Tinycore 2.6.... boot error messages

[gwalther]

Tried tinycore 2.6...
booted from cdrom....cloud mode...no extensions...no backup data restored
it booted OK but I got a screen full of error messages during the boot process, after the timezone notification and before the swap notification:
the messages where about hdc...buffer i/o error on device hdc....illegal mode...illegal request...

I tried TC 2.6 on three  machines...with same result
I re-downloaded iso and burnt on a different machine....same result

Anybody else see these messages....since it boots OK...are they meaningful??

[combo3]

Most likely possibilities:

a) corrupt download
b) flaky media
c) bad burn
d) faulty cd drives
e) combination of the above.

Assuming you verified the download and tried booting from the same machines you burned with, that narrows it down to b & c.

Try burning at the lowest speed available.

My experience suggests 4x - 8x works best, especially with older drives.

[gwalther]

Forgot to include in first post that i used same media and burner (48x burner)on all previous versions of tinycore iso's and did not get similar error messages with them.

Will try slower burn tonight...thanks for suggestion

[gwalther]

Redid everything...fresh download..slow burn..still the same..boots but with a screenful of hdc related messages (live cd,,,cloud mode..no backup..no extensions)...same messages on another computer. (both computers are more then 5 years old)
Maybe it is the burn program...but it did not do it using  tc 2.3

[thane]

If you haven't already, you might try booting with bootcodes base and norestore to see if you get a normal boot with the terminal, control panel, and appbrowser. If you do it's unlikely to be a bad CD.

I'm assuming when you say tc 2.3 it's not a typo. Do you have a tce directory on your hard drive that it's trying to read? Extensions are in a different format (starting in TCL 2.6) and TCL can't read the old extensions anymore. Part of moving to 2.6 was upgrading all extensions.

http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php?topic=4031.0

[ljk]

I also get boot errors similar to gwalther's with TC 2.6.  The errors are the same whether using "base" and "norestore" or not.  I didn't get these errors with previous TC versions.  I used TC 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4.1. 2.5 before 2.6.

The MD5 of the TC 2.6 iso file that I download was correct..

I use Terabyte's Burncddd to make live CD's.  Burncddd has a verify function for comparing the burn against the iso file.  It didn't indicate any problem with the burn.  In my experience bad media causes verification of the burned CD to fail.

Even with the boot errors, TC 2.6 seems to mostly work fine for me.  I use it as a browser appliance with Opera 10.10.  On my harware, Opera seems to run slightly better with 2.6 than 2.5.

[thane]

OK, this is strange. I followed my own advice (what a concept) and tried booting 2.6 with bootcodes waitusb=5 base norestore.

The first time, I got a couple of error messages during booting and TCL accessed the hard drive for about a minute (which doesn't have any TCL-related files on it at all, just Windows 2000 which I don't use). But booting completed OK.

I tried another cold boot and a restart (same boot codes) and it worked fine.

Ditto with not having any problems with earlier versions of TCL. No problems either with 2.6 in normal use (tce and backup on a USB stick).

Mistyped boot code? Timing problem? Will keep fiddling.

Edit: Tried several more boots with base norestore, mistyped codes, and whatnot. No problems.

[gwalther]

@thane
It is not an extension issue as my extensions from previous versions are on a usb stick which I left unplugged.....there are  no TC related files on HDD (format ntfs)

@ljk
Is your hardware by any chance quite old like mine (pIII 1600 or less)?
Despite the messages my machines also boot ok and seem to work without issues.
After boot I can read boot cdrom using file mgr with no  error message.

[ljk]

@gwalther
Yes, I'm afraid my hardware is old and slow.  It's a HP Pavilion 4473, 400 MHz Celeron, 256 MB memory (the max. for the machine).

Also, I scanned 2 previously burned TC 2.6 CD's with Nero's Scandisk program.  The program is for Windows; but, as I understand it, the CD data format is the same for Windows, Linux, etc.  Scandisk indicated that the files on the CD's were OK.  The surface was OK up to the end of the burned area.  At the end there was a bad area evidentially not associated with the files.  I seem to see this whenever I terminate (close) a CD and both of the TC 2.6 CD's were terminated.  Therefore, in my opinion (which usually isn't worth much) I would guess that the CD's will run TC OK because the files and the first sectors of the CD are OK.  Anyway, that's my 2 cents worth.  Thanks.

[Frank]

gwalther, I get similar error messages when booting TC 2.6 from the hard-disk. They appear at the same point in the boot process that you describe (between timezone and swap notification), but pass by too quickly to read them live. To get them back I run "dmesg" which reveals that they relate to my partition /dev/hda3. Something in the boot process tries to identify the partition's filesystem. It tries EXT3, then EXT2, then ISOFS. Then it tries the same three filesystem types once more, for a total of six scary-sounding multiline error messages at the end of the "dmesg" output. Before somebody wonders: my /dev/hda3 does not have a filesystem at all, it is an extended partition that simply carries other (logical) partitions. The automatically generated /etc/fstab lists it as having filesystem type "auto".

Long story short  : please post the output of "dmesg" (just the end with the relevant error messages), and perhaps the automatically generated /etc/fstab, too.

[jur]

There was a problem with the early 2.6rc that roberts described as a race problem, which resulted in my setup booting into cloud mode. There were no error messages. Could be related... perhaps the fix resulted in this problem...?

[ljk]

Frank, here is "ftab"

# /etc/fstab
proc            /proc        proc    defaults          0       0
sysfs           /sys         sysfs   defaults          0       0
devpts          /dev/pts     devpts  defaults          0       0
tmpfs           /dev/shm     tmpfs   defaults          0       0
/dev/fd0        /mnt/fd0        auto     noauto,users,exec    0 0 # Added by TC
/dev/hda1       /mnt/hda1       vfat     noauto,users,exec,umask=000 0 0 # Added by TC
/dev/hdc1       /mnt/hdc1       vfat     noauto,users,exec,umask=000 0 0 # Added by TC
/dev/hdd        /mnt/hdd        iso9660  noauto,users,exec    0 0 # Added by TC
/dev/sda1       /mnt/sda1       ext2     noauto,users,exec,relatime 0 0 # Added by TC
/dev/sdb1       /mnt/sdb1       ext3     noauto,users,exec,relatime 0 0 # Added by TC

Here is some of the "dmesg" output.  Here are the first 2 lines before the error messages start:

sd 1:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg1 type 0
squashfs: version 4.0 (2009/01/31) Phillip Lougher

Here is the error message.  The same message repeats 9 times:

hdd: command error: status=0x51 { DriveReady SeekComplete Error }
hdd: command error: error=0x54 <3>{ AbortedCommand LastFailedSense=0x05 }
ide: failed opcode was: unknown
ATAPI device hdd:
  Error: Illegal request -- (Sense key=0x05)
  Illegal mode for this track or incompatible medium -- (asc=0x64, ascq=0x00)
  The failed "Read 10" packet command was:
  "28 00 00 00 14 9e 00 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 "
end_request: I/O error, dev hdd, sector 21112
Buffer I/O error on device hdd, logical block 2639

Here are the 2 lines immediately after the last of the error messages:

cdrom: hdd: mrw address space DMA selected
ISO 9660 Extensions: Microsoft Joliet Level 3

As you can see from "ftab", "hdd" is the CD drive and there are a floppy drive, 2 hard drives, and 2 USB flash drives on the machine.  I'm booting from a live CD.  Backup and the "TCE" folder are on "sda1".  If some of the above isn't clear or if you want the complete "dmesg" output, please let me know.

Thanks for pointing out how to use "dmesg".  I'm afraid that I'm just getting started in Linux after all these years.

[gwalther]

Frank
my messages are very similar, they also begin after;
" squashfs: version 4.0 (2009/01/31) Phillip Lougher"

the only difference is mine refer to "hdc" my cdrom

also similar following message

"ISO 9660 Extensions: Microsoft Joliet Level 3"

checked... tc 2.3 boot...nothing between "squashfs......" and "ISO 9660...."

/etc/fstab ..the same for version 2.3 ..and 2.6

[roberts]

These boot messages are from rebuildfstab and are harmless.
I have been able to reproduce and will therefore make adjustments to clear it up.

[ljk]

Roberts
Thank you for the information and your continuing work.  I appreciate your efforts.