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jamesrt
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Joined: 09 Sep 2003
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Location: New Zealand

PostPosted: Mon May 02, 2005 12:14 am    Post subject: Boot problem with Sun v240 Reply with quote

I am trying to install Gentoo on a Sun v240.

The server is headless (i.e. no FrameBuffer or keyboard), and has OBP 4.16.4 firmware. 2cpus, 2Gb memory. SILO version 1.4.8. Kernel 2.4.30-sparc

The problem is that I cannot get any kernels to boot from local disk via SILO. As I'm trying to dual boot, I've set up Linux on the 3rd SCSI disk (c0t3d0 in the Solaris world, /dev/sdc in Linux-land). SILO is installed on the boot-block of that disk. The OBP "boot" command loads SILO correctly, i.e.
Code:
{1} ok boot disk2
Boot device: /pci@1c,600000/scsi@2/disk@2,0  File and args:
SILO Version 1.4.8
boot: linux
Allocated 8 Megs of memory at 0x40000000 for kernel
Loaded kernel version 2.4.30

Remapping the kernel... done.

but then nothing else.

The odd thing is that if I copy the EXACT SAME /boot/kernel-2.4.30-sparc image to my local jumpstart (TFTP) server and use "boot net root=/dev/sdc1" from the OBP, the kernel boots perfectly, thus:
Code:
{1} ok boot net root=/dev/sdc1
Boot device: /pci@1f,700000/network@2  File and args: root=/dev/sdc1
1000 Mbps FDX Link up
Timeout waiting for ARP/RARP packet
4000 -
Remapping the kernel... done.
Booting Linux...
Starting CPU 0... OK
PROMLIB: Sun IEEE Boot Prom 4.16.4 2004/12/18 05:20
Linux version 2.4.30-sparc (root@lab2) (gcc version 3.3.5 (Gentoo Linux 3.3.5)) #1 SMP Mon May 2 10:36:15 NZST 2005
ARCH: SUN4U
Ethernet address: 00:03:ba:70:4b:51
On node 0 totalpages: 261413
zone(0): 8519553 pages.
zone(1): 0 pages.
zone(2): 0 pages.
Found CPU 0 (node=f0065570,mid=0)
Found CPU 1 (node=f0065df0,mid=1)
Found 2 CPU prom device tree node(s).
Kernel command line: root=/dev/sdc1
...


Does anyone have any idea how I can debug this issue? Is there a known problem with SILO that is preventing my kernel from booting?

Any help appreciated.
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arch4nge1
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Joined: 11 Aug 2004
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PostPosted: Mon May 02, 2005 3:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi,

From what I recall with SILO, there is a requirement is to have /boot in the same partition as /, ie can't have a separate /boot partition. I apologise if that is inaccurate as I haven't installed Gentoo on a Sparc for a while now.

From reading the Sparc installation handbook (http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-sparc.xml?part=1&chap=10), is your set up performed the same as described below?
Quote:
If you use the example silo.conf delivered by Portage, be sure to comment out all lines that you do not need.

If the physical disk on which you want to install SILO (as bootloader) differs from the physical disk on which /etc/silo.conf resides, you must copy over /etc/silo.conf to a partition on that disk. Assuming that /boot is a separate partition on that disk, copy over the configuration file to /boot and run /sbin/silo:

Code Listing 4: Only if /boot and the SILO destination are on the same disk

# cp /etc/silo.conf /boot
# /sbin/silo -C /boot/silo.conf
/boot/silo.conf appears to be valid

Otherwise just run /sbin/silo:

Code Listing 5: Run silo

# /sbin/silo
/etc/silo.conf appears to be valid


Hope that helps

Cheers
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jamesrt
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PostPosted: Mon May 02, 2005 5:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

arch4nge1 wrote:
From what I recall with SILO, there is a requirement is to have /boot in the same partition as /, ie can't have a separate /boot partition. I apologise if that is inaccurate as I haven't installed Gentoo on a Sparc for a while now.

Unfortunately, this probably isn't the issue - I only have one partition for Linux (at the moment), so both root and /boot are in the same filesystem.

Thanks for the idea, though.
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arch4nge1
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PostPosted: Mon May 02, 2005 7:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ok, if I am right, when you netboot, you bypass SILO, which would mean that SILO is causing the lockup?

Perhaps try a different version of SILO? Or the compile flags might be too aggressive when compiling SILO?

A quick Google revealed something similar with a Debian port but the error message is slightly different. http://wiki.debian.net/?PortsSparc

Hope that helps.

Cheers
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squash
Tux's lil' helper
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Joined: 22 Jun 2002
Posts: 79

PostPosted: Mon May 02, 2005 1:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi James,

I have a V240 as well, and it takes some fiddling to make it go.

You need the latest OBP, which it looks like you already have.

You should forget about 2.6 kernels. I've had good luck with mine on 2.4.30, it just passed the "build all gentoo stages plus GRP packages" test, which is pretty tough.

You need to move all your memory to a single CPU. If you don't, you will crash under high load. It will slow you down a little bit, but it will work and not crash. I put all mine on CPU0, which is the closest to the front of the case.

Last, you need to run a really old SILO. We use 1.2.6 for the install cds, which may or may not compile with the current gcc. I have a binary available at http://dev.gentoo.org/~squash/silo-1.2.6-sparc-cdtar.tar.bz2
Untar that from / and run silo -f

This should get you going!

Squash

[edited to fix a brain fart]


Last edited by squash on Tue May 03, 2005 12:29 pm; edited 1 time in total
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jamesrt
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PostPosted: Mon May 02, 2005 9:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

squash wrote:
I have a V240 as well, and it takes some fiddling to make it go.

Oh joy....

squash wrote:
Last, you need to run a really old SILO. We use 1.2.6 for the install cds

OK, that just seems wrong in so many ways....

squash wrote:
This should get you going!

Indeed it did - your silo binary boots quite nicely. I'm still on a 2.4 kernel at the moment, as the 2.6 one I tried failed with
Code:
Fatal error: Image too large to fit in destination

so I'm obviously going to have to tune my kernel down a bit. Are you able to post (or private message) your .config file for your 2.6 kernel?

Thanks!
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squash
Tux's lil' helper
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Joined: 22 Jun 2002
Posts: 79

PostPosted: Tue May 03, 2005 12:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi James,

Sorry, I crossed my wires. 2.6 does *not* work, it won't make it to userland if you run it. 2.4.30 is what I'm using currently.

The rest is still true!

Squash
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