Topic: New Server Compatability UEFI [SOLVED]

[Allan Pritchard]

I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

After a few years of running SME on the oldest PC in the office (leaving the new ones for staff) we decided that that it was time to build an up to date server since it was our most critical piece of hardware.

I have put together an
Asus X99 Deluxe II motherboard (no on board graphics)
Intel Xeon E5-2630 v4 Processor
Radeon Saphire 1 gig graphics card
with 4x 3tb hard drives to run in raid 5
no other peripherals other than keyboard and mouse

After the initial install the first reboot ends in an error
Failed to load firmaware "Radeon/CAICOS_pfp.bin"
[drm;evergreen_initl *ERROR* Failed to load firmware!

there is a hundred more lines of code then hangs at System_call_fastpath

I tried a different higher spec graphics card but got the same error but with a different bin file.
I have also tried installing SME with Vesa option but got further errors regarding sbridge_probe not syncing and stopping at System_call_fastpath

I have done some google searching and others have mentioned the Radeon firmware failure but its when they have a working system and completed an update and no one has said how they resolved it, some simply went back to an older CentOS. Some posts on here say to ignore the error but it seems to be the only error causing the system to hang.

Does anyone have any suggestions to try ? Also as its the first time install I can't access the server by putty to copy and past the errors, the best i can do is record the screen with my iphone on slowmo to have any hope in seeing the hundred lines after the initial error. As an example the lines read

[<ffffffff81373ece>] ? bus_add_driver+0x1e8/8x2b0

This all looks normal except the "?"

Any help would be appreciated

cheers
Allan

[zatnikatel]

do you have UEFI and Secure boot turned on it am not sure if this would cause a problem but it is worth a try and turn off Secure boot you can leave UEFI on or make it legacy and UEFI
I could be wrong here some one else may step in with a better idea with the raid are you using the BIOS raid or SME software raid
you get those video card errors on compaq servers but the system will still boot

[Stefano]

Allan, I beg your pardon but, IMVHO, you're doing it wrong..

if you need a reliable server, you'd have to choose a certified hw, i.e. choose something coming from HP, IBM, Fujitsu and so on.. all these brands have RH certified hw and SME will install on them without any issue..

for HP, you can check here:

http://h17007.www1.hpe.com/us/en/enterprise/servers/supportmatrix/redhat_linux.aspx

you may say that a branded hw would be more expensive and from a bare economical point of view you're right, but choosing such a products you'll never have any issue.. moreover, you may have a warranty and a after maket support..

I have used dozens of HP' server and never had a single issue since (at least) 10 years..

back to your issue:
check (as zatnikatel) if your MB uses UEFI and if your graphic card has some parameters to work in VGA mode (such an adapter is useless in a headless server)
check if your MB is supported by RHEL6/CentOS6.X
check if your graphic card is supported by the same OSes
don't use onboard raid (if present) because, at 99.99%, is a fake one

[Allan Pritchard]

Thanks Stefano

Unfortunately we haven't had as much luck with HP and Compaq servers or desktops with multiple hardware issues so 8 years ago we made the switch and have built our own 30+ machines as we have very specific hardware and software requirements for our desktops so it seemed natural to build a server too. This has been the first install issue we've had and it seems you have solved it for us .

Looks like the graphics card I was using (cheap common $40 vga card) didn't have UEFI capability, I didn't know that this was a requirement?. Its a card I had used in the past with SME 7 & 8, the other card I tried also didn't have UEFI. I have put a later model larger graphics card in with UEFI support and its booted fine and completed the setup. It seems overkill to have a 2gb 1080p graphics adapter to display a Root prompt. I'm wondering if the MB had onboard video whether it would have skipped over the additional graphics card error?

I also changed the secure boot to "Other OS" as per Zatnikatel's suggestion.

The Raid will be managed by SME not the MB as I doubt it is a true hardware RAID as you say. 

Thanks for all your help, time to start transferring everything over.

Cheers
Allan