[Linux-ia64] issues of Linux 2.3.99 installed on BigSur EFI 1.00 [12.15]

[Linux-ia64] issues of Linux 2.3.99 installed on BigSur EFI 1.00 [12.15]

[yiding_wang]

We have two BigSur system experiencing hard time on Linux 2.3.99 scsi
interface:
-------------------------
System #1:
Configuration  - EFI 1.00 [12.15], upgrade by Intel from A-1 stepping to A-3
stepping
                        Qlogic BIOS 1.15
                        Qla1280 Firmware 8.13.08
                        1GB RAM, 9GB scsi hard drive
Problem - System booted fine and most IO test OK before the upgrade.  After
upgrade,
               BIOS can see the scsi device
               EFI also see the files on the drive
               "eli vmlinux root=/dev/sda3" will fail due to cannot found
/dev/sda3
               Tried other possible device node but none of them works.
               Re-install Linux 2.3.99 (TurboLinux) also failed on the same
problem.

Note: for system #1, windows2000 64 installation and running OK!
----------------------------------
System #2:
Configuration  - EFI 0.99 [12.25], A-2 stepping
                        Qlogic BIOS 1.15
                        Qla1280 Firmware 8.13.08
                        1GB RAM, 9GB scsi hard drive
Problem - System failed during the boot.  All scsi command timed out and
aborted after
               BIOS, EFI and eli sees the device.
-----------------------------------

Is anyone can help on these issues?

Also could someone explain a little bit about the EFI and eil loading
process, what are they stand for and basic function among BIOS, EFI and eli?

Many thanks!

-eddie

 

Re: [Linux-ia64] issues of Linux 2.3.99 installed on BigSur EFI 1.00

[Uros Prestor]

yiding_wang@agilent.com wrote:

> Problem - System booted fine and most IO test OK before the upgrade.  After
> upgrade,
>                BIOS can see the scsi device
>                EFI also see the files on the drive
>                "eli vmlinux root=/dev/sda3" will fail due to cannot found
> /dev/sda3
>                Tried other possible device node but none of them works.

Could you send the dmesg output?  This will tell us the kernel version and the
devices kernel recognizes.

To get the dmesg output boot from CD and set root to your
CD-ROM (root=/dev/hda, /dev/hdb, ...).  Once you are in the installer press
Alt-F2 and you should see a bash prompt.  Now mount a LS-120 floppy on
/mnt/floppy (your LS-120 might be something other than /dev/hdb):

     # mount /dev/hdb /mnt/floppy
     # dmesg >/mnt/floppy/dmesg.out
     # umount /mnt/floppy

> Problem - System failed during the boot.  All scsi command timed out and
> aborted after
>                BIOS, EFI and eli sees the device.

SCSI timeouts usually happen when eli passes incorrect interrupt vectors to the
kernel.  I suggest that you update the eli on your system.  The latest eli RPM
is available at:

     ftp://ftp.turbolinux.com/pub/ia64/0505/updates/RPMS/ia64/eli-0.4.0-2.ia64.rpm

Uros

--
Uros Prestor
uros@turbolinux.com

Re: [Linux-ia64] issues of Linux 2.3.99 installed on BigSur EFI 1.00 [12.15]

[Johannes Erdfelt]

On Tue, Jul 11, 2000, yiding_wang@agilent.com <yiding_wang@agilent.com> wrote:
> We have two BigSur system experiencing hard time on Linux 2.3.99 scsi
> interface:
> -------------------------
> System #1:
> Configuration  - EFI 1.00 [12.15], upgrade by Intel from A-1 stepping to A-3
> stepping
>                         Qlogic BIOS 1.15
>                         Qla1280 Firmware 8.13.08
>                         1GB RAM, 9GB scsi hard drive
> Problem - System booted fine and most IO test OK before the upgrade.  After
> upgrade,
>                BIOS can see the scsi device
>                EFI also see the files on the drive
>                "eli vmlinux root=/dev/sda3" will fail due to cannot found
> /dev/sda3
>                Tried other possible device node but none of them works.
>                Re-install Linux 2.3.99 (TurboLinux) also failed on the same
> problem.

ELI does not attempt to understand the root partition. It's simply passed
to the kernel which then attempts some magic.

I assume that the kernel gives an error message that it cannot find the
device?

> Note: for system #1, windows2000 64 installation and running OK!
> ----------------------------------
> System #2:
> Configuration  - EFI 0.99 [12.25], A-2 stepping
>                         Qlogic BIOS 1.15
>                         Qla1280 Firmware 8.13.08
>                         1GB RAM, 9GB scsi hard drive
> Problem - System failed during the boot.  All scsi command timed out and
> aborted after
>                BIOS, EFI and eli sees the device.
> -----------------------------------
> 
> Is anyone can help on these issues?
> 
> Also could someone explain a little bit about the EFI and eil loading
> process, what are they stand for and basic function among BIOS, EFI and eli?
> 
> Many thanks!

ELI stands for EFI Linux Loader. It's similar to LILO, but is specific to
ia64 (for now) and EFI.

It doesn't use the BIOS at all. It uses EFI to load the image for the
kernel (usually the hard drive) and obtains configuration information (IRQ
routing) and some other tables, frees memory (both from ELI and EFI) then
executes the kernel.

The kernel should atleast start to boot. Getting any error messages from
you would be very useful to try to troubleshoot the problem you're seeing.

JE