Bug#228654: installation-reports: ide-detect lockup on Alpha PWS500a
> > The only other
> > trouble I noticed is that the aboot.conf that is generated doesn't point
> > to the proper location of my root filesystem. The installer kept going
> > back to the "configure network" option even though I couldn't bring the
> > network up, so it may be a case where I did something out of order. I
> > did not repartition. I did reformat my old partitions with the root as
> > the A partition.
>
> Can you provide more details regarding what your aboot.conf looks like
> after installing, what you believe it should look like, and the contents
> of your partition tables?
>
> I was proud of that bit of code in aboot-installer, so if it has bugs,
> I'd like to get them fixed. ;)
>
> The "configure network" glitch you're seeing has to do with this being a
> *net*inst image: it really, really, really wants you to have a network,
> because it knows you're not booting from a full CD. :)
>
Makes sense.
I'll go through the install again and note exactly what I'm doing and what
aboot.conf ends up looking like....
Boot from SRM (boot dkb100 -flags 0)
Select american-english as the language
IDE auto detection takes place
(somewhere between this step and the next one tty2 shows "modprobe: failed to
load ide-disk". It's before isofs is loaded.)
Sometimes it will prompt me saying that the cdrom wasn't detected, sometimes
it doesn't. It takes the 2.4.24-generic kernel a minute or so to figure out
that DMA isn't going to work.
Module needed by your ethernet card:
only option presented is "none of the above"
At this point I start skipping ahead because I know my network card isn't
going to work.
Load installer components.
Select the cd loader
Select "choose-mirror"
Again, module needed by your ethernet card:
only option presented is "none of the above"
My harddrives are already partitioned like this:
/dev/hda1 ext2
/dev/hda2 swap
/dev/hdb1 ext2
HDA is partitioned in BSD disklabel format (hda1 is A:)
HDB is partitioned in the standard way.
Configure and mount partitions
(switching to tty2 shows ext3, reiserfs, jfs and xfs modules failing to load.)
IDE1 master, part. 1 -> ext2 -> /
IDE1 master, part. 2 -> swap ->swap
IDE2 master, part. 1 -> ext2 -> /home
I tell it to format all of them, hit finish and yes at the warning screen.
tty2 shows them being formatted and mounted
Again "module needed by your ethernet card:"
and again "none of the above"
Install the base system
everything goes fine.
Again "module needed by your ethernet card:"
and again "none of the above".
Install the kernel.
I select 2.4-generic.
This spends a lot of time at 60% then goes back to the "Module needed by your
ethernet card:" I again pick "none of the above".
Finish the installation and reboot.
cd pops out.
hit continue to reboot.
I have to cycle the power to keep SRM from loading off the cdrom again.
>>> boot dka0 -flags 0
aboot: valid disklabel found: 2 partitions
aboot: invalid partition 3
aboot: mount of partition 3 failed
Now I get an aboot prompt.
aboot> boot vmlinuz root=/dev/hda1 initrd=/initrd.img
System boots up with a few DMA timeouts along the way.
Base-config runs without any trouble (don't have a network connection though.)
The only oddity is that when I configure exim for "local delivery only" it
asks for a system mail name and an IP address to listen on but does not ask
who I want root's mail delivered to.
alpha:~# cat /etc/aboot.conf
#
# aboot default configurations
#
0:3/vmlinux.gz ro root=/dev/sda2
1:3/vmlinux.old.gz ro root=/dev/sda2
2:3/vmlinux.new.gz ro root=/dev/sda2
3:3/vmlinux ro root=/dev/sda2
8:- ro root=/dev/sda2 # fs less boot of raw kernel
9:0/- ro root=/dev/sda2 # fs less boot of (compressed) ECOFF kernel
-
alpha:~#
what it needs to be is:
0:1/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda1 initrd=/initrd.img
> > Anyway, my original problem is fixed. As far as the nic problem goes,
> > it's something that will have to be fixed in the kernel. This thread is
> > illuminating:
> >
> > http://lists.debian.org/debian-alpha/2004/debian-alpha-200401/msg00052.ht
> >ml
>
> Does this mean you have one of the P1SE/P2SE integrated cards, or
> something similar that results in the use of a PCI bridge on your
> system?
>
The integrated network card is definitely taking across a PCI bridge.
Anything I plug into the PCI slots also seems to be taking across the PCI
bridge. That thread describes exactly the sort of trouble I've been having
with 2.4 kernels. It's not limited to network cards. They are just the most
visibly broken. The 2.2.22 kernel in Woody works flawlessly. If there was a
2.2 kernel in Unstable I'd have no problems at all.
> > Hopefully a working 2.6 or 2.4 kernel will be released before Sarge is.
>
> Yes, the general state of alpha support in the late 2.4-series kernels
> seems quite dismal. :/
>
> Regards,
Thanks for your time..
John
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