[syslinux] ISOLINUX: Boot problems

[H. Peter Anvin]

System Administrators wrote:
> Hi,
> I'm trying to setup a Linux CD on mashine that will have nothing but a
> CDROM. Everything worked fine until I removed the HDD. From this moment on
> the CD doesn;t boot. I upgraded to Syslinux 2.0 but with no luck. The error
> message I got almost says it all: "Extremely broken BIOS", but can I ask for
> help if there some ideas how to fix this, cause if I put the HDD back the CD
> boots without any problem.
> 
> The hardware:
> CPU: VIA C3 Samuel2 1Giga Pro
> 
> lspci output:
> 00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8601 [Apollo ProMedia] (rev
> 05)
> 00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8601 [Apollo ProMedia AGP]
> 00:07.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C686 [Apollo Super South]
> (rev 40)
> 00:07.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. Bus Master IDE (rev 06)
> 00:07.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB (rev 1a)
> 00:07.4 Bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C686 [Apollo Super ACPI] (rev 40)
> 00:0e.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C
> (rev 10)
> 00:0f.0 Multimedia audio controller: C-Media Electronics Inc CM8738 (rev 10)
> 00:0f.1 Communication controller: C-Media Electronics Inc CM8738 (rev 20)
> 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Trident Microsystems CyberBlade/i1 (rev
> 6a)
> 
> The CD is primary slave (and there is no way to put it as a master) and
> there is a some HDD as a master. If both are available boot CD is working
> OK, if I disable HDD from BIOS (or remove it) the CD doesn't boot.
> 
> I burn one CD with isolinux.bin-debug and here is its output:
> =====================
> isolinux: Starting up, DL = 9F
> isolinux: Loading spec, packet failed, trying to wing it
> isolinux: Extremely broken BIOS detected, last ditch attempt with drive = 9F
> isolinux: Loading main image from LBA = 00031A21
> isolinux: Sectors to load = 0004
> isolinux: Disk error 01, AX = 4221, Drive 9F
> =====================
> 
> So any info would be appreciated, even one thats says that its BIOS fault.
> 

It's the BIOS' fault.  If this is an Award BIOS I received a very sick 
patch that basically patches the BIOS when it rips its own guts out (it 
doesn't install some essential code if it doesn't have a hard drive in 
the system, and someone figured out how to rewrite the BIOS to do the 
right thing, and patch this at runtime... SICK SICK SICK but useful :)

On that general note... I still find it somewhat odd that people can 
actually suspect the BIOS, and yet rattle off an impressive amount of 
information about their hardware, and never once mention the first thing 
about what BIOS or motherboard they're running...

	-hpa