XEN doesn't boot: blinking Num and Scroll Lock on openSUSE 11.3

English Install/Boot/Login
#1

Dear all

I have to switch from VMWare Server 2.0 to XEN due the compilation of the kernel module fails.

But XEN doesn’t work on my newly upgraded server (fromm 11.0 to 11.3).

When I install XEN via yast and do a reboot, then the screen goes black and the LEDs of Num and Scroll Lock are blinking.

The last message i can see before the screen goes black is something like that:

module pci_ide_generic not found
creating device nodes with dev

All other kernels (Default or Desktop) work as intended.

Has anyone a clue, how to fix that problem? Are there special boot parameters necessary or is my grub configuration wrong?

My configuration is:
Dell Optiplex GX280 with SATA drive and 1GB RAM

My fstab:

/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6B160P0_B418N8SH-part2 /                    ext3       defaults              1 1
devpts               /dev/pts             devpts     mode=0620,gid=5       0 0
proc                 /proc                proc       defaults              0 0
usbfs                /proc/bus/usb        usbfs      noauto                0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_Maxtor_6B160P0_B418N8SH-part3 swap                 swap       defaults              0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6B160P0_B418N8SH-part1 /mnt/sda1            ext3       defaults              1 2
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3750640AS_5QD1GT88-part1 /mnt/sda1/srv/smb    ext3       defaults              1 2

My menu.lst:

# Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Sun Aug  1 15:56:50 CEST 2010
# THIS FILE WILL BE PARTIALLY OVERWRITTEN by perl-Bootloader
# Configure custom boot parameters for updated kernels in /etc/sysconfig/bootloader

default 1
timeout 8
##YaST - generic_mbr
gfxmenu (hd0,1)/boot/message
##YaST - activate

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: xen###
title Xen -- openSUSE 11.3 - 2.6.34-12
    root (hd0,1)
    kernel /boot/xen.gz 
    module /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.34-12-xen root=/dev/sda2 resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6B160P0_B418N8SH-part3 splash=silent quiet showopts
    module /boot/initrd-2.6.34-12-xen

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title Desktop -- openSUSE 11.3 - 2.6.34-12
    root (hd0,1)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.34-12-desktop root=/dev/sda2 resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6B160P0_B418N8SH-part3 splash=silent quiet  showopt
s
    initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.34-12-desktop

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe -- openSUSE 11.3 - 2.6.34-12
    root (hd0,1)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.34-12-desktop root=/dev/sda2 showopts ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off noresume nosmp noapic maxcpus=0 edd=off x11failsa
fe
    initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.34-12-desktop

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name:  openSUSE 11.0 - 2.6.25.20-0.1 (/dev/sda1)###
title openSUSE 11.0 (delta.libersec.li)
    root (hd0,0)
    configfile /boot/grub/menu.lst

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: floppy###
title Diskette
    rootnoverify (fd0)
    chainloader +1

Best regards
Werner

#2

On 08/10/2010 04:06 PM, speedysupranet wrote:
>
> Dear all
>
> I have to switch from VMWare Server 2.0 to XEN due the compilation of
> the kernel module fails.
>
> But XEN doesn’t work on my newly upgraded server (fromm 11.0 to 11.3).
>
> When I install XEN via yast and do a reboot, then the screen goes black
> and the LEDs of Num and Scroll Lock are blinking.
>
> The last message i can see before the screen goes black is something
> like that:
>
> Code:
> --------------------
> module pci_ide_generic not found
> creating device nodes with dev
> --------------------
>
>
> All other kernels (Default or Desktop) work as intended.
>
> Has anyone a clue, how to fix that problem? Are there special boot
> parameters necessary or is my grub configuration wrong?

Blinking lights indicate a kernel panic, which is a condition in which trying to
recover might damage the system. To debug this, you need to capture the reason,
which will show up on the logging console, or on a netconsole. The former is
easier, but may not get all the info. If you use KDE, you can get a logging
console by pressing CTRL-ALT-F10 before the crash occurs. You will have to write
down the info or take a picture of the screen for your bug report.

#3

The problem is, that the logging console is not accessable before the boot process is finished completely. As far as I can see, the kernel panic occurs directly before the init process starts. I assume that is has something to do with generation of udev. But as long as i don’t get real error messages dumped, I cannot analyze the problem.

I heard something about logging to a serial interface. How can I do that?

Best regards
Werner

#4

On 08/11/2010 04:36 PM, speedysupranet wrote:
>
> lwfinger;2204472 Wrote:
>> On 08/10/2010 04:06 PM, speedysupranet wrote:
>> Blinking lights indicate a kernel panic, which is a condition in which
>> trying to
>> recover might damage the system. To debug this, you need to capture the
>> reason,
>> which will show up on the logging console, or on a netconsole. The
>> former is
>> easier, but may not get all the info. If you use KDE, you can get a
>> logging
>> console by pressing CTRL-ALT-F10 before the crash occurs. You will have
>> to write
>> down the info or take a picture of the screen for your bug report.
>
> The problem is, that the logging console is not accessable before the
> boot process is finished completely. As far as I can see, the kernel
> panic occurs directly before the init process starts. I assume that is
> has something to do with generation of udev. But as long as i don’t get
> real error messages dumped, I cannot analyze the problem.
>
> I heard something about logging to a serial interface. How can I do
> that?

In any kernel source tree, see Documentation/serial-console.txt or read the
first entry returned by a Google search for “Linux serial console”.

#5

I didn’t manage to get the serial interface working (no machine left with serial interface).

But I quit with XEN now. I have no time and nerves anymore to invest too much time on it. I installed vmware player on a backup machine, where I have a desktop installed.

I have the following found out:
When I do safe boot with xen (noapm acpi=off …) then the boot process claims, that it can’t find kernel modules, even if these are installed on the system in the designated path. Furthermore, the boot process stops saying, that it can’t find the /dev/sda2 partition.

So I assume, that my machine (Dell Optiplex GX280) uses a IDE / SATA controller the XEN kernel has problems with it. That would explain, why I get a kernel panic, when it should start the init process after loading the initial image.

I have found this at Red Hat:
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=468083

So it looks like, that it is a reintroduced kernel bug in combination with the hardware.

Best regards
Werner