HP 210 Netbook (RealTek NIC) - DHCP Failed on PXE Boot
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Hey Everyone,
I am having a problem currently with running CentOS 7 with latest stable build of FOG (1.3.5). Our HP 210 Netbooks that are using the RealTek NIC are not PXE Booting Properly (See Attached Picture Below). I have tried several different hardware with no issues PXE Booting as well as trying a Mini Switch for the HP between the real network switch and computer to rule out an issue with Spanning Tree.
My recent last ditch effort was to build an updated custom Kernel. I tried that with making sure that the RealTek NIC option in the build is supported and it still is not working. This also Kernel Panicked the other hardware types that we used, so I reverted back to the original Kernel. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
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At the point of the error, you are still in the iPXE menu. There is a specific iPXE kernel for the realtek network adapters. This HP appears to be in legacy (bios) mode, so one iPXE kernel to try is realtek.kpxe instead of undionly.kpxe.
Are you sure the switch you tried was an unmanaged (dumb switch), because this appears to like others with a spanning tree issue.
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But changing it to realtek.kpxe would effect all machines and then break others wouldn’t it? Yes, it was a completely non managed HP “Dumb” or Mini Switch. And yes, the BIOS is in legacy mode.
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@noelpd Well for testing we need to understand if the other ipxe kernel addresses your issue. Once we know if it works then we can work on how to deliver what is needed to which machine.
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@george1421 I changed it to realtek.kpxe and had no success.
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@george1421 I confirmed with the hardware that the NIC being used is the RealTek 8168. Found this article from couple years ago with the exact same issue, tried what fixed that problem but still no go on my end.
https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/4173/realtek-8168-nic-issue-with-pxe-bootmenu
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@noelpd have you tried using undionly.kkpxe?
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@Tom-Elliott Just the undionly.kpxe not .kkpxe
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@noelpd If the undionly.kkpxe doesn’t work for you, it might be interesting to know the results of this.
When you get the error in your initial post, press the
skey to get to the ipxe kernel command line.Wait ~30 seconds then key in
dhcp net0and see if it can pull a dhcp address then.One other thought, can you confirm that a0:1d:48:13:49:7e is the ethernet adapter in this computer and this is the built in ethernet adapter an external adapter.
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@george1421 dhcp net0 did not work. I will let you guys know the results of the undionly.kkpxe, one questions I had was after I have our network admin change it to the .kkpxe, I wanted to double check where I change it on FOG Server. What I have been doing with these tested changes is changing the .fogsettings file and then doing a re-install.
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@george1421 Also just an interesting note. It definitely appears to be an issue with the NIC. I just tried another computer that is the same model and it worked without issues. Took a deeper dive into the specific RealTek NIC they are both using and one HP 210 (Non Working) uses the 8168 and the HP 210 (Working) uses the 8136.
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@noelpd Lets back up then. Instead of undionly.kpxe change your boot file to ipxe.kpxe.
The undionly.xxxx drivers use the built in undi driver component built into each network adapter’s boot rom. Sometimes they can be flaky (the undi drivers). iPXE also creates a iPXE boot kernel (similar to a a linux kernel) that has all of the drivers installed. That boot image is ipxe.kpxe. This is just a shot in the dark, but lets see if the iPXE supplied drivers work better than the in nic drivers.
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@george1421 Ok, So i will have our network admin change it to ipxe.kpxe. On the FOG end do I need to change anything? The only way i knew how at the moment is to change the .fogsettings and then re-run the installer. Is there a place I can manually change it on the FOG Server?
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@noelpd no this change is done in dhcp. We are just telling the clients to use a different boot kernel.
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@george1421 Ok, so the only place we should ever have to make that change is on the DHCP Server? Nothing to do with FOG? So is that setting on FOG only make a difference if we were using the FOG as a DHCP Server?
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@noelpd Well if you are using the dhcp server on the fog server, then that is where you would change it. Most people don’t run it this way so I assumed incorrectly. But if the fog server is also running dhcp, then change it in the config file for isc dhcp and then restart the dhcpd service.
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@george1421 Changing it to ipxe.kpxe is not working either. Still works on the RealTek 8136 NIC but not the 8168
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@noelpd Do you have another one of these devices with a 8168 NIC? I guess the next question is, is the issue this physical computer or all HP 210 notebooks with the 8168 NIC?
I can’t remember if I asked this already, is the firmware up to date on this computer?
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@george1421 I have a whole stack of the HP 210 8168 NIC laptops that are not working. I have updated BIOS and NIC Driver on them as well. Still no go. It appears to be a hardware issue with the 8168.
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@noelpd welp that’s not good if they all don’t work.
How about trying a plan B? i.e. Booting FOS off a usb flash drive and bypassing iPXE all together.
https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/7727/building-usb-booting-fos-image
I can get you to Part 2a step 6 pretty quick
