[parisc-linux] IBM 3151 on K200 in Debian 3.0

[parisc-linux] IBM 3151 on K200 in Debian 3.0

[Walker White]

I have scoured the FAQ and mailing lists.  Supposedly this has been  
resolved, but I am having the same old problems.

I just inherited an old K200 which I want to give my students as a  
"play" machine.  I am trying to install Debian 3.0 on it.  When I got  
the machine, it had no console whatsoever.  So I grabbed an old IBM  
3151 and plugged into the machine.  Works, no problem.  I can boot into  
HPUX just fine (which is still on the machine).

I tried to boot to the CD.  After a few stack dumps, a learned from the  
mailing list that I needed to change my console to ttyB0 from ttyS0.   
No more stack dumps.  However, after the message that says I might not  
see anything (and hence need to switch consoles), I do not see  
anything.  Supposedly this issue was fixed in the install CDs (at least  
that is what mailing list says), but doesn't seem so to me.

Is this an issue with the install CDs, or do I need to do something  
funky with the IBM 3151?

------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
-----------------------
| Walker White                                                           
  Assistant Professor  |
| wmwhite@udallas.edu                                                    
Dept. of Mathematics  |
| 972 -721-5380                                                          
University of Dallas  |
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
-----------------------

Re: [parisc-linux] IBM 3151 on K200 in Debian 3.0

[Thibaut VARÈNE]

Looks like you've been rather unlucky with your search :-P

On the m-l page (http://www.parisc-linux.org/mailing-lists/) this mail
http://lists.parisc-linux.org/pipermail/parisc-linux/2003-March/=20
019399.html
would have told you to look at:
1) http://pateam.esiee.fr/doc.html for a boot howto
and at
5) http://pateam.esiee.fr/list.html for per machine details.

The latter link would have told you that for K200 you need PDC_CONSOLE =20=

which is enabled by default on the netinst isos available from both =20
pateam and parisc-linux.org, and would also have pointed you at all the =20=

data you need to install your box with the following useful m-l thread:

http://lists.parisc-linux.org/pipermail/parisc-linux/2002-September/=20
017840.html

details being also present in the boot howto afore mentioned...

HTH,


Thibaut VARENE
The PA/Linux ESIEE Team
http://pateam.esiee.fr/

Le jeudi, 9 oct 2003, =E0 20:26 Europe/Paris, Walker White a =E9crit :

> I have scoured the FAQ and mailing lists.  Supposedly this has been =20=

> resolved, but I am having the same old problems.
>
> I just inherited an old K200 which I want to give my students as a =20
> "play" machine.  I am trying to install Debian 3.0 on it.  When I got =20=

> the machine, it had no console whatsoever.  So I grabbed an old IBM =20=

> 3151 and plugged into the machine.  Works, no problem.  I can boot =20
> into HPUX just fine (which is still on the machine).
>
> I tried to boot to the CD.  After a few stack dumps, a learned from =20=

> the mailing list that I needed to change my console to ttyB0 from =20
> ttyS0.  No more stack dumps.  However, after the message that says I =20=

> might not see anything (and hence need to switch consoles), I do not =20=

> see anything.  Supposedly this issue was fixed in the install CDs (at =20=

> least that is what mailing list says), but doesn't seem so to me.
>
> Is this an issue with the install CDs, or do I need to do something =20=

> funky with the IBM 3151?
>
> =
-----------------------------------------------------------------------=20=

> ------------------------
> | Walker White                                                         =
=20
>   Assistant Professor  |
> | wmwhite@udallas.edu                                                  =
=20
>  Dept. of Mathematics  |
> | 972 -721-5380                                                        =
=20
>  University of Dallas  |
> =
-----------------------------------------------------------------------=20=

> ------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> parisc-linux mailing list
> parisc-linux@lists.parisc-linux.org
> http://lists.parisc-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/parisc-linux
>
>

Re: [parisc-linux] IBM 3151 on K200 in Debian 3.0

[Walker White]

On Friday, October 10, 2003, at 04:13 AM, Thibaut VAR=C8NE wrote:

> Looks like you've been rather unlucky with your search :-P
> <snip>

Read all those and others.  Other e-mails in that thread referenced =20
seemed to imply that this change had been incorporated into all install =20=

images (as there are no PDC suffixes any more).  So I (incorrectly) =20
assumed that the latest Debian images had this fix.  Debian 3.0 is =20
newer than the 2001 thread that first found this console issue (the =20
2002 thread referenced does not mention the console issue explicitly).

I was wrong; this problem was fixed when I got the PARISC images =20
instead.  But this really should be a line item in the FAQ...

However, now I have another issue caused(?) by the netinstall CD.  =20
Whenever I try to install via ftp or http I get an "cannot download" =20
error on files midway through the base installation process.  For the =20=

longest time it was apt_0.5.4_.  I tried every mirror in reasonable =20
proximity.  No luck.

Finally, I switched to CD install and used the Debian CD (the one that =20=

will not boot to the console).  This works, but then it hangs on =20
bsd_utils.  For hours.  I eventually gave up and rebooted.  And I =20
cannot seem to download this file either.

Anyone have any idea what is going on here?

-Walker

------------------------------------------------------------------------=20=

-----------------------
| Walker White                                                          =20=

  Assistant Professor  |
| wmwhite@udallas.edu                                                   =20=

Dept. of Mathematics  |
| 972 -721-5380                                                         =20=

University of Dallas  |
------------------------------------------------------------------------=20=

-----------------------

Re: [parisc-linux] IBM 3151 on K200 in Debian 3.0

[Thibaut VARÈNE]

Le vendredi, 10 oct 2003, =E0 18:35 Europe/Paris, Walker White a =E9crit =
:
>
> However, now I have another issue caused(?) by the netinstall CD. =20
> Whenever I try to install via ftp or http I get an "cannot download"=20=

> error on files midway through the base installation process.  For the=20=

> longest time it was apt_0.5.4_.  I tried every mirror in reasonable=20
> proximity.  No luck.
>
> Finally, I switched to CD install and used the Debian CD (the one that=20=

> will not boot to the console).  This works, but then it hangs on=20
> bsd_utils.  For hours.  I eventually gave up and rebooted.  And I=20
> cannot seem to download this file either.
>
> Anyone have any idea what is going on here?

How much RAM does your box have?
I have already seen that kind of trouble with boxes shipped with less=20
than 64MB RAM...

It's also possible that these 2.4.22 ISOs are somehow corrupted, but=20
considering the ratio of downloads vs complaints, it seems quite=20
unlikely (or so I hope).
Obviously we can't test all these ISOs as we're building them...


Thibaut VARENE
The PA/Linux ESIEE Team
http://pateam.esiee.fr/=

Re: [parisc-linux] IBM 3151 on K200 in Debian 3.0

[Walker White]

256 MB of RAM (4 64 MB chips).  With 4 2GB SCSI drives.

I managed to get it to work by doing the following:

a) Do network install until reaching a download error.
b) Swap to the Debian CD.
c) Load from Debian CD until a perceptible hang.
d) Reboot machine and remount all drives.
e) Goto (a) and repeat until base install finished.

That seemed to work (just finised a few minutes ago), but now the  
machine does not boot on restart.  I am currently trying to fish the  
kernel off the netinstall CDs (I cannot find vmlinux32 anywhere) --  
just in case the installed kernel is bad.


> How much RAM does your box have?
> I have already seen that kind of trouble with boxes shipped with less  
> than 64MB RAM...
>
> It's also possible that these 2.4.22 ISOs are somehow corrupted, but  
> considering the ratio of downloads vs complaints, it seems quite  
> unlikely (or so I hope).
> Obviously we can't test all these ISOs as we're building them...
>
>
> Thibaut VARENE
> The PA/Linux ESIEE Team
> http://pateam.esiee.fr/
>
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
-----------------------
| Walker White                                                           
  Assistant Professor  |
| wmwhite@udallas.edu                                                    
Dept. of Mathematics  |
| 972 -721-5380                                                          
University of Dallas  |
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
-----------------------

Re: [parisc-linux] IBM 3151 on K200 in Debian 3.0

[Walker White]

Okay.  Almost done here.  That swap trick DID work.  It just did not  
read the K200 manual to see that HP boots from the end of the SCSI  
chain and not the beginning.  So everything is loaded and it boots.

However my boot crashes right after loading cron.  This is possibly a  
result of the fact that some of my packages came from the debian CD and  
not the netinstall.  Here is the error:

***
Starting periodic command scheduler: cron
/bin/sh: /dev/ttyB0: No such device
/bin/sh: /dev/ttyB0: No such device
/bin/sh: /dev/ttyB0: No such device
/bin/sh: /dev/ttyB0: No such device
/bin/sh: /dev/ttyB0: No such device
/bin/sh: /dev/ttyB0: No such device
/bin/sh: /dev/ttyB0: No such device
/bin/sh: /dev/ttyB0: No such device
/bin/sh: /dev/ttyB0: No such device
/bin/sh: /dev/ttyB0: No such device
INIT: Id "T0" respawning to fast: disabled for 5 minutes
INIT: no more processes left in this runlevel

The machine then sleeps for 5 minutes and repeats the error on wake-up  
(so I never get a login).

Using the installation CD, I have opened a shell to verify that there  
is indeed a /dev/ttyB0.  Is this error because I got packages from a  
source other than the netinst CD or is there something else going on  
here?

-Walker

------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
-----------------------
| Walker White                                                           
  Assistant Professor  |
| wmwhite@udallas.edu                                                    
Dept. of Mathematics  |
| 972 -721-5380                                                          
University of Dallas  |
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
-----------------------

Re: [parisc-linux] IBM 3151 on K200 in Debian 3.0

[Thibaut VARÈNE]

Le vendredi, 10 oct 2003, =E0 21:47 Europe/Paris, Walker White a =E9crit =
:

> Okay.  Almost done here.  That swap trick DID work.  It just did not=20=

> read the K200 manual to see that HP boots from the end of the SCSI=20
> chain and not the beginning.  So everything is loaded and it boots.
>
> However my boot crashes right after loading cron.  This is possibly a=20=

> result of the fact that some of my packages came from the debian CD=20
> and not the netinstall.  Here is the error:
>
> ***
> Starting periodic command scheduler: cron
> /bin/sh: /dev/ttyB0: No such device
> /bin/sh: /dev/ttyB0: No such device
> /bin/sh: /dev/ttyB0: No such device
> /bin/sh: /dev/ttyB0: No such device
> /bin/sh: /dev/ttyB0: No such device
> /bin/sh: /dev/ttyB0: No such device
> /bin/sh: /dev/ttyB0: No such device
> /bin/sh: /dev/ttyB0: No such device
> /bin/sh: /dev/ttyB0: No such device
> /bin/sh: /dev/ttyB0: No such device
> INIT: Id "T0" respawning to fast: disabled for 5 minutes
> INIT: no more processes left in this runlevel
>
> The machine then sleeps for 5 minutes and repeats the error on wake-up=20=

> (so I never get a login).
>
> Using the installation CD, I have opened a shell to verify that there=20=

> is indeed a /dev/ttyB0.  Is this error because I got packages from a=20=

> source other than the netinst CD or is there something else going on=20=

> here?

Looks like something is screwed because of mixed package (most likely=20
makedev stuff).
My best recommandation would be to upgrade at least to Debian testing=20
(sarge).
To do so, you have to change /etc/apt/sources.list, and run apt-get=20
update; apt-get dist-upgrade
Another guess: was the kernel package installed from the netinst or=20
from Debian 3.0?
If the latter, then /dev/ttyB0 might be there but not related to any=20
kernel driver (since 3.0 doesn't handle /dev/ttyB0).

The hangs you experienced during install are kinda weird, i hope that=20
our ISOs aren't corrupted, i'll try to check that at some point.

HTH,


Thibaut VARENE
The PA/Linux ESIEE Team
http://pateam.esiee.fr/=