Bug#257301: d-i: default kernel choice on s390 is wrong
On Fri, Jul 02, 2004 at 02:32:03PM -0400, Martin Michlmayr wrote:
> * Adam J. Thornton <adam@fsf.net> [2004-07-02 13:12]:
> > That is, if you want an s390x install, use a kernel/initrd set for
> > s390x, and otherwise, use s390. /proc/cpuinfo will tell you the CPU
>
> OK. What about the s390-tape variant? When is that needed?
In general, if you're running from LPAR, you probably IPLed from tape.
Very few sites have real card readers anymore, and the number of
physical cards it would take to hold a kernel and initrd is nauseating.
Under VM, however, virtual card decks are a common way for different
virtual machines to communicate with each other.
So I guess the right heuristic would be to check the CPUID to see if VM
is present:
h3:/devel/local/s390/netdevice# cat /proc/cpuinfo
vendor_id : IBM/S390
# processors : 1
bogomips per cpu: 412.05
processor 0: version = FF, identification = 01131C, machine = 7060
If "version" is not "FF", that means you're running on the metal (either
in Basic or LPAR mode) and therefore should probably use the tape
version. If it *is* "FF", you are running under VM, and should use the
card/generic version.
Once the system is installed and the user is IPLing from DASD, it really
doesn't matter much anyway.
I'm sure there are times when these rules of thumb will be wrong
(trivially, VM users who want to receive distributions on cartridge
tapes and be able to IPL directly from the tapes, for instance), but
they're probably the right place to start.
Adam
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