Mailing List Archive

Andrew Finley wrote:
> Hello All,
> I am trying to install on a O2 r5000. After what I thought was a
> successful kernel build, etc. (following the install instruction on the
> MIPS project page, and using the experimental livecd). I powered off
> then tried to boot, then received the message below.
[snip]

O2 can't boot off disk directly (that is, load a kernel from the volume header
like IP22). You have to use arcboot for that. Arcboot's a hair slow at
reading kernels off disk, but wesolows made a wicked patch I'm going to test
soon and put into portage which will dramatically speed up disk loading.

Just `emerge arcboot`, and follow the instructions printed after the build
finishes, and things should work out fine. If not, drop a note here about it.


--Kumba

--
"Such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small
hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere."
--Elrond

--
gentoo-mips@gentoo.org mailing list

Hi Kumba,
thanks for the note back and all your work getting me this far. I'm a
bit slow, so let me get this straight, I had the livecd and followed all
the directions (e.g., did a stage 2, and built the kernel then put it in
the volume header), then had the boot off the main disk problem. So now
should I do the following?

steps:
1) put the live cd back in and boot off of it, then chroot
2) emerge arcboot
3) once the arcboot is done compiling it will print some directions on
how to boot the kernel from the main disk header?

Is this right?

Also, I followed the kernel specs for the Indigo2/Indy, is that still ok
for the o2?

Thanks again for your help, I really look forward to getting this
machine up and running again, if it works we have 6 more 02s' in queue.

-andy

--
Andrew Finley
Department of Forest Resources
College of Natural Resources
University of Minnesota
305 Green Hall
1530 Cleveland Avenue N.
St. Paul, MN 55108

Ph 612-624-1714 office
www.cnr.umn.edu/FR/people/facstaff/finley/index.html

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gentoo-mips@gentoo.org mailing list

> Also, I followed the kernel specs for the Indigo2/Indy, is that still ok
> for the o2?

Indy/Indigo2 systems are known as ip22, whereas O2 is ip32. It is
almost a completely different arch aside from the processor, so if you
compiled a kernel for ip22, then arcboot won't even save you here.

If you want a kernel that is known to work for O2, check out
http://dev.gentoo.org/~geoman/vmlinux64-2004-11-06.bz2 for now. It will
let you boot your system do stuff until you are able to build a proper
kernel.

Steve

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gentoo-mips@gentoo.org mailing list

Thanks Steve,
Ok, should this kernel go in the volume header then use arcboot? If I
wanted to build a proper kernel, can I still use the kernel that comes from
emerge-source (if so what build options should be used)?
-andy

On 24 Nov 2004, Stephen P. Becker wrote:
>
> > Also, I followed the kernel specs for the Indigo2/Indy, is that still
ok
> > for the o2?
>
> Indy/Indigo2 systems are known as ip22, whereas O2 is ip32. It is
> almost a completely different arch aside from the processor, so if you
> compiled a kernel for ip22, then arcboot won't even save you here.
>
> If you want a kernel that is known to work for O2, check out
> http://dev.gentoo.org/~geoman/vmlinux64-2004-11-06.bz2 for now. It will
> let you boot your system do stuff until you are able to build a proper
> kernel.
>
> Steve
>
> --
> gentoo-mips@gentoo.org mailing list
>
>



--
gentoo-mips@gentoo.org mailing list

Andrew Finley wrote:
> Thanks Steve,
> Ok, should this kernel go in the volume header then use arcboot? If I
> wanted to build a proper kernel, can I still use the kernel that comes from
> emerge-source (if so what build options should be used)?
> -andy
>

Arcboot loads from the volume header, but it doesn't boot kernels out of
a volume header at all. Rather, it boots them from an ext2/ext3
partition. So, you would put arcboot in the volume header, and then the
kernel on and ext3 or ext3 partition, set up the config file, and then
just do "boot -f arcboot" from the prom to get going. If you happened
to do something silly like make your entire filesystem reiserfs or xfs,
then you are out of luck with respect to arcboot.

As for building your own ip32 kernel, you have to use 2.6 sources, which
you will have to unmask yourself. You can run "make ip32_defconfig"
inside the source tree, which will give you a base config to work from.
You can then enter menuconfig and tweak to your liking. Or, you could
get my config from /proc/config.gz when/if you are able to boot my
kernel, and then tweak that. In any case, you can't use the native
system compiler, since the kernel must be 64-bit. You will either have
to emerge gcc-mips64 (after making sure you are using the proper
cascaded profile), or build a mips64 cross-compiler on another machine.

Steve

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gentoo-mips@gentoo.org mailing list

Sweet, looks like building my own kernel is out of the question in the near
future. Fortunately, my boot and root are ext2 and ext3 respectfully, so
perhaps this will still have a happy ending. I'll give it all a whirl with
your kernel tomorrow. Thanks for your patience. Have a good turkey day.
-andy


On 24 Nov 2004, Stephen P. Becker wrote:
> Andrew Finley wrote:
> > Thanks Steve,
> > Ok, should this kernel go in the volume header then use arcboot? If I
> > wanted to build a proper kernel, can I still use the kernel that comes
from
> > emerge-source (if so what build options should be used)?
> > -andy
> >
>
> Arcboot loads from the volume header, but it doesn't boot kernels out of
> a volume header at all. Rather, it boots them from an ext2/ext3
> partition. So, you would put arcboot in the volume header, and then the
> kernel on and ext3 or ext3 partition, set up the config file, and then
> just do "boot -f arcboot" from the prom to get going. If you happened
> to do something silly like make your entire filesystem reiserfs or xfs,
> then you are out of luck with respect to arcboot.
>
> As for building your own ip32 kernel, you have to use 2.6 sources, which
> you will have to unmask yourself. You can run "make ip32_defconfig"
> inside the source tree, which will give you a base config to work from.
> You can then enter menuconfig and tweak to your liking. Or, you could
> get my config from /proc/config.gz when/if you are able to boot my
> kernel, and then tweak that. In any case, you can't use the native
> system compiler, since the kernel must be 64-bit. You will either have
> to emerge gcc-mips64 (after making sure you are using the proper
> cascaded profile), or build a mips64 cross-compiler on another machine.
>
> Steve
>
> --
> gentoo-mips@gentoo.org mailing list
>
>



--
gentoo-mips@gentoo.org mailing list

Hi Kumba and Steve,
I started working on your suggestions. But get a package masked error
when trying to emerge arcboot. What do I need to do?
-thanks andy

On Wed, 2004-11-24 at 19:08, Kumba wrote:
> Andrew Finley wrote:
> > Hello All,
> > I am trying to install on a O2 r5000. After what I thought was a
> > successful kernel build, etc. (following the install instruction on the
> > MIPS project page, and using the experimental livecd). I powered off
> > then tried to boot, then received the message below.
> [snip]
>
> O2 can't boot off disk directly (that is, load a kernel from the volume header
> like IP22). You have to use arcboot for that. Arcboot's a hair slow at
> reading kernels off disk, but wesolows made a wicked patch I'm going to test
> soon and put into portage which will dramatically speed up disk loading.
>
> Just `emerge arcboot`, and follow the instructions printed after the build
> finishes, and things should work out fine. If not, drop a note here about it.
>
>
> --Kumba

--
gentoo-mips@gentoo.org mailing list

Andrew Finley wrote:
> Hi Kumba and Steve,
> I started working on your suggestions. But get a package masked error
> when trying to emerge arcboot. What do I need to do?
> -thanks andy
>

It's advised you give the "Portage Introduction" a quick readover at this URL:
http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-mips.xml?part=2&chap=1

(The mips bits of the handbook are very outdated, so don't fully expect other
mips bits there to work, we need a docs dev that can help get things
straightened out).

It's a little unfair to throw some users new to gentoo right into the
experimental stuff sometimes, but that's the nature of O2 units right now, as
well as some of the other mips hardware. I'll probably stable-mark arcboot in
a few days to clear up some of the confusion, and eventually put one of the
2.6 mips-sources stable (2.6.9 is unstable now).


--Kumba

--
"Such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small
hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere."
--Elrond

--
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