[syslinux] syslinux.efi and vendor-class-identifier

[Gene Cumm]

On Mon, Oct 7, 2019 at 3:59 PM James Pearson via Syslinux
<syslinux at syslinux.org> wrote:
> Ady Ady via Syslinux wrote:

> >> However, I have just tested the exact same boot procedure using a Dell
> >> laptop (Latitude 7480) - and it all worked without a problem - that is,
> >> syslinux.efi and ldlinux.e64 were downloaded without a problem - and
> >> from a tcpdump, there was *no* DHCP transaction between downloading
> >> syslinux.efi and ldlinux.e64
> >>
> >> So I'm puzzled as to why it doesn't work on the Dell 3930 - may be a
> >> firmware bug/feature (it is running the latest firmware) ?
> >
> >
> > Reminder: syslinux.efi 6.04-pre1 does not support Secure Boot. Secure
> > Boot needs to be set "off".
>
> Secure boot is off

All of the aforementioned output should be from SYSLINUX though it'd
be better if the first line said so.

> > Please also note that the behavior of this Dell 3930 system might vary,
> > depending on the firmware's options; see below.
> >
> >  From the manual for the Dell 3930 system:
> >
> >
> > Network adapter:
> > Integrated Intel 10/100/1000 Mb/s Ethernet (RJ45)
> > Integrated Aquantia 10 GB/s Ethernet (RJ45)
> >
> >
> > Integrated NIC:
> > Allows you to control the onboard LAN controller. The option ‘Enable
> > UEFI Network Stack’ is not selected by default. The options are:
> > * Disabled
> > * Enabled
> > * Enabled w/PXE (default)
> >
> >
> > Integrated NIC2:
> > Allows you to control the onboard LAN controller. The option ‘Enable
> > UEFI Network Stack’ is not selected by default. The options are:
> > * Disabled
> > * Enabled (default)
> > * Enabled w/PXE
> >
> >
> > UEFI Network Stack
> > Allows pre-OS and early OS networking features to use any enabled NICs.
> > This may be used without PXE turned on.
> > * Enable UEFI Network Stack
> > * Default - (Disabled)
> >
> >
> > So, maybe these "BIOS" options (among others) might need to be changed
> > for syslinux.efi to work correctly with this system/NIC(s).
>
> I've tried virtually every combination of the set up options for the
> NICs ... including disabling one of the NICs so the system only sees one
> NIC i.e. at least one NIC needs to be enabled with PXE and the UEFI
> Network Stack enabled

See also above.

> But nothing improves the situation

Thanks for trying various combinations.  If I were in your "shoes",
I'd definitely be trying one NIC enabled with PXE at a time across all
just out of stubbornness with either all others disabled, all enabled,
all of same kind enabled and all of same kind disabled.

> > Perhaps a PXE boot in CSM mode, using pxelinux.0 + ldlinux.c32 from the
> > same 6.04-pre1 version would show a different behavior in this same
> > system.
>
> You can set up the system to PXE boot in legacy BIOS mode (which I'm
> guessing is CSM mode?) - and I _can_ install CentOS 7 via pxelinux.0 etc
> (we're using the pxelinux.0 supplied in the syslinux RPM that comes with
> CentOS - which I think is v4 ?) - however, as the Dell 3930 does not
> support booting from internal devices in legacy BIOS mode, it is
> impossible to then boot the installed system :-)
>
> i.e. the reason I'm going down the EFI route

Oh how overjoyed I am to find a new mode of failure.

On Mon, Oct 7, 2019 at 12:05 PM James Pearson via Syslinux
<syslinux at syslinux.org> wrote:

>   Getting cached packet
>   My IP is 10.64.79.186
>   core_udp_sendto: stalling on configure with no mapping
>   core_udp_sendto: aborting on no mapping
>   disable UseDefaultAddress
>   core_udp_sendto: udp->Configure() unsuccessful (20)

So the 3rd/4th line would have been printed within ~1 second after the
"My IP is" statement.  At least we have a value for the error
"EFI_ALREADY_STARTED".  I'f I'm reading the protocol book right, we
already have an open handle and it's refusing as a result.  I'd guess
when we attempt to use "UseDefaultAddress", it triggers the DHCP
Discover.

As a side note, some installers support booting in BIOS mode with the
CSM then installing to disk for UEFI boot.  I've also seen firmware
config options like "Allow legacy OROMs" that may help for BIOS boot.

-- 
-Gene