Installing Debian on an Alix 2d3 using PXE
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From: Urs Hunkeler on 6 Oct 2009 21:20 Hi, I'm trying to install Debian on an Alix 2d3 board (installing from network using PXE, the installer runs in a serial console). When I select a mirror, the installer tells me that it is going to verify the mirror, and then immediately gives me an error message saying that the mirror is invalid. A tcpdump on the relaying computer shows that there was absolutely no traffic on the network (ie. the installer is not trying to access the network at all, not even dns lookup). When I open the console and use netcat (nc, as ping, ifconfig and other such tools are not available in the minimalistic environment), I can access different servers without any problems, so I have to assume that the network setup is working. What is going on? Why doesn't the installer use the network? How can I debug this? I managed to boot the Debian text installer over PXE on an Alix 2d3. The Alix does not have a graphics card, so the installation has to be done using a serial console. Also, since so far I only got the basic installer running, I have a very limited system running, which unfortunately limits the debugging options. Any help is appreciated! Cheers, Urs -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-REQUEST(a)lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster(a)lists.debian.org
From: Tzafrir Cohen on 7 Oct 2009 05:20 On Wed, Oct 07, 2009 at 03:10:33AM +0200, Urs Hunkeler wrote: > Hi, > > I'm trying to install Debian on an Alix 2d3 board (installing from > network using PXE, the installer runs in a serial console). When I > select a mirror, the installer tells me that it is going to verify the > mirror, and then immediately gives me an error message saying that the > mirror is invalid. A tcpdump on the relaying computer shows that there > was absolutely no traffic on the network (ie. the installer is not > trying to access the network at all, not even dns lookup). When I open > the console and use netcat (nc, as ping, ifconfig and other such tools > are not available in the minimalistic environment), I can access > different servers without any problems, so I have to assume that the > network setup is working. What version do you try to install? What boot options did you pass to it? Do you use preseeding? If so, what do you have in your preseed file? > > What is going on? Why doesn't the installer use the network? How can I > debug this? By default it should. There shoudn't be anything specific to the Alix board in that, BTW. -- Tzafrir Cohen | tzafrir(a)jabber.org | VIM is http://tzafrir.org.il | | a Mutt's tzafrir(a)cohens.org.il | | best ICQ# 16849754 | | friend -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-REQUEST(a)lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster(a)lists.debian.org
From: Urs Hunkeler on 7 Oct 2009 05:40 Tzafrir Cohen wrote: > On Wed, Oct 07, 2009 at 03:10:33AM +0200, Urs Hunkeler wrote: >> Hi, >> >> I'm trying to install Debian on an Alix 2d3 board (installing from >> network using PXE, the installer runs in a serial console). When I >> select a mirror, the installer tells me that it is going to verify the >> mirror, and then immediately gives me an error message saying that the >> mirror is invalid. A tcpdump on the relaying computer shows that there >> was absolutely no traffic on the network (ie. the installer is not >> trying to access the network at all, not even dns lookup). When I open >> the console and use netcat (nc, as ping, ifconfig and other such tools >> are not available in the minimalistic environment), I can access >> different servers without any problems, so I have to assume that the >> network setup is working. > > What version do you try to install? Debian Lenny > What boot options did you pass to it? Don't remember off my head in detail. They are something like priority=low console=tty0 console=ttyS0,38400n8 DEBIAN_FRONTEND=text initrd=... > Do you use preseeding? If so, what do you have in your preseed file? No. I try to access the text-based installer over the console. Again, the kernel boots and the text-based installer starts. It configures the network correctly (I see in the tcpdump log that it gets an IP address and pings the gateway and netcat from a console works as well). It's just when I try to configure the mirror that somehow the process fails. >> What is going on? Why doesn't the installer use the network? How can I >> debug this? > > By default it should. There shoudn't be anything specific to the Alix > board in that, BTW. Maybe not, but the Alix is special in that I don't have a graphics card and need to do everything over the serial console (so no switching between virtual terminals to see, e.g., extended debugging information). Also, after playing around for a bit I found out that when I manually configure the network (as opposed to let it configure automatically using DHCP), after selecting a mirror the installer tries to resolve the domain name that I specified during the network setup. It does this for a domain like ".mydomain.com.". This doesn't make sense, especially the leading period. So maybe it is trying to resolve the proxy (which I left blank as instructed as I have a direct Internet connection)? If so, that would look a lot like a bug in the text-based installer. Cheers, Urs -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-REQUEST(a)lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster(a)lists.debian.org
From: Tzafrir Cohen on 7 Oct 2009 05:40 On Wed, Oct 07, 2009 at 03:10:33AM +0200, Urs Hunkeler wrote: > Hi, > > I'm trying to install Debian on an Alix 2d3 board (installing from > network using PXE, the installer runs in a serial console). When I > select a mirror, the installer tells me that it is going to verify the > mirror, and then immediately gives me an error message saying that the > mirror is invalid. A tcpdump on the relaying computer shows that there > was absolutely no traffic on the network (ie. the installer is not > trying to access the network at all, not even dns lookup). When I open > the console and use netcat (nc, as ping, ifconfig and other such tools > are not available in the minimalistic environment), I can access > different servers without any problems, so I have to assume that the > network setup is working. > > What is going on? Why doesn't the installer use the network? How can I > debug this? What do you see in /proc/net/route (the routing table) ? In /etc/resolv.conf ? Also consider using a preseed file to feed settings rather than feeding them manually (with potential typos) -- Tzafrir Cohen | tzafrir(a)jabber.org | VIM is http://tzafrir.org.il | | a Mutt's tzafrir(a)cohens.org.il | | best ICQ# 16849754 | | friend -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-REQUEST(a)lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster(a)lists.debian.org
From: Osamu Aoki on 7 Oct 2009 07:50
On Wed, Oct 07, 2009 at 03:10:33AM +0200, Urs Hunkeler wrote: > Hi, > > I'm trying to install Debian on an Alix 2d3 board (installing from > network using PXE, the installer runs in a serial console). This is definitely some serious expert activity in which so many things can go wrong. At least you have normal CPU 500 MHz AMD Geode LX800. (I am thinking to do this soon but I have not done this yet.) .... > What is going on? Why doesn't the installer use the network? How can I > debug this? .... > Any help is appreciated! I can only suggest followings: * read all of install guide. (Especially TFTP set up) http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch04s05 http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch05s01#boot-tftp If you face problem, debian-boot may be better place. Osamu -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-REQUEST(a)lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster(a)lists.debian.org |