[syslinux] tftpd-hpa

[Bob Parnes]

Hello,

I need help in setting up tftpd-hpa to send a kernel to a client,
on a debian woody installation. I did manage the feat when using tftpd
to send a kernel to a client which had a separate network interface card,
but I would like to do it with integrated LAN. Trials with tftpd
failed with error messages starting with 'PXE', and later I learned that
tftpd-hpa is needed for the PXE protocol. But tftpd-hpa has not worked with
either of two motherboards, a Biostar M7VKQ motherboard with a realtek 
rtl 8100 LAN, which uses the 8139TOO driver, and an Intel 845 BG motherboard 
with an Intel 82562ET LAN, which requires the eepro100 driver. At first I 
tried using the Intel as server and the Biostar as client, and, when that did
not work, reversed the roles to see if the problem is due to hardware.

Apparently, with either unit, the kernel must be less than 512 KB, otherwise
I get error messages. I could not reduce the size sufficiently with a 2.4 
kernel, so I have been working with a 2.2.21 kernel. With both motherboards, 
dhcp manages to communicate the IP addresses, after which tftpd starts. 
But nothing happens, and eventually I see timeout error messages and failure.

One thing I tried was to use different values for the --ip option in mknbi,
e.g. "rom", "none", and the long form 
IP-host:IP-client:gateway:broadcast:client-name, with no different result.

What I thought was happening is that tftpd-hpa cannot find the kernel, but it
does find it when the kernel is too large. However, the configuration I am
using is as follows. On the intel machine, the system uses xinetd, and the 
tftpd lines in xinetd.conf are,
----------------------------------------
service tftp
{
	socket_type     = dgram
	protocol        = udp
	wait            = yes
	user            = root
	server          = /usr/sbin/in.tftpd
	server_args     = -s /tftpboot
}
----------------------------------------

The biostar computer still uses inetd, and the corresponding line in
/etc/inetd.conf is,
--------------------------------------------------------------------
tftp  dgram   udp     wait    root  /usr/sbin/in.tftpd -s /tftpboot
--------------------------------------------------------------------

In case explanation is required, debian installed tftpd-hpa as in.tftpd,
and the version reported is 0.28. I examined the archives on this mailing
list, which is where I got the entry for xinetd.conf, but apparently 
everyone else is succeeding where I have failed. So I would be grateful
for any help. Thanks.

Bob Parnes

-- 
Bob Parnes
rparnes at megalink.net