Slackware 13.1 on Vaio pcg-grt995mp

Lis · 11-01-2010, 02:34 PM

Hello everyone.
I try to install Slackware 13.1 on a Sony Vaio pcg-grt995mp.
It has a pentium 4 with 512MB RAM.

I can install Slackware without problems, but after the first reboot the system hangs after printing out:
"Mouting non-root local filesystems:".
I formated with bad block checking and the harddisk seems to be ok.

I left the notebook untouched for 20 minutes and the boot process continues, but even after 40 minutes the console does not show up.

Can someone assist me with solving this problem?

markush · 11-01-2010, 03:40 PM

Hello Lis and welcome to LQ,

please boot with the installation-CD, mount the Slackware rootpartition and post the output of

Code:

fdisk -l

as well as your /etc/fstab.

Markus

Lis · 11-01-2010, 03:56 PM

Output of fdisk -l

Code:

disk /dev/sda: 160GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/tracks, 19457 cylinders
Disk identifier: 0x4e064e05

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1  1 262 2104483+ 82 Linux Swap
/dev/sda2  263 19457 154183837+ 83 Linux

Output of mount /dev/sda2 /mnt && cat /mnt/etc/fstab

Code:

/dev/sda1 swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/sda2 / ext4 defaults 1 1
/dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy auto noauto,owner 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts gid=5,mode=620 0 0
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
tmpfs /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0

Thank you

markush · 11-01-2010, 04:15 PM

Well, this looks peculiar to me but we have to check if the driver for your ide-controller is in the kernel. Please post the output of lspci and (when booted the installation-CD) please post the output of lsmod.

Markus

Edit: I compared your fstab with mine, it seems correct, is it true, that your notebook has a floppy-drive?

Lis · 11-01-2010, 04:37 PM

Output of lspci:

Code:

00:02.5 IDE interface: silicon integrated systems [SiS] 5513 [IDE]

Output of lsmod:

Code:

yenta_socket 19335 2
i2c_sis96x 2833 0
sis900 16070 0
mii 3322 1 sis900
i2c_core 15279 1 i2c_sis96x

The sis900 is the network interface.
The yenta_socket is the pcmcia slot.

Thank you, Louis

markush · 11-01-2010, 05:04 PM

I'd use grep to find out if the driver for the SIS 5513 device is in the kernel. Find the .config of your Kernel and use

Code:

grep -i sis5513 .config

If it is necessary to recompile the kernel you'll find this driver in "device drivers"->"ATA,ATAPI...."SiS5513 Chipset Support".

Markus

Lis · 11-07-2010, 07:15 PM

Thank you for your support Markus.

I do not understand why the drive works correctly with the installation dvd.

I recompiled the kernel with the "Deprecated" ata support, but the system does also take long to load "Mounting non-root filesystems".
I completely disabled the scsi support. The system at least boots now, but it does not look as a perfect setup to me.

Where exactly is the ATA support over SCSI devices found?
Could it be that this driver is buggy?
What drivers should I disable if I use the old ATA drivers?

Thank you, Louis

Lis · 11-07-2010, 08:15 PM

Very interresting, I found out that if I press the "Return" key a few times while linux boots, it prints out new bootsmessages.
I repeated pressing the "Return" key when there where no new boot messages until the console came up.
I did not recompile the kernel, it just worked with pressing the return key.

Does someone know why this happens?

Thank you, Louis

markush · 11-08-2010, 01:25 AM

Hello Lis,

when recompiling the kernel, did you built the driver as a module or into the kernel? Since the driver has to be available at boottime, it is necessary to build it into the kernel (not as a module). An alternative would be to use an initrd.
Since everything is working properly while the installation, it may be an option to compare the output of lsmod while the DVD is booted with the lsmod when your System is running. Executing

Code:

lsmod > lsmod_DVD.txt

will create a file "lsmod_DVD.txt" with the entire output of lsmod. This file will be in the current workingdirectory, so be sure to save it on the harddrive when running with the DVD since otherwise it would only be present in RAM.
One may say that if there's a module loaded while running with the DVD, than it "plays a role in the system" and you may find out what it does and if it is missing in your kernel. Be aware that the installationDVD comes with many modules whereas in your own kernel this things may be compiled into the kernel. You'll have also to check the .config file.

Markus

Lis · 11-08-2010, 08:54 PM

I installed the nvidia 96.43.18 Linux graphic drivers and the problem went away.

Thanks for everyone who helped me.
Especially Markus who gave me the tips about how to find out weather kernel modules are compiled into the Kernel.

EDIT: You need to add
Option "UseDisplayDevice" "DFP"
to the Device Section, for X11 to come up on the internal screen.

Lis · 11-10-2010, 10:14 AM

Sadly the problem is back again.
It just worked once.
After updating the Linux Kernel to Slackware-Current 2.6.35.7 it now even takes longer until the system comes up. I needed to wait about 10 minutes.
At least I do not need to press any keys to continue the booting process now.

It looks like the system hangs for a long period until the boot process continues.

I do not think the problem is made from the IDE/ATA implementations. It looks more like a cpu kernel driver problem to me.
I read that there are problems with the p4 modules but they are not loaded.

Thank you, Louis

Lis · 11-10-2010, 12:24 PM

Ok, now the problem is finally solved.

I added the Linux kernel options

Code:

noapic acpi=force

and rebooted/logged off several times.

This settings can be added temporarily by pressing "TAB" at the lilo boot screen and then entering

Code:

Linux noapic acpi=force

To add this options to the normal lilo config, without needing to enter them everytime linux boots, modify the append= option within your /etc/lilo.conf

Code:

append=" noapic acpi=force vt.default_utf8=0"

then run lilo again.

Greetings Louis

H_TeXMeX_H · 11-10-2010, 12:31 PM

I'd like to say that you should try some variations of those commands before settling on them. These types of things are usually caused by BIOS bugs, check 'dmesg'.

I would try:

Code:

noioapic
nolapic
pci=nomsi

instead of the global 'noapic', this would be a last resort. I have had issues on $ony laptops using 'noapic', that's why I would recommend one of these instead.