USB to Ethernet Imaging not Working

[imagingmaster21]

I am trying to deploy an image to a machine that requires a USB to Ethernet adapter. I have the adapter registered as a host in FOG and I have the kernal arguments set. I have been able to do this before on version 1.4.4, I am now on the latest version and not able to do so. This is the first time I’ve had to do this on the latest version. When I did this with version 1.4.4 I used this link as a reference:
https://wiki.fogproject.org/wiki/index.php?title=USB_NIC_(usb_network_adapter)

So now when I go to deploy the image to the machine it will PXE boot to the FOG menu and I can select the image, it will go through bzImage…ok and init.xz… just fine, but after that its just a black screen. I’ve tested other known good images on this ethernet adapter with the same result.

Also here is a Ethernet Adpater I am trying this on with how I have it set in FOG.
https://dl2.pushbulletusercontent.com/1b30zBDYwcKOLiCxiiTymzEvJM9HdgRQ/image.png

Also I ran a syslog tail here is the results below the machine in question is getting a .106 IP Address:
https://dl2.pushbulletusercontent.com/2rQONvoHXxarn3byt1j8K6G4aRfpaKWI/image.png

This is the type of adapter I am using:
https://www.amazon.com/Network-CableCreation-Ethernet-Supporting-Required/dp/B013G4C8RE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1528291661&sr=8-4&keywords=usb+3.0+to+ethernet

I am guessing there is something different in the new version with the settings that I am just not aware of.

[george1421]

Lets focus on a few specifics.

1. What hardware are you trying to pxe boot?
2. What exact version of fog are you using (hint: latest isn’t what I’m looking for)?
3. What mode is this target hardware in bios(legacy) or uefi?
4. What precisely do you have set for dhcp option 67?

[imagingmaster21]

@george1421

• I am booting a Lenovo 13 laptop wit a USB to Ethernet Adapter: Here is the link to the Adapter
  https://www.amazon.com/Network-CableCreation-Ethernet-Supporting-Required/dp/B013G4C8RE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1528291661&sr=8-4&keywords=usb+3.0+to+ethernet

• 1.5.2 actually, I’d like to try avoiding upgrading to 1.5.4, I did not realize 1.5.4 came out. But if upgrading will fix this then thats fine.

• This is booting in UEFI mode, I did try Legacy and no luck (turned off secure boot and security chip). Also tried UEFI with CSM on and off and same result.

• Here is some screenshots of the DHCP for option 67:
  https://dl2.pushbulletusercontent.com/4OjA3BFqkVxs7T8IAehdDoF6p8vZf8Es/20180606_101945.jpg

  https://dl2.pushbulletusercontent.com/6C5Ewggp7yEbQMcBz1Piaaq2dBCJ8BAR/20180606_102033.jpg

[george1421]

@george1421 said in USB to Ethernet Imaging not Working:

What hardware are you trying to pxe boot?

When I say this, I want to know what computer are you using.

[imagingmaster21]

@george1421
This is the computer from Lenovo:
https://www3.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-13-series/ThinkPad-13-Windows-2nd-Gen/p/22TP2TX133E

It is a Lenovo 13e, model number 20j10006us.

[george1421]

@imagingmaster21 Ok now we are getting the info we need.

The first thing I want to say, you are getting to the point where the target computer is booting via the usb network adapter into iPXE. So your dhcp settings are proper. So there is no need to dig any more into iPXE or your usb network nic (at this moment).

Where it is failing is on the transition between iPXE and FOS (bzImage/init.xz). You are seeing both of those files transfer to the target computer, but then just a back screen. FOS hasn’t started just yet so the FOS kernel isn’t at fault (just yet).

What I would like you to confirm is that your lenovo thinkpad has the latest firmware. Frequently we see buggy uefi firmware in the lenovos (#1 offender, with HP #2) that cause this transition between iPXE and FOS to fail. So the first step is to ensure that we have the latest firmware on this lenovo.

[JJ Fullmer]

So this may be a ipxe.efi issue, something I’ve run into before.
I have a bundle of devices I image with a usb adapter. Somewhere I have a post explaining how to boot a device to fog from the uefi shell when the usbnic doesn’t get the device to do a normal network boot.

But anyway, I’ve seen this happen, Since you’re getting as far as the kernel loading it’s gonna be a kernel related. Updating honestly may help as I’m pretty sure its kernel related either with the ipxe efi boot file or the bzImage or init.xz kernel and updating would get the latest versions of these. Granted you can also just update the kernel without updating the whole server in the fog gui under the kernel update settings in fog configuration.

Also looking at your option67, it looks like the bootfile is commented out?
Also, maybe try some other ipxe bootfiles. I personally have found ipxe.efi to work best in most situations, but I looked at the adapter you’re using and it uses a realtek chipset. I even found where the uefi driver for the chipset can be found http://www.realtek.com/Downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=13&PFid=56&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false
Anyway point being, there’s a realtek.efi bootfile you can try.

TL;DR
Stuff to try:

• First try a different pxe bootfile for option 67. I would try ipxe.efi first, if it still fails try the realtek.efi boot file. If neither of those have any effect go back to the one you have working and try the next thing.

• Update the bzimage and init kernel files from the fog gui ( http://yourFogserver.domain.com/fog/management/index.php?node=about&sub=kernelUpdate )

  • If you get an error attempting it from the gui you can do it manually on the server via ssh console.

    cd /var/www/fog/service/ipxe
    mv bzImage bzImage.old && mv init.xz init.xz.old #save the old kernels just in case
    wget https://fogproject.org/kernels/bzImage #download latest bzImage
    wget https://fogproject.org/inits/init.xz #download latest init file
    service httpd restart #restart apache  - service apache restart on debian os's
    

• If the updating of the kernels doesn’t work, the next thing to try is just updating to 1.5.4

• If that doesn’t work either, maybe we’ll try a different ipxe efi boot file again by seeing if we can obtain the version that was included with 1.4.4 when you know it was working.

• If that doesn’t work then perhaps try the kernels that came with 1.4.4 if they’re compatible. But these last to I put last as you shouldn’t have to go backwards to get this working but it’s an option if an update is what broke it, but you shouldn’t have to go back to a 1.4.4 installation just the pxe files and or kernel files.

• Of course you can also try combinations of these ideas but I suggest trying to stick with trying one thing at a time so that we can be more sure what actually fixes the problem.

[imagingmaster21]

@george1421 @JJ-Fullmer
I just tried flashing the firmware BIOS to the latest version and it did not resolve the issue, so that should eliminate the firmware.

Here is another systail log, I think it is pretty much the same:
https://dl2.pushbulletusercontent.com/UsKM9oEU0cs3F00ycSBUAqtbFdwznlGh/image.png

[imagingmaster21]

@jj-fullmer
@george1421

I just tried switching from snponly.efi to ipxe.efi and it gave the same result as before. I then tried realtek.efi and it would not boot to the PXE menu, it gave a timeout error for DHCP. So I switched back to using snponly.efi.

@JJ-Fullmer You mentioned about updating the the bzimage and init kernel files. I am going to try this first with backing up the current ones first.

[george1421]

@imagingmaster21 I’m still thinking its the hand off from iPXE to FOS (bzImage) where this is falling down. I do have a work around for this but it has a few limitations. PXE booting using iPXE is a much better choice.

Just to (re)confirm you have secure boot turned off, on this device?

[imagingmaster21]

@JJ-Fullmer @george1421
I tried updating both of the Kernals and it produced the same result. So I then tried switching the ipxe.efi and the realtek.efi and gave the same results. ipxe.efi boots to the FOG PXE menu and gives the same result when imaging. But when using realtek.efi you are not even able to PXE boot. So trying different efi files after updating the Kernels did not work. Is there anything else worth trying other than updating to the new version of FOG?

[JJ Fullmer]

@imagingmaster21 I’ve never actually used the has_usb_nic=1 kernel argument before and have been able to work with usb nics. Maybe try taking that out and see if it makes a difference?
I thought one of those solutions would help with the hand off from iPXE to FOS as that has done that for me in the past.

I’ll keep thinking. Can you test if booting to FOS works for any other tasks, like just an inventory for example, and test if it’s working on a device with a normal ethernet adapter?

[george1421]

@imagingmaster21 While its not clear why you have a resistance to upgrade to FOG 1.5.4, feel comfort in knowing that upgrading to 1.5.4 will not solve this problem.

This is a hardware issue.

How many of these notebooks do you have?
How many do you expect to image in the next year?

[imagingmaster21]

@george1421 @JJ-Fullmer
Following this linked worked! Thanks to @george1421
https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/7727/building-usb-booting-fos-image/3?page=1

[Sebastian Roth]

@imagingmaster21 If you are keen to get into the details of why iPXE is hanging you can go ahead and compile your own debug enabled iPXE binaries to find out what’s exactly wrong on this hardware? Read the last two dozen messages of this forum thread to see if you wanna give it a try: https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/11348/hyper-v-and-pxe-boot-to-fog-problems

Let us know if you need support with that.