Re: debian unusable on niagara

[Jurij Smakov <jurij@wooyd.org>]

Hi,

On Thu, Apr 23, 2009 at 07:09:43AM -0700, David Miller wrote:
> 
> I really didn't expect this, and then I saw other users complaining
> too.

Please note that I do not actively work on sparc port anymore. I'm still
poking it a bit whenever I have time, but lately it's been pretty
irregular.
 
> 1) Please remove the PROM console driver from the kernel config, it
>    does nothing but get in the way.  This will fix the "console slow
>    on bootup" problem everyone reports on niagara boxes.
> 
>    Putting "console=ttyHV0" on the kernel command line works as a
>    workaround but it still clears the screen once using the PROM
>    console and even that takes nearly a minute (!).

I'll file a bug against kernel for that. Do you know if removing that
driver could have any unintended consequences for non-Niagara machines?

> 2) Please fix the GETTY setup so that it properly uses ttyS0 on
>    Niagara.  Otherwise people have no console and can't use their
>    machine at all after installation.
> 
>    Ubuntu does this by making sure there is an /etc/event.d/ttyS0
>    file with a line saying "exec /sbin/getty -L ttyS0 9600 vt102"
>    or similar.

Which installer version did you test that with? I've tested the lenny
installer and it worked correctly with serial console (I remember we
pushed some fixes for it pretty late in lenny release cycle).

> Between the ultra45 unbootable problem and these, I'm really losing
> faith... :-/

I believe we fixed it in Lenny r1 release, it would be great to it if
you could upgrade to it and confirm it (or install from scratch using
5.0.1 media from http://www.debian.org/releases/lenny/debian-installer).

Best regards,
-- 
Jurij Smakov                                           jurij@wooyd.org
Key: http://www.wooyd.org/pgpkey/                      KeyID: C99E03CC