Bug#741137: installation-reports
Package: installation-reports
Boot method: <How did you boot the installer? CD? floppy? network?>
Image version: <Full URL to image you downloaded is best>
http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/7.4.0/amd64/iso-cd/debian-7.4.0-amd64-netinst.iso
Date: <Date and time of the install>
20140308 <all day>
Machine: <6 year old workstation>
Processor: amd64 - 4 processors
Memory: 8GB
Partitions: <df -Tl will do; the raw partition table is preferred>
Filesystem Type 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/md0 ext4 33478296 5437524 26317080 18% /
udev devtmpfs 10240 0 10240 0% /dev
tmpfs tmpfs 826228 896 825332 1% /run
tmpfs tmpfs 5120 0 5120 0% /run/lock
tmpfs tmpfs 2046460 148 2046312 1% /run/shm
/dev/md2 ext4 1153351556 448741152 646016868 41% /home
/dev/md3 ext4 288534864 8207136 265664304 3% /var
none tmpfs 4 0 4 0% /sys/fs/cgroup
Output of lspci -knn :
00:00.0 RAM memory [0500]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP55 Memory Controller [10de:0369] (rev a2)
Subsystem: NVIDIA Corporation Device [10de:cb84]
00:01.0 ISA bridge [0601]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP55 LPC Bridge [10de:0364] (rev a3)
Subsystem: NVIDIA Corporation Device [10de:cb84]
00:01.1 SMBus [0c05]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP55 SMBus [10de:0368] (rev a3)
Subsystem: NVIDIA Corporation Device [10de:cb84]
Kernel driver in use: nForce2_smbus
00:02.0 USB controller [0c03]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP55 USB Controller [10de:036c] (rev a1)
Subsystem: NVIDIA Corporation Device [10de:cb84]
Kernel driver in use: ohci-pci
00:02.1 USB controller [0c03]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP55 USB Controller [10de:036d] (rev a2)
Subsystem: NVIDIA Corporation Device [10de:cb84]
Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci
00:04.0 IDE interface [0101]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP55 IDE [10de:036e] (rev a1)
Subsystem: NVIDIA Corporation Device [10de:cb84]
Kernel driver in use: pata_amd
00:05.0 IDE interface [0101]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP55 SATA Controller [10de:037f] (rev a3)
Subsystem: NVIDIA Corporation Device [10de:cb84]
Kernel driver in use: sata_nv
00:05.1 IDE interface [0101]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP55 SATA Controller [10de:037f] (rev a3)
Subsystem: NVIDIA Corporation Device [10de:cb84]
Kernel driver in use: sata_nv
00:05.2 IDE interface [0101]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP55 SATA Controller [10de:037f] (rev a3)
Subsystem: NVIDIA Corporation Device [10de:cb84]
Kernel driver in use: sata_nv
00:06.0 PCI bridge [0604]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP55 PCI bridge [10de:0370] (rev a2)
00:06.1 Audio device [0403]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP55 High Definition Audio [10de:0371] (rev a2)
Subsystem: Tyan Computer Device [10f1:2925]
Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
00:08.0 Bridge [0680]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP55 Ethernet [10de:0373] (rev a3)
Subsystem: NVIDIA Corporation Device [10de:cb84]
Kernel driver in use: forcedeth
00:09.0 Bridge [0680]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP55 Ethernet [10de:0373] (rev a3)
Subsystem: NVIDIA Corporation Device [10de:cb84]
Kernel driver in use: forcedeth
00:0a.0 PCI bridge [0604]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP55 PCI Express bridge [10de:0376] (rev a3)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:0b.0 PCI bridge [0604]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP55 PCI Express bridge [10de:0374] (rev a3)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:0c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP55 PCI Express bridge [10de:0374] (rev a3)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:0d.0 PCI bridge [0604]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP55 PCI Express bridge [10de:0378] (rev a3)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:0e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP55 PCI Express bridge [10de:0375] (rev a3)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:0f.0 PCI bridge [0604]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP55 PCI Express bridge [10de:0377] (rev a3)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:18.0 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration [1022:1100]
00:18.1 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map [1022:1101]
00:18.2 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller [1022:1102]
Kernel driver in use: amd64_edac
00:18.3 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control [1022:1103]
Kernel driver in use: k8temp
00:19.0 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration [1022:1100]
00:19.1 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map [1022:1101]
00:19.2 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller [1022:1102]
Kernel driver in use: amd64_edac
00:19.3 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control [1022:1103]
Kernel driver in use: k8temp
01:05.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394) [0c00]: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6306/7/8 [Fire II(M)] IEEE 1394 OHCI Controller [1106:3044] (rev c0)
Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6306/7/8 [Fire II(M)] IEEE 1394 OHCI Controller [1106:3044]
Kernel driver in use: firewire_ohci
01:09.0 Multimedia video controller [0400]: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder [14f1:8800] (rev 05)
Subsystem: Hauppauge computer works Inc. WinTV-HVR1100 DVB-T/Hybrid [0070:9402]
Kernel driver in use: cx8800
01:09.1 Multimedia controller [0480]: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder [Audio Port] [14f1:8811] (rev 05)
Subsystem: Hauppauge computer works Inc. WinTV-HVR1100 DVB-T/Hybrid [0070:9402]
Kernel driver in use: cx88_audio
01:09.2 Multimedia controller [0480]: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder [MPEG Port] [14f1:8802] (rev 05)
Subsystem: Hauppauge computer works Inc. WinTV-HVR1100 DVB-T/Hybrid [0070:9402]
Kernel driver in use: cx88-mpeg driver manager
01:09.4 Multimedia controller [0480]: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder [IR Port] [14f1:8804] (rev 05)
Subsystem: Hauppauge computer works Inc. WinTV-HVR1100 DVB-T/Hybrid [0070:9402]
02:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Tahiti XT [Radeon HD 7970/R9 280X] [1002:6798]
Subsystem: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Device [1002:0b00]
02:00.1 Audio device [0403]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Tahiti XT HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 7970 Series] [1002:aaa0]
Subsystem: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Tahiti XT HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 7970 Series] [1002:aaa0]
Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
Base System Installation Checklist:
[O] = OK, [E] = Error (please elaborate below), [ ] = didn't try it
Initial boot: [E]
Detect network card: [O]
Configure network: [O]
Detect CD: [O]
Load installer modules: [O]
Detect hard drives: [O]
Partition hard drives: [O]
Install base system: [O]
Clock/timezone setup: [O]
User/password setup: [O]
Install tasks: [O]
Install boot loader: [O]
Overall install: [E]
Comments/Problems:
<Description of the install, in prose, and any thoughts, comments
and ideas you had during the initial install.>
########################################################################################
I was probably running linux-image-3.11.8 (custom) when the power went out five days ago.
On restart, the machine tried to boot into linux image-3.12.9 (custom), but failed.
I'd had the updated image on the machine for a while, but as I wanted to run the machine 24/7, there wasn't much opportunity to investigate. I suspect it all goes back to the graphics card hd7970 installation. Anyway, I have been running xdm for a long time with occasional checks to see if gdm3 would run, usually without success and a load of problems. I'm mining cryptocoins when I can BTW.
I'm running raid drives: two 37GB drives provide the root partition under RAID1, and three 750GB drives provide /home and /var under RAID5.
If grub2 can boot straight into these configurations, I haven't found out how to thus far. A ramdisk is essential.
What I've found is that dpkg|grub2 does not handle this installation without problems when trying to install a custom linux-image.
First, it does not check if mdadm is present on the system and offer a warning.
Something along the lines of "mdadm found - are you sure you want to proceed?" would likely prompt an investigation in the right direction.
Secondly, I had to create the ramdisk via the commandline:
mkinitramfs -f /boot/initrd.img-3.12.9 3.12.9
dpkg -i seemed to handle the installation of the kernel via grub without problems and seemed to update /boot/initrd.img-3.12.9 without any complaints.
That got the ramdisk into the boot sequence, but soon after an ERROR message appeared, suggesting that microcode had not been found and that firmware-linux-nonfree might be needed (it was installed).
I checked the kernel config, gave up and eventually just copied the .config from 3.11.8 into 3.12.9
That didnt help, so eventually I ran the commandline:
#update-initramfs -k 3.12.9 -u -t
That got the process to proceed, and xdm opened up the desktop.
next installed fglrx and told aticonfig to initialise /etc/xorg.conf
Rebooted, and X no longer works.
Also noted :
modprobe : can't load module microcode no such device
can modprobe from the commandline with the same result, despite the module being there. Finally tried the -v option and that tells me that the microcode is builtin.
That might explain why mdadm sometimes fails to configure.
Followed lurkmore's instructions to install fglrx and the AMD code.
(could not purge libfglrx without purging everything else so reinstalled)
All that really messed things up, and my putting off the reinstall terminated.
##############################################################################
Finally downloaded the latest amd64 iso image and installed via CD. I get the impression that jessie and radeon graphics do not get on so chose the wheezy iso.
The splash screen came up, but only the basic install worked - probably because of framebuffer problems on the graphics card.
When I tried the graphical install I got a "fixing recursive fault but reboot is needed" message. I tried the advanced graphical install with similar results.
I set up /dev/sda1 and /dev/sdb1 as RAID1 /dev/md0 (35GB) and /dev/sd[ab]2 as a 2GB /dev/md2 swap file.
The install went smoothly, apart from a weird erroroneous message on the partition screen where /dev/sdb thought it had a 1TB primary partition. That may have been a derivative of a very old error because the old partitioning was wrong: 35GB and 35.5GB primary partitions was clearly not right. I decided not to increase the size of the swap space even though it might have allowed hiberation of the system. There is no need as the system runs 24/7 when it can.
The installation finished, the CD got removed, and rebooted.
There may have been some error mesages on the way up, if you are not expecting them, they are difficult to read. Eventually, the gdm3 classic desktop appeared with a popup in the top right to the effect that "gdm3 failed ~ graphics hardware". It disappeared too quickly to fully read.
I had a look at fstab, noted that UUID was applied - a universal waste of time on this system - and noted that the entries for /home and /var were missing, as expected.
I upgraded the system from wheezy to jessie, and in the process noted a couple of screen messages early in the boot process :
~ fb0 read error
and later
~ radeon modesetting error ~ r600 and later requires firmware-linux-nonfree
The old /var and /home arrays were visible in cat /proc/mdstat and were renamed to assemble on /dev/md2 and /dev/md3, and mdadm.conf was updated.
I had made the mistake of mounting /dev/md3 on /var before updating, and the system would not allow the "busy" drive to be unmounted, hence I rebooted.
For whatever reason, in this condition the system locked up completely, probably under a warm boot, and had to be reset. As far as I could tell, it may have been something to do with mdadm attempting to assemble the /var partition and failing, but it is impossible to tell.
I again booted the system via the CD, and followed the process, exiting from the point where the new system is to be installed, and copied the old mdadm.conf
file into place. This time, when I came to reboot, I did it from cold, and the process succeded.
This time, before re-mounting the old /var partition, I copied selected directories, overwriting the old files there.
BTW, I'm running gnome classic, but occasionally, the "new" gdm3 appears.
Finally, apt-get, and dselect seem to be workable: mdadm.conf & fstab have been updated, and update-initramfs all was run. The latter complained about not finding traces of old kernels, but seemed to succeed.
Installed firmware-linux-nonfree and the warning about modesetting has disappeared.
Now, just to be sure, one final "warm" reboot. Success - is about 50:50.
Reply to: