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General => Users => Topic started by: kyfalcon on April 23, 2009, 02:39:08 am

Title: Problems with diskless MD -Resolved
Post by: kyfalcon on April 23, 2009, 02:39:08 am
I'm building a new diskless MD which didn't have a video card with tv out. If I hook this up to a pc monitor it will boot up and get me to the video/audio setup screen. If I put an NVidia 8400 card in the machine it starts the pxeboot process and crashes half way thru at anywhere from the 56.xxxxxx to 63.xxxxxxx steps. I have the same card working for my core just fine with the new NVidia drivers.

Do I have to copy these to the /usr/pluto/diskless/214 directory? if so what files do I need?

Thx
Title: Re: Problems with diskless MD
Post by: totallymaxed on April 23, 2009, 02:49:57 am
I'm building a new diskless MD which didn't have a video card with tv out. If I hook this up to a pc monitor it will boot up and get me to the video/audio setup screen. If I put an NVidia 8400 card in the machine it starts the pxeboot process and crashes half way thru at anywhere from the 56.xxxxxx to 63.xxxxxxx steps. I have the same card working for my core just fine with the new NVidia drivers.

Do I have to copy these to the /usr/pluto/diskless/214 directory? if so what files do I need?

Thx

The simplest thing to do (its what I'd do in this situation) is to power off the MD and then delete the existing MD using Web Admin. Now add install the nVidia 8400 in the MD and hook it back up to your Core's LAN side network and let it get detected and added again... run the AVwizard as usual etc.

All the best

Andrew
Title: Re: Problems with diskless MD
Post by: kyfalcon on April 23, 2009, 02:52:33 am
Andrew I've done that thrice to no avail. Is there a step I might be missing? Or bad files that may be lingering? Do the new NVIDIA Drivers automatically get installed if they are on the core?

Thx,
Kevin
Title: Re: Problems with diskless MD
Post by: pigdog on April 23, 2009, 03:20:59 am
Hi kyfalcon,

Is this the 8400 card that has s-video and dvi connectors only?

If so, are you trying to boot it up with tv-out connected?

What do you mean by crashing?  The screen going black?

Just trying to get a little more information.

Thanks.
Title: Re: Problems with diskless MD
Post by: kyfalcon on April 23, 2009, 03:22:38 am
tried it again same thing!

Is there a boot log I can look at to try and find out what the problem is?

In the X11 directory for this MD there is no Xorg.conf file. Is that because I never got to the avwizard?

Title: Re: Problems with diskless MD
Post by: kyfalcon on April 23, 2009, 03:26:35 am
Hi kyfalcon,

Is this the 8400 card that has s-video and dvi connectors only?

If so, are you trying to boot it up with tv-out connected?

What do you mean by crashing?  The screen going black?

Just trying to get a little more information.

Thanks.


Its got vga, dvi and s-video.

I currently am just trying to get to the AVWizard si I am connected to the VGA port. Once there I will set up the TV.

By crashing I mean it goes thru the boot process loading drivers etc and then stops dead at this point in the boot process

 [59.680.864] ======================
Title: Re: Problems with diskless MD
Post by: pigdog on April 23, 2009, 03:30:38 am
Hi kyfalcon,

...and just to be sure you are installing the 710 version?

Cheers.
Title: Re: Problems with diskless MD
Post by: kyfalcon on April 23, 2009, 03:32:54 am
Hi kyfalcon,

...and just to be sure you are installing the 710 version?

Cheers.

Yes my setup is 710
Title: Re: Problems with diskless MD
Post by: pigdog on April 23, 2009, 03:38:17 am
Hi kyfalcon,

I've got an NX8400 in a MD and it gave no problems in 710.

Did the system assign a number for the MD in /usr/pluto/diskless ?

Cheers
Title: Re: Problems with diskless MD
Post by: kyfalcon on April 23, 2009, 03:41:01 am
Hi kyfalcon,

I've got an NX8400 in a MD and it gave no problems in 710.

Did the system assign a number for the MD in /usr/pluto/diskless ?

Cheers

yep
Title: Re: Problems with diskless MD
Post by: pigdog on April 23, 2009, 03:44:36 am
Hi kyfalcon,

Go into webadmin, pull up media directors and look at the fields for that MD.

What do you have set?

Cheers

Title: Re: Problems with diskless MD
Post by: totallymaxed on April 23, 2009, 03:47:25 am
Andrew I've done that thrice to no avail. Is there a step I might be missing? Or bad files that may be lingering? Do the new NVIDIA Drivers automatically get installed if they are on the core?

Thx,
Kevin

Hmmm... No they will only get installed if they are added to the deb cache on the Core... then when you build a new MD the updated driver would be used. So I mislead you there - sorry :-(

Simplest thing to do to get this MD working is to add it and then upgrade the driver as you did on the Core.

Andrew
Title: Re: Problems with diskless MD
Post by: kyfalcon on April 23, 2009, 04:50:27 am
Andrew I've done that thrice to no avail. Is there a step I might be missing? Or bad files that may be lingering? Do the new NVIDIA Drivers automatically get installed if they are on the core?

Thx,
Kevin

Hmmm... No they will only get installed if they are added to the deb cache on the Core... then when you build a new MD the updated driver would be used. So I mislead you there - sorry :-(

Simplest thing to do to get this MD working is to add it and then upgrade the driver as you did on the Core.

Andrew

Andrew,

I can't load the drivers because it the MD won't finish boot up with the card in the computer, and th NVidia driver update won't run if it doesn't see the card in the computer.
Where are the drivers located can I just move them to the diskless directory and put a working xorg.conf in there?

I can install ubuntu and everything works so I know the card isn't defective.
Title: Re: Problems with diskless MD
Post by: kyfalcon on April 23, 2009, 11:56:53 pm
anyone?
Title: Re: Problems with diskless MD
Post by: Pnuts on April 24, 2009, 12:06:57 am
Hi kyfalcon,

Go into webadmin, pull up media directors and look at the fields for that MD.

What do you have set?

Cheers
Title: Re: Problems with diskless MD
Post by: kyfalcon on April 24, 2009, 12:54:27 am
Here is a screen shot
Title: Re: Problems with diskless MD
Post by: pigdog on April 24, 2009, 03:08:42 am
Hi kyfalcon,

Since you are VGA...

Connector = VGA
Audio Settings = S
Video Settings = 1024 768/60
Architecture = i386
Extra Parameters = 0
TV Standard = 1024x768
Release = 710
Video Card = Standard Video
Sound Card= Standard Sound Card
Hardware Acceleration = xv

...try these settings/ update the MD and reboot.

Don't wory to much about the video settings...if you don't like them change them later if it comes up.

If it does boot up it might want to run its orbiter and this can take up to 10-20 minutes.
Title: Re: Problems with diskless MD
Post by: kyfalcon on April 24, 2009, 05:14:29 am
I'll give it a try
Title: Re: Problems with diskless MD - Resolved
Post by: kyfalcon on May 15, 2009, 04:43:43 am
Just to let anyone who might run into this problem know how I finally fixed this.

It was a problem with the system wanting to communicate with the on board graphics card that would hose the startup. I fixed it with these instructions.

1. Remove the add-on graphics card and boot into your ubuntu install as normal.

2. Open terminal and enter the following without quotes:

"sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist"

3. Add the following two entries without quotes to the end of the file:

"blacklist agpgart"
"blacklist intel_agp"

4. Shutdown the pc and reinstall the add-on graphics card.

5. Connect monitor to add-on card and boot pc.



Hope this might help someone with a similar problem.