Michael Tautschnig wrote:
This may or may not be the proper list/outlet for this, so if it's not,
feel free to let me know and I'll pursue it elsewhere, but since it came
up during a FAI installation I'll start here.
I've got a server with a Broadcom network card (a 5721) and I'm using
the tg3 driver, and the box with that NIC that just absolutely refuses
to get through the initrd. The installation hangs in the initramfs in
/scripts/live on the function do_netmount(), and I'm pretty sure it's
because the 'ipconfig' binary included in the initrd is killing
networking. I've spent a few days now hacking the initrd, the init
script, and it's functions to determine the path it takes to get there,
which appears to be:
[...]
What kind of access do you have for debugging this? Console access?
Yes, I have console access, both via KVM over IP and IPMI.
Do you get
it to boot by some other means (e.g., GRML live CD)?
Unfortunately, I don't have easy physical access, hence the KVM over IP
and IPMI interface. The server is physically located at a colo facility
about 30 minutes away. I'm doing what I can without driving down there. :)
ipconfig is part of the klibc-utils package and most likely just tries to get an
answer from your DHCP server at that very moment.
Ah, didn't know that's where it came from - thanks for the tip. Re:
'most likely tries...' - really? It doesn't just use the info supplied
to the card initially when it boots up, DHCP's, and proceeds via PXE? I
submit, I tried to dump the binary with 'strings', but not much research
beyond that yet (I'm exhausted today, been working for a long time).
If you get your system to boot
by some other means, you could safely copy over ipconfig from your Debian
Ubuntu. I apologized for only making a passing reference to that at the
end of my OP.
systems and just run it on the console manually to see what happens.
I tested this on a VM, and it also killed networking. But, the VM has a
virtual interface, and may not be a very good test, even if the results
were the same. I'll try to test ipconfig on a physical network
interface to see if I hit the same problem. But, like I said, I've
installed other servers the same way successfully, the only difference
being they had nice Intel cards, not a crappy Broadcom card.
Furthermore, some tcpdump or the like may be useful to find out what ipconfig is
trying to achieve.
I'll see if the DHCP server picks up anything, though I think I tried
that and didn't glean much from it. (Then again, I'm exhausted, so
maybe when I'm fresh tomorrow I'll get different results.
Other than that, there is also the frequently discussed issue of systems with
more than one NIC -- your ipconfig may simply be trying to get a response from
the DHCP server over some interface that doesn't have any cable plugged in.
I suppose that could be the case - hadn't even occurred to me. The box
does have dual on-board NIC's, so that is a viable suggestion. I'll do
some more research on that front, see what comes of it. Thanks for the
suggestion.
Respectfully,
Ryan
