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Date:      Sun, 27 Jul 2014 00:33:02 -0700
From:      Mark Millard <markmi@dsl-only.net>
To:        Nathan Whitehorn <nwhitehorn@freebsd.org>, freebsd-ppc@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Running FreeBSD-ppc/ppc64 on emulators? [.iso based CD boot problems exist for PowerMac G5's too]
Message-ID:  <27E2583C-FA8E-4F6E-83D1-C950318133C2@dsl-only.net>
In-Reply-To: <53D49EDC.3050301@freebsd.org>
References:  <DABBB435-CFD2-4514-AA8C-38BAA8C93952@dsl-only.net> <9104D42E-5A30-49AF-B5B8-F2C97090802F@dsl-only.net> <0E217B0D-233B-4698-B482-75C3BFE66638@dsl-only.net> <53D49EDC.3050301@freebsd.org>

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You are welcome.

You may run into another G5 (PowerPC64) problem that I've not reported =
because I've so little evidence and it has been very intermittent. Also =
it is a normal boot issue, not an installation-media specific issue.

Normally one goes through open firmware and either types boot or one =
lets it autoboot (explicit return or timed out) and the screen changes =
to black and the white text starts to show up, starting with the =
copyright notice.

But some of the time on the G5's it instead hangs after going black but =
before any part of the copyright text shows up. This has happened on all =
3 G5's, two being 7,11's (NVIDIA video) and one being a 7,2 (Radeon =
video). The fans gradually wind up when this happens. (Unlikely if only =
the video display was messed but it actually went through the normal =
steps otherwise.)

I've had a wild mix: At times I've gone bunches of boots without the =
problem. On rare occasion I've had to reboot up to a dozen times to =
finally not have it hang. Normally once the problem happens I have to =
retry at most a few times.

[I do not have access to a single-processor PowerMac G5 system. So I can =
not compare/contrast behavior with those. All my PowerMac G5 notes are =
multi-processor G5 notes.]




=3D=3D=3D
Mark Millard
markmi at dsl-only.net

On Jul 26, 2014, at 11:40 PM, Nathan Whitehorn <nwhitehorn@freebsd.org> =
wrote:

Interesting. It seems loader is broken. I just tried with a 10.0-STABLE =
image and can reproduce the problem -- 11 oddly is OK. What really =
perplexes me is that the powerpc and powerpc64 loaders are identical, =
since loader is built 32-bit in either case. Super weird. I'll try to =
get it fixed. Thanks for the problem report and reminder!
-Nathan

On 07/26/14 23:33, Mark Millard wrote:
>=20
> To make clear about the "/" in the line:
>=20
> and stops while displaying "/" from its progress indicator. The fans =
then gradually spin up.
>=20
> This "progress indicator" is the repeating sequence -, \, |, /. It =
always stopped with / as I remember. But I've no clue for if that is =
from the repeating sequence or is the leading / from =
/boot/kernel/kernel. At this point I'm limited to reporting just the =
visual result, not the internal stage it is tied to.
>=20
> =3D=3D=3D
> Mark Millard
> markmi at dsl-only.net
>=20
> On Jul 26, 2014, at 7:53 PM, Mark Millard <markmi@dsl-only.net> wrote:
>=20
> First I quote what I wrote about when the hangups occur on the G5's =
(combining quotes from the two messages so the overall notes are easier =
to understand):
>=20
>> For a C-key style boot it hangs shortly after displaying
>>=20
>> loading /boot/defaults/loader.conf
>>=20
>> and stops while displaying "/" from its progress indicator. The fans =
then gradually spin up.
>>=20
>> In other words: It hangs just before it would normally display the =
line that includes the text: /boot/kernel/kernel
>=20
> The original messages were:
>=20
> http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-ppc/2014-June/007029.html
> and
> http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-ppc/2014-June/007056.html
>=20
> Even the /b prefix from /boot/kernel/kernel did not show up even =
though /boot/defaults/loader.conf did show up just fine.
>=20
>=20
>=20
> As for trying 11-CURRENT: I've not tried 11-CURRENT for anything yet. =
And, unfortunately, I'm now away from the PowerMacs for weeks so I will =
not be doing new experiments for several weeks. I can try once I get =
back.
>=20
> All the 9.2/9.3-STABLE's that I tried worked. And 10.0-RELELASE =
worked. Any 10.0-STABLE from before about Apr-27 I've never tried: Late =
April is about when I started the experiments with PowerMacs.
>=20
> Also: I had no troubles with 10.0-STABLE for powerpc on PowerMacs. =
PowerPC64 on PowerMac G5's is where I had problems. (I do not have other =
kinds of PowerPC equipment available.)
>=20
>=20
>=20
> =3D=3D=3D
> Mark Millard
> markmi at dsl-only.net
>=20
> On Jul 26, 2014, at 2:23 PM, Mark Millard <markmi@dsl-only.net> wrote:
>=20
> This boot issue from .iso's (burned to CDs) is not specific to =
emulation (assuming it is the same problem in both places).
>=20
> I'm afraid that it sounds like PowerMac G5's hang the same way/place =
whenever I've tried a fairly modern PowerPC64 10.0-STABLE .iso burned to =
a CD. I was able to boot 10.0-RELEASE's .iso burned to a CD. I've not =
tried emulation.
>=20
> Having an initial FreeBSD running I tend to use the MANIFEST and .txz =
files with "bsdinstall auto" to make new from-scratch (not =
buildworld/buildkernel) installations when I want such.
>=20
> My notes on the G5 boot issue for the .iso's burned to CD's were =
reported in: (I'm not near the PowerMacs, unfortunately)
>=20
> FreeBSD 10-STABLE powerpc64 r266807 CD PowerMac7, 2 (and 7, 11) boot =
hangs very early in the process
>=20
> Has anyone booted a G5 PowerMac from a recent 10.0-STABLE .iso burned =
to CD? A multi-processor one?
>=20
> =3D=3D=3D
> Mark Millard
> markmi at dsl-only.net
>=20
>=20
>=20





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