Setting up remote boot nodes help!!

**PCZ** · 08-03-2003, 02:59 PM

The nodes are nforce2 chipsets with nforce onboard nics.
The server is red hat 9
I am going to install the RPM's from ltsp.org.

I have a nasty feeling that the nforce nics won't work somebody please tell me that they will.

Brian

**Dyyryath** · 08-03-2003, 03:24 PM

I'm afraid not.

It looks like only the nForce3 Pro boards have nVidia network chipsets capable of netbooting as seen here.

I suspect that you're going to have to buy some cheap PCI network cards & use them to net boot.

Of course, if you find out differently and make it work, be sure to let us know!

**IronBits** · 08-03-2003, 03:45 PM

Originally posted by Dyyryath
I'm afraid not.
I suspect that you're going to have to buy some cheap PCI network cards & use them to net boot.

That's exactly what I had to do using SuSe and Mandrake on my Asus A7N8X boards

**Dyyryath** · 08-03-2003, 04:13 PM

Were you trying to net boot, IB? There are Linux drivers for the nForce, you just have to get them from nVidia (most distros don't come with them). The chipset just doesn't (that I can see) have net boot capability.

**PCZ** · 08-03-2003, 04:43 PM

What about the via nics built in to the km266 chipset.
Do they net boot ?

**magnav0x** · 08-03-2003, 05:06 PM

PCZ, I'm not sure whether the PXE depends on the motherboards chipset, the motherboard's bios vendor, or the onboard nic chipset. Hopefully someone here knows, because I'd like to know

**IronBits** · 08-03-2003, 05:29 PM

I'll let you know when I get my hands on one.

Some of the forums I found digging thru google, indicate the VT6103 is PXE if the BIOS allows you to choose it as a boot device.
So I went thru the Biostar BIOS screens and yup, it shows it as a selectable boot up device.

Dyyryath, an add-on driver during install, which leaves me out in the cold with *nix boxen.
If it don't come up right the first time, then I'm toast. Either I re-install and hope for the best, or move on to the next *nix version.
I have two nics installed in the Mandrake Server with the onboard turned off, because that's how it worked

I remember jack squat about unix, other than ps, ls and rm <LOL>

**Paratima** · 08-03-2003, 05:39 PM

Originally posted by IronBits
II remember jack squat about unix, other than ps, ls and rm <LOL>

There's more?

**magnav0x** · 08-03-2003, 05:39 PM

IB, if you want an overview of what you are doing and don't have dyyr to help you out, you may try looking over at the Monster Farm HOWTO @ http://ws9.jobnegotiator.com/html/netboot.html

It covers diskless booting via PXE

**PCZ** · 08-03-2003, 05:54 PM

Maybe they can do it after all.

This is what I see if I select Lan as a boot option
Aopen AK79G-1394 Nforce 2

NVIDIA Boot Agent, PXE-2.0 (build 082 v1.82)
Copyright (C) 2001 NVIDIA Corporation

**IronBits** · 08-03-2003, 06:03 PM

That looks promising

Does that mean you are going to add MORE boxen??

**PCZ** · 08-03-2003, 06:13 PM

Maybe
I won't promise anything just yet.

If I do add anymore nodes I have decided they will have to be remote boot.
I installed red hat 9 without the GUI and working at the command line with an alien OS is tough. I didn't install a TFTP server so I am a bit screwed now.
I don't know how to add it from the CD.

**magnav0x** · 08-03-2003, 06:47 PM

PCZ, you'll have to mount the CD's one by one and find the tftp rpm.

Insert CD1:

mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
cd /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS
ls *tftp*

If it says the file doesn't exist then unmount the cdrom:

cd /mnt
umount /dev/cdrom

And repeat the first process with CD2 and CD3 or until you find the tftp file. It'll probably be called something along the lines of tftp-server-0.32-1.i386.rpm

When you find the file just type in:

rpm -i tftp-server-0.32-1.i386.rpm

Of course replace tftp-server-0.32-1.i386.rpm with your version's filename. Hope that helps.

**PCZ** · 08-03-2003, 07:35 PM

magnav0x
Thanks for the Info.

I had already worked out how to mount the cdrom but I couldn't find the tftp rpm on any of the CD's. I wasn't using LS properly I expect.
I worked out that eject releases the CD as long as you are back at the root. That had me going for a while.
I got the TFTP RPM from the web.

I keep getting an error. INIT: "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 mins.
It doesn't appear to be doing any harm but it is annoying.

**Dyyryath** · 08-04-2003, 12:14 AM

It means that your X server config is boogered. If you don't care about X, then edit the file '/etc/inittab' and change the following line:

id:5:initdefault:

to this:

id:3:initdefault:

That will start you in a console only run mode.

**IronBits** · 08-04-2003, 01:10 AM

Originally posted by PCZ
What about the via nics built in to the km266 chipset.
Do they net boot ?

Looky here what I found...
List of PXE supported NIC/Chipsets

http://www.bootix.com/us/products/promtypes.shtml

**Paratima** · 08-04-2003, 02:17 AM

Just posted this on the "News & Discussion" thread also, seein' as how it's the current hot topic.

Check out this site, posted by dnar a while ago.

**IronBits** · 08-04-2003, 09:54 AM

Snagged this from an Ars thread -
Of course you don't wanna use the SETI client, but of particular interest was the addition of the nForce1/2 nVidia driver!

[This message was edited by Pjotr on July 30, 2003 at 18:24.]
Here is the Nero CD image file .NRG available on Knoppix + SETI CD image. (use passive ftp) If I knew how to make an ISO, I would have, sorry.

ftp://kometv.no-ip.com:4711/pub/SETI...06-27_seti.nrg

This is a Nordic Knoppix version 3.2 (defaults to English still) with 5 files added by me:

KNOPPIX\configs.tbz
KNOPPIX\knoppix.sh
KNOPPIX\nvnet.o (nForce1/2 nVidia NIC driver missing in Knoppix)
KNOPPIX\setiathome (i686-linux-gnu binary)
KNOPPIX\user_info.sah

These are in the KNOPPIX dir on the CD. Basically the only difference from the default Knoppix CD is the installation of the nVidia NIC to detect nForce NIC correctly and the setiathome client starting at boot with nice -19 priority.

What you must do to adjust the CD for your SETI account is to unpack the CD to your HD. Replace the user_info.sh and optionally change the knoppix.sh script to use another SQ proxy than mine. IMPORTANT: Do not edit the .SH file in Windows Notepad or similar, you must NOT create a Windows CR/LF text file, it must stay LF only! To be safe, leave the .sh file to use my SQ, just replace the user_info.sah file.

After you have done this, you burn a new CD. Create a Bootable Data CD, select the file KNOPPIX/boot.img as a 1.44 floppy boot image in your burning software. Burn the CD and you're done! Insert into any working PC and reboot it, it will start to crunch SETI for you until you power off. It will lose any half processed WU when you power off as it's running from RAM disk.

**DocWardo** · 08-04-2003, 12:33 PM

I admit I didn't read the whole thread here. but just wanted to share my 2 cents on nforce nic's.

I recently took a msi nforce 1 board and using the nvidia drivers. it sucked. that's all I can say. the drivers used up so much of the CPU that gnome2 (yeah this is my desktop box) was all jumpy. Ended up using a dlink PCI and it worked like a charm.
I have heard similar problems with the nforce 2 series.

maybe it was just my setup. or just that MSI board. but it was darn frustrating till I figured it out.

**rsbriggs** · 08-04-2003, 02:45 PM

Please let me know if someone comes up with an *EASY* way to get things to network boot, OR even just a WAY to do it for that matter.

(What software is required on the server, and how do you build the boot image that is going to be downloaded to the clients? Need to install TFTP? DHCPD? PXE something or another? LTSP? )

I wouldn't even mind having a CD drive on my network boot boxes, I suppose, which would be great if I could find or work out a procedure to:

0.) Start with a live CD, i.e. the Knoppix CD. somehow transfer to HD

1.) add any NIC driver that might be needed
2.) add in the DF software, and the correct handle file
3.) add in an autostart DF script
4.) re-master the new, bootable, CD....

Then duplicate the CD, place copy in various machines and boot - crunches DF until CD removed and re-booted.

**Paratima** · 08-04-2003, 05:25 PM

MR. BOB!

I'll say it again. Complete instructions & code are HERE .

**PCZ** · 08-04-2003, 06:06 PM

Paratima
We are trying to network boot. The link you posted describes how to boot from a floppy. Not the same thing.

**magnav0x** · 08-04-2003, 06:17 PM

It's the same thing PCZ. It's just like netboot with PXE but you use the software on the boot disk instead of PXE (better for those with nodes that don't have PXE).

http://ws9.jobnegotiator.com/html/netboot6.html

Read up on that page and see if you feel up to doing diskless boots.

**PCZ** · 08-04-2003, 06:46 PM

If a floppy is used to boot up the node then it is not a discless workstation.
I do not want to use floppies.

**Paratima** · 08-04-2003, 06:47 PM

Why sweat PXE if ya don't have to?

Dummies like me gotta have it simple. That FDD spins for about a minute, you contact the Mother Ship & Bingo! you're loaded & crunching!

**rsbriggs** · 08-04-2003, 06:59 PM

Originally posted by Paratima
MR. BOB!

I'll say it again. Complete instructions & code are HERE .

Bookmarked!! Thanks for the link It appears that diskless booting and floppy booting are very similar. In the diskless case, you use PXE or similar to download the boot image, via DHCP and TFTP (?). With floppy boot - you have the boot image on the disk and just load it directly. One could be converted to the other fairly easily, and you can consider floppy booting as being the step just before getting network booting working. Once you have a floppy image that boots - next step - send it over the network.

I'm going to go spend a few hours reading now.....

**rsbriggs** · 08-04-2003, 07:00 PM

Originally posted by Paratima
There's more?

Yeah - you forgot cp and man

**Paratima** · 08-04-2003, 07:09 PM

**rsbriggs** · 08-04-2003, 07:16 PM

I'm not too certain that I understand why Apache has to be set up. Is the boot floppy somehow using http to download the files after it boots? While the link is interesting, if for no other reason than the explanation of how to NFS mount things, it raises more than a few questions in my mind....

**Paratima** · 08-04-2003, 07:37 PM

Yes, Apache is the HTTP server for the program loading. And I just heard that I have an emergency at work. Try emailing dnar direct. He's listed in the member directory, although he hasn't posted in a while.

I'll be back...................

**CodeMonkey** · 08-04-2003, 08:47 PM

Well, when you get back, (assuming no one else knows the answers) answer me a couple of questions about Gentoo.

Spent the last two days (again!) building a system for my AMD box. Booted it up and find that I don't have any network. I guess that means I need to load a module, but I DON"T KNOW WHICH ONE.

Now, the Gentoo Live CD boots up, finds the appropriate module for the NIC and loads it, so I know it exists and works with this Biostar MOBO.

Q.) How can I look at the Live Gentoo system running from the CD, and find out what NIC module it loaded? I'm assuming that I can just modprobe it on the system I built to see if A. I have it, and B. that it works. If it does work, I can just add it to be autoloaded, and I'm in business....

Q.) I forgot the other question.... Probably something along the lines of, can I just emerge Apache and end up with it all set up and running? Or, as I remember, is there a great deal of configuration that needs to be done first?

Sorry - I'm getting punchy - about 4 days in a row now with very little sleep trying to get this thing gen'ed....

**Dyyryath** · 08-04-2003, 10:05 PM

You can boot the Live CD and type 'lsmod' at the command prompt (as root) to see which modules are currently loaded.

Of course, you can also do 'modprobe -t net' to have modprobe attempt to load every module in the 'net' directory (your network drivers).

As for apache, you pretty much just need 'emerge apache'. The document structure will go in /home/httpd and the configuration structure will be in /etc/apache2. The default install will get you up & running. You can start it by doing '/etc/init.d/apache2 start'. Then check http://localhost in your browser to make sure it's working. If you want it to start on boot, then do ' rc-update add apache2 default'.

**magnav0x** · 08-04-2003, 10:10 PM

If you can't figure it out, just post what kind of network card you have and we can probably tell ya.

**rsbriggs** · 08-04-2003, 10:26 PM

Well.... lsmod shows "nvnet" as the network module. Of course, I can't seem to find anything in the kernel config that applies. It's an Nvida-on-board card....

Tried just moving it from the Live CD to my system, but there are a batch of unresolved symbols when I attempt to load it.

**magnav0x** · 08-04-2003, 10:40 PM

You need to get the nvidia drivers installed:

emerge nforce-net
cd /usr/src/linux
make menuconfig

Then complie the kernel with realtek support:

Network device support --->
Ethernet (10 or 100Mbit) --->
## make sure that EISA, VLB, PCI and on board controllers is
## checked, go down to this
<M> Realtek RTL-8139 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter support
## press 'M' for it to be compiled as a module

Save the kernel configuration and recomplie the kernel:

make dep && make clean bzImage modules modules_install

Then mount your /boot partion if you need.
cp /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot

Then modify modules.autoload file to load the module on boot:

echo 8139too >> /etc/modules.autoload

Reboot and pray that it works

You may or may not need to emerge nforce-net, but I would ASSUME you would.

**rsbriggs** · 08-04-2003, 10:44 PM

Realtek is compiled in. I even tried to modprobe the 8139 drivers - no luck. Well, I'm going to give this one last try. Let's see - no network, so have to:

boot from the CD,
mount stuff,
chroot,
emerge the nv-net stuff and
kernel build I guess.....

Sigh....

**magnav0x** · 08-04-2003, 10:45 PM

You may be able to just emerge the drivers and do it without recompiling the kernel.

Try:

emerge nforce-net
echo nvnet >> /etc/modules.autoload
Then recomplie the kernel.

Reboot and see if that works. If not then resort to my previous method.

**rsbriggs** · 08-04-2003, 10:55 PM

emerge nforce-net
!!! all ebuilds that could satisfy "nforce-net" have been masked !!!!
please correct the problem and try again....

having to boot from the Live-cd - remember I lost network connectivity....

**magnav0x** · 08-04-2003, 10:56 PM

Third option (if you don't want to emerge...dunno why you wouldn't) is to get the drivers straight from nvidia and transfer via floppy or cdrom.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_nforce_1.0-0261.html

Download
Kernel Tar File NVIDIA_nforce-1.0-0261.tar.gz

And follow the directions.

**magnav0x** · 08-04-2003, 11:00 PM

Ok to get masked emerge packages you need to add a file to your system.

cd /etc
mkdir portage
cd portage
echo "net-misc/nforce-net" >> package.unmask
emerge net-misc/nforce-net

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