Message-ID: <CDD863B9CA20D311A15D00508B087553FDB89B@ITDS37> From: "Wood, Justin" <jwood@mhs52.tns.co.za> Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2000 14:51:20 +0200 Subject: RE: [suse-axp] 6.3 install problem
see below for comments
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ruediger Oertel [mailto:ro@suse.de]
> Sent: 29 January 2000 14:24
> To: Alan Young
> Cc: suse-axp@suse.com
> Subject: Re: [suse-axp] 6.3 install problem
>
>
> On Fri, 28 Jan 2000, Alan Young wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > I received SuSE-AXP 6.3 today. I'm trying to install it on
> a LX164 machine.
> > The machine has the AlphaBIOS (ARC) firmware. I'm trying
> to boot from the
> > CD, but it's not working. I can start MILO from the CD.
> Milo loads and
> > boots the kernel from CD, but the kernel fails in startup
> with the dreaded
> > "Unable to open initial console" message. The MILO boot
> string I'm using
> > is similar to the one rom section 2.1.2 of the manual (page 16).
> > The string is:
> > boot sr0:/etc/vmlinux.gz root=/dev/scd0 fake_initrd
I attempted an install on an Avanti (using ARC) yesterday. The string
suggested in the SuSE book left me in MILO with an error message that the
device could not be found or read can't remember. I typed the following
string at the MILO prompt:
boot scd0:/etc/vmlinux.gz root=/dev/scd0 and the machine booted from the
CDROM but failed to set the root filesystem as the SCSSI drivers on the
cdrom kernel are ncrc8** so I made the boot disks and booted using them and
had no more problems.
> > The manual has "scd0:" where I have sr0:. I'm not sure why
> MILO is not
> > naming the devices the same. What does "fake_initrd" do ?
> Is it a typo?
> > Should it be initrd=<something>?
> Hm, I've always used scd0, I'd have to look into Milo's sources.
> Unfortunately, I have mostly Ruffians here as non-SRM
> machines, and they
> can not boot off CD at all; I'll try this next week on the LX
> (I had already
> thought ARC-machines can't boot off CD in general).
> fake_initrd is based on a minimal kernel-hack by me. It uses
> a root-disk from
> floppy, but makes the kernel believe it was a initial
> ramdisk. Since MILO
> can not load an initrd yet, this was the only way to be able to load a
> rootdisk and change to the real root-dev later on.
> >
> > Also, the manual seems to refer to an "initdisk (install)"
> floppy, but
> > there was no floppy in the box. I did make a disk from the
> disks/install
I did not get one either (NAUGHTY SuSE!). You need to make two stiffies an
install image (dd the "install" image to disk) and a boot disk (dd the LX
image to a disk). Put the boot disk in the machine first and boot from that
using the MILO on that, if all goes well then you will be prompted for the
install disk which you then insert and hit enter. Wait for the image to
load and hey presto you're on the road.
> > image on the CD and had that in floppy drive but it does
> not seem to help.
> Well, disks/install is the right image.
I had no luck with using a combination of booting from the CD ROM and
pulling the image off the floppy. Booting with floppy takes longer but it
works.
Regards
Justin
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