Re: Installation on Alpha - can't boot

[Steve Sizemore <steve_(_at_)_toots_(_dot_)_ucsf_(_dot_)_edu>]

Okay, I'm replying to my own post. Sorry. I have made a step forward,
and want to update this information, on the chance that someone out
there read the original and is thinking about my problem. Still, I'm
hoping for answers to my original questions...

So, I decided to experiment further with the "a" partition offset 0,
since that one seemed to get further along. I repartitioned and
reinstalled, and booted up to the point where it fails over into
single user mode.

At that point, if I choose /bin/csh as the shell, then type ^D, the
system will boot to multi, albeit still with a number of errors.
Note that I cannot use /bin/sh, and even with /bin/csh, "exit" doesn't
work - the sequence seems to be very specific. Weird, huh? I'm hoping
that someone might have an explanation for that...

Well, once I get to multi user mode, and login as root, I discover
that there are a few core files lying around. Like cat.core and
syslogd.core. It seems that /bin/cat will not run - seg faults. Same
with syslogd. In fact, when I try to rm the core files, rm seg faults,
too! Other commands (obviously I haven't tested them all) seem to work
just fine. So I have a semifunctional multi user system.

I'm thinking that the next step might be to cvsup to the current
source level and rebuild everything. I don't know whether or not I
have enough functional commands to do that, but I can't think what
else to try. Any other ideas out there? Does this situation sound
familiar to anyone?

Is it conceivable that I need to upgrade the SRM to a later revision?

Thanks for listening...
Steve


On Mon, Mar 01, 1999 at 01:36:24PM -0800, Steve Sizemore wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I'm trying to install 2.4 from the CD on an AlphaPC 164LX. This
> machine was delivered with AlphaBIOS, running RedHat Linux, but I've
> just installed SRM so that I can run BSD.
> 
> Several things don't go quite according to the script, but the
> installation seems to succeed, except for the fact that I can't boot
> the system.
> 
> Here's what happens -
> 1. Boot from the CD.
>     I see warnings about the clock and no swap space.
> 
> 2. I choose install, and proceed with the installation. Having only
>     one (scsi) disk, there is no alternative to select the root disk.
>     I confirm sd0. At this point I get directly into the "Initial
>     label editor" (no fdisk), where I set up partitions
> 	a	64M	/
> 	b	256M	swap
> 	d	64M	/tmp
> 	e	64M	/var
> 	g	433M	/usr
> 	h	1.2G	/usr/src
> 
>     There is some confusion over the "a" partition offset. The default
>     presented is 0, as opposed to 63 in the printed notes. I've tried
>     both, with different results. (Different forms of failure.)
> 
> 3. Configure the network
> 
> 4. Set initial root password.
>     At this point I get a warning that no kernel was installed.
> 
> 5. I then install (from the CD) the base, etc, misc, comp, text, and man
>     sets, plus bsd.
> 
> 6. Set the timezone, mkfs runs, and I get the "CONGRATULATION ..."
>     message.
> 
> 7. After halting and power cycling the computer, I try to boot from
>     the disk - "boot dka0".
>     Behavior 1 - with the "a" partition offset=63
> 	It goes through the primary and secondary
> 	boot, switches to OSF PAL code, and then hangs.
> 	I see on the screen -
> 	    Boot flags: 0
> 	    Loading bsd...
> 	    -
> 
>     Behavior 2 - with the "a" partition offset=0
> 	It boots up as far as getting a root shell prompt, but can't
> 	mount any of the filesystems, or access the network.
> 
> So, my questions are:
> 	1. Are any of the warning messages significant?
> 	    no swap space
> 	    no kernel installed
> 	2. Does it matter that fdisk is never invoked?
> 	3. What is the correct offset for the "a" partition on a scsi
> 	    disk?
> 	4. Is there anything else I'm forgetting? :-)
> 
> Thanks for any ideas.
> Steve
> -- 
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