[Bug 930447] Re: Unable to start Ubuntu 12.04 live CD with syslinux loader on Pentium M x86 Laptop due to bug in PAE kernel, initramfs or syslinux

[sudodus]

Hi Greg,

You are very welcome to test fake-PAE :-)

You find the information at this link

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu-fake-PAE

Look at it all, then decide which way you want to go

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/grub-n-iso
or
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/InstalledSystemFakePAE
or mörgæs's way
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PAE

If you need more details to make it work, I suggest that we exchange
information directly (for example via private email), because those
details are probably not relevant for the bug report.

I have a Thinkpad T42 with a Pentium M 1.7 GHz myself, so it will be
valuable to get test results from your x41, t41, and last but not least t40.

And in the end, we can publish your results in the list of tested CPUs
(in the wiki) and more verbose at the bug report.

Best regards
sudodus

On 2013-05-20 04:23, Greg Weber wrote:
> I have 2 or three pentium m systems to test on. may i help out with testing
> sodudus? (I have ibm thinkpad x41, t41, and maybe a t40 that only works on
> power cord/battery one or other)
> 
> 
> On Sun, May 19, 2013 at 12:51 PM, sudodus <nio.wiklund at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> On 2013-05-19 19:22, Chris Bainbridge wrote:
>>>> The reason why I want people to
>>>> check the address size is the we are working around the check, that
>>>> should make it impossible to boot a non-pae CPU with a pae kernel.
>>>
>>> Fake -PAE bypasses the check to stop dpkg installing a PAE kernel. But,
>>> even after that, the PAE kernel won't boot on a non-PAE CPU. PAE is not
>>> something that gets enabled (or disabled) at runtime, it is actually a
>>> replacement of functions  in the kernel source (#ifdef .. #endif etc.),
>>> so if you have a PAE kernel it will not boot on non-PAE. So it makes no
>>> sense to ask people to check the address size on a CPU that has already
>>> booted a PAE kernel, since the fact that it successfully booted a PAE
>>> kernel means it must support PAE. (afaik - this is from the
>>> documentation, I do not have a non-Pentium-M non-PAE system to test
>>> with)
>>>
>> I see your point. I will look for some links, that support what you say,
>> and change the text accordingly. If you have a link available, please
>> send it to me :-)
>>
>> Can you explain why the non-pae ubuntu code reports 32 bits physical
>> memory, while the pae code reports 36 bits? Some people say it should
>> report the same. But there is a difference on the computers I have tested.
>>
>> -o-
>>
>> If it is the general truth that non-pae CPUs won't boot at all, it is
>> even harder to understand why the Pentium M CPUs are excluded by the
>> Ubuntu developers. Why are those tests implemented (in syslinux), or why
>> are they shutting down, and not only printing the message?
>>
>> --
>> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to a
>> duplicate bug report (1058748).
>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/930447
>>
>> Title:
>>   Unable to start Ubuntu 12.04 live CD with syslinux loader on Pentium M
>>   x86 Laptop due to bug in PAE kernel, initramfs or syslinux
>>
>> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/930447/+subscriptions
>>
>

-- 
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu
Foundations Bugs, which is subscribed to syslinux in Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/930447

Title:
  Unable to start Ubuntu 12.04 live CD with syslinux loader on Pentium M
  x86 Laptop due to bug in PAE kernel, initramfs or syslinux

Status in “linux” package in Ubuntu:
  Won't Fix
Status in “syslinux” package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed
Status in Baltix GNU/Linux:
  Triaged

Bug description:
  Ubuntu 12.04 doesn't start from Desktop CD or USB with syslinux boot
  loader on Pentium M 1.6Ghz or faster Pentium M CPU - displays error
  message about missing PAE feature in CPU, but *the same* *Ubuntu
  12.04* Desktop CD/LiveUSB starts fine on *the same CPU* (and same PAE
  kernel) if GRUB boot loader is used, for example when WUBI or LiveUSB
  with GRUB boot loader, like Multisystem
  (http://liveusb.info/dotclear/index.php?pages/install ) is used!

  The error message is:
  "This kernel requires the following features not present on the CPU: pae.
  Unable to boot - please use a kernel appropriate for you CPU."

  THIS IS AN IMPORTANT REGRESSION! People are able to install and successfully use Ubuntu 12.04 on such pretty new hardware, like IBM Thinkpad T42 laptop with Pentium M 1700Mhz processor, but the bug in syslinux (or something related) forbids Ubuntu 12.04 installation.
  This bug is reproducible on lots of computers, there are several log files and /proc/cpuinfo file attached to this bugreport, AFAIK it's enough to reopen this bug.

  ---
  ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu4
  Architecture: i386
  CurrentDmesg: Error: command ['sh', '-c', 'dmesg | comm -13 --nocheck-order /var/log/dmesg -'] failed with exit code 1: comm: /var/log/dmesg: Permission denied
  MachineType: IBM 2373PPU
  dmi.bios.date: 06/18/2007
  dmi.bios.vendor: IBM
  dmi.bios.version: 1RETDRWW (3.23 )
  dmi.board.name: 2373PPU
  dmi.board.vendor: IBM
  dmi.board.version: Not Available
  dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information
  dmi.chassis.type: 10
  dmi.chassis.vendor: IBM
  dmi.chassis.version: Not Available
  dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnIBM:bvr1RETDRWW(3.23):bd06/18/2007:svnIBM:pn2373PPU:pvrThinkPadT42:rvnIBM:rn2373PPU:rvrNotAvailable:cvnIBM:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:
  dmi.product.name: 2373PPU
  dmi.product.version: ThinkPad T42
  dmi.sys.vendor: IBM

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