Kivckstart vis USB cdrom

[Gerald Waugh]

Hi,

First post;
We are installing CentOS4 via a USB cdrom, and have a problem.
The server boots just fine from the USB cdrom.
At the boot prompt we enter "linux ks=cdrom".
If we do nothing else, the install drops into 'text mode'

If we pull the USB cable and reinsert when the console reports
"running /sbin/loader" the kickstart script is run and everything is
fine.

Any ideas as to how to fix this, much appreciated.

TIA
Gerald

[Philip Rowlands]

Post by Gerald Waugh
First post;

Welcome.

Post by Gerald Waugh
We are installing CentOS4 via a USB cdrom, and have a problem.
The server boots just fine from the USB cdrom.
At the boot prompt we enter "linux ks=cdrom".
If we do nothing else, the install drops into 'text mode'

With a language prompt? That happens when the kickstart file can't be
found (for whatever reason).

Post by Gerald Waugh
If we pull the USB cable and reinsert when the console reports "running
/sbin/loader" the kickstart script is run and everything is fine.

Sounds like:
- The BIOS is using the CD drive correctly as a boot device.
- ISOLINUX is discovering the kernel and initrd properly
- The kernel doesn't realise, unless triggered by the hot-plug, that the
cdrom is what you mean by ks=cdrom

At a guess, either try ks=/dev/scd?? if the drive shows up as a SCSI
device, or see if there's are kernel USB/CD/SCSI options which can be
passed in with ks=cdrom to influence the probe.


Cheers,
Phil

[Gerald Waugh]

Post by Philip Rowlands
- The BIOS is using the CD drive correctly as a boot device.
- ISOLINUX is discovering the kernel and initrd properly
- The kernel doesn't realise, unless triggered by the hot-plug, that the
cdrom is what you mean by ks=cdrom
At a guess, either try ks=/dev/scd?? if the drive shows up as a SCSI
device, or see if there's are kernel USB/CD/SCSI options which can be
passed in with ks=cdrom to influence the probe.

Thanks for the reply;
I booted the server (running with a previous install) with a regular CD
in the usb cdrom. the OS recognizes the cdrom as /dev/scd0.
It is in /etc/fstab as
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrecorder auto pamconsole,exec,noauto,managed 0 0

Yet if I use "ks=/dev/scd0" I get;
"loading USB storage driver" So it got that part correct...
Then I get "Error opening kickstart file (null): Bad Address"

It seems as though the BIOS is possibly not releasing the connection to
the usb cdrom, so it is busy? Which might explain why pulling the plug
and reinserting it works?

Gerald

[Philip Rowlands]

Post by Gerald Waugh
I booted the server (running with a previous install) with a regular CD
in the usb cdrom. the OS recognizes the cdrom as /dev/scd0.
It is in /etc/fstab as
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrecorder auto pamconsole,exec,noauto,managed 0 0
Yet if I use "ks=/dev/scd0" I get;
"loading USB storage driver" So it got that part correct...
Then I get "Error opening kickstart file (null): Bad Address"

Erm, that won't work...

The syntax would be something like ks=file:???, but I don't know
if/where it would be mounted.

Do any of these documented options help??

nousb Do not load USB support (helps if install hangs
early sometimes).

nousbstorage Do not load usbstorage module in loader. May help with
device ordering on SCSI systems.

(taken from /usr/share/doc/anaconda-*/command-line.txt)


Cheers,
Phil

[Samuli Jarvinen]

You can place the kickstart file ks.cfg inside the initrd.img located in
the cdrom. Then boot up the installer with command linux ks=file:/ks.cfg
That's how I'm going around that problem when I'm not able to get the
kickstart via http.

-Samuli

Post by Gerald Waugh
Hi,
First post;
We are installing CentOS4 via a USB cdrom, and have a problem.
The server boots just fine from the USB cdrom.
At the boot prompt we enter "linux ks=cdrom".
If we do nothing else, the install drops into 'text mode'
If we pull the USB cable and reinsert when the console reports
"running /sbin/loader" the kickstart script is run and everything is
fine.
Any ideas as to how to fix this, much appreciated.
TIA
Gerald
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