernel with the Alpha Legacy Start Address option on, as MILO won't read it from the ELF headers but has hit hard coded instead.From memory I couldn't get ANY of the 2.2 MILO's to work, but had areasonable success (I'm using it) with I think the 2.0.33 MILO.
This really interests me! I have an Alpha 300 XLT that only runs off ALPHABIOS and I have had absolutly NO luck with the current 2.2.X MILOs. It compiles just fine if you follow the instructions but ALWAYS hangs when jumping to the PAL code address before even getting to the MILO prompt. I can boot and install the Alpha "testing" from an older MILO from the 2.0.35 kernel (milo-2.0.35-c7b). As you (or someone else) mentioned, the SRM route is NOT an option for this machine. It is ALPHABIOS only.
My current goal is to get the 2.4.18 kernel running on my machine, but the prospects are looking rather poor at the moment. I first tried the new "generic" kernel-image-2.4.18 in SID, but it just froze on bootup. I then tried compiling a "minimal" version of the 2.4.18 kernel from the Debian source package. On the third attempt I got the kernel to start loading, but ran into kernel panic problems during SCSI controller initialization. I got it to boot from the older (2.0.35 milo) MILO prompt, but I am running out of ideas.
So far, I have discovered that the compiler doesn't like the devfs option (won't compile), the "freeze" I initially experienced with the kernel-image package was due to the "Alpha Legacy Start Address" option not being selected in that compile, and both the older NCR53c810 and the "new" SYM53c810 SCSI drivers (needed for the built-in SCSI controller) will cause a kernel panic during initial kernel loading. This happens on BOTH SCSI drivers but the newer version gets further along than the older one. The older one will panic during the probing phase and will disconnect the controller from the bus causing the well know "could not mount root file system" error! The newer one will detect the controller, but will panic later in the controller setup process. Both complain about a "cache" being corrupted.
I am posting this here to document my experiences for the group FWIW, but I would REALLY be interested in your particular Hardware setup (type of SCSI Controller?) and any other insights you might have. Also, could you confirm the version of MILO you are using??
I am suscribed, but feel free to E-Mail me direct.
Cheers,
-Don Spoon- ("back-yard" Alpha Mechanic)
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