Information on boot parameter Debian/Sparc

NeeD_ResT · 09-30-2004, 08:04 AM

Information on boot parameter Debian/Sparc ( post #1)

Hello,

I have :
Sun sparc/station 20
Debian 3.0r2 for sparc (arch:sun4m)
Linux kernel 2.2.20 SMP (2 CPU 180 Mhz)
4GB SCSI hard disk

When i power up my station i see this error :

Code:

Boot device: /iommu/sbus/espdama@f,400000/esp@f,800000/sd@3,0 File and args: 
SILO Buggy old PROMs don't allow reading past 1GB from start of the disk. Send
complains to SMCC

Read error on block 786436 (tried 4096, got -1)

Cannot find /etc/silo.conf (Unknown ext2 error)

Couldn,t load /etc/silo.conf
No config file loaded, you can boot just from this command line
...
boot:

To be able to boot i need to type this :
Boot :1/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda3
What can i do to fix this error, i think i need to add a line in SILO (SILO is the lilo for sparc computer).

Here my silo.conf and fstab files :

Code:

~$ cat /etc/silo.conf
partition=1
root=/dev/sda1
timeout=100
image=1/vmlinuz
label=linux
read-only

I try to change the line root=/dev/sda1 to root=/dev/sda3 but it didn't correct the problem.

Code:

$ cat /etc/fstab
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>               <dump>  <pass>
/dev/sda1       /               ext2    errors=remount-ro       0       1
/dev/sda2       none            swap    sw                      0       0
proc            /proc           proc    defaults                0       0
/dev/fd0        /floppy         auto    user,noauto             0       0
/dev/cdrom      /cdrom          iso9660 ro,user,noauto          0       0

polty15 · 11-12-2004, 09:03 PM

Hi. I want to tell that I have the same problem until today when I discover the answer. I am from Colombia and this is what a
make:

In the archive silo.conf that is on /etc (I think that is the sda1 partition in your case) put the following lines:

timeout=50
partition=1
root=/dev/sda1
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.2.20-sun4dmc
label=linux
root=/dev/sda1
read-only

I Think your error is in the fourth line because you are no calling very well the image or when you make your silo.conf you are not put in it in the right place. You have tu put in on in the /etc of the first hard disk.

When you are installing Debian and mount the first hard disk and enter in the console, note that Debian mount your hard disk in the directory /target.

By console you enter to this carpet and then to the carpet /etc and then create your file of configuration with the next sentence:

nano-tiny silo.conf and put the lines I described at the beginning
then you reboot and see your system boot by the hard disk

If you dont understand just write me to

polty15@yahoo.com

I hope you understand

lpd · 11-23-2004, 09:02 AM

LILO, one of the boot loaders for i386 used to have a similar problem as your prom/bios is having now. (Like the error message says) It can only read the first part of the disk so you'll have to make sure that your kernel and any initrd-images are placed there.
Default Solaris installations do this by making a fairly small "/"-partition (a few hundred MB) then making larger partitions for /usr, /var,/tmp etc on the other parts of the disk.
In linux I'd recommend that you create a small (20-50 MB) partition at the beginning of the disk that you mount as "/boot". That way your Prom will always be able to find and read your kernels and you can put your other linux partitions anywhere else on the disk(s).

/Lpd - Your friendly Line Printer Daemon.