another init.xz issue

[bmaster001]

I’m having an issue that’s likely closely related to this one: https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/6105/init-xz-issue

History:

• fog 1.20 on Ubuntu 12.04 (which served us well for a couple of years now)
• a “special” computer arrived this week that we need to image: a Thor VM3 (https://www.honeywellaidc.com/en-US/Pages/Product.aspx?category=vehicle-mount-computers&cat=HSM&pid=thorvm3)
• Since this uses uefi, it doesn’t work with fog 1.20. So I upgraded to the trunk version, hoping this would fix all my issues
• it boots to the fog menu, but when I choose the quick registration task, the machine hangs on “init.xz … ok” (no reboot, it just hangs there).
• memtest doesn’t work either: it says “memdisk… ok” followed by “Could not select: Exec format error” and “Could not boot: Exec format error”
• I read in this topic that installing fog on a fresh Centos 6.7 helped for @bjmarowitz. I tried that today, but it behaves the exact same way in our situation here

Our dhcp options are correct I think. We use pfsense, and I have the following settings:

• next-server: ip address of fog server
• default bios filename: undionly.kpxe
• UEFI 32bit filename: i386-efi/ipxe.efi
• UEFI 64bit filename: ipxe.efi

PS: Last attempt was with trunk version 8099 (or is it the SVN revision 5678 that is important? I’m confused )

Any help is very welcome! Thanks!

[Wayne Workman]

I think it’s kernel related because of the new hardware. Sounds like the kernel isn’t even starting right.

Can you boot it to a live linux disk successfully? If you can, what is the output of lsblk and lspci ? You could also turn up fogs kernel debug level so that maybe we see some errors.

[george1421]

What is your dhcp server?

I checked into this hardware and this is what I would call an industrial computer, its not a normal desktop/laptop. That is OK, I just need to set the framework for what we are dealing with.

I see there are three different models. Which one do you have? What OS did it come with.

At this point we are far from out of choices with this unit. I just want to make sure your environment is setup correctly then we can dive into the specific hardware.

[Sebastian Roth]

@bmaster001 While I am still unsure if those two topics are related I found that Could not select: Exec format error part very interesting. Lately we had at least two people who’s devices wouldn’t boot but print that message after loading the kernel/init.xz. In those cases it was some kind of security chip that needed to be disabled in the BIOS/UEFI firmware. See here and in the wiki. I really hope you find this to be the issue/solution. Otherwise we need to start unpacking the heavy tools for debugging this. Let me know.

[george1421]

@Sebastian-Roth Could not select: Exec format error right, that makes me think that an old ipxe kernel is being used. This is like the issue where people are using pxelinux.0 of yesteryear trying to boot bzImage and inits not mounting. I know different error but that is what the error tells me that the bzImage or in this case memdisk is not understood.

This hardware is a bit different too, why I asked about what model was in use. Some come with Windows CE with an atom processor, others with win7, win10 with different processors. The hard drive setup is a bit confusing to me too. This IS an interesting bit of hardware, though.

[bmaster001]

@george1421 said in another init.xz issue:

What is your dhcp server?

We use the dhcp server in pfsense 2.2.

I see there are three different models. Which one do you have? What OS did it come with.

I don’t know where you see those 3 models, but we have a model with an Intel Atom E3826, 8 GB ram, and “Windows 7 Pro Emb” on it. The bios mentions “Phoenix SecureCore Technology”, and is at version HVM3036. That’s pretty much everything I can find at the moment. I don’t want to boot the preinstalled Windows yet, because I want to capture it as it is, so that I can deploy it again if I mess up

Concerning your comment about an old ipxe kernel being used: I did a fresh install of fog on a fresh installed centos. I think it downloads the latest kernels during the installation?

[bmaster001]

@Sebastian-Roth said in another init.xz issue:

@bmaster001 While I am still unsure if those two topics are related I found that Could not select: Exec format error part very interesting. Lately we had at least two people who’s devices wouldn’t boot but print that message after loading the kernel/init.xz. In those cases it was some kind of security chip that needed to be disabled in the BIOS/UEFI firmware. See here and in the wiki. I really hope you find this to be the issue/solution. Otherwise we need to start unpacking the heavy tools for debugging this. Let me know.

There are not many options in the bios (see screenshots). The “secure boot activation” is disabled (and grayed-out, so I can’t even activate it). Is that the option we are looking for?

[bmaster001]

@Wayne-Workman said in another init.xz issue:

I think it’s kernel related because of the new hardware. Sounds like the kernel isn’t even starting right.

Can you boot it to a live linux disk successfully? If you can, what is the output of lsblk and lspci ? You could also turn up fogs kernel debug level so that maybe we see some errors.

Working on downloading some linux to try booting it from usb. Meanwhile, is turning up the kernel debug level something I can try easily?

[Wayne Workman]

@bmaster001 Understand this is only temporary, you’ll want to set it back to defaults afterwards.

Web Interface -> FOG Configuration -> FOG Settings -> FOG Boot Settings -> FOG_KERNEL_DEBUG and FOG_KERNEL_LOGLEVEL

[bmaster001]

@Wayne-Workman said in another init.xz issue:

@bmaster001 Understand this is only temporary, you’ll want to set it back to defaults afterwards.

Web Interface -> FOG Configuration -> FOG Settings -> FOG Boot Settings -> FOG_KERNEL_DEBUG and FOG_KERNEL_LOGLEVEL

Ok, I did that. What should be the result? The capture-task hangs again at the same point (init.xz…ok). Nothing new is displayed during the process

[george1421]

@bmaster001 said in another init.xz issue:

@george1421 said in another init.xz issue:

What is your dhcp server?

We use the dhcp server in pfsense 2.2.

Sorry to get stuck on this, but you are sure in pfsense that you have the next server pointint to your new FOG server?

I see there are three different models. Which one do you have? What OS did it come with.

I don’t know where you see those 3 models, but we have a model with an Intel Atom E3826, 8 GB ram, and “Windows 7 Pro Emb” on it. The bios mentions “Phoenix SecureCore Technology”, and is at version HVM3036.

It appears that there are different hardware configurations for the different OS versions (disk size and such). I got the impression that the CPU also changed with the OS (WinCE vs WinPro). But maybe I was mistaken.

Don’t boot the system just yet. While I’m trying to find a use case for USB Booting FOS, I don’t think we are at that point just yet.

[Wayne Workman]

@bmaster001 Then that means the kernel isn’t even loading. You could try a different boot file.

Can you not put this computer into BIOS mode somehow? I know computers are beginning to come out that are UEFI only, but if this machine can be set to BIOS and works that way, that’d be the route I’d recommend.

[bmaster001]

Sorry to get stuck on this, but you are sure in pfsense that you have the next server pointint to your new FOG server?

Very sure I get to the fog menu, and on our old server we added some items to the advanced part, and that menu-item didn’t show up with the newly installed fog. Also, see the following screenshot, where 10.1.6.51 is the ip of the new centos server:

It appears that there are different hardware configurations for the different OS versions (disk size and such). I got the impression that the CPU also changed with the OS (WinCE vs WinPro). But maybe I was mistaken.
That’s very well possible. I wasn’t involved in the selection of the hardware, so I don’t know about the options. I’m just the guy that tries to get the imaging working

[Tom Elliott]

Can you try the ipxe.efi or ipxe.pxe file as the filename/option 66?

[bmaster001]

@Wayne-Workman said in another init.xz issue:

@bmaster001 Then that means the kernel isn’t even loading. You could try a different boot file.

Can you not put this computer into BIOS mode somehow? I know computers are beginning to come out that are UEFI only, but if this machine can be set to BIOS and works that way, that’d be the route I’d recommend.

I tried disabling “uefi boot”: I then get some weird “boot menu” with no menu-items in it. I don’t really see any other option in the bios (maybe you see something on the screenshots that rings a bell?)

Another boot file? Not sure what you mean… please treat me like a newbie

[Tom Elliott]

@bmaster001 based on this replied post, it would appear to me the file you’re currently using is pxelinux.0 and not undionly it snp

[george1421]

@bmaster001 I think what Tom’s asking is for you to…

No that’s not the case here. The OP has to be getting ipxe.efi or iPXE would not boot. You can not boot a bios iPXE kernel on a uefi system. It has to be some flavor of .efi kernel.

Tom: Would it say bzImage32 if fog sent the 32 bit version of FOS to the target? I still think there is something up with the hardware.

[bmaster001]

@Tom-Elliott said in another init.xz issue:

@bmaster001 based on this replied post, it would appear to me the file you’re currently using is pxelinux.0 and not undionly it snp

I tried to put ipxe.efi in the filename, but that showed me the same boot-menu. When I disable uefi boot, it’s not even trying to network-boot. I get that boot-menu immediately after power-on. Nothing else is displayed.

I’m pretty sure that pfsense is setup correctly (see screenshot).

[bmaster001]

@Wayne-Workman said in another init.xz issue:

Can you boot it to a live linux disk successfully? If you can, what is the output of lsblk and lspci ? You could also turn up fogs kernel debug level so that maybe we see some errors.

I wrote Ubuntu on a usb stick, and tried booting. When I choose “try ubuntu” from the grub menu, the screen goes black, and stays black. So that doesn’t seem to work very well…

[Tom Elliott]

@george1421 I think it’s the boot file specifically.

I don’t know which one is working.