Not able to boot, requesting assistance

[zryder]

Hello everyone. I am having some trouble booting unraid 4.5.1, and I would like some help, if you guys don't mind.

 

I am trying to boot off my Supermicro PDSME+, and it hangs after it finishes loading bzimage and bzroot.

It says decompressing Linux, and then hangs on booting the kernel.

I have tried changing every bios option I can think of.

Has anyone else had this problem?

Attached is an image of the screen.

Thanks everyone.

[Joe L.]

Try one or more of the "boot" codes in syslinux.cfg ...  USB boot problems are described here in the wiki:

http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=Best_of_the_Forums#USB_Boot_Issues

[zryder]

one of the post's on the wiki make it seem like I am getting past most of the common boot problems, thats why I thought I would check.. Hopefully this isn't a motherboard issue, as I haven't found a ton that have PCI-X slots for a decent price, and I already have a pair of controllers..

 

when editing syslinux.cfg with those "boot codes", do I replace the append initrd=bzroot line with something like append initrd=bzroot rootdelay=10 acpi=off nolapic noapic ?

[Joe L.]

when editing syslinux.cfg with those "boot codes", do I replace the append initrd=bzroot line with something like

append initrd=bzroot rootdelay=10 acpi=off nolapic noapic

?

Yes... although you may not need all of those extra boot codes.  If it works with all, try to remove as many as possible of the ones you added to get to the one you actually enabled the complete boot.

[zryder]

well, running syslinux again, with the new version of syslinux 3.84 allowed it to get past the point it was hanging at before, but now it appears to be stopping with some PCI problems..

[zryder]

pic2

[purko]

Have you tried running the memory test?

 

[zryder]

no. I will do that now and let you know what it finds. Thanks.

[zryder]

when I select the memtest, it blinks a screen for a fraction of a second, and then the machine reboots..

[Joe L.]

when I select the memtest, it blinks a screen for a fraction of a second, and then the machine reboots..

You need to verify the BIOS settings are correct for your specific RAM strip make/model.  The memory voltage, timing, and clock speed are all critical.  Most BIOS attempt to set those parameters for you, some get it right, some get it wrong.

 

Until you can get a memory test to run through several full test cycles with no errors, no sense going any further.

[zryder]

well, I am at somewhat of a loss..

there aren't any options in my bios to set anything for timing or voltage for the ram. I know the machine recognizes it's all there.. but when I enter into the ram test, it shows the test screen for just a half second and then reboots, same as before..

 

I wonder what could be causing this..

[zryder]

for what it's worth, this is my board..

 

http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon3000/3010/PDSME_.cfm

there is a link on that page to the board's manual, with a section about it's bios. If you guys see something that jumps out at you that you know I must have set one way or the other in the bios, I would love to know. I don't pretend to know it all by a long shot..

Once I can get this to work, I am going to end up buying the pro liscense as well, but I want to make sure it will run before I throw down the money.

[purko]

well, I am at somewhat of a loss..

there aren't any options in my bios to set anything for timing or voltage for the ram. I know the machine recognizes it's all there.. but when I enter into the ram test, it shows the test screen for just a half second and then reboots, same as before..

 

I wonder what could be causing this..

Well, obviously, it's bad RAM what's causing it.

It's either a bad stick of memory, or it's memory that's not compatible with that particular motherboard.

Some server motherboards can be very picky about the RAM you can put in them.

As Joe pointed out, there's no proint going any further before you fix your RAM problem.

 

 

[Joe L.]

According to the manual, The PDSM4+/PDSME+ supports up to 8 GB of unbuffered, ECC/Non-

ECC, DDR2-677/533/400, two-way interleaved or non-interleaved SDRAM

 

This page on their website lists compatible RAM...

http://www.supermicro.com/support/resources/mem.cfm

is yours on the list?

[zryder]

According to the manual, The PDSM4+/PDSME+ supports up to 8 GB of unbuffered, ECC/Non-

ECC, DDR2-677/533/400, two-way interleaved or non-interleaved SDRAM

 

This page on their website lists compatible RAM...

http://www.supermicro.com/support/resources/mem.cfm

is yours on the list?

yes, it is.. the kingston kvr667. I have 2 2g sticks that came in a pack together.

[purko]

According to the manual, The PDSM4+/PDSME+ supports up to 8 GB of unbuffered, ECC/Non-

ECC, DDR2-677/533/400, two-way interleaved or non-interleaved SDRAM

 

This page on their website lists compatible RAM...

http://www.supermicro.com/support/resources/mem.cfm

is yours on the list?

yes, it is.. the kingston kvr667. I have 2 2g sticks that came in a pack together.

 

Try one stick at a time.

 

 

[zryder]

I did that, and it had the same symptom. the mem test didn't say it failed, it just caused it to restart, same as before.

[Joe L.]

Try with just one stick, then with just the other, try switching their positions in the sockets, try re-seating them.

[zryder]

I have tried each stick on its own, in all 4 slots.

I have also tried a pair from my other box..

 

every time it shows the same symptoms.. the same cant allocate resource error.

[Joe L.]

When you loaded the flash drive, did you copy the "memtest" file to it?  (if not, it might be why you are rebooting)

 

As far as "Can't allocate resource"  I found this post on Google: http://linux.derkeiler.com/Mailing-Lists/Kernel/2009-02/msg10458.html

 

It suggests adding

pci=assign-busses

to the boot line in syslinux.cfg

 

It would then look like this:

default menu.c32

menu title Lime Technology LLC

prompt 0

timeout 50

label unRAID OS

  menu default

  kernel bzimage

  append initrd=bzroot pci=assign-busses

label Memtest86+

  kernel memtest

 

You might also give either the older/newer version of unRAID a try.  The 4.5.1 version uses a different linux kernel than the 4.5 version.  (you only need to replace the bzroot and bzimage files and reboot to try one or the other)

[Joe L.]

have you looked to see if a BIOS update is available?

 

 

[zryder]

Thanks for all of your help Joe!

I have looked, and I am using the most current bios from the manufacturer.

I tried both of the commands referenced in that link, the assign bus and norom, and neither had any luck.

so then I put 4.5 on, and nothing changed there. I was previously using 4.5.1

as far as memtest, i am assuming that is the memtest file in the root directory? if so, it is there..

[purko]

Forget unRAID for now, focus on the memtest!

The only thing you can do is find different memory sticks and see if any of them would work.

If not, then it means that your motherboard has crapped out.

Unless you can pass a memtest the board is useless.

 

 

[Joe L.]

Forget unRAID for now, focus on the memtest!

The only thing you can do is find different memory sticks and see if any of them would work.

If not, then it means that your motherboard has crapped out.

Unless you can pass a memtest the board is useless.

 

 

Exactly why I asked if he had copied the "memtest" file to the flash drive.

 

I 100% agree, until you can pass a memtest, nothing else matters.  If you have any add-on cards (disk controllers, etc) unplug them to be certain they are not causing a memory conflict.  Leave only the minimum you need to do the memory test, then, once it passes, you can slowly re-populate the slots on the MB.

 

Joe L.

[zryder]

so is there anything else that needs to be copied to the flash to do the memtest?

Would it be the same as a memtest from an install disk of say kubuntu?