This mail explains some common problems with FAI >=3.2 which uses a kernel with initrd and how to fix them.
- I you have problems booting FAI via kernel and initrd and mounting the nfsroot over NFS. Sometimes you even see the mount request on the NFS server. - If you boot from fai-cd but do not use the nfsroot from CD but using root=/dev/nfs and ip=dhcp - If you boot via PXE but did not create the pxelinux/cfg by using the command fai-chboot - When (or after) trying to mount the nfsroot you see: short read 0<28. And the initrd tries to mount again and again Read the messages on the console which scripts are executed. This is WRONG: Begin: Mounting root file system... Begin: Running /scripts/nfs-top Instead, you should see this: Begin: Mounting root file system... Begin: Running /scripts/live-premount You should not see scripts with name nfs-* get executed, instead the live-* script should be executed. Check the parameters that you've appended to the kernel: Example (wrong): kernel /boot/vmlinuz boot=live FAI_FLAGS="verbose,createvt" FAI_ACTION=sysinfo ip=dhcp root=/dev/nfs nfsroot=/srv/fai/nfsroot Example (correct): kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/nfs boot=live FAI_FLAGS="verbose,createvt" FAI_ACTION=sysinfo ip=dhcp nfsroot=/srv/fai/nfsroot The order of the boot= and root= parameters are important, because root=/dev/nfs also sets boot=nfs and so a previous boot=live definition will be overwritten and the wrong script are executed. This bug is present in the combination of initramfs-tool 0.85h and live-initramfs 1.110.7~200711. BTW: You can debug problems inside the initrd, when you boot your kernel and initrd and append break=mount as kernel parameter. Then you will get the shell from initramfs before it tries to do the nfs mount. -- regards Thomas