[syslinux] Is there a howto for using redboot to kickoff apxelinux boot?

[Maes Rich]

Geert, to answer your PS. 
I'm trying to bring up Rocks on my little cluster here.  Rocks, depends
on a PXE type mechanism for node installation.  Unfortunatley, my nodes
don't support a CD_ROM for normal kickstart installation, so I am
resorting to using a PXE boot method.  The other unfortunate is that
they have have redboot on them as opposed to ....  almost anything else
that supports PXE. :(

So I am trying this and that to get this little cluster to play with OTS
cluster software.  It's a little frustrating.

I'm going to look into the Etherboot project as you recommend.  In fact
looking at my dhcpd.conf file I see that if the client reports as a
etherboot client, it still gets handed the pxelinux.0 file so there must
be some high synergy there.

Thanks for your help.

Rich Maes
Lead Systems Engineer
Isothermal Systems Research, Inc.
office: 509-232-3458
mobile: 509-701-1356
www.spraycool.com
 

-----Original Message-----
From: syslinux-bounces at zytor.com [mailto:syslinux-bounces at zytor.com] On
Behalf Of Geert Stappers
Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 12:06 PM
To: syslinux at zytor.com
Subject: Re: [syslinux] Is there a howto for using redboot to kickoff
apxelinux boot?

Op 18-07-2007 om 11:15 schreef Maes Rich:
> The subject says it all.
> 
> I'm using rocks cluster software to startup a small blade cluster in
my
> lab.  The blades I have redboot installed on them.  I am able to boot
> any client that has pxeboot capability using my setup, except for
these
> blades.  My thoughs were using redboot commands to do the following:
> 
> 1.	load -v -r -b 0x8000000 -h 10.1.1.1 pxelinux.0
> 2.	start
> 
> This however caused my blade to reboot spontaneously. 
> Should have known it couldn't be that easy.  

    :-)     nobody said it would be easy


> Has anyone attempted this before?


My guess is that redboot binaries have another header format,
then the pxelinux.0 has.

An simple check would be doing

  file pxelinux.0

and

  file a_redboot_executable


After prepending pxelinux.0 with the redboot header info,
you will mostly likely will be missing PXE code in the redboot boot ROM.


My advice is to contact the people from the Etherboot project,
if you want to continue with "pxelinux.0 on redboot"



Cheers
Geert Stappers


P.S.

I wonder why to load pxelinux.0 to load a kernel,
where redboot can load a kernel at once ...

_______________________________________________
SYSLINUX mailing list
Submissions to SYSLINUX at zytor.com
Unsubscribe or set options at:
http://www.zytor.com/mailman/listinfo/syslinux
Please do not send private replies to mailing list traffic.