Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2008 17:42:30 -0500 From: "Don Wilde" <dwilde1@gmail.com> To: Dieter <freebsd@sopwith.solgatos.com> Cc: freebsd-amd64@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Dell blade Re: a fun project Message-ID: <eefa2c8b0803301542q3a467524m4a4e1e2491e1142b@mail.gmail.com> In-Reply-To: <200803302028.UAA25021@sopwith.solgatos.com> References: <eefa2c8b0803301108j7a1cf3w20c85b746706b44@mail.gmail.com> <200803302028.UAA25021@sopwith.solgatos.com>
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On Sun, Mar 30, 2008 at 7:28 AM, Dieter <freebsd@sopwith.solgatos.com> wrote: > > > If you solve this, be sure to let us know. > > > > > > You make funnee, he he. ME? Let's just say that this'll be my first > foray > > into the boot process. > > Okay, let me rephrase that. If you find a solution (perhaps suggested > by someone else), let us know. You're the one with access to the > hardware, so you're the only one who can test proposed solutions, > and thus the only one who will know if it works. > Of course. I'm not that bad with code, either, just humble around people I *know* are better. I like being around FreeBSD people, it does rub off a little. > Yeah, I'm having lots of "fun" trying to get 7.0 to boot on my Tyan board, > which boots 6.2 fine. Learning lots of stuff about FreeBSD's boot > process. > Hmmm... I was thinking I have a probing issue, not a kernel code issue. I still think that's my most likely problem. It did make it pretty far. > > Capital learning experience. :))) > > "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted." > That plus $0.02 worth of opinions from everybody can be summed up as RTFM. They just don't tell you HOW MANY M it takes to understand enough. :) > > > > I was able to get the i386 ISO to complete the probe and move on to > the > > > > FreeBSD sysinstall menu, but wasn't able to complete the install due > to > > > the > > > > fact that there are no ATAPI CDROM ports on the blade and it > couldn't > > > use > > > > the USB CD as a source. > > > > > > IIRC you can get a sh prompt from the sysinstall menu. > > > Then you can fdisk, newfs, and mount a hard drive, and if it will let > you > > > mount the CD, you can do something like > > > > > > export DESTDIR=/mnt > > > cd /cdrom/7.0-RELEASE > > > for foo in base doc catpages dict games info manpages proflibs > > > ports lib32 > > > do > > > cd ${foo} > > > ./install.sh > > > cd .. > > > done > > > cd kernels > > > ./install.sh generic # or whichever kernel you think will run > best > > > on your box > > > sync > > > > > > This is good data. Thanks for the details, Dieter. If I can get to the > > prompt, I can now avoid the USB CD issue, though I may have to make a CD > > with a kernel that has cam enabled, which I believe is not in the > GENERIC. > > (?) The BTX loader did identify the USB CD as cd0, so maybe I'm okay > without > > atapicam. > > I recently learned that you don't have to build a new kernel to get > atapicam. > Try "kldload atapicam". I need atapicam to write DVDs, but it might read > CDs > without? Seems like it would have to be able to read the CD to install > from > the CD. Yeah, I'm still getting used to the notion that almost everything is kld-able. > > I'm not sure what you'll be able to get to from the sysinstall shell. > If it has mounted the cdrom, (which seems likely) you may be able to get > to the 7.0-RELEASE directory. > Yeah, I found Fixit with the shell, and also the access to the Live FS CD. Hope that'll work (as you say, sb mounted already). > > > > There is also the build a hard disk on another machine, then move it > > > to the target machine method. > > > > I don't think I have access to a more normal system that utilizes these > > drives. They're removable 2.5" SAS6 drives. However, it may indeed be > that > > one of our earlier Magnum (2S Opteron) blades will work and I can build > a > > drive on one of them, as you suggest. Worth a try. > > IIRC you can plug a SATA drive into a SAS controller? > The tiny cables are the issue. Even the pcb finger connector on the drive is a quarter of the pitch of, say a PCI connector. Tiny! Yes, the drive controller does both, but it's a fabrication issue. Too much time to make or chase down such a cable adapter. > If it will boot from a USB CD, maybe it will boot from a USB hard drive? > I think that's an option on the boot menu, yes, although I don't have such a drive (other than a USB key formatted as DOS FAT). The firmware has a separate live boot menu as well as a boot order selection in the Setup. I think I'm more likely to have luck trying to load a disk on one of our earlier-generation AMD blades. I can fairly easily switch back and forth to edit startup files. > > Not everything that should work does work. I once tried dd-ing an iso > image > to a hard drive, but the firmware will not boot an iso from a hard drive, > only from a cd drive. > Pesky strongly-typed file systems!!! :D
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