[syslinux] Booting with Syslinux 6.01 & 6.02 fails, causes restart.

[Gene Cumm]

On Sat, Nov 23, 2013 at 5:49 AM, Evert Vorster <evorster at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi there.
>
> I had a quick look through the archives, and I spotted a similar issue
> being reported in October, but no resolution, unfortunately.
> "[syslinux] Syslinux 6.02 BIOS"
>
> I am booting in legacy (bios) mode on a gpt partition on my laptop.
> It's a HP ENVY dv7.
> CPU: Intel i7,
> BIOS: InsydeH2O
> version: F. 12
>
> With syslinux 4.06, it boots flawlessly.
>
> With syslinux 6.01 and 6.02, the welcoming message flashes up, then
> the automatic booting of the first initramfs.
>
> It's a rather large initramfs.
>
> Straight away the booting process looks different than with 4.06.
> The periods that were showing progress in loading the initramfs now
> does not increase as the initramfs is loaded. So, only three periods
> after each initramfs.

That happened in version 5.00.

> Once the last initramfs is loaded, the system re-starts.
>
> This process repeats about six or seven times, then the kernel loads..
> but only when booting from an internal hard disk. If I try booting
> through syslinux 6.02 installed on an external USB hard disk, it just
> carries on loading the initramfs, then rebooting for about ten times,
> then then it just constantly reboots, shows the automatic boot window,
> and reboots again.
>
>
> What information do you require from me to help with troubleshooting?
> Syslinux was compiled from sources on my laptop, and I am quite happy
> to try patching the source code if someone has an idea to try.
>
> Any help would be greatly appreciated.
> On a side note, I have a video clip of the faulty booting, as I was
> trying to see if there is an error message I am missing, but none was
> apparent. It's possible for me to post this clip on youtube and post a
> link here if anybody is interested.

Are you also doing PXE booting?  This detail seems missing but your
reference seems to indicate possibly.

bios/core/pxelinux.0 or bios/core/lpxelinux.0?  Did you use the
precompiled binary right after extraction with no make commands?

-- 
-Gene