FS#10786 - ArchLive - Cannot boot over network with TFTP root

Attached to Project: Release Engineering
Opened by Jonathan Liu (net147) - Monday, 30 June 2008, 08:17 GMT
Last edited by Dieter Plaetinck (Dieter_be) - Thursday, 26 November 2009, 20:41 GMT
Task Type Bug Report
Category ArchISO
Status Closed
Assigned To Aaron Griffin (phrakture)
Architecture All
Severity Low
Priority Normal
Reported Version 2007.08-2
Due in Version Undecided
Due Date Undecided
Percent Complete 100%
Votes 1
Private No

Details

Description:
ArchLive cannot boot over network with TFTP root.
I suspect the GRUB boot loader needs to be recompiled with DHCP and network support.
Changing to GRUB command-line and typing "dhcp" displays the message "Error 27: Unrecognized command".
The GRUB entry should have "dhcp" added as the first line before "root (nd)" to default to DHCP for obtaining network settings so the user doesn't have to manually add it in or add an entry like "ifconfig --address=192.168.0.2 --mask=255.255.255.0 --server=192.168.0.1" in the case where no DHCP server is available.

Additional info:
* Version: Arch Linux 2008.06 Overlord

Steps to reproduce:
1. Boot ArchLive CD.
2. More Options... -> [EDIT ME] Diskless Boot (PXE / BOOTP)

Output:

Booting command-list

root (nd)

Error 23: Error while parsing number

Press any key to continue...
This task depends upon

Closed by  Dieter Plaetinck (Dieter_be)
Thursday, 26 November 2009, 20:41 GMT
Reason for closing:  None
Additional comments about closing:  closing because seems moot by now + no response in a long time
Comment by Jonathan Liu (net147) - Monday, 30 June 2008, 13:12 GMT
Here is a patch to fix up compile errors when enabling the following options in ./configure for network booting:
--enable-diskless \
--enable-{3c{5{03,07,09,29,95},90x},cs89x0,davicom,depca,eepro{,100}} \
--enable-{epic100,exos205,ni5210,lance,ne2100,ni{50,65}10,natsemi} \
--enable-{ne,ns8390,wd,otulip,rtl8139,sis900,sk-g16,smc9000,tiara} \
--enable-{tulip,via-rhine,w89c840}
   netboot.patch (1.8 KiB)
Comment by Aaron Griffin (phrakture) - Monday, 30 June 2008, 15:39 GMT
Ok wait, so if I understand this right, this is NOT a bug in the install ISO, it is a bug with the grub that archlinux ships, correct?
Comment by Jonathan Liu (net147) - Tuesday, 01 July 2008, 00:30 GMT
It is both as fixing the issue requires modifying both the GRUB menu in the install ISO and recompiling the GRUB used for the ISO with extra options.

Install ISO fix:
The install ISO needs "dhcp" added as the first entry so that the network is configured before it can boot over TFTP (a message in help detailing how to set up a static ip address for GRUB would be useful if there is no DHCP).

GRUB fix:
See comment dated Monday, 30 June 2008, 23:12 GMT+10.
Comment by Dan McGee (toofishes) - Tuesday, 01 July 2008, 13:19 GMT
Maybe we need a grub-archlive package where we can do things like patch in the gfx support as well as enable these more exotic options? I don't think we want to play with our 'vanilla' grub anymore than we have to, and we are already using a custom grub package on the ISO anyway.
Comment by Aaron Griffin (phrakture) - Tuesday, 01 July 2008, 15:33 GMT
Dan, that sounds like a good idea. I was trying to think of a sane way to do this. Additionally, we may be able to patch those misc hardware issues that grub-on-cd can cause too.

Anyone want to look into this while I am Arch-less?
Comment by Dieter Plaetinck (Dieter_be) - Saturday, 08 August 2009, 07:40 GMT
is this still relevant? (with grub1 getting more out of date every day and such)

Loading...