Re: debian unusable on niagara
From: Jurij Smakov <jurij@wooyd.org>
Date: Mon, 27 Apr 2009 23:29:47 +0100
> On Thu, Apr 23, 2009 at 07:09:43AM -0700, David Miller wrote:
>>
>> 1) Please remove the PROM console driver from the kernel config, it
>> does nothing but get in the way. This will fix the "console slow
>> on bootup" problem everyone reports on niagara boxes.
>>
>> Putting "console=ttyHV0" on the kernel command line works as a
>> workaround but it still clears the screen once using the PROM
>> console and even that takes nearly a minute (!).
>
> I'll file a bug against kernel for that. Do you know if removing that
> driver could have any unintended consequences for non-Niagara machines?
No.
>> 2) Please fix the GETTY setup so that it properly uses ttyS0 on
>> Niagara. Otherwise people have no console and can't use their
>> machine at all after installation.
>>
>> Ubuntu does this by making sure there is an /etc/event.d/ttyS0
>> file with a line saying "exec /sbin/getty -L ttyS0 9600 vt102"
>> or similar.
>
> Which installer version did you test that with?
I downloaded the tftpboot image provided from the Download
section of the debian.org web site for Sparc.
> I've tested the lenny installer and it worked correctly with serial
> console (I remember we pushed some fixes for it pretty late in lenny
> release cycle).
It's not exactly a serial console, even though the niagara console is
implemented using a driver that sits on top of the serial core layer.
If you test on a non-niagara system with serial console, it's not the
same test. Not even remotely. The device name is different, it shows
up differently in sysfs, etc.
> I believe we fixed it in Lenny r1 release, it would be great to it if
> you could upgrade to it and confirm it (or install from scratch using
> 5.0.1 media from http://www.debian.org/releases/lenny/debian-installer).
I'll give it a try and report back.
Reply to: