Installing Diskless MDs

[cafedumonde]

I am running a single 1404 hybrid, which I installed over the Internet. I now want to install a diskless MD. Previously, in 810, I needed to run the following prior to connecting the MD to the network:

Code: [Select]

/usr/pluto/bin/Diskless_CreateTBZ.sh

Is this still the case? Does running it hurt anything if the system is already configured to boot diskless clients?

Thanks,

CDM

[phenigma]

You will need to run that script to generate the initial diskless image.  It will hurt nothing to re-run the script.

J.

[cafedumonde]

OK. I ran the script and it completed without error.

Then, I turned on my new MD, which is a Core i3 with an Intel motherboard, configured to boot from the network and use an nVidia 7300 graphics card rather than the on board graphics. The diskless installation progressed, also without error. Toward the end there was a message saying that a reboot was required in order to complete the nVidia setup. The system reset and began the PXE boot but stalled, with an error:

"Could not find ramdisk image: 82/initrd.img"

A find search indicates that the files seem to exist:

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root@dcerouter:~# find / -name initrd.img -print
/tftpboot/82/initrd.img
/usr/pluto/diskless/82/boot/initrd.img
/usr/pluto/diskless/82/initrd.img
/initrd.img

Advice??

Thanks,

CDM

[phenigma]

Follow the symlinks to ensure the files are all pointing to real files eventually.  Make sure the files are not zero byte.  Try rebuilding the md from webadmin if you continue to have issues.  I wonder if it somehow rebooted while running update on the initrd files.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[cafedumonde]

Further investigation shows that the file seems to be there. The boot message says:

"TFTP prefix: /tftpboot/"

It finds vmlinux but not initrd.img. Why? Both are there:

Code: [Select]

root@dcerouter:/tftpboot/82# ls -la
total 8
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Feb 10 14:19 .
drwxr-xr-x 6 root root 4096 Feb 10 14:19 ..
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   33 Feb 10 14:19 initrd.img -> /usr/pluto/diskless/82/initrd.img
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   30 Feb 10 14:19 vmlinuz -> /usr/pluto/diskless/82/vmlinuz
root@dcerouter:/tftpboot/82#

Again, any help would be appreciated.

CDM

PS: Just saw Phenigma's reply as I was typing this. I will follow the symlinks.

[phenigma]

Make sure the files have read permissions as well.  I haven't heard of this happening like this before.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[cafedumonde]

It appears that the correct boot files were never created. Look at the version numbers on the initrd.img and vmlinuz files:

Code: [Select]

root@dcerouter:/usr/pluto/diskless/82/boot# ls -la
total 4632
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root    4096 Feb 10 14:28 .
drwxr-xr-x 20 root root    4096 Feb 10 14:19 ..
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1214709 Jun 28  2016 abi-3.16.0-77-generic
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  176220 Jun 28  2016 config-3.16.0-77-generic
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root      55 Feb 10 14:19 initrd.img -> /usr/pluto/diskless/8                             2/boot/initrd.img-4.2.0-27-generic
-rw-r--r--  1 root root       0 Feb 10 14:45 initrd.img-3.16.0-77-generic
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  176500 Mar 12  2014 memtest86+.bin
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  178176 Mar 12  2014 memtest86+.elf
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  178680 Mar 12  2014 memtest86+_multiboot.bin
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2795312 Jun 28  2016 System.map-3.16.0-77-generic
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root      52 Feb 10 14:19 vmlinuz -> /usr/pluto/diskless/82/b                             oot/vmlinuz-4.2.0-27-generic
-rw-r--r--  1 root root       0 Feb 10 14:45 vmlinuz-3.16.0-77-generic
root@dcerouter:/usr/pluto/diskless/82/boot#


The symlinks point to files that do not exist.

The new MD appears in webadmin. If I click on the button that says "Rebuild image" will that do the trick? Any other steps?

Thanks for the instant response.

CDM

[phenigma]

They must have been created for it to boot the first time.  Rebuild button is for this exact purpose.  Hit rebuild, wait, then bit the md after rebuild competes.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[cafedumonde]

I have had progress, and failure.

I clicked the button, waited, and the browser responded with a popup saying that the rebuild had completed successfully. Then, I reset the MD and the diskless boot proceeded successfully, running for what seemed like 10 minutes until the next automatic reboot. Then it failed again, as before, not being able to find initrd.img.

Looking in /usr/pluto/diskless/82/boot, the 4.2.0-27 files do not exist, as before. Further, the timestamps indicate that they do not seem to have been touched in the last half hour, as though they had been rebuilt as part of the webadmin fix.

Another observation: watching the messages scroll by during the second reboot, I saw lots of references to 3.16.0 but none to 4.2.0.

Help.

CDM


Here is the current state:

Code: [Select]

root@dcerouter:/usr/pluto/diskless/82/boot# ls -la
total 43884
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root     4096 Feb 10 15:19 .
drwxr-xr-x 20 root root     4096 Feb 10 15:07 ..
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  1214709 Jun 28  2016 abi-3.16.0-77-generic
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   176220 Jun 28  2016 config-3.16.0-77-generic
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root       55 Feb 10 15:07 initrd.img -> /usr/pluto/diskless/82/boot/initrd.img-4.2.0-27-generic
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 34156419 Feb 10 15:18 initrd.img-3.16.0-77-generic
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   176500 Mar 12  2014 memtest86+.bin
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   178176 Mar 12  2014 memtest86+.elf
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   178680 Mar 12  2014 memtest86+_multiboot.bin
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  2795312 Jun 28  2016 System.map-3.16.0-77-generic
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root       52 Feb 10 15:07 vmlinuz -> /usr/pluto/diskless/82/boot/vmlinuz-4.2.0-27-generic
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  6034368 Jun 28  2016 vmlinuz-3.16.0-77-generic
root@dcerouter:/usr/pluto/diskless/82/boot#



[cafedumonde]

My theory is that the build scripts are building targets with the wrong filenames. Thoughts?

[phenigma]

Something strange is up there.  I've not seen this before.  I will try an md at home when i get a chance.  Let me know if you find anything out.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[phenigma]

Not likely, is all Ubuntu stuff that deals with the kernels.  The Nvidia install would trigger an initrd rebuild...  which may be failing.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[phenigma]

Pull the​ Nvidia card out.  Try with the Intel drivers on the i3.  That's my best suggestion atm.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[cafedumonde]

Success. I pulled the nNvidia card and pressed the rebuild button in webadmin. The system booted through to the AV Wizard and Sarah's setup screens. I completed the installation and can now watch movies hosted on my core.

The problem definitely had to do with creating the images specific to nVidia.

Please advise next steps. You may recall from my earlier posts that I am using CRT televisions. I want to use the old GeForce 7300 card because it has a component output. I would like to avoid using an HDMI to component converter box, as I am with my hybrid. Lets please get the nVidia install working.

Also, I setup the diskless MD with analog sound. As on my hybrid, volume and mute controls don't work. I think there was mention in relation to my earlier posts that the linkages to Xine or ALSA are broken. This pretty much means that I have to use a receiver. Luckly I have two Denons and may do this, but was not planning on it. Will internal volume/mute control ever work again? What is the status of integrating VLC? An update would be great.

Thanks for the help.

CDM

[phenigma]

The Nvidia install works perfectly with modern cards (no issues here).  It's not the image, the image boots fine.  It's the Nvidia driver install that is breaking things (as best i can tell).  You might try editing the nvidia-install.sh script and tell it to use an older version of the drivers.  If that works then a permanent workaround could be made.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk