RedHat 7.2 on ES40 AlphaServer - Boot Problem - Help Solving

[Dialup Jon Norstog]

Jim, Bill:

The later Alpha Core distros sometimes put the aboot.conf file in the /boot
partition, but forget to tell SRM whereit is.  I've had to search for that
file and move it around a few times ... also, be prepared to have to vi the
aboot.conf file itself, make sure it invokes the right path to root.

There are what, 3-5 people worldwide actively working on Linux for Alpha?
Versus an army on X86.  We're lucky to still be getting the ports from them.
Who cares if it takes a little hacking to get them to work?

jn


---------- Original Message -----------
From: "Jim McCarthy" <jkmccarthy at pacbell.net>
To: "Linux on Alpha processors" <axp-list at redhat.com>
Sent: Sat, 12 Dec 2009 10:53:53 -0800
Subject: RE: RedHat 7.2 on ES40 AlphaServer - Boot Problem - Help Solving

> Hi Bill --
> 
> The error message
> 
> > /etc/aboot.conf:  file not found
> 
> is certainly not a good sign, and suggests the "upgrade installation"
> somehow corrupted the contents of the /boot folder contents of your old
> system disk.
> 
> I just sent you a private message with step-by-step instructions for 
> getting the old system disk mounted on your machine alongside the 
> new system disk, and copying the new (working) /boot folder contents 
> from the new system disk back over to the old system disk, in hopes 
> that this will allow you to boot successfully off the old disk again 
> (where your Mathematica installation resides).
> 
> But sitting here now I wonder if the RH7.2 Linux for Alpha 
> installation CDs also had a "repair" option separate from the 
> "upgrade" option that might address problems with corrupted contents 
> of /boot ?   This would certainly be easier than restoring /boot on 
> the old system disk manually (copying content from the new system 
> disk), but I don't know if that is what the "restore" option is for, 
> nor whether there is any risk of making matters worse instead of better.
> 
> Others on the axp-list may know more about this than me ....
> 
> Good luck --
> 
>         -- Jim McCarthy
> 
>   -----Original Message-----
>   From: axp-list-bounces at redhat.com [mailto:axp-list-bounces at redhat.com]On
> Behalf Of William E Bohrer
>   Sent: Friday, 11 December, 2009 10:32 PM
>   To: 'Linux on Alpha processors'
>   Subject: RE: RedHat 7.2 on ES40 AlphaServer - Boot Problem - Help Solving
> 
>   Good Evening Will!
> 
>   Thank you for your interest.
> 
>   After obtaining the ES40 (from eBay), I installed the RedHat 7.2 Operating
> System for the purpose of running the application named Mathematica. 
>  The commands are all Plot commands inside of Mathematica.  The only 
> other thing I have ever run on the machine is the GnuChess program.  
> For most of the first two years of using the machine, I didn't 
> utilize any of the Plot commands because everything I did was 
> numerical in nature.  Recently I did some work that involved 
> plotting elliptical figures.  Incidentally, the video card is a 
> Radeon 7900.  The initial installation of the operating system was 
> made by following the book Learning RED HAT LINUX, 2nd Edition,
>  which covers Red Hat 7.2 for Intel, Alpha and AMD based machines.  The
> author is Bill McCarty.
> 
>   Working by reading the book while sitting in front of the keyboard 
> and monitor, resulted in a working system, although as I recall, 
> getting the aboot> feature of the AlphaServer set up was the single 
> most difficult task.
> 
>   Now, moving forward in time to the last six weeks, on the day when 
> the ES40 would not boot, I returned to the book Learning RED HAT 
> LINUX, 2nd Edition, looking in the index for "troubleshooting" or 
> "boot problems" and anything else that might be helpful.  My reading 
> brought to light the concept of an "upgrade installation" and in the 
> heat-of-the moment, that seemed to promise a quick fix.  The words 
> about nothing being erased during an upgrade installation seemed 
> seductive to me.  I located the original package of RedHat7.2 and 
> performed the "upgrade."  The system will still not boot from  the 
> set of SCSI disks containing the original installation with the 
> "upgrade."  The machine progresses to aboot>, where I used to enter 0
> (zero) to boot the system and all that happens is "/etc/aboot.conf:  
> file not found" appears on the screen after I enter the 0 and that 
> is followed by another aboot>.
> 
>   When the machine first malfunctioned, it did not start the boot, 
> it just sat with a black screen, however, I don't know if the 
> "upgrade" installation was a good idea or not?  Is this situation a 
> step in the right direction or the wrong direction?  Was the 
> decision to attempt the "upgrade" install a bad decision?
> 
>   Your thoughts greatly appreciated.
> 
>   Bill
> 
>   From: axp-list-bounces at redhat.com [mailto:axp-list-
> bounces at redhat.com] On Behalf Of Will L Givens  Sent: Saturday,
>  December 12, 2009 12:26 AM  To: 'Linux on Alpha processors' 
>  Subject: RE: RedHat 7.2 on ES40 AlphaServer - Boot Problem - Help Solving
> 
>   Hate to say it but you gave us PLENTY of general information. What
> commands did you run? What kind of 'fancy' graphix did you try to 
> create and how (aka using what program)?  Will L G
> 
>   From: axp-list-bounces at redhat.com [mailto:axp-list-
> bounces at redhat.com] On Behalf Of William E Bohrer  Sent: Friday, 
> December 11, 2009 10:30  To: axp-list at redhat.com  Subject: RedHat 
> 7.2 on ES40 AlphaServer - Boot Problem - Help Solving
> 
>   Hello!
> 
>   Problem Description:  a previously stable installation of RedHat 
> 7.2 on an ES40 AlphaServer supporting the application Mathematica 
> 5.0 (which runs under Linux).  This computer has been in routine 
> weekly use by me for the purpose of solving various math problems of 
> interest to me as a hobby and also sometimes to support consulting 
> work performed by me (business has been poor of late).  This system 
> has been operating successfully for at least three years.
> 
>   About 6 weeks ago I attempted the generation of some fancy graphics
> displays to the screen, something I had not attempted previously.  Strange
> things, with minor impact seemed to happen after that, slower 
> booting is one symptom and some commands that worked before did not 
> seem to work as they had in the past, but nothing of a work stopping 
> nature.
> 
>   Then, one day the system simply would not boot.
> 
>   As a starting point I removed all the disks; installed spare disks 
> and reinstalled RedHat 7.2.  The system runs well with the 
> reinstalled operating system.  By "runs well" I mean that you can 
> play games on it with flawless and quick performance.  I have not 
> attempted to reinstall the Mathematica application yet.  Clearly not 
> a hardware problem.  Somehow, I have damaged the software while 
> attempting the fancy plotting (color plots, lots of curves, etc.) or 
> at least so it appears.
> 
>   The problem:  reinstalling Mathematica requires a payment to 
> Wolfram Research (not excessive, but I would just as soon avoid it 
> if possible) and I will lose electronic copies of the Notebooks 
> developed on this system.
> 
>   There are paper copies of the work performed to date, however, it 
> would be nice to skip retyping those .nb files if possible.
> 
>   The question is how to troubleshoot the damaged installation?
> Philosophical guidance at this point, please.  Please keep in mind that
> while I had sufficient competence to follow directions and successfully
> install RedHat 7.2 on the ES40; that is not particularly a strong 
> point with my computer expertise.
> 
>   Any and all suggestion gratefully accepted!
> 
>   Thanks,
> 
>   Bill
> 
> -- 
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------- End of Original Message -------