Debian installer CD problems

[mark_k]

I'm tried to install Debian 3.1r8 from the official ISO image. At about 4.6GB it's actually a DVD image, but the ~37MB business card CD image shows the same problem. There are problems with two setups:
- A3000/040, HD at SCSI ID 6, CD drive at SCSI ID 2
- A4000/040, IDE HD and IDE/ATAPI CD drive

With the A3000 config, the installer boots and runs but can't seem to detect the CD drive. It stays at a blue screen with flashing cursor for a very long time, then reports:
An installation step failed. You can try to run the failing item
again from the menu, or skip it and choose something else. The
failing step is: Load installer components from CD

If you press return and select the exit to a shell option, you can type ls /cdrom to show that the CD is actually mounted.

With the A4000 config it gets a bit further. The installer shows steps: Detecting hardware to find CD-ROM drives, Scanning CD-ROM, Loading components of the Debian installer. But the process hangs at the 36% point, "Retrieving lvm2-udeb".

For the A3000 config, there is some SCSI-related log output (2013-02-02 winuae.exe) which might be relevant:

SCSIEMU 0: 28.00.00.00.00.DB.00.00.01.00.00.00 CMDLEN=10 DATA=39A96C48 LEN=10
-> DATAOUT=2048 ST=0 SENSELEN=0
SCSIEMU 0: 28.00.00.00.00.DE.00.00.01.00.00.00 CMDLEN=10 DATA=39A96C48 LEN=10
-> DATAOUT=2048 ST=0 SENSELEN=0
SCSIEMU 0: 28.00.00.00.00.DF.00.00.01.00.00.00 CMDLEN=10 DATA=39A96C48 LEN=10
-> DATAOUT=2048 ST=0 SENSELEN=0
...
[some MMU-related lines]
...
SCSIEMU 0: 28.00.00.00.3A.3F.00.00.08.00.00.00 CMDLEN=10 DATA=39A96C48 LEN=10
-> DATAOUT=16384 ST=0 SENSELEN=0
MMU: page fault (logical addr=EFFFE000 SSW=0301 read=0 size=4 fc=1 pc=0001a310 ob=00000000 ins=0E99)
MMU: page fault (logical addr=8002B130 SSW=5062 read=1 size=2 fc=2 pc=8002b130 ob=00000080 ins=FFFF)
SCSIEMU 0: 28.00.00.00.3A.47.00.00.0E.00.00.00 CMDLEN=10 DATA=39A96C48 LEN=10
-> DATAOUT=28672 ST=0 SENSELEN=0
SCSIEMU 0: 28.00.00.00.3A.55.00.00.1A.00.00.00 CMDLEN=10 DATA=39A96C48 LEN=10
-> DATAOUT=53248 ST=0 SENSELEN=0
SCSIEMU 0: 28.00.00.00.3A.6F.00.00.0C.00.00.00 CMDLEN=10 DATA=39A96C48 LEN=10
-> DATAOUT=24576 ST=0 SENSELEN=0
SCSIEMU 0: 28.00.00.00.3A.7B.00.00.02.00.00.00 CMDLEN=10 DATA=39A96C48 LEN=10
-> DATAOUT=4096 ST=0 SENSELEN=0

For the A4000 config, part of the log output with MMU-related lines omitted:

ATAPI data transfer 12/12 bytes
SCSI command 2B, no direction specified!
SCSIEMU 0: 2B.00.00.00.3E.F2.00.00.00.00.00.00 CMDLEN=10 DATA=36DBD968 LEN=65536
CDEMU: unsupported scsi command 0x2B
-> DATAOUT=-1 ST=2 SENSELEN=18
ATAPI data transfer 12/12 bytes
SCSIEMU 0: 28.00.00.00.3E.F2.00.00.08.00.00.00 CMDLEN=10 DATA=36DBD968 LEN=65536
-> DATAOUT=16384 ST=0 SENSELEN=0
ATAPI data transfer 16384/16384 bytes
ATAPI data transfer 12/12 bytes
SCSIEMU 0: 28.00.00.00.3E.FA.00.00.0E.00.00.00 CMDLEN=10 DATA=36DBD968 LEN=65536
-> DATAOUT=28672 ST=0 SENSELEN=0
ATAPI data transfer 28672/28672 bytes
ATAPI data transfer 12/12 bytes
SCSIEMU 0: 28.00.00.00.3F.08.00.00.1A.00.00.00 CMDLEN=10 DATA=36DBD968 LEN=65536
-> DATAOUT=53248 ST=0 SENSELEN=0
ATAPI data transfer 32768/53248 bytes
ATAPI data transfer 20480/20480 bytes
ATAPI data transfer 12/12 bytes
SCSIEMU 0: 28.00.00.00.3F.22.00.00.24.00.00.00 CMDLEN=10 DATA=36DBD968 LEN=65536
-> DATAOUT=73728 ST=0 SENSELEN=0
ATAPI data transfer -1967852132/-818686905 bytes
IDE-1016012054: unknown ATAPI command 0xe1
ATAPI data transfer 12/12 bytes
IDE-1016012054: unknown ATAPI command 0xe1
ATAPI data transfer 12/12 bytes
[previous two lines repeated several times]

I have uploaded a bootable HDF which contains only the kernel and initrd. Use that in conjunction with the Debian ISO image and the attached configs. http://www..com/file/DQOyXx8k..._HDbintar.html

[Toni Wilen]

Thanks. Both fixed.

ATAPI internal data buffer was too small. SCSI WD33C93 emulation didn't handle scatter/gather DMA when using Select-And-Transfer command.

[mark_k]

In both cases the installer gets much further now. But there is a problem with the partitioning stage on A4000/040 and an error loading installer components on A3000/040. I don't blame you for not spending hours waiting for the installer to finish though!

[By the way, with A4000/040 config the 31kHz display mode used by the installer has the right edge cut off. That's probably the same regression as I mentioned here, assuming the Aminet Debian HDF X display mode is the same as used by the installer.]

With A4000/040 config, you get to the partitioning stage. I chose the default layout and selected Finish partitioning and write changes to disk. After a while there was this error message:
The attempt to mount a file system with type swap in IDE1 master,
partition #3 (hda3) at none failed.

With A3000/040 config, there is an earlier error in Loading installer components from CD (dhcp-client-udeb):
There was a problem reading data from the CDROM. Please make sure it
is in the drive. If retrying does not work, you should check the
integrity of your CD-ROM.

[Toni Wilen]

Not going to even attempt to test this, takes too long.

EDIT: I can create full ide and scsi debug version if you are interested in getting logs.. (My guess is that some rarely used mandatory command is not emulated)

[mark_k]

Yes if you can upload a logging-enabled version I'll give it a try.

[Toni Wilen]

winuae.zip updated, ide/scsi debugging enabled.

btw, where do you see cut right edge? Text needs to be obviously cut, for example some non-centered box does not mean anything.

[mark_k]

Thanks.

See here. In that posting I attached a couple of screenshots of the X desktop. The one made with WinUAE 2.3.3 looks good, the one with latest WinUAE has the right edge cut off.

[Toni Wilen]

Yes, but getting to X takes longer than installer

[mark_k]

Here are some screenshots from the installer, taken with WinUAE 2.3.3 and 2.6.0b6. Even in the 2.3.3 screenshot there may still be a couple of pixels which are missing from the right edge (notice the / symbols at the right are cut off slightly).

I have uploaded logs for running the Debian installer with A3000/040 and A4000/040 configs using the winuae.exe you uploaded earlier. http://www..com/archive/yoS7G...3_Debian_.html

[Toni Wilen]

Unfortunately there was nothing interesting in the logs.

[mark_k]

Oh dear.
I thought the problems might be due to some MMU bug, but they happen in the same place with A3000/030 and A4000/030 configs too. The different MMU code for 030 vs 040 probably means the cause is elsewhere.

[Toni Wilen]

Tried increasing RAM? I noticed installer fails after some files have been unpacked with only 16M RAM, error is generic "something went wrong", it does not mention anything about RAM.

Does it work if install source is not CD?

Unfortunately savestates can't be used because unix-like operating systems really like harddrive writes and usually have big caches.

[mark_k]

It wasn't a RAM problem since I had 64MB configured.

I have created an HDF which has the Debian CD 1 ISO image file in the FFS partition. You can use it to install from an actual CD/DVD, or have the installer use the ISO image. http://www..com/file/pIBBdHcF...ithISO_af.html, ~586MB.

Boot it and type one of Install-CD, Install-CD-manual, Install-HD, Install-HD-manual. The -manual versions allow you to manually run each installation step instead of automatically running them all. Install-CD requires an actual (emulated) CD drive. Install-HD installs from the ISO image.

I tried installing from HD with an A3000/040 config and it failed when partitioning the HD, see pics. Maybe some SCSI-related problem? Though with an A4000/040 config (IDE HD) it seemed to fail in a similar way. Also, I noticed that the installer doesn't automatically detect an A2065 ethernet card (see pic).

When testing, the HDF may be left in an unbootable state after partitioning/formatting fails, so you'll need to unpack the HDF from the archive before trying again.

[Toni Wilen]

How do I get to the (non-working) partitioning config screen? Quickest way, of course

[mark_k]

It isn't very quick at all, but...

• Boot the large HDF I uploaded (A3000/040/A2065 config attached).
• Type Install-HD-manual, press return three times.
• At the menu select Load installer components from an installer ISO
• At the menu press Tab to highlight Continue and press return. The "Loading components of the Debian installer" stage takes a while. Once the main menu appears you can select Detect network hardware, notice that A2065 doesn't seem to be detected.
• Select Partition disks
• Select Use the largest continuous free space
• Select All files in one partition (recommended for new users)
• Select Finish partitioning and when asked Write the changes to disks? select Yes
• At that point with A3000 config I get a message:

  	Warning!
  	The kernel was unable to re-read the partition table on
  	/dev/scsi/host0/bus0/target6/lun0/disc (Device or resource busy).
  	This means Linux won't know anything nothing about the modifications
  	you made until you reboot.  You should reboot your computer before
  	doing anything with /dev/scsi/host0/bus0/target6/lun0/disc.

• Select Continue. "Creating ext3 file system for / in partition #2 of SCSI1 (0,6,0) (sda)...". Get error message:

  	Failed to create a file system
  	The ext3 file system creation in partition #2 of SCSI1 (0,6,0) (sda)
  	failed.

• Select Continue and the partitioner starts again. You can retry with the same result.

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by mark_k

A2065 doesn't seem to be detected.

There are no accesses whatsoever to A2065 address space during detection. I don't think this is WinUAE problem because manual selection works and it finds the card automatically (as in not asking any addresses) = autodetection should also work unless it isn't fully implemented. Sources probably tell the whole truth..

I'll debug partitioning problem tomorrow.

[Toni Wilen]

Solved. Partitioning problem is not a bug.

After partitioning Linux needs to re-read the partition table but because same drive is also used as a install package source/ADOS boot partition, it can't succeed (all mounts must be unmounted first) = "was unable blahblah".

Without reboot, real data on drive vs data that Linux thinks is on drive conflicts = formatting error.

Formatting after reboot seems to work normally. Use early boot menu to select ADOS partition or KS attempts to boot from new Linux partition.

[mark_k]

Hmm, not the most user-friendly OS installer is it? (Still better than early NetBSD though... )

I tested the 2013-02-07 16:48 winuae.exe with an A3000/040 config, trying to install Debian from CD-ROM. Interestingly, it shows a similar problem as I originally reported with an A4000 IDE config; error reading from CD at the "Retrieving dhcp-client-udeb" stage.

Update to add: I only see that problem when using the ~4.6GB DVD ISO image, not the businesscard, netinst or full CD#1 ISOs. Maybe some problem with >4GB ISO image handling???

The DVD ISOs are not available for direct download. Instead you need to download the .template and .jigdo files from http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/ar...68k/jigdo-dvd/ and use jidgo-lite which downloads/builds the ISO image for you.

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by mark_k

Hmm, not the most user-friendly OS installer is it? (Still better than early NetBSD though... )

I think this is normal

The DVD ISOs are not available for direct download. Instead you need to download the .template and .jigdo files from http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/ar...68k/jigdo-dvd/ and use jidgo-lite which downloads/builds the ISO image for you.

I tried few mirrors and stupid jigdo just keeps continously outputting file not found errors without any way to switch to another mirror if selected mirror does not have any m68k files..

[mark_k]

There should be a way to manually specify which mirror to use. I used http://archive.debian.org/debian/ successfully.

I just tested using an A4000/040 config (IDE HD and CD) with the Debian DVD ISO, and that doesn't show the error the A3000 config had.