Re: Boot problems at install

[Nick Holland <nick@holland-consulting.net>]

Comments (and probable answer) below...

The Butlers wrote:
> 
> On Wed, 20 Dec 2000, Nick Holland wrote:
> 
> > Might be nice to see more of what lead to this... On the other hand,
> > it is a pain to transcribe it all, I realize.
> 
> I did transcribe it and posted it before, if you like I do still have that
> typed out in my sent mail, and I can send you a copy of it?

Yeah, I noticed that, under a DIFFERENT THREAD (subject), after I sent
my post. <Grumpy Mode>Please DON'T start new threads on old
topics</Grumpy Mode>.

Let me explain.

Every day, a hundred or MORE e-mails come in to my E-mail box (which
is probably a fraction of the incoming mail of some of the people
around here, I'm sure -- think about how many lists the OpenBSD
developers must monitor!).

When I read a message I think I can provide assistance to, I resort my
inbox for that list (which rarely seems to dip below 1000 messages for
Misc@) to group all the messages of the same subject line together --
this way, I see if anyone else has responded to your posting, and if
so, if they have posted the same response and suggestion I was going
to make, or a more likely solution or a resolution, this way, I save
both myself time and unneeded traffic on Misc@.  I don't read my
entire inbox before responding to any post, this would be quite
unrealistic, it would almost double my reading time (already
non-trivial), plus new messages come in constantly.
 
Once I finish my long-winded posts, I again check to see if a better
answer or resolution has come through, and if not, post (most people
who post probably don't have to go through this step...I've never
learned how to make a response in two sentences.  I didn't really
start to write until relatively late in life (~17 years) and just
haven't quit since 8)

Back to the subject at hand, your computer.

> > O.k., so what happens if you pull out the NIC?  Does the problem go
> > away?  Yeah, you may not want to leave it that way, but we need to
> > know what is causing the problem before we can fix the problem.  Also
> > try pulling ALL ISA and PCI cards not needed to get a basic bootup
> > (NOT install, just a boot), what happens now?
> >
> > Some details of your system might be nice.  ALL the details of your
> > system would be even better.  What kind of box (processor, brand,
> > model)?  How much memory?  What other cards in it?  What are the
> > settings of the ALL the ISA cards?
> >
> > Divide and conquer.  Or, at least document and let us help you
> > concquer. 8-)
> >
> > Nick.
> 
> I removed all Cards that I had in (I only have 2, a sound card, and the
> ethernet card, both are ISA).  I had no problems after that (other than the
> warnings, which are resolved if I disable PCIBIOS). So then I put the sound
> card in and tried with just that. And again, had no problems. Then I removed
> the sound card, and put the Ethernet card back in (not in the same slot though,
> at originally). And the problem did arise again. So I am sure that it is my
> Ethernet card. Here's a little more details of my system that I know:
> 
> Pentium 133MHz, Packard Bell (Multimedia D160)
> 40MB Ram
> 1.3GB Hard drive
> 10 Base-T ISA Ethernet Adapter, Options by IBM (NE2000)  (I/O Adresss 0340h,
> (IRQ 9?))

Ah-HA!
see below...

> Sound Blaster (Compatible?) Sound card (I/O Adress 0x240, IRQ 5, DMA 1)
> 4x CD-Rom
> 
> As you can tell, there are certain things I know about my system than others.
> That is mostly from some of the settings I have had to test with Linux (Using
> Red Hat 6.1 currently).
> 
>     -- Matt

There is a problem with your NIC's settings.  The OpenBSD settings are
300/10 (ne1) and 240/9 (ne0).  Most likely what is happening is
OpenBSD is probing for something from 340h to 35Fh.  It is possible to
probe some variants of NE2000 compatibles in such a way that the card
will lock the bus.  Since the NIC isn't where it "belongs" anyway (see
INSTALL.i386 in the FTP directory or the CD-ROM), this isn't really a
bug. 8)  In theory, if you were to disable that device in UKC, it
would not hang, but your NIC still isn't going to work as it is
currently set.

So, move your NIC to one of the supported settings (probably using the
config program which comes with the card) and you should be in
business.

Nick.
-- 
http://www.holland-consulting.net/