Tiny Core Linux
Tiny Core Base => TCB Q&A Forum => Topic started by: lid on December 14, 2011, 01:42:11 PM
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Hi,
I am new to TinyCore. My requirement is to use only ramdisk image to pxeboot a diskless client server that has 16 x86_64 cores and uses Broadcome 5709 1G NIC. I downloaded the Multicore ISO image and Bcom 5709 Linux driver. Now I am trying to figure out how to proceed. First question: Is my architecture is supported?
I loop mounted the iso and copied all the files to a regular file directory. I intend to build the Bcom driver module and add to the directory so it can be installed during the boot with ramdisk. I know how to build driver kernel modules So my second question is how and where to add the driver module.
Thanks.
David
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Multicore has nothing to do with multicore CPUs.
It is being updated and will be renamed CorePlus in 4.2.
You can try the release candidate.
I suggest you spend some time in the wiki.
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You would benefit from building your own kernel, since for ram reasons we have the max number of cores set at 8 IIRC.
We do include support for your ethernet card, so no need to build a driver for it manually.
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Assuming it hasn't changed since TC3.x, dmesg indicates max CPUs=8
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Ok, as a starter. I burned a DVD with iso image and try to install it on my HD first. Now I am following the install instructions but encounter two problems:
1. After mounting the DVD, I don't see "TC_install" icon at all. Why?
2. Then I clicked "Run" button and the popup "FLRun" wouldn't allow me to enter "tc-install". Instead it forced me to run "tc-terminal-server".
I am kind of stuck here.
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You would benefit from building your own kernel, since for ram reasons we have the max number of cores set at 8 IIRC.
We do include support for your ethernet card, so no need to build a driver for it manually.
Well I booted up the installation DVD with tinycore 4.1. On the screen,I launched a terminal and ifconfig only showed the loopback interface. It didn't recognize the Bcom 1G interface at all.
Does this mean the driver wasn't included?
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Hi lid
You might want to take a look at dmesg by typing:
dmesg | lessPageUp, PageDn, Home, End, up arrow, and down arrow will allow you to navigate the output. Enter
q to quit. Network card initialization occurs near the end. If your card requires firmware you should
see a message to that effect.
With that many cores I'd imagine you might have a lot of RAM installed. Until you get the hardware
detection sorted out you might want to limit the RAM using the boot code:
max_addr=2GA couple of members reported problems with more than 2Gig of RAM installed, see:
http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php/topic,11858.msg62964.html#msg62964 (http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php/topic,11858.msg62964.html#msg62964)
http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php/topic,11669.msg61842.html#msg61842 (http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php/topic,11669.msg61842.html#msg61842)
Once you have the machine booting properly, you can focus on utilizing all the RAM and/or maybe
switching to a 64 bit kernel.
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No luck so far setting max_addr=2G.
But the dmesg output did review something wrong with the Bcom driver:
bnx2: can't load firmware file bnx2/bnx2-mips-09-6.2.1a.fw
I wasn't able to find this file.
I have attached a screen shot of this error.
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Hi lid
The extension you need is firmware-bnx2.tcz
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About the installer, multicore has several boot options - micro, tiny, installer, wifi etc - I don't recall what the default was, but try picking the installer option.
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Hi lid
The extension you need is firmware-bnx2.tcz
Hi Rich,
Can you be more specific? What is this extension? How should I get and run it?
David
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Hi lid
Extensions are loaded using AppBrowser. There's an icon for it at the bottom of the screen, or you can click on the desktop and use SystemTools->AppBrowser. But since your network card is not yet
functioning, I suggest you follow curaga's advice just to get things running.
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Are you by any chance booting with an external USB optical drive? If so, I have seen strange happenings with TinyCore missing wbar icons unless I put a waitusb option at boot -- but also make sure you are using the right boot option (plus, I think?). I believe my fix was: plus waitusb=20
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About the installer, multicore has several boot options - micro, tiny, installer, wifi etc - I don't recall what the default was, but try picking the installer option.
Hi Curaga,
not sure how I can select the options. I tried both pxeboot and dvd iso boot and next thing I know is I am in the Tinycore screen and looking at several icons at the bottom.
Is this a kernel or initrd option?
David
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When you boot you should get a screen that says "boot:"
You can then hit F2, etc. for boot options...You're not getting this?
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When you boot you should get a screen that says "boot:"
You can then hit F2, etc. for boot options...You're not getting this?
Not during my PXEboot. Maybe it has to be a kernel or initrd option in this case?
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You said you were booting a CD, and multicore is only on a CD/Flash drive.
For PXE booting, see the netboot section on the wiki.
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Hi lid
You said you were booting a CD, and multicore is only on a CD/Flash drive.That's what I understood too. You need to give accurate information about what you are doing.
When you boot you should get a screen that says "boot:"
You can then hit F2, etc. for boot options...You're not getting this?
Since you are already PXE booting, you won't get those options because they come from the
isolinux.cfg file.
Since you already seem to have set this up manually, go to the directory where you placed the
kernel and initrd and create a directory called tce/optional/
Go to http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/tinycorelinux/4.x/x86/tcz/ (http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/tinycorelinux/4.x/x86/tcz/) and download
firmware-bnx2.tcz and firmware-bnx2.tcz.md5.txt to tce/optional/
Create the file tce/onboot.lst containing the line firmware-bnx2.tcz
That should be enough to get the firmware into your network card when you reboot. Check dmesg
to confirm that. Once that is done, you can use AppBrowser to properly install any other extensions
you may need.