ok, this is in response to Marty's gracious help for me...
I'm glad to help.
I am using a 3c905c-tpo NIC not an integrated chipset I have tried the following: Downloaded a lzrom and lzpxe image from rom-o-matic
Just for completeness, could you try using 5.1.8 and getting a .zpxe and a .zrom (new file endings starting with 5.1+)
I'm trying to recall, does floppy Etherboot work?
I installed the etherboot source and the vortex-diag stuff on my linux
server...
I ran the make commands on the directories to get the utilities.
using cromutil:
it sees the NIC and can backup the image and erase them but cannot program
them. After the erase it leaves the ROM blank...useless for me.
Interesting. Have you checked with your motherboard manufacturer to see if there are any BIOS updates for your computer? They are usually downloadable, and I've sometimes found they fix all sorts of issues. If you have another Linux machine (or access to one) you could try doing the etherboot flashing run on that machine.
using vortex-diag:
it sees the NIC and can read, id , erase and program the ROM chips..so
this looks good and was verified with a vortex-diag -B...the etherboot code
shows up..all good right? no
I install the NIC in the pc, set the the bios to boot from network and let
it go..well nothing happens, it just boots from the first available device..
This is interesting also. I wonder if there is a conflicting piece of hardware. Try turning off things like Legacy USB keyboard support in the BIOS (unless you require it). If there is something called A20 gate fast switching, try changing the setting for that.
When you run the diagnostic program for the 3COM card, does it say the ROM is enabled? Normally, as long as the PCI IDs match, the BIOS will find it and execute it. Unless there is something corrupt about the code that was downloaded, or how it was written, it should be recognized. Perhaps you have a friend with another computer on which you can try this?
using pxe to etherboot:
ok, I just tested this by reflashing the NIC with the 3com MBA code and
using the mbaconfig utility I set the NIC to use PXE and make the nic the
first boot device...
Because I just wanted to test this I put the lzpxe image in the tftp server
in the tftproot directory and I use win2k DHCP so I changed the image file
to the 3c905.lzpxe file.
I think this link may be helpful:
http://diet-pc.sourceforge.net/windows/etherboot-w2k.html
It discusses using a Win2K server to do DHCP and TFTP. I didn't notice before that you were using a Win2K DHCP server. You might want to use a Linux DHCP Server (ISC 3.0 or later). You can easily set it up so that it only answers requests from your thin clients. It seems you can't do conditional execution on the Win2K server, so PXE->Etherboot chaining (.lzpxe, .zpxe) is out, because it figures out whether PXE or Etherboot is talking to it and gives a different file depending out who asks.
I boot the pc and it boots from the NIC and displays the PXE boot code then
pulls the dhcp info..then it just stops....does not load the image from the
tftp server...doesn't even look like its getting the tftp info..
Why not try using the PXELINUX solution I recommended earlier? Is the thinstation.nbi file a netbootable image (the kind that Etherboot loads)? Or is it a regular kernel? If a regular kernel, you can possibly do PXELINUX.
ltsp
I am not using ltsp I am using the thinstation.nbi code because it works
great from floppy and requires very little setup...I read the setup stuff
and thought if my nic would pull the code from the tftp server and just load
the lzpxe file then I would config a unix dhcp server and test the next
step. but since I can't get tpast the first part, I am stuck again...
any ideas?
am I just not getting this or am I trying to make these
3c905c-tpo cards work and they won't? thanks, Brian
I think maybe you should try a simple LTSP setup to get started. Maybe find a cheap RTL8139 card, or you could buy one pre-programmed from DisklessWorkstations.com. Or floppy boot for now.
When in a complex domain and things aren't working, I generally find simplifying down to basics helps. I'd suggest starting with a simple LTSP setup, which has good documentation, and a community of people who can help you with the specifics. This will eliminate a lot of variables that are hard to quantify.
The other thing I would recommend is trying cromutil/ether-diag on another machine. It could be that your machine is incompatible for writing to the 3Com card for some reason. Since MBAFLASH seems to work under DOS, it would seem as though there is either a problem with cromutil/ether-diag, the ROM code you downloaded, or something else. Try another 3c905c card, too, while you're at it.
OK, there are some more suggestions. Keep trying and I'm sure it will start to make sense and you will be able to make it work.
Marty
Marty Connor wrote:
On Tuesday, July 22, 2003, at 12:56 PM, brian delaney wrote:excellent response...thanks...but
when I run cromutil i am able to backup the NIC and erase it. when I
try to program it it just hangs and I donot get any response....so now
what?
yes, I verified the address using CAT.........
Wait a moment. Is this a PCI NIC, or is this an integrated NIC on a motherboard?
If this is one of those NICs that is integrated onto a motherboard, then cromutil and ether-diag will likely not work. That is because whereas the PCI card has a piece of flash memory on it that is accessible and programmable, there MBA code for the motherboard is probably in the system BIOS flash, which is a very different thing. If the PXE code is part of the BIOS flash, you probably want to use the PXE->Etherboot chaining method, which was "Door Number 3" in my previous message, or alternatively PXELINUX, which was "Door Number 2"
So, what's the deal? Is this a PCI NIC card, or is this one of those "DELL/random-other-vendor deals where the NIC has no flash, but is has the PCI IDs of a card that does have flash, but the actual flash code is in the BIOS because, well we had room there, and we are a large enough vendor to get the special OEM version of the 3COM card, and permission to embed the MBA in our BIOS" kind of situations.
You can still use Etherboot, but flashing would require modifying your BIOS, which is harder, and is a different process. We have people on the list who have replaced PXE with Etherboot in various BIOSes, but it's not an easy thing to do, and you might be better off using a different method to achieve the result. Which is what the .lzpxe/.zpxe formats are all about.
Anyway, let us know...
Marty
-- Try: http://rom-o-matic.net/ to make Etherboot images instantly.
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