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O2 and 128Mb

DISCUSSION Giuseppe Sacco 7 participants 13 messages Jan 13, 2005 – Jan 22, 2005 MIPS

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#0 lore raw

[Hope this isn't OT]
Hi,
I have an O2 with 128Mb and I cannot boot any of the latest kernels (CVS form december up to now.) If I remember right, I was told that the problem is in arcboot, but it might be in the kernel too.

Does anyone else have the same problem here? Where do I find CVS for arcboot in order to get a newer version?

Thanks,
Giuseppe

#1 lore raw

"Cannot boot" is not very good describtion of the problem.

Quoted 15 lines · Giuseppe Sacco

[Hope this isn't OT]
Hi,
I have an O2 with 128Mb and I cannot boot any of the latest kernels (CVS form december up to now.) If I remember right, I was told that the problem is in arcboot, but it might be in the kernel too.

Does anyone else have the same problem here? Where do I find CVS for arcboot in order to get a newer version?

Thanks,
Giuseppe

#2 lore raw

Il giorno mer, 12-01-2005 alle 23:49 -0800, Ilya A. Volynets-Evenbakh ha scritto:

Quoted 2 lines

"Cannot boot" is not very good describtion of the problem.

You are right.
Arcboot is Debian version 0.3.8.4. I select the stanza arcboot should use, with 'setenv OSLoadFilename <stanza>" and the kernel is loaded. Then it s ran and the only change I see is the red led blinking. The screen messages are:

Loading program segment 1 at 0x80004000, offset=0x4000, size = 0x3df086 Zeroing memory at 0x803e3086, size = 0x2bf9a
Starting 32-bit kernel

Bye,
Giuseppe

#3 lore raw

Please set up serial console, and find out where kernel crashes. It is pretty obvious that happens before gbefb is initialized, but after ip32-reset is setup (which sets up timer to blink the LED), thus should be able to give you some output on serial port.

Oh, and what does it have to do with fact you have 128M of RAM?

Quoted 25 lines · Giuseppe Sacco

Il giorno mer, 12-01-2005 alle 23:49 -0800, Ilya A. Volynets-Evenbakh ha scritto:

Quoted 4 lines

"Cannot boot" is not very good describtion of the problem.

You are right.
Arcboot is Debian version 0.3.8.4. I select the stanza arcboot should use, with 'setenv OSLoadFilename <stanza>" and the kernel is loaded. Then it s ran and the only change I see is the red led blinking. The screen messages are:

Loading program segment 1 at 0x80004000, offset=0x4000, size = 0x3df086 Zeroing memory at 0x803e3086, size = 0x2bf9a
Starting 32-bit kernel

Bye,
Giuseppe

#4 lore raw

Il giorno gio, 13-01-2005 alle 11:26 -0800, Ilya A. Volynets-Evenbakh ha scritto:

Quoted 4 lines

Please set up serial console, and find out where kernel crashes. It is pretty obvious that happens before gbefb is initialized, but after ip32-reset is setup (which sets up timer to blink the LED), thus should be able to give you some output on serial port.

Sorry for being late,
I tried: I found a laptop equipped with serial port, plugged a nullmodem serial cable on the laptop serial port and on the serial port labeled "1" of the O2 machine. I started minicom on the laptop and selected ttyS0, 9600, 8bit, noparity, 1 stop bit.

Then changed in /etc/arcboot.conf, my append line from append="root=/dev/sda1" to append="root=/dev/sda1 console=ttyS0,9600n8 console=tty0"

shutdown the O2, unplugged power cable, waited, plugged, swithed on. Then I changed the OSLoadFilename correctly, and typed "boot".

During the supposed boot, minicom doesn't display *any* character. It just change the online label from "00:00" to "00:01". Nothing more,

Then, as already explained, the red led on the SGI O2 starts blinking.

I then tried the same "append" line with my working kernel and it worked as expected: writing to both the serial console and the O2 screen.

How may I better debug the problem? Anyone have a working kernel or, maybe, a newer arcboot?

Thanks,
Giuseppe

Il giorno gio, 13-01-2005 alle 11:26 -0800, Ilya A. Volynets-Evenbakh ha scritto:

Quoted 34 lines

Please set up serial console, and find out where kernel crashes. It is pretty obvious that happens before gbefb is initialized, but after ip32-reset is setup (which sets up timer to blink the LED), thus should be able to give you some output on serial port.

Oh, and what does it have to do with fact you have 128M of RAM?

Quoted 25 lines · Giuseppe Sacco

Il giorno mer, 12-01-2005 alle 23:49 -0800, Ilya A. Volynets-Evenbakh ha scritto:

Quoted 4 lines

"Cannot boot" is not very good describtion of the problem.

You are right.
Arcboot is Debian version 0.3.8.4. I select the stanza arcboot should use, with 'setenv OSLoadFilename <stanza>" and the kernel is loaded. Then it s ran and the only change I see is the red led blinking. The screen messages are:

Loading program segment 1 at 0x80004000, offset=0x4000, size = 0x3df086 Zeroing memory at 0x803e3086, size = 0x2bf9a
Starting 32-bit kernel

Bye,
Giuseppe

#5 lore raw

drop the console=tty0 part

Quoted 78 lines · Giuseppe Sacco

Il giorno gio, 13-01-2005 alle 11:26 -0800, Ilya A. Volynets-Evenbakh ha scritto:

Quoted 6 lines

Please set up serial console, and find out where kernel crashes. It is pretty obvious that happens before gbefb is initialized, but after ip32-reset is setup (which sets up timer to blink the LED), thus should be able to give you some output on serial port.

Sorry for being late,
I tried: I found a laptop equipped with serial port, plugged a nullmodem serial cable on the laptop serial port and on the serial port labeled "1" of the O2 machine. I started minicom on the laptop and selected ttyS0, 9600, 8bit, noparity, 1 stop bit.

Then changed in /etc/arcboot.conf, my append line from append="root=/dev/sda1" to append="root=/dev/sda1 console=ttyS0,9600n8 console=tty0"

shutdown the O2, unplugged power cable, waited, plugged, swithed on. Then I changed the OSLoadFilename correctly, and typed "boot".

During the supposed boot, minicom doesn't display *any* character. It just change the online label from "00:00" to "00:01". Nothing more,

Then, as already explained, the red led on the SGI O2 starts blinking.

I then tried the same "append" line with my working kernel and it worked as expected: writing to both the serial console and the O2 screen.

How may I better debug the problem? Anyone have a working kernel or, maybe, a newer arcboot?

Thanks,
Giuseppe

Il giorno gio, 13-01-2005 alle 11:26 -0800, Ilya A. Volynets-Evenbakh ha scritto:

Quoted 36 lines

Please set up serial console, and find out where kernel crashes. It is pretty obvious that happens before gbefb is initialized, but after ip32-reset is setup (which sets up timer to blink the LED), thus should be able to give you some output on serial port.

Oh, and what does it have to do with fact you have 128M of RAM?

Quoted 26 lines · Giuseppe Sacco

Il giorno mer, 12-01-2005 alle 23:49 -0800, Ilya A. Volynets-Evenbakh ha scritto:

Quoted 6 lines

"Cannot boot" is not very good describtion of the problem.

You are right.
Arcboot is Debian version 0.3.8.4. I select the stanza arcboot should use, with 'setenv OSLoadFilename <stanza>" and the kernel is loaded. Then it s ran and the only change I see is the red led blinking. The screen messages are:

Loading program segment 1 at 0x80004000, offset=0x4000, size = 0x3df086 Zeroing memory at 0x803e3086, size = 0x2bf9a
Starting 32-bit kernel

Bye,
Giuseppe

Signature · 3 lines
Ilya A. Volynets-Evenbakh
Total Knowledge. CTO
http://www.total-knowledge.com
#6 lore raw

Il giorno ven, 21-01-2005 alle 12:40 -0800, Ilya A. Volynets-Evenbakh ha scritto:

Quoted 1 line

drop the console=tty0 part

I think my O2 just blowed up :-(
Actually it doesn't switch on. Even unplugging and plugging again the power cord, it stay off.

Fortunately, I have a second machine that I may use for tests, while I'll find the problem with the first one. The second machine is the same model of the first one. I just swapped disks and cable and made your
test: nothing changed.

Actually it is still blocked there: blinking the red led, while showing the "Starting 32-bit kernel" on the screen. How do I reset an O2?

Bye,
Giuseppe

#7 lore raw
Quoted 4 lines · Giuseppe Sacco

I think my O2 just blowed up :-(
Actually it doesn't switch on. Even unplugging and plugging again the power cord, it stay off.

Pull the mainboard out, find the flash-clear jumper, cover it with a nearby jumper cap (this jumper and cap should be near the RTC, a Dallas chip). Pop the board back into the system, and see if it powers on. If it does, power back off, remove the jumper cap, and then power back up, and it should power up fine.

If nothing happens, you probably cooked the power supply. O2's are apparently
known for blowing power supplies, though. Replacements can be easily found
on eBay.

Quoted 4 lines

Fortunately, I have a second machine that I may use for tests, while I'll find the problem with the first one. The second machine is the same model of the first one. I just swapped disks and cable and made your
test: nothing changed.

Drop minicom, I get nothing but trouble with it. Use "xc", a small, simple dial program. If it's not on your system, you'll have to install it via whatever means your working distro provides, then do this:

xc -l/dev/ttyS0

Quoted 2 lines

set bps <O2 baud rate>
t

After typing 't' and pressing enter, you'll be dropped to terminal mode. Try powering on the O2 at this point, and see if you get any output. If not, you may have the O2 rigged to still boot the graphical console. To fix this, you will need to hook up a monitor, mouse, and keyboard, get into the PROM, and:

Quoted 2 lines

setenv console d1
setenv dbaud <desired baud rate>

Then poweroff, and remove the keyboard, mouse, and monitor (if the O2 PROM detects these as being attached, it may still boot graphical), and try to reboot again to see if you get anything on xc's terminal.

To boot the kernel, make sure you pass "console=ttyS0,<baud rate>" to it, cause for me, w/o it, the kernel will sometimes not pick up the serial port, and thus you won't see any output (but the kernel will still boot (or attempt to)).

If all else fails, replace the serial cable. Sometimes they just don't work for whatever reason.

Quoted 2 lines

Actually it is still blocked there: blinking the red led, while showing the "Starting 32-bit kernel" on the screen. How do I reset an O2?

The flashing red LED is implying the kernel booted, then paniced suddenly. Until you get the console working in whatever fashion, you won't know why.

--Kumba

Signature · 1 line
"Such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere." --Elrond
#8 lore raw
Quoted 7 lines · Kumba
Quoted 4 lines · Giuseppe Sacco

Fortunately, I have a second machine that I may use for tests, while I'll find the problem with the first one. The second machine is the same model of the first one. I just swapped disks and cable and made your
test: nothing changed.

Drop minicom, I get nothing but trouble with it. Use "xc", a small, simple

Indeed.

Quoted 4 lines

dial program. If it's not on your system, you'll have to install it via whatever means your working distro provides, then do this:

xc -l/dev/ttyS0

Or you can try cu' (apt-get install cu').

Gr{oetje,eeting}s,

Geert

--
Geert Uytterhoeven -- There's lots of Linux beyond ia32 -- [email protected]

In personal conversations with technical people, I call myself a hacker. But when I'm talking to journalists I just say "programmer" or something like that.
-- Linus Torvalds

#9 lore raw

Hi,

[del]

Quoted 3 lines
Quoted 1 line

Drop minicom, I get nothing but trouble with it. Use "xc", a small, simple

Indeed.

We couldn't agree more, I suppose ;-)

Quoted 6 lines
Quoted 4 lines

dial program. If it's not on your system, you'll have to install it via whatever means your working distro provides, then do this:

xc -l/dev/ttyS0

Or you can try cu' (apt-get install cu').

Or kermit, my personal favourite. "set line /dev/ttyS0" in your .kermrc, or kermit -l /dev/ttyS0.

HTH,
Uli

Signature · 3 lines
Dipl. Inf. Ulrich Teichert|e-mail: [email protected]
Stormweg 24               |listening to: Suicide Drive (The Deep Eynde)
24539 Neumuenster, Germany|Public Pervert (Interpol) Cauchemar (Opération S)
#10 lore raw

Ulrich Teichert wrote:
[snip]

Quoted 9 lines
Quoted 6 lines
Quoted 4 lines

dial program. If it's not on your system, you'll have to install it via whatever means your working distro provides, then do this:

xc -l/dev/ttyS0

Or you can try cu' (apt-get install cu').

Or kermit, my personal favourite. "set line /dev/ttyS0" in your .kermrc, or kermit -l /dev/ttyS0.

Just for completeness:

screen /dev/ttyS0

Thiemo

#11 lore raw
In reply to Kumba
Quoted 7 lines · Kumba
Quoted 3 lines · Giuseppe Sacco

I think my O2 just blowed up :-(
Actually it doesn't switch on. Even unplugging and plugging again the power cord, it stay off.

Pull the mainboard out, find the flash-clear jumper, cover it with a nearby jumper cap (this jumper and cap should be near the RTC, a Dallas chip). Pop the board back into the system, and see if it powers on. If it does, power back off, remove the jumper cap, and then power back up, and it should power up fine.

Thank you very much: this solved the problem and the O2 is now back again.

[...]

Quoted 1 line

Drop minicom, I get nothing but trouble with it. Use "xc", a small, simple dial program. If it's not on your system, you'll have to install it via whatever means your working distro provides, then do this:

Now I tried using minicom, cu and xc. All of them gave me the same result: nothing. Please note that, using the same configuration, I may see the console output if I use the actual kernel.

The kernel that isn't working is almost any kernel compiled from about start of december. (Prior to this I never managed to compile a kernel from CVS sources.)

In order to compile the kernel, I cd /usr/local/src/linux and type:

Quoted 1 line

make-kpkg --revision $(date +%Y%m%d) --rootcmd sudo kernel-image

Any other idea?
Giuseppe

P.S. When compiling I always get this error:
SHIPPED scripts/kconfig/lex.zconf.c
HOSTCC scripts/kconfig/zconf.tab.o
HOSTLD scripts/kconfig/conf
scripts/kconfig/conf -o arch/mips/Kconfig arch/mips/Kconfig:1598: can't open file "arch/mips/oprofile/Kconfig" make[2]: *** [oldconfig] Error 1
make[1]: *** [oldconfig] Error 2