Cobalt Qube2 boot problem

cioannou · Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 8:02 pm Post subject: Cobalt Qube2 boot problem

After completing installation steps (according to handbook), tried to "reboot" , the command did not work so I had to "power off" and back on.

The system started booting and gave me the following message.

Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(3,5)

And now I cannot even netboot like before....

Partition table:

hda:
hda1 /boot ext2
hda2 < hda5 hda6 >

hda5 / reiserfs (couldn't use ext3 because mke2fs -j /dev/hda5 was giving an error)
hda6 swap

--

The kernel was built:

a) make cobalt_defconfig
b) make vmlinux modules modules_install
c) cp vmlinux /boot/kernel-2.6.16.17
d) gzip -9v /boot/kernel-2.6.16.17

Boot process:

mount hda1
...
execute root=/dev/hda5 ro console=ttyS0,115200

Any suggestions??
_________________
If windows fails, who you gonna call? Re-install......

Redhatter · Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 2:44 am Post subject:

Can you check your kernel's .config for ReiserFS support? On mine, I have CONFIG_REISERFS_FS=m. You'll need CONFIG_REISERFS_FS=y to use ReiserFS as a root filesystem (which is not recommended).

grep REISER /path/to/.config should tell you what you're after.

Incidentally... what happens when you try to netboot?
_________________
Stuart Longland (a.k.a Redhatter, VK4MSL)
I haven't lost my mind - it's backed up on a tape somewhere...

Gentoo/MIPS Cobalt developer, Mozilla herd member.

cioannou · Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 8:08 am Post subject:

Thanks for the reply, it seems u are the alternative platforms guru around here (u had helped me with the Octane also)...

Firstly, i selected reiserfs because "mke2fs -j /dev/hda5" failed miserably, so I selected the next alternative, why do u say it's not a good idea to have reiserfs on root?

As for netboot, the steps in this machine were:

a) Cobalt OS
b) Use NetBSD cobalt CD to install netBSD
c) netboot Gentoo (followed handbook instructions "make cobalt_defconfig", did not burn the colo image into qube's firmware, only emerged colo)
d) netboot never worked again!!!

For some reason the netboot process is destroyed, when I press the <- -> buttons it displays "Netbooting" but nothing happens , it reboots and boots from hda.

finally I managed to:

nfs 192.168.1.2 /nfsroot kernel.gz
boot 2
execute .... root=/dev/ram0

It booted now, so I mounted the hda5 and left it to compile the kernel with support for all major fsystems.

I also copied the netboot files to hda1 (/boot) hoping that since it mounts it from the boot menu (serial console) it might also be able to use the netboot kernel to boot in case something else breaks.

Is it possible to make an installation CD, just like NetBSD's or at least have a lilo like menu to select which kernel to boot (netboot kernel or mine)?
_________________
If windows fails, who you gonna call? Re-install......

Redhatter · Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 8:18 am Post subject:

cioannou · Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 8:59 pm Post subject:

cioannou · Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 7:01 am Post subject:

Ok, it boots now, I also compiled in tmpfs and it just worked.

The missing things for now are reboot , shutdown , halt.
_________________
If windows fails, who you gonna call? Re-install......

cioannou · Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2006 8:04 am Post subject:

Do you know why "reboot, shutdown , halt" don't work? If I run shutdown it does nothing. Have I forgotten something?

Also, during startup it does the following:

a) Probes for hdc, hdd which dont exist, can I stop that?
b) Tries to start other terminals which I have commented in /etc/inittab
c) There is no /var/log/messages file why is that?

Thank you for your time
_________________
If windows fails, who you gonna call? Re-install......

Redhatter · Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2006 10:39 am Post subject:

What happens when you type halt? Does init 0 work?

As for the other issues...

The probing hdc/hdd issue, is simply due to there being nothing plugged into the secondary (nonexistant) IDE controller. It's not just an issue on the Cobalt, it's an issue on any platform that uses IDE. I hit the same issue on my x86 desktop. A fix is unknown, I've just put up with the minor boot delay.

With the terminal issue... not sure, if you've commented out the c0->c6 lines, it shouldn't start them. I'd double check you've commented out the right entries.

On the /var/log/messages... you need a system logger before that file will appear. Even then, this is logger-specific... I tend to use metalog, which doesn't create a /var/log/messages.

Ohh... and a tip... if you ask a question in #gentoo-mips, please give us more than 2Âµsec to answer your question. :-)

We don't live on IRC, and thus won't be watching every minute of the day.
_________________
Stuart Longland (a.k.a Redhatter, VK4MSL)
I haven't lost my mind - it's backed up on a tape somewhere...

Gentoo/MIPS Cobalt developer, Mozilla herd member.

cioannou · Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2006 4:12 pm Post subject:

Forgot to tell you, init 0 also does nothing , it gives me the message that the system will shutdown but it doesn't.

Have already checked inittab for the terminal entries, they are commented.

And for /var/log/messages, I made the same assumption as you and re-emerged syslog-ng, no change.
_________________
If windows fails, who you gonna call? Re-install......

Redhatter · Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2006 12:51 am Post subject:

Is syslog-ng being started?

Incidentally, which stage tarball are you using?
_________________
Stuart Longland (a.k.a Redhatter, VK4MSL)
I haven't lost my mind - it's backed up on a tape somewhere...

Gentoo/MIPS Cobalt developer, Mozilla herd member.

cioannou · Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 10:41 am Post subject:

syslog-ng is ok now , for some reason it needed me to create the file myself and "restart" the daemon, don' t know why.

I used the stage3 tarball.
_________________
If windows fails, who you gonna call? Re-install......

Redhatter · Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 11:26 am Post subject:

Ummm which stage 3 tarball? 2004.3, 2005.0, 2005.1, 2006.0?
_________________
Stuart Longland (a.k.a Redhatter, VK4MSL)
I haven't lost my mind - it's backed up on a tape somewhere...

Gentoo/MIPS Cobalt developer, Mozilla herd member.