[Voyage-linux] Can't boot from USB flash drive

Danny Adair (spam-protected)
Thu May 18 10:31:17 HKT 2006 

Thanks,

Well that's the weirdest part. All necessary drivers seem to be
loaded, USB Mass Storage support is registered, and the key is found
by the USB driver:

usb 2-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 4
scsi4 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
XXXusb-storage: device found at 4
XXXusb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
  Vendor: OTi       Model: Flash Disk        Rev: 2.00
  Type:   Direct-Access                      ANSI SCSI revision: 02
XXXready
XXXSCSI device sda: 4077568 512-byte hdwr sectors (2088 MB)

The lines marked with XXX is what I get on my workstation when I plug
in the key, but what is missing when I boot from the key on the target
computer. Also, the "Vendor, Type" lines only come up on the target
computer if I give grub "rootdelay".
usb-storage doesn't "pick up" the new scsi device (on the target
computer it's scsi0 instead of scsi4) and I have no idea why. So you
reckon at this stage the BIOS is not involved anymore?


Btw, I'm trying the newest version of voyage, but I just ran into a
problem with kernel compilation:

  LD      init/built-in.o
  LD      .tmp_vmlinux1
arch/i386/kernel/built-in.o(.init.text+0x13f4): In function `setup_arch':
: undefined reference to `check_acpi_pci'
drivers/built-in.o(.text+0x42ee6): In function `isd200_get_inquiry_data':
: undefined reference to `ide_fix_driveid'
make[1]: *** [.tmp_vmlinux1] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/kernel-source-2.6.15-voyage'
make: *** [stamp-build] Error 2

That's when I use
http://www.voyage.hk/dists/unstable/kernel/kernel-source-2.6.15-voyage_3.0-1_all.deb
together with
http://www.voyage.hk/download/kernel_config/config-2.6.15-486-voyage_3.0-1

Any ideas?

Cheers,
Danny

On 5/18/06, William M. Brack <wbrack at mmm.com.hk> wrote:
> My understanding is that, once grub has completed loading the kernel,
> BIOS should no longer be involved.  The "picking it up" part will be
> determined by the "ohci_hcd" or "ehci_hcd" code (and make sure your
> kernel configuration has that set correctly).  As long as you haven't
> specified it as a module, the initrd part shouldn't be necessary.
> However, I also know (from bitter personal experience :-) that the Linux
> support for various flash devices leaves a lot to be desired.
>
> Good luck!
>
> Bill
>
> Danny Adair wrote:
> > Thanks,
> >
> > I think the support for USB on the target computer's BIOS is limited.
> > I needed to enable "USB Keyboard support" to boot from the key, and I
> > think that's why the drivers don't pick it up. The BIOS drive isn't
> > there.
> >
> > Which means I might need to go the initrd route...
> >
> > I'll try the "current" voyage first, and keep you up to date on my
> > progress (on the list).
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Danny
> >
> > On 5/18/06, William M. Brack <wbrack at mmm.com.hk> wrote:
> >> Danny,
> >>
> >> Since you're more comfortable with grub, you should try downloading:
> >>     http://www.voyage.hk/download/voyage/voyage-current.tar.gz
> >> The voyage.update in the current snapshot allows you to set up grub,
> >> including the option of setting it up in a separate partition, with no
> >> editing required.  Make sure to choose "Generic PC" so that the console
> >> is set up appropriately.
> >>
> >> There are several things that you will have to (manually) change after
> >> the installation is completed.  First, of course, are the grub
> >> parameters
> >> controlling where the kernel is located ('root' and 'kernel').  Second
> >> is
> >> on the parameters at the end of the 'kernel' line - you must change
> >> "root=/dev/hdaX" to be whatever you need for your USB
> >> drive("root=/dev/sda2"??).  Third, you must edit /etc/fstab to set the
> >> correct location for the root mount.  That's all I can think of
> >> off-hand
> >> - let us know how it all progresses, and I'm looking forward to reading
> >> the "HowTo" after it's all working!
> >>
> >> Bill
> >>
> >> Danny Adair wrote:
> >> > Thanks Punky,
> >> >
> >> > Apparently I was a bit naive when I posted the question.
> >> >
> >> > Here's what I did so far - I guess grub/lilo is a matter of taste;
> >> I'm
> >> >  more comfortable with grub:
> >> >
> >> > - Recompile the voyage Kernel with USB / USB storage / SCSI support
> >> > built-in instead of modules.
> >> > - Create a grub partition (sda1) with the kernel image in it so that
> >> > it doesn't sit outside BIOS boundaries.
> >> > - chroot into voyage and dpkg --purge lilo
> >> > - Manually change voyage.update: a) change the hardcoded "1" to a "2"
> >> > (voyage goes on sda2) b) comment out the call to lilo_update() as
> >> > there is no lilo anymore.
> >> > - grub needs a "rootdelay" parameter when loading the kernel, so that
> >> > there is enough time for the USB/SCSI drivers to detect the USB key
> >> so
> >> > that sda2 can be mounted to /.
> >> >
> >> > However, :-)
> >> > I haven't got it working yet.
> >> > I'll keep you up-to-date. Firstly I _need_ this working, and secondly
> >> > I _need_ this documented anyway, so I'll post a HowTo here once I'm
> >> > done.
> >> >
> >> > http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Small_Footprint_Gentoo_on_USB#Create_a_useable_kernel
> >> > mentions re: 2.6 Kernel that he left the USB support outside as
> >> > modules and then used "preload" on an initrd. I'll investigate that
> >> > today.
> >> >
> >> > Btw, on this Phoenix Award BIOS not only did I need to put "USB-HDD"
> >> > as the first boot device, I also had to enable "USB Keyboard Support"
> >> > to be able to boot from the key.
> >> >
> >> > Cheers,
> >> > Danny
> >> >
> >> > On 5/17/06, Kim-man Punky TSE <punkytse at punknix.com> wrote:
> >> >> Hi Danny,
> >> >>
> >> >> See this thread, just talk about it yesterday. ;-)
> >> >>     http://list.voyage.hk/pipermail/voyage-linux/2006-May/000898.html
> >> >>
> >> >> But I am not sure you can boot from USB successfully.  If you have
> >> >> successful experience on boot voyage from USB, please share with us.
> >> >>
> >> >> - Punky
> >> >>
> >> >> Danny Adair wrote:
> >> >> > Hi,
> >> >> >
> >> >> > I installed a plain vanilla voyage-0.2 on a usb flash drive on sda
> >> >> > (sda1 is ext2) on my host.
> >> >> > When I boot from it (on the target computer) I get:
> >> >> >
> >> >> > VFS: Mounted root (ext2 filesystem) readonly.
> >> >> > Freeing unused kernel memory: 140k freed
> >> >> > Warning: unable to open an initial console.
> >> >> > Kernel panic - not syncing: No init found.   Try passing init=
> >> option
> >> >> > to the kernel
> >> >> >
> >> >> > I also see that hda was detected. The target computer has a hard
> >> disk
> >> >> > but I don't want to use it at all. I want to boot and work only
> >> off
> >> >> > the usb key.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > README says:
> >> >> > 4.4 Known Issues ======================
> >> >> > - There is a problem reported when installing voyage over usb
> >> device
> >> >> > using ub kernel module. Moreover, it is assumed that voyage is
> >> >> > installed in /dev/hda1 of the target platform.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Any ideas? I couldn't find the problem report in the archives.
> >> >> > I suspect that LILO needs to be configured differently but a) I
> >> don't
> >> >> > know much about lilo and b) there is /etc/lilo.conf
> >> >> > /etc/lilo.conf.voyage and /etc/lilo.install.conf and I don't know
> >> >> > which one to change.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > I changed hda to sda and hda1 to sda1 on all of them but to no
> >> avail.
> >> >> > I appreciate any help.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Cheers,
> >> >> > Danny
> >> >> > danny at adair.net
> >> >> >
> >> >> > _______________________________________________
> >> >> > Voyage-linux mailing list
> >> >> > Voyage-linux at list.voyage.hk
> >> >> > http://list.voyage.hk/mailman/listinfo/voyage-linux
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> --
> >> >> Regards,
> >> >> Punky
> >> >>
> >> >> P U N K N ! X  . c o m
> >> >> Technology + Lifestyle
> >> >> (http://www.punknix.com)
> >> >>
> >> >> V O Y A G E . H K - http://www.voyage.hk
> >> >> Linux - voyage-0.2 is released!
> >> >> Store - Senao NMP-8602 Plus (400mW) is now in stock!
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> > _______________________________________________
> >> > Voyage-linux mailing list
> >> > Voyage-linux at list.voyage.hk
> >> > http://list.voyage.hk/mailman/listinfo/voyage-linux
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
>
>
>

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