FreeBSD 10.1 PPC64 on XServe G5 hangs at Openfirmware Loader [likely an example of a long standing problem]

Fri Dec 19 11:44:12 UTC 2014

Per your request I downloaded an example memstick.img (I picked FreeBSD-10.1-STABLE-powerpc-powerpc64-20141207-r275566-memstick.img) and dd'd it to a usb stick. Using that stick plugged in the front of a 16 GByte RAM PowerMac G5 and booting with the openfirmware command

boot ud:2,\ppc\bootinfo.txt

does not hang where the CD boots do: it always gets well past that and clears the screen after the openfirmware stage/display is done.

I have successfully booted all the way with that.

But I've also had the classic intermittent boot-time panics/hangs. (A basic message about the issue was produced each time, unlike the silent early-hangs I've gotten in the past.)

Of course even these failures to complete the boot are evidence for your ISO9660 expectation likely being right: It is a different, later problem when it panics/hangs later in the boot.

===
Mark Millard
markmi at dsl-only.net

On Dec 18, 2014, at 10:04 PM, Nathan Whitehorn <nwhitehorn at freebsd.org> wrote:

I believe there is a similar issue affecting sparc64. It seems like the ISO9660 support in loader may be broken on big-endian systems. Can you check if the ppc64 memstick image boots OK?
-Nathan

On 12/18/14 18:29, Bill Sorenson wrote:
> I can confirm that 10.1-RELENG and 10-STABLE will boot at least an XServe G5 when built from source on a running 10.0-RELEASE install. Problem appears specific to the iso from what I can tell. Although I've been wrong before. I'm not sure how the isos are generated in the release process so no idea if it makes sense.
> 
> -Bill S.
> 
> On Dec 18, 2014 8:22 PM, "Mark Millard" <markmi at dsl-only.net> wrote:
> I've included a reminder (a past exchange) that makes this report sounds like a long standing problem with powerpc64 10.x-STABLE .iso's burned to CDs for PowerMac G5's.
> 
> As I remember 10.0-RELEASE's .iso worked and is eventually how I bootstrapped. 10.1-RELEASE did not work when I tried it. (See https://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-ppc/2014-November/007328.html .)
> 
> I've never had 10.x-STABLE .iso's work in a PowerMac G5. (I've no XServe access, just access to some desktop PowerMac G5's.) My tries do not go all the way back to the first 10.0-STABLE .iso, however. As I remember I started trying in 2014-Apr or so. Eventually I stopped checking each new 10.0-STABLE but did check some as time went on.
> 
> 
> From: Nathan Whitehorn <nwhitehorn at freebsd.org>
> Subject: Re: Running FreeBSD-ppc/ppc64 on emulators? [.iso based CD boot problems exist for PowerMac G5's too]
> Date: July 26, 2014 at 11:40:28 PM PDT
> To: Mark Millard <markmi at dsl-only.net>, freebsd-ppc at freebsd.org
> 
> Interesting. It seems loader is broken. I just tried with a 10.0-STABLE image and can reproduce the problem -- 11 oddly is OK. What really perplexes me is that the powerpc and powerpc64 loaders are identical, since loader is built 32-bit in either case. Super weird. I'll try to get it fixed. Thanks for the problem report and reminder!
> -Nathan
> 
> On 07/26/14 23:33, Mark Millard wrote:
> 
> To make clear about the "/" in the line:
> 
> and stops while displaying "/" from its progress indicator. The fans then gradually spin up.
> 
> This "progress indicator" is the repeating sequence -, \, |, /. It always stopped with / as I remember. But I've no clue for if that is from the repeating sequence or is the leading / from /boot/kernel/kernel. At this point I'm limited to reporting just the visual result, not the internal stage it is tied to.
> 
> ===
> Mark Millard
> markmi at dsl-only.net
> 
> On Jul 26, 2014, at 7:53 PM, Mark Millard <markmi at dsl-only.net> wrote:
> First I quote what I wrote about when the hangups occur on the G5's (combining quotes from the two messages so the overall notes are easier to understand):
> 
> For a C-key style boot it hangs shortly after displaying
> 
> loading /boot/defaults/loader.conf
> 
> and stops while displaying "/" from its progress indicator. The fans then gradually spin up.
> 
> In other words: It hangs just before it would normally display the line that includes the text: /boot/kernel/kernel
> 
> The original messages were:
> 
> http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-ppc/2014-June/007029.html
> and
> http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-ppc/2014-June/007056.html
> 
> Even the /b prefix from /boot/kernel/kernel did not show up even though /boot/defaults/loader.conf did show up just fine.
> 
> 
> 
> As for trying 11-CURRENT: I've not tried 11-CURRENT for anything yet. And, unfortunately, I'm now away from the PowerMacs for weeks so I will not be doing new experiments for several weeks. I can try once I get back.
> 
> All the 9.2/9.3-STABLE's that I tried worked. And 10.0-RELELASE worked. Any 10.0-STABLE from before about Apr-27 I've never tried: Late April is about when I started the experiments with PowerMacs.
> 
> Also: I had no troubles with 10.0-STABLE for powerpc on PowerMacs. PowerPC64 on PowerMac G5's is where I had problems. (I do not have other kinds of PowerPC equipment available.)
> 
> 
> 
> ===
> Mark Millard
> markmi at dsl-only.net
> 
> On Jul 26, 2014, at 2:23 PM, Mark Millard <markmi at dsl-only.net> wrote:
> This boot issue from .iso's (burned to CDs) is not specific to emulation (assuming it is the same problem in both places).
> 
> I'm afraid that it sounds like PowerMac G5's hang the same way/place whenever I've tried a fairly modern PowerPC64 10.0-STABLE .iso burned to a CD. I was able to boot 10.0-RELEASE's .iso burned to a CD. I've not tried emulation.
> 
> Having an initial FreeBSD running I tend to use the MANIFEST and .txz files with "bsdinstall auto" to make new from-scratch (not buildworld/buildkernel) installations when I want such.
> 
> My notes on the G5 boot issue for the .iso's burned to CD's were reported in: (I'm not near the PowerMacs, unfortunately)
> 
> FreeBSD 10-STABLE powerpc64 r266807 CD PowerMac7, 2 (and 7, 11) boot hangs very early in the process
> 
> Has anyone booted a G5 PowerMac from a recent 10.0-STABLE .iso burned to CD? A multi-processor one?
> 
> ===
> Mark Millard
> markmi at dsl-only.net
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ===
> Mark Millard
> markmi at dsl-only.net
> 
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