Tips on ZX6000 install

[Carlo Segre]

Hi All:

I have seen references to problems like these on the list but with no
clear resolution.

I have a newly acquired ZX6000 system with version 2.21 ROM.  I have been
trying to install lenny on this system with no success and I wonder if
there are tricks I am just not aware of.

I have no problem getting to boot installation menu with three kernel
options: Install, Install (Expert mode), and Rescue.  Whenever I select
any one of these, I get the kernel loading line and then the line telling
me it is loading intrd.gz and when this latter says "done" everything
stops.

This happened when I was using the VGA output and when I tried connecting
to the console as well.  As a side note, once I started working on the
console, I can't get the system to go back to the VGA display again.

I tried making sure that the console was set to 9600 baud since that is
the speed of the serial port I have connected it to but this does not
change anything.

I tried the current squeeze image since there was a note in August 2008
saying that the kernel in lenny might be the problem.

I would appreciate any help the list can give me, I haven't found anything
in the installation manual which addresses this problem.

Please cc me as I am not subscribed to this list.

Thanks,

Carlo

--
Carlo U. Segre -- Professor of Physics
Associate Dean for Graduate Admissions, Graduate College
Illinois Institute of Technology
Voice: 312.567.3498            Fax: [phone]
segre@...   http://www.iit.edu/~segre   segre@...


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[Brian Szymanski-7]

I have a similar system - HP RX2600. I found that Although serial

Carlo Segre wrote:

>
> Hi All:
>
> I have seen references to problems like these on the list but with no
> clear resolution.
>
> I have a newly acquired ZX6000 system with version 2.21 ROM.  I have
> been trying to install lenny on this system with no success and I
> wonder if there are tricks I am just not aware of.
>
> I have no problem getting to boot installation menu with three kernel
> options: Install, Install (Expert mode), and Rescue.  Whenever I
> select any one of these, I get the kernel loading line and then the
> line telling me it is loading intrd.gz and when this latter says
> "done" everything stops.

Sounds like at this point the kernel is switching output on you, from
VGA to serial or vice versa. Make sure you are watching both the serial
and VGA output. If that is the case, switching whether you are passing
the console=ttyS0 option to the kernel may help.

On my RX2600 (a very similar box), I have to use a USB keyboard to
navigate the firmware prompts, it is only when linux is loaded that I
can switch to input over serial input. Could be unrelated, but it's
worth trying to input and output over both VGA and serial until you can
pin down exactly what's going on.

Hope that helps & good luck!
Brian Szymanski


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[Zan Lynx]

Carlo Segre wrote:

>
> Hi All:
>
> I have seen references to problems like these on the list but with no
> clear resolution.
>
> I have a newly acquired ZX6000 system with version 2.21 ROM.  I have
> been trying to install lenny on this system with no success and I wonder
> if there are tricks I am just not aware of.
>
> I have no problem getting to boot installation menu with three kernel
> options: Install, Install (Expert mode), and Rescue.  Whenever I select
> any one of these, I get the kernel loading line and then the line
> telling me it is loading intrd.gz and when this latter says "done"
> everything stops.
>
> This happened when I was using the VGA output and when I tried
> connecting to the console as well.  As a side note, once I started
> working on the console, I can't get the system to go back to the VGA
> display again.
>
> I tried making sure that the console was set to 9600 baud since that is
> the speed of the serial port I have connected it to but this does not
> change anything.
>
> I tried the current squeeze image since there was a note in August 2008
> saying that the kernel in lenny might be the problem.
>
> I would appreciate any help the list can give me, I haven't found
> anything in the installation manual which addresses this problem.

I saw a similar problem when installing Debian on my HP DL/560 a long
time ago.  The fix there was to specify console=tty0 on the kernel boot
line.

I had another similar problem recently on a Celestia Itanium2 box.  The
Gentoo IA64 install kernel would simply stop after unpacking the initrd.
  I don't believe it was running at all but I couldn't debug it.  The
Fedora 9 IA64 installer booted perfectly.  To see if that is similar to
your problem you could try IA64 FC9.  There are no newer versions of
Fedora IA64 unfortunately, although I believe there are up to date IA64
CentOS and RHEL versions available.


--
Zan Lynx
zlynx@...

"Knowledge is Power.  Power Corrupts.  Study Hard.  Be Evil."


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[dann frazier]

On Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 06:47:10PM -0500, Carlo Segre wrote:
>
> Hi All:
>
> I have seen references to problems like these on the list but with no  
> clear resolution.
>
> I have a newly acquired ZX6000 system with version 2.21 ROM.  I have been
> trying to install lenny on this system with no success and I wonder if  
> there are tricks I am just not aware of.

First thing I'd suggest is updating your ROM - 2.31 appears to be
current.

>
> I have no problem getting to boot installation menu with three kernel  
> options: Install, Install (Expert mode), and Rescue.  Whenever I select  
> any one of these, I get the kernel loading line and then the line telling
> me it is loading intrd.gz and when this latter says "done" everything  
> stops.
>
> This happened when I was using the VGA output and when I tried connecting
> to the console as well.  As a side note, once I started working on the  
> console, I can't get the system to go back to the VGA display again.
>
> I tried making sure that the console was set to 9600 baud since that is  
> the speed of the serial port I have connected it to but this does not  
> change anything.
>
> I tried the current squeeze image since there was a note in August 2008  
> saying that the kernel in lenny might be the problem.
>
> I would appreciate any help the list can give me, I haven't found
> anything in the installation manual which addresses this problem.
>
> Please cc me as I am not subscribed to this list.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Carlo
>
>
>
>

--
dann frazier


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[Carlo Segre]

Hi Brian:

On Wed, 15 Apr 2009, Brian Szymanski wrote:

>
> Sounds like at this point the kernel is switching output on you, from
> VGA to serial or vice versa. Make sure you are watching both the serial
> and VGA output. If that is the case, switching whether you are passing
> the console=ttyS0 option to the kernel may help.

I have tried that with no luck.   I always look at both the VGA and the
serial port just to check.  I presume that ttyS0 is the port labeled
"Console".

>
> On my RX2600 (a very similar box), I have to use a USB keyboard to
> navigate the firmware prompts, it is only when linux is loaded that I
> can switch to input over serial input. Could be unrelated, but it's
> worth trying to input and output over both VGA and serial until you can
> pin down exactly what's going on.
>

Yes, I have both a USB keyboard attached and the other computer looking at
the serial port.  I can use either keybord to control the boot options at
the beginning.

Thanks,

carlo

--
Carlo U. Segre -- Professor of Physics
Associate Dean for Graduate Admissions, Graduate College
Illinois Institute of Technology
Voice: 312.567.3498            Fax: [phone]
segre@...   http://www.iit.edu/~segre   segre@...


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[david medberry]

On Wed, 2009-04-15 at 18:57 -0600, dann frazier wrote:

> On Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 06:47:10PM -0500, Carlo Segre wrote:
> >
> > Hi All:
> >
> > I have seen references to problems like these on the list but with no  
> > clear resolution.
> >
> > I have a newly acquired ZX6000 system with version 2.21 ROM.  I have been
> > trying to install lenny on this system with no success and I wonder if  
> > there are tricks I am just not aware of.
>
> First thing I'd suggest is updating your ROM - 2.31 appears to be
> current.

I'd second what dannf said. My recent experiments (on a similar box)
required the latest firmware. (I ran into this on an rx1600.)

-dave


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[Alex Williamson]

On Wed, 2009-04-15 at 18:57 -0600, dann frazier wrote:

> On Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 06:47:10PM -0500, Carlo Segre wrote:
> >
> > Hi All:
> >
> > I have seen references to problems like these on the list but with no  
> > clear resolution.
> >
> > I have a newly acquired ZX6000 system with version 2.21 ROM.  I have been
> > trying to install lenny on this system with no success and I wonder if  
> > there are tricks I am just not aware of.
>
> First thing I'd suggest is updating your ROM - 2.31 appears to be
> current.

Definitely start with firmware, 2.21 has known issues with newer
upstream kernels.

Alex


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[urbancamo]

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Hash: SHA1

Alex Williamson wrote:

> On Wed, 2009-04-15 at 18:57 -0600, dann frazier wrote:
>> On Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 06:47:10PM -0500, Carlo Segre wrote:
>>> Hi All:
>>>
>>> I have seen references to problems like these on the list but with no  
>>> clear resolution.
>>>
>>> I have a newly acquired ZX6000 system with version 2.21 ROM.  I have been
>>> trying to install lenny on this system with no success and I wonder if  
>>> there are tricks I am just not aware of.
>> First thing I'd suggest is updating your ROM - 2.31 appears to be
>> current.
>
> Definitely start with firmware, 2.21 has known issues with newer
> upstream kernels.
>
> Alex
>

Hi Carlo,

Just to let you know that it is possible to install Debian 5.0 on ZX6000
- - I had a very painless installation using a version written to a DVD. I
had upgraded to the latest firmware available for the ZX6000. The
installation was via the VGA card installed which is a ATI 7500 PCI.

If you need me to check any specific, supply log files or such that
might help I'd be happy to do so.

Oh, and once you get it working it runs like a dream ;)

Regards, Mark.
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[Carlo Segre]

Hello All:

On Wed, 15 Apr 2009, dann frazier wrote:

> On Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 06:47:10PM -0500, Carlo Segre wrote:
>>
>> Hi All:
>>
>> I have seen references to problems like these on the list but with no
>> clear resolution.
>>
>> I have a newly acquired ZX6000 system with version 2.21 ROM.  I have been
>> trying to install lenny on this system with no success and I wonder if
>> there are tricks I am just not aware of.
>
> First thing I'd suggest is updating your ROM - 2.31 appears to be
> current.
>

Thanks so much, the firmware upgrade did the trick!

Carlo


--
Carlo U. Segre -- Professor of Physics
Associate Dean for Graduate Admissions, Graduate College
Illinois Institute of Technology
Voice: 312.567.3498            Fax: [phone]
segre@...   http://www.iit.edu/~segre   segre@...


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