[syslinux] PXELINUX + LOCALBOOT disables network within operating system

[H. Peter Anvin]

On 02/24/2010 04:46 AM, Shantanu Gadgil wrote:
> 
> The problem is that if the machine boots onto PXE, and then does a "LOCALBOOT 0", the networking component of the OS stops working !!!
> 
> The motherboard is a TYAN TIGER K8WE
> 
> 00:0a.0 Ethernet controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 Ethernet Controller (rev a3)

This is a known interaction between the PXE driver and the OS driver for
this particular device.  It even happens on some versions of the Windows
driver.

It's unclear to me who to blame for it, but since upgrading the PXE
driver is often very hard for people (it means a BIOS upgrade, if one
even exists), I think that the OS driver would need to deal with it no
matter what.

My understanding is that current Linux and Windows drivers do the right
thing with regards to initializing the device properly, but older ones fail.

	-hpa

-- 
H. Peter Anvin, Intel Open Source Technology Center
I work for Intel.  I don't speak on their behalf.