Sun Mar 5 14:51:07 PST 1995 This file contains some helpful (hopefully! :^) information on what to do if your Linux system won't boot properly. Section 1: What to do if after the installation process, the machine will not boot. This problem is not uncommon. The reason for it is that the kernel your system tries to boot after installation is not the same as the one used to install (the bootdisk kernel). Typically the kernel that is installed to your hard drive will contain more device drivers, and sometimes one of them won't like some piece of hardware in your machine. There are a couple of approaches that can be used to deal with this situation. Perhaps the simplest solution is to open up the machine and pull any cards that aren't crucial, and then try to reboot the system. If this is successful, then follow the instructions in the SLAKWARE.FAQ for building and installing a kernel that is customized for your hardware. Another approach (that doesn't involve opening the machine) is to try to use the bootdisk you installed with to kickstart the system. To do this, boot the disk and then use the "mount" option to have the kernel boot the root partition on your hard drive rather that a root/install disk. Let's assume your root Linux partition is on /dev/hda2. To boot the system, you'd use this command at the LILO prompt on the bootdisk: mount root=/dev/hda2 Section 2: Trying to get the kernel to detect hardware. The first thing you should do is make sure you're using a kernel that supports the hardware you're trying to use. For example, you need to use a kernel from the Q series to support extra peripherals such as non-SCSI CD-ROM drives. If you forgot to do this when you installed, use a bootdisk that supports your hardware to start the system as described above. Then, install an appropriate kernel from the Q series, or compile a custom kernel of your own. Be sure to reinstall LILO afterwards (if you use it). For more details on installing a kernel, see the SLAKWARE.FAQ. There are a number of extra parameters that can be used on the LILO bootdisk prompt, with Loadlin, or in your /etc/lilo.conf. These flags help tell the kernel which I/O port, IRQ, and so forth, that a particular piece of hardware uses, so that if the kernel doesn't see a peripheral while autoscanning you should be able to force detection by telling the kernel exactly where to look. To use an extra flag with a bootdisk, put the flags after the standard command used to boot the system. So, to boot /dev/hda2 and try to force detection of a Mitsumi CD-ROM drive with Mitsumi interface card, you might use something like this at the LILO prompt: mount root=/dev/hda2 mcd=0x300,11 To use a parameter with Loadlin, just add it to the end of the boot command in a similar fashion: loadlin vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 mcd=0x300,11 Or, you can enclose the parameters in an append="" and add the line to your /etc/lilo.conf. Don't forget to reinstall lilo after editing the i /etc/lilo.conf. To do this, just type "lilo" as root. Here's how the line you'd add to your /etc/lilo.conf looks: append="mcd=0x300,11" Here is a list of known kernel parameters from the Loadlin documentation: LOADLIN 1.5 ((C) 1994 lermen@elserv.ffm.fgan.de) and Linux version: 0.99.14, 0.99.15, 1.0, 1.1.47 This is a list of command line parameters recognized and interpreted by: ======================================================================== 1. LOADLIN ramdisk=size (size in Kbytes) or ramdisk=size,no (same as above, but diskchange prompt disabled) e.g.: ramdisk=1440,no vga=mode 2. The Linux kernel mem=number (for > 0.99.15, number = end of physical memory in bytes) root=device ro rw no387 debug sets console_loglevel = 10 no-hlt disables check of HLT isntruction at startup 3. init single auto ro,rw,no387 (forwarded from the kernel) 4. Some drivers reserve=port1,num1,...,port5,num5 #reserves 80x86 ioports ether=irq,base_addr,mem_start,mem_end,dev_name hd=cyl,head,sect # for 2 drives you need this twice # first relates to drive 0 bmouse=irq max_scsi_luns=n # (n should be between 1 and 8) st0x=base_address,irq # SEAGATE controller ST01/ST02 tmc8xx=base_address,irq # Future Domain TMC-885,TMC-950 t128=address,irq # Trantor T128/T128F/T228 ncr5380=port,irq,dma # Generic NCR5380 driver aha152x=portbase,irq,scsiid,reconnect # Adaptec AHA-152x driver xd=type,irq,iobase,dma mcd=port,irq sound=0x0TTPPPID, .. sbpcd=sbport,SoundBlaster sbpcd=LMport,LaserMate sbpcd=SpeaFXport,SPEA 5. Environment All parameters of format name=xxxx which are not recogized by the kernel or a driver are put onto the environment. LOADLIN itself always puts BOOT_IMAGE=imagefile onto the environ- ment. The user may put additional values onto the environment in order to allow /etc/rc to behave differently for a given condition. ============================================================================== Following are detailed descriptions: Parameters recognized by LOADLIN: ================================= root=device ----------- device may be a symbolic device name such as "/dev/hda2" or the numeric device number (hex) (highbyte=major, lowbyte=minor) recognized symbolic devices (with their partitions) are: "hda", "hdb", "sda", "sdb", "sdc", "sdd", "sde", "fd", "xda", "xdb" There is a problem: Linus interprets the number following "/dev/hda" as a HEX number, The device names in /dev of the Slackware distribution, however, are numbered /dev/hda1 .. hda9 .. hda10 .. hda16, instead of /dev/hda1 .. hda9 .. hdaa .. hdaf as Linus would have done. So, starting with version 1.3 of LOADLIN, I interpret the root device myself and pass the device numerically in the boot sector. My naming convention is a compromise which I hope will result in fewer irritations: If the number following "/dev/hda, hdb, sda ..." starts with 0, 0x or a..f, it is interpreted as a HEX number. If it starts with 1..9 it is interpreted as a decimal number. If none is appropriate, the string is passed to the command line. (some later kernel versions may have other device names). Examples: root=302 root=0x201 root=/dev/hda2 root=/dev/sdaa same as root=/dev/sda10 or /dev/sda0xa ramdisk=size ------------ size number of Kbytes for the RAMDISK device. The image for the ramdisk is loaded by the kernel at startup from a floppy drive, if root=/dev/fdx is also given. After loading the image, the kernel then makes the ramdisk the root device (NOT the floppy). In addition to this, LOADLIN prompts for inserting the ramdisk image into the floppy drive if it no longer needs the drive (i.e. after loading the kernel). vga=mode -------- mode -3 the user is asked to specify the VGA mode ask equal to -3 -2 80x50 extended VGA mode extended equal to -2 -1 80x25 normal mode normal equal to -1 0 as if "0" was entered at the boot prompt . . n as if the number "n" was entered at the boot prompt ro -- "ro" forces the root device to be mounted read-only (Not for UMSDOS!) rw -- "rw" forces the root device to be mounted read/write. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Parameters recognized only by the kernel: ========================================= mem=number ---------- number End of physical RAM, this is recognized by kernels of 0.99.15 and higher and is useful if the exact installed RAM size cannot be determined automatically. root=device ----------- device May be a symbolic device name such as "/dev/hda2" or the numeric device number (highbyte=major, lowbyte=minor) Recognized symbolic devices (with their partitions) are: "hda", "hdb", "sda", "sdb", "sdc", "sdd", "sde", "fd", "xda", "xdb" But NOTE: old kernels < 1.1.47 have xda=0xC00, xdb=0xC40 newer kernels have xda=0xD00, xdb=0xD40 example: root=302 root=/dev/hda2 !! NOTE: Older kernels ( below Linux 1.0.5 ) have a little bug in !! (init/main.c), but it is of little concern: !! The last part of the symbolic device name ("hda2") is !! passed as option parameter to init, so init will !! say "illegal option", but continue without errors. !! !! Of greater concern is the too-small static buffer !! "command_line" (80 bytes, in init/main.c). It is !! preferable to set it to 512 and recompile the kernel. !! !! This bug is fixed with Linux 1.0.5, the "command_line" !! is now 256 by default and (if needed ) can easily be changed !! with #define COMMAND_LINE_SIZE xxxx in init/main.c (to a !! maximum size of 2047). no387 ----- "no387" disables use of the hardware math coprocessor. since 1.1.47 (or perhaps earlier) the following options are no more passed to init: ro,rw,no387 ----------- the following are new: debug sets console_loglevel = 10 ----- no-hlt ------ disables check of HLT instruction at startup. If you have a clone 486, this option is *very* usefull. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Option Parameters recognized by "init": ======================================= single ------ Enter "single user mode" on boot auto ---- ro,rw,no387 (forwarded from kernels < 1.1.47). (see !!comment!! above) ----------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Configuration of ethernet cards: ================================ ether=irq,base_addr,mem_start,mem_end,dev_name --------------------------------------------- irq number, IRQ-number (3..15) base_addr number, IO-base (0x280,...) mem_start number, shared mem start mem_end number, shared mem end dev_name string, eth0..3 all configured ethernetcards dl0 D-Link DE600 pocket adaptor atp0 AT-LAN-TEC (RealTek) pocket adaptor plip0..2 parallel IP (PLIP) sl0..3 serial IP (SLIP) example: ether=10,0x280,0xc8000,0xcbfff,eth0 related files: net/inet/eth.c, drivers/net/Space.c ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Reserving I/O port space: ========================= reserve=port1,num1,...,port5,num5 --------------------------------- portn first IOport-address in range numn number of addresses in this range to reserve (there will be bits set to "1" in "ioport_register") related files: kernel/ioport.c ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Setting hard disk parameters for the root device: ================================================= hd=cyl,head,sect --------------- # NOTE: if you have two drives, you must put # two hd= params into the commandline # the first for drive 1, the second for drive 2 # eg. # loadlin zimage hd=1001,15,17 hd=989,15,56 root=/dev/hdb2 ro # (this example from my machine however is not needed, # you need it only, if Linux can't get the drive params properly # from the BIOS). related files: drivers/block/hd.c config: CONFIG_BLK_DEV_HD ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Setting the IRQ for the bus-mouse: ================================== bmouse=irq ---------- related files: drivers/char/busmouse.c config: CONFIG_BUSMOUSE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Parameters for SCSI controllers: ================================ max_scsi_luns=n (n should be between 1 and 8) st0x=base_address,irq SEAGATE controller ST01/ST02 tmc8xx=base_address,irq Future Domain TMC-885,TMC-950 t128=address,irq Trantor T128/T128F/T228 ncr5380=port,irq,dma Generic NCR5380 driver aha152x=portbase,irq,scsiid,reconnect Adaptec AHA-152x driver related files: drivers/scsi/seagate.c, t128.c, g_NCR5380.c, aha152x.c config: CONFIG_SCSI_SEAGATE, CONFIG_SCSI_T128, CONFIG_SCSI_GENERIC_NCR5380, CONFIG_SCSI_AHA152X ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Parameters for SCSI Tapes: ========================= st=buffer_size,write_threshould,max_buffers buffer_size Size of tape buffer in Kbyte (i.e. ST_BLOCK_SIZE) write_threshould Number of Kbytes to buffer before write. (must be < buffer_size) max_buffers Number of buffers to reserve related files: drivers/scsi/st.c config: CONFIG_CHR_DEV_ST ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Parameter for XT hard disk controller (DTC 5150X): ================================================== xd=type,irq,iobase,dma ---------------------- related files: drivers/block/xd.c config: CONFIG_BLK_DEV_XD ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Parameter for Mitsumi CDROM driver: =================================== mcd=port,irq ------------ related files: drivers/block/mcd.c config: CONFIG_MCD ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Parameter for sound cards: ========================== sound=0x0TTPPPID, .. ---------------- all values are enbedded in one longint, the above format shows a hex number, each place is a hex-digit TT Supported card type. This is the index into the list of configured cards If all cards are configured (which normally is not the case) the following order is kept: Roland MPU-401 Gravis Ultrasound ProAudio Spectrum SoundBlaster SoundBlaster 16 SB16 MPU-401 (SB16-MIDI port) AdLib PPP Port Address I IRQ D DMA Channel related files: drivers/sound/dev_table.h,dev_table.c config: CONFIG_SOUND ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Parameter for IDE-style CD-ROM device driver (Kotobuki/Matsushita/Panasonic): ============================================================================= sbpcd=sbport,SoundBlaster ------------------------ sbpcd=LMport,LaserMate ---------------------- sbpcd=SpeaFXport,SPEA ---------------------- sbport soundblaster base port +0x10 (i.e 0x230 = 0x220+0x10) LMport MPU-type port at 0x300 or equivalent SpeaFXport base port on SpeaFX card related files: drivers/block/sbpcd.c config: CONFIG_SBPCD ------------------------------------------------------------------------------