Topic: How do i change the boot options ?

[ronnie_dk]

Hi there.
I have an issue regarding my SME7 barebone complaining about the following:
___________________________________________________________

Oct  1 02:05:03 router kernel: Losing some ticks... checking if CPU frequency changed.
Oct  1 02:05:03 router kernel: APIC error on CPU0: 40(40)
Oct  1 02:05:34 router last message repeated 27 times
Oct  1 02:07:12 router last message repeated 8 times
Oct  1 02:08:48 router last message repeated 20 times
Oct  1 02:09:52 router last message repeated 9 times
Oct  1 02:10:05 router last message repeated 32 times
___________________________________________________________

I have seen some posts found by Google saying that error is caused by the bad Chipset on my barebone ( VIA chipset + CPU Speed correcting = Linux Mismatch ) and therefore SME Boot options needs to be modded, with NOAPIC i guess? PLS correct me if I´m wrong ?

I still need my motherboard to have the control over the FAN´S.
I don´t know if that is an issue too if I Disable APIC..?

Well
Do I edit Grub.conf or ?

Its only an issue regarding big log files filling up real quick.
Function is still graded A+.

Best regards
Ronnie  

[mmccarn]

I've edited grub.conf with acceptable results, but I believe my edits will evaporate if I re-install SME or upgrade to a new version (7.1?) when it comes out...

[raem]

mmccarn

Charlie confirmed in another post that it is appropriate to directly edit
/etc/boot/grub/grub.conf

On another subject:
You can change these values to see the kernel choices and allow time to select the correct one. It seems some people have had issues with the wrong kernel being selected (afer upgrade or update ??), and stuffing up the RAID.

timeout=20
#hiddenmenu

[ronnie_dk]

Hi again.
I have now set Grub.conf to noapic and it solved my problem.
Tks
Ronnie

[chris burnat]

I am also experiencing this problem.  I think Ray refers to:
http://bugs.contribs.org/show_bug.cgi?id=741

(In reply to comment #1)
> You couldtry booting with "noapic" on the boot kernel args. Type 'a', then
> 'a', then ' noapic' <return> (IIRC).

I have never done this, and so I tested this on a test box following the instructions from Charlie:
-type the letter A when presented with grub 1.5 booting
- type the letter A again at graphical interface for kernel selection
- this brought me into an editor with a line stating: grub append /ro root= /dev/main/root

- I then  typed noapic, ensuring that there was a space before the first letter of the word noapic and the last letter of the word root and pressed return, the server booted OK.

Is this correct?

Next.  Ray Mitchell wrote:

Charlie confirmed in another post that it is appropriate to directly edit
/etc/boot/grub/grub.conf

Ray, did you mean /etc/grub.conf?  /etc/boot/grub/grub.conf does not exist on any of the SME7 box I can access..

I then checked /etc/grub.conf, but there is no trace of the edit I made, i.e. no reference to noapic. Here it is - I did not copy the first part:

#boot=/dev/hda
default=1
timeout=5
splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu
title SME Server (2.6.9-34.ELsmp)
        root (hd0,0)
        kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.9-34.ELsmp ro root=/dev/main/root
        initrd /initrd-2.6.9-34.ELsmp.img
title SME Server-up (2.6.9-34.EL)
        root (hd0,0)
        kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.9-34.EL ro root=/dev/main/root
        initrd /initrd-2.6.9-34.EL.img

Where did I go wrong?  
a) Should I see a reference to "noapic" in /etc/grub.conf?  Where?
b) Is it possible to edit /grubb/conf over ssh for example?

Thanks for any help, the server is now in production at a busy site, a bit of a worry.

[william_syd]

Ray, did you mean /etc/grub.conf?  /etc/boot/grub/grub.conf does not exist on any of the SME7 box I can access..

I then checked /etc/grub.conf, but there is no trace of the edit I made, i.e. no reference to noapic. Here it is - I did not copy the first part:

Try

Code: [Select]

/boot/grub/grub.conf
 which is templated at

Code: [Select]

/etc/e-smith/templates/boot/grub/grub.conf

Code: [Select]

/etc/grub.conf
is a symbolic link to

Code: [Select]

/boot/grub/grub.conf

[chris burnat]

Thanks William, one mystery solved.  Still no trace of my edit addijg "noapic" to the boot argument, and so still a bit confused by it all - I really feel hopeless at times...

[william_syd]

Thanks William, one mystery solved.  Still no trace of my edit addijg "noapic" to the boot argument, and so still a bit confused by it all - I really feel hopeless at times...

Just made some edits to

Code: [Select]

/boot/grub/grub.conf and 2 reboots later they are still there.

[chris burnat]

Just made some edits to

Code: [Select]

/boot/grub/grub.conf and 2 reboots later they are still there.

Where I may be going wrong is that I am testing on a box fitted with a single celeron, not a true P4 - hence not multithreading, only one processor.  noapic applies to dual processor..   I am not game to do it on the production server with the warnings until I am sure what I am doing...

William, how did you do the edit, as root from the command line with pico? or pressing the A routine when booting?  Can you show me what your grub.conf look like after the edit?  Many thanks.

[william_syd]

Where I may be going wrong is that I am testing on a box fitted with a single celeron, not a true P4 - hence not multithreading, only one processor.  noapic applies to dual processor..

I don't think the system would normally make changes to the grub.conf based on your processor. However, SME looks like it will change your default kernel depending on which one was selected at boot time.

I got lazy and used WinSCP's internal editor.

Code: [Select]

# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE:  You have a /boot partition.  This means that
#          all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg.
#          root (hd0,0)
#          kernel /vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/main/root
#          initrd /initrd-version.img
#boot=/dev/sda
default=0
timeout=5
splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu
title SME Server (2.6.9-34.ELsmp)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.9-34.ELsmp ro nomce noacpi acpi=off root=/dev/main/root
initrd /initrd-2.6.9-34.ELsmp.img
title SME Server-up (2.6.9-34.EL)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.9-34.EL ro nomce noacpi acpi=off root=/dev/main/root
initrd /initrd-2.6.9-34.EL.img

This is on a SME VM so I don't know the effect of my 3 edits. All I do know is that it survived 2 reboots. I doubt the edits would be appended to any new kernels in future updates. Probably where templates would come in handy.

[chris burnat]

Done some more reading - I think I got it:
1) Passing an argument at boot time is only a temporary measure, a one shot for testing or debugging purposes.  No wonder I cannot see my edit in grub.conf....

2) For permanent changes, one has to edit /boot/grub/grub.conf
In my case, I would need to add noapic to this file as follows, then reboot the server, assuming of course that adding noapic fixes the problem:

[SNIP...]
title CentOS (2.6.9-34.0.2.EL)
        root (hd0,0)
        kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.9-34.0.2.EL ro root=/dev/main/root
        initrd /initrd-2.6.9-34.0.2.EL.img
title CentOS (2.6.9-34.0.2.ELsmp)
        root (hd0,0)
        kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.9-34.0.2.ELsmp ro noapic root=/dev/main/root
        initrd /initrd-2.6.9-34.0.2.ELsmp.img
title SME Server (2.6.9-34.ELsmp)
        root (hd0,0)
        kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.9-34.ELsmp ro noapic root=/dev/main/root
        initrd /initrd-2.6.9-34.ELsmp.img
title SME Server-up (2.6.9-34.EL)
        root (hd0,0)
        kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.9-34.EL ro root=/dev/main/root
        initrd /initrd-2.6.9-34.EL.img


I suspect that there is no need to add noapic to the EL kernel since this issue only affects multiprocessors as is the case with the P4 (multithreaded).

Is this correct?

Thank you William for your kind assistance, really useful.
chris.

[william_syd]

I'm always getting APIC and ACPI confused.

I think you have hit the nail on the head.

[chris burnat]

I doubt the edits would be appended to any new kernels in future updates

Tested this, and any edit appears to stick when upgarding to new kernels:

###ORIGINAL FROM SME7 CD
###Note, I had edited and added panic=30 for testing purposes

[...SNIP]
#boot=/dev/hda
default=1
timeout=5
splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu
title SME Server (2.6.9-34.ELsmp)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.9-34.ELsmp ro panic=30 root=/dev/main/root
initrd /initrd-2.6.9-34.ELsmp.img
title SME Server-up (2.6.9-34.EL)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.9-34.EL ro panic=30 root=/dev/main/root
initrd /initrd-2.6.9-34.EL.img

###AFTER FULL UPDATE - INCLUDING UPDATE-TESTING
###Note that all entries for new kernels have acquired panic=30 automatically.

[...SNIP]
#boot=/dev/hda
default=1
timeout=5
splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu
title CentOS (2.6.9-42.0.2.EL)
        root (hd0,0)
        kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.9-42.0.2.EL ro panic=30 root=/dev/main/root
        initrd /initrd-2.6.9-42.0.2.EL.img
title CentOS (2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
        root (hd0,0)
        kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp ro panic=30 root=/dev/main/root
        initrd /initrd-2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp.img
title CentOS (2.6.9-34.0.2.EL)
        root (hd0,0)
        kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.9-34.0.2.EL ro panic=30 root=/dev/main/root
        initrd /initrd-2.6.9-34.0.2.EL.img
title CentOS (2.6.9-34.0.2.ELsmp)
        root (hd0,0)
        kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.9-34.0.2.ELsmp ro panic=30 root=/dev/main/root
        initrd /initrd-2.6.9-34.0.2.ELsmp.img
title SME Server (2.6.9-34.ELsmp)
        root (hd0,0)
        kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.9-34.ELsmp ro panic=30 root=/dev/main/root
        initrd /initrd-2.6.9-34.ELsmp.img
title SME Server-up (2.6.9-34.EL)
        root (hd0,0)
        kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.9-34.EL ro panic=30 root=/dev/main/root
        initrd /initrd-2.6.9-34.EL.img

[william_syd]

Tested this, and any edit appears to stick when upgarding to new kernels:

Sweet.

Everyday is a school day.