[Bug 1383375] Re: Network install for ubuntu 14.10.1 ppc64el fails on IBM Power 8 system.

Paul White bugs at pcwhite.com
Sat Apr 16 13:29:13 UTC 2016


Thank you for reporting this bug to Ubuntu. The 14.10 release reached EOL on July 23, 2015.
See this document for currently supported Ubuntu releases: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases 

Please upgrade to a supported version and re-test. If the bug is still
reproducible then please update the bug report.

** Package changed: ubuntu => debian-installer (Ubuntu)

** Changed in: debian-installer (Ubuntu)
       Status: New => Incomplete

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1383375

Title:
  Network install for ubuntu 14.10.1 ppc64el fails on IBM Power 8
  system.

Status in debian-installer package in Ubuntu:
  Incomplete

Bug description:
  Network install for ubuntu 14.10.1 ppc64el fails on IBM Power 8
  system.

  Attempting to do a network install with a IBM Power 8 model 
  8247_42L fails to initialize the network connection to perform a network 
  based install.

  We are attempting to perform network based installs on our systems.  When 
  using the netboot information from the netboot files in the mini.iso image 
  we downloaded from the ubuntu site, the network devices fail to work with 
  a DHCP server.

  
   We obtained the netboot files information from:
   http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports/dists/utopic/main/installer-ppc64el/current/images/netboot/mini.iso
  This was done on 10/14/2014, so this would be the image that was avilable 
  on that day.

  We followed this procedure to use them.
    mount the mini.iso to a tmp directory:
    mkdir /tmp/iso
    mount -o loop mini.iso /tmp/iso
    ls /tmp/iso/install
    initrd.gz vmlinux
    mkdir -p /install/ubuntu14.10/ppc64el/install/netboot
    cp /tmp/iso/install/initrd.gz	/install/ubuntu14.10/ppc64el/install/netboot.
    cp /tmp/iso/install/initrd.gz	/install/ubuntu14.10/ppc64el/installel/netboot

  
  The resultant configuration file that is pointed to by the dhcp server is:
  /tftpboot/petitboot/tulgpu002
  and it contains:

  
  default xCAT
  label xCAT
   kernel http://10.0.0.1:80/install/ubuntu14.10/ppc64el/install/netboot/vmlinuz
   initrd http://10.0.0.1:80/install/ubuntu14.10/ppc64el/install/netboot/initrd.img
   append "nofb utf8 auto url=http://10.0.0.1/install/autoinst/tulgpu002 xcatd=10.0.0.1 mirror/http/hostname=10.0.0.1 netcfg/choose_interface=40:f2:e9:31:8e:f0 console=tty0 console=ttyS0,19200n8r locale=en_US priority=critical hostname=tulgpu002 live-installer/net-image=http://10.0.0.1/install/ubuntu14.10/ppc64el/install/filesystem.squashfs"

  Prior to booting this device we used tcpdump or wireshark to monitor all 
  the traffic comming from the boot network we connected to eth0 of the 
  target device.   This allows us to see if there is any network traffic 
  when the ubuntu boot image is complaining about it.

  When booting the device we end up seeing:
        Detecting link
        Waiting for link local address

     ? configuring the network DHCP address                      ?
     ? (this may  take some time).                               ?

  And then we see the error message:
     ?                   Network autoconfiguration failed                    ?
     ? Your network is probably not using the DHCP protocol. Alternatively,  ?
     ? the DHCP server may be slow or some network hardware is not working   ?
     ? properly.                                                             ?

  If we look at the tcpdump trace at this point, we don't see any dhcp 
  network traffic from this device that corresponds to the time that we see 
  the message abotu "configuring the network DHCP address".  We DO see a 
  dhcp exchange while the firmware of this system fetched fetched the 
  petitboot configuration file: "/tftpboot/petitboot/tulgpu002", and after 
  that the system reboots with the download linux image.  But after that the 
  network connection to eth0 is silent.

  Pressing <continue> produces:

    ? From here you can choose to retry DHCP network autoconfiguration        ?
    ? (which may succeed if your DHCP server takes a long time to respond)    ?
    ? or to configure the network manually. Some DHCP servers require a       ?
    ? DHCP hostname to be sent by the client, so you can also choose to       ?
    ? retry DHCP network autoconfiguration with a hostname that you           ?
    ? provide.                                                                ?
    ?                                                                         ?
    ? Network configuration method:                                           ?
    ?                                                                         ?
    ?         Retry network autoconfiguration                                 ?
    ?         Retry network autoconfiguration with a DHCP hostname            ?
    ?         Configure network manually                                      ?
    ?                                                                         ?
    ?         Do not configure the network at this time                       ?
    ?                                                                         ?
    ?     <Go Back>                                                           ?

  retry the network autoconfiguration with the same error.

  
  At this point we know that the DHCP server works because it successfully 
  got its address and downloaded the vmlinux an initrd.gz files over the 
  network.  But the network is slient when the ubuntu part of the boot 
  process takes over.


  
  ----------------------------

  We also see the same results when booting off a current image of the 
  ubuntu 14.10.1 install CD. We obtained a network boot CD iso image from:
  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-server/daily/current/ 

  dated 10-24-2014 and burned the DVD image and inserted it into the DVD 
  drive of the system and proceed to boot of the DVD.

  With the DVD inserted in the DVD drive of the system power on the node and 
  then wait until the boot screen comes up:

  
  We wait for the petetit boot screen to appear on the system console and 
  then manually select the "Install" option.  This will select the ubuntu 
  14.10.1 install CD.

   Petitboot (14.06.30.11.32-gb90b84b)                           8247-42L 101D27A
   ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
    Ubuntu
    Ubuntu, with Linux 3.16.0-14-generic
    Ubuntu, with Linux 3.16.0-14-generic (recovery mode)
   *Install
    Rescue mode
    xCAT

    System information
    System configuration
    Rescan devices
    Exit to shell
   ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
   Enter=accept, e=edit, n=new, x=exit, h=help

  After a lot of system console blather we get:

  The system consol then prompts for a series of options where we
  select:

   Language: English
   Country, territory or area: United States

  
  It then detects the CD rom and says it is loading components.
  it then lists "detecting network hardware" and prompts us for:

   ??????????????????????? [!!] Configure the network ????????????????????????
    ?                                                                         ?
    ? Your system has multiple network interfaces. Choose the one to use as   ?
    ? the primary network interface during the installation. If possible,     ?
    ? the first connected network interface found has been selected.          ?
    ?                                                                         ?
    ? Primary network interface:                                              ?
    ?                                                                         ?
    ?  eth0: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme II BCM57810 10 Gigabit Ether      ?
    ?  eth1: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme II BCM57810 10 Gigabit Ether      ?
    ?  eth2: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme II BCM57810 10 Gigabit Ether      ?
    ?  eth3: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme II BCM57810 10 Gigabit Ether      ?
    ?                                                                         ?
    ?     <Go Back>                                                           ?
    ?                                                                         ?

  We select eth0:
  it displays some additional screens and lists:
    ???????????????????? Configuring the network with DHCP ????????????????????
    ?                                                                         ?
    ?                                   50%                                   ?
    ?                                                                         ?
    ? This may take some time.                                                ?
    ?                                                                         ?
    ?     <Cancel>                                                            ?
    ?                                                                         ?
    ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

  during this time, our tcpdump trace sees no network traffic on the network 
  connected to eth0.

  The system then displays:
    ?????????????????????? [!!] Configure the network ???????????????????????
     ?                                                                       ?
     ?                   Network autoconfiguration failed                    ?
     ? Your network is probably not using the DHCP protocol. Alternatively,  ?
     ? the DHCP server may be slow or some network hardware is not working   ?
     ? properly.                                                             ?
     ?                                                                       ?
     ?                              <Continue>                               ?
     ?                                                                       ?
     ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

  Going back and selecting the other network devices results in the same 
  thing.

  So, something appears broken, at least on this specific model of IBM 
  computer and it appears to be something wrong with the ubunto boot/install 
  images.


  I have attached a log file of the system console output during this
  session.

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