[syslinux] extlinux vs. HP DL360 G4p

H. Peter Anvin hpa at zytor.com
Tue Mar 30 23:52:41 PDT 2010


On 03/30/2010 11:29 PM, BuraphaLinux Server wrote:
> Hello List,
> 
>     I have been told to get linux running on two HP DL360G4p machines
> (ancient rackmount xeon stuff).  Unfortunately, while isolinux boots
> fine from CDROM, and extlinux can boot a USB stick, I cannot get
> extlinux to boot from the CCISS hard disks (two disks in hardware raid
> 1 configuration).  I searched on google a lot, and found (very old,
> many years ago) messages saying these machines have bad BIOS and we
> should upgrade.  We did find a 2007 BIOS upgrade CD iso image from HP,
> but it claimed the machines were up-to-date.
> 
>     1. Is this still a known issue?
>     2. If so, is there a known workaround besides changing
> bootloaders, or booting the machine from a cdrom every time?
> 

1. it is, but it's not the issue you're seeing (rather, it has to do
   with booting from disk after a network boot.

> We were using extlinux from syslinux-3.85 compiled for 32 bit to boot
> 64 bit linux-2.6.32.10.   Everything works for all our other
> equipment, just not these specific machines.
> 
>      We are scheduled to go back on site in two days to try again, and
> I was hoping somebody on this list has experience with this hardware
> and can provide some hints on what to try.  When we boot, we don't get
> a single byte on the screen from syslinux, the machine just hangs.  We
> did wait 5 minutes just in case it was slow, but that didn't help.  We
> used vesamenu, but the exact same vesamenu works great with isolinux
> booted from a CDROM, so I don't think it is a graphics card issue.
> 
>     This is with the 'Smart Array 6i Controller'.  The information we
> could get form the BIOS with F9 was this:
> 
> Product Id: 380325-371
> HP BIOS P54 08/16/2005
> Backup Version 08/16/2005
> Bootblock 03/16/2004
> 
> The cpu is Xeon 3 ghz Family 15, Model ID 4, Stepping 3, and
> hyperthreading and no-execute are enabled in the BIOS.

As I'm sure you can well understand, it's likely to be very hard to
track down this problem without actual access to the hardware.  One
thing you might be able to do (no promises, though) is to use the
"sysdump" utility from syslinux-3.85 to generate a system dump.

	-hpa

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




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