MD issue ECS A960M-M3 1004

[Zerk]

 having issue getting new md to work 1004
Board: ECS A960M-M3
Eth: Realtek RtL8111E Gigabit Lan
diskless is working on my test laptop
starts to PXE boot but seams to halt at   [     0.287129] [<c0104087>] Kernel_thread_helper+0x7 /0x10     before it even anounces to router
any suggestion what i can do to correct this issue or am wasting my time with this board or is it the eth card

[jamo]

More than likely unrecognised NIC problem when it fails early in the PXE boot cycle... have you followed the Unrecognised_NIC wiki entry? http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Unrecognized_NIC

[Zerk]

no i havent never had a md not work before thanks for the link ill go threw it

[Zerk]

didnt have any luck with that and realized the core has the exact same built in eth when i got the driver from realtek and installed it broke the core but it must be working as the core has exact same eth
im entering the module name as r8169 i even reversed the setup and made this board the core and the core the MD exact same issue.
going to keep trying see if i can nail the issue.

[jamo]

I'm not 100% sure that the NIC issue is ruled out.

You may be right but, from memory, I think I recall that there is a bit of a difference between a base install (ie what goes on your core) and a MD that is PXE booting. I'm no PXE boot expert but I think what happens is there is a small image that goes across to the MD to get it up and running... now that image can't have all the possible NIC drivers and modules loaded because it's got to be quite small so it may not include the relevant one, even if that one is available to a full 10.04 installation. That's what the whole wiki is supposed to be about - forcing the appropriate module to be in the PXE boot image. Often you don't have to actually download or install drivers... it's just a case of forcing the correct kernel module into the PXE image.

Can you give any more detail of the screen messages when the thing fails?

If it is a NIC issue, you may require the r8168 module... the link http://askubuntu.com/questions/79346/how-can-i-install-the-realtek-rtl8111e-version-8168-driver implies that this is what is needed instead of the r8169... this is outlined in http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/R8168.

But I don't want to send you on a wild goose chase here if the issue isn't an unrecognised NIC.... so those screen messages might help.

[Zerk]

no  that just what im working on the fact we are both looking at the same thing makes me sure on the right track in looking ive seen the same the core is loading the r8169 on a lsmod check and looks like the md image needs the r8168 how ever as i run the ./autorun.sh it removes the r8169 and replaces with the r8168 breaking the core and making 192.168.80.1 unreachable im not that great with linux yet so got that far need to look up instructions for manual install so it dose not remove the 69 driver module. lol looks like this is what i get tring to make the entire local network gigabit ><

[jamo]

If it's the r8169 NIC that is giving you the trouble, I would recommend blacklisting it (the r8169 module) and using the r8168 driver from the Realek site instead.

Edit "etc/modprobe.d/blacklist" and add "blacklist r8169".

Run...

Code Select Expand

sudo update-initramfs -k all -u

...and then...

Code Select Expand

rmmod r8169

May help... see the rest of the related thread as well.

[Zerk]

added a 3rd nic and disabled the onboard core nic to fix the issue of this patch breaking the core just hope the other card dose not use that same 69 driver will find out soon enough

[Marie.O]

Just get some intel NICs and be done with it.

[Zerk]

Just get some intel NICs and be done with it.

just got the mobo and its buit in so unless is a way to make a pci pxe boot the board is just a paper weight. wish knew realtek's were such a nightmare before got it

made a little progress lsmod now showing the r8168 as loaded not the 69 but the core is again dead considering putting on hold and ordering an intel gigabit nic for the core and tackle the MD again after that.

[Zerk]

ok new plan installed another 10/100 in core going to try again if the md works ill order a gigabit intel to replace it