PCEngines alix2c3 (Substitute for WRAP) boot failes

luma · Nov 7, 2007, 5:22 PM

Hi!

I have just received exactly the same Alix as you. Just mounted, just new (30 mn ago) :)

It seems that we have the same bios version (0.98b), but I'm running 1.2RC3.

The box doesn't fail on USB like you but after on starting DHCP service. I'm trying to find a solution.

Maybe could you try to use the lastest 1.2RC3 snapshot and confirm?

Regards

PS : did you receive chocolate from Switzerland too? :)

jahonix · Nov 7, 2007, 5:27 PM

This might be the latest snapshot itself!
Another user seems to have the same issue:
http://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,6736.0/topicseen.html
He only mentions a PC running pfSense which is unlikely to be an ALIX

Wait for one of the developers to look into this - or try an older snapshot.

luma · Nov 7, 2007, 5:45 PM

Here is part of my boot process without WAN port attached. Same result with it plugged.

No error message. With my PC set up (static IP), I can ping LAN port before DHCP is started. After no way.

Updating configuration...done.
Cleaning backup cache...done.
Setting up extended sysctls...done.
Syncing user passwords...done.
Starting Secure Shell Services...done.
Setting timezone...done.
Starting syslog...done.
Configuring LAN interface...done.
Configuring WAN interface...done.
Configuring OPT interfaces...done.
Configuring CARP interfaces...done.
route: writing to routing socket: No such process
route: writing to routing socket: No such process
route: writing to routing socket: No such process
route: writing to routing socket: No such process
route: writing to routing socket: No such process
route: writing to routing socket: No such process
route: writing to routing socket: No such process
route: writing to routing socket: No such process
route: writing to routing socket: No such process
route: writing to routing socket: No such process
Syncing system time before startup...done.
Configuring firewall......done.
Starting webConfigurator...done.
Starting DHCP service...done.
Starting DNS forwarder...done.
Setting up microcode and tx/rx offloading...done.
Starting FTP helpers...done.
Generating RRD graphs...route: writing to routing socket: No such process
done.
Starting DHCP service...done.

cmb · Nov 7, 2007, 9:14 PM

Clown: You need to use 1.2RC3, it's the first version that works on ALIX.
http://snapshots.pfsense.org/FreeBSD6/RELENG_1_2/

luma: Any BIOS newer than 0.92 has introduced BIOS bug(s) that cause boot failures. PC Engines is working on a fix, right now the only BIOS version that will work is 0.92.

Clown · Nov 7, 2007, 10:53 PM

@luma:

PS : did you receive chocolate from Switzerland too? :)

I'm swiss, so I can buy chocolate by miself ;D

cmb: So I need also to downgrade the bios to version 0.92?

Clown · Nov 7, 2007, 11:00 PM

With pfsense1.2RC3 it's working. But what bios version do I have, I thought it's 0.98b???

Clown · Nov 8, 2007, 7:49 AM

It's not realy working, pfsense come's up at console then I have to set the new names for the network interfaces (vr0..2). After setting this I get the following errors on console:

–--
Configuring WAN interface...done.
Configuring OPT interfaces...done.
Configuring CARP interfaces...done.
route: writing to routing socket: No such process
route: writing to routing socket: No such process
route: writing to routing socket: No such process
route: writing to routing socket: No such process
route: writing to routing socket: No such process
route: writing to routing socket: No such process
route: writing to routing socket: No such process
route: writing to routing socket: No such process
route: writing to routing socket: No such process
route: writing to routing socket: No such process
Syncing system time before startup...done.
Configuring firewall......done.
Starting webConfigurator...done.
Starting DHCP service...done.
Starting DNS forwarder...done.
Setting up microcode and tx/rx offloading...done.
Starting FTP helpers...done.
Generating RRD graphs...route: writing to routing socket: No such process
done.
Starting DHCP service...done.

After that nothing workes, the network interfaces don't work, neither I don't get a console menu.

luma · Nov 8, 2007, 8:28 AM

Clown : we have the same error…

cmb : I'm now trying to downgrade Bios version. I have now problem with creating a bootable Freedos image on 1GB CF...

luma · Nov 8, 2007, 11:05 AM

Downgraded to bios 0.92
pfSense 1.2RC3 (11/07/2007)

Works great!!! :D

EarlBacid · Nov 8, 2007, 1:26 PM

Where can I get the 0.92 BIOS?

luma · Nov 8, 2007, 1:31 PM

http://www.pcengines.ch/alix2.htm

I managed to get the 128MB FreeDos image running on my 1GB CF using WinImage. I don't really know how, because I tried too much things too much time… ??? Sorry

Clown · Nov 8, 2007, 4:02 PM

With 0.92 pfsense comes up, but still is very slow on booting because of error messages…

luma · Nov 8, 2007, 4:35 PM

Which errors messages?

If they are :

route: writing to routing socket: No such process

plug your WAN port! Example : with no battery on Alix, pfSense tries to sync date/time on Internet.

Regards

Clown · Nov 8, 2007, 6:25 PM

Yes, that was it :-\ - stupid me…

Anyone knows whats wrong with the 0.98b bios together with pfsense? m0n0wall and AskoziaPBX are working fine together with the 0.98b firmware.

Changelog of the alix bios:

ALIX tinyBIOS revision history
------------------------------

v0.98b	11/1/07

	- fix UART initialization

v0.98	10/31/07

	- skip DLL status check

v0.97	10/26/07

	- back to 400 MHz DRAM clock for ALIX.3*2

v0.96	10/25/07

	- always do HDD wait if enabled

v0.95	10/24/07

	- use 333 MHz DRAM clock for ALIX.3*2

v0.94	10/23/07

	- force MFGPT timer reset (undocumented MSR 5140002B per
	  workaround in AMD Linux driver)

	- fixed a bug in PCI BIOS find device function

	- auto detect DRAM clock to set correct refresh interval

v0.93	10/21/07

	- added port 92 reset support

	- added 19200 baud option

v0.92	10/3/07

	- added HDD wait option, adds some delay to allow detection of
	  conventional HDDs.

	- disable CS5536 diverse device power management to avoid MFGPT /
	  interrupt issues.

	- MFGPT issues: please observe AMD CS5536 data book section 5.16.3,
	  incorrect initialization sequence can HANG the system.

v0.90	9/25/07

	- Remapped audio and USB interrupts to offload regular PCI interrupts.

	- IRQ7 is no longer directed to the LPC bus, used as a default
	  interrupt for MFGPT high resolution timer.

	- Implemented BIOS setup. Press S during memory test to enter.

	- Added UMB (upper memory block) support.

ALIX / tinyBIOS quirks
----------------------

A20 gate

	A20 gate is always "open", prefer performance over support for
	broken legacy code.

HDD master / slave

	To reduce boot time, slave drives are not detected by default.
	Change the option in setup if required.

HDD wait

	Hard disk drives need more time to wake up, enable HDD wait in
	setup if necessary.

LPT IRQ

	IRQ7 is intentionally unmapped to allow use for MFGPT high speed
	timer.

RTC wake-up

	One customer reported strange behavior on ALIX.1C, set wake-up
	time to 999999 if problems occur.

UMB

	To support UMB (upper memory block), unused shadow RAM between
	C000 and E000 is left read/writeable.

Open issues
-----------

Boot device selection

	nice to have...

HDD support

	tinyBIOS does not include large HDD support (> about 40 GB) yet.

PCI boot ROMs

	Not handled correctly by tinyBIOS.

PCI bridges

	tinyBIOS bridge support is questionable, if in doubt send PCI dump +
	maybe sample hardware to PC Engines.

Port 92 restart

	Needs SMI emulation.

PXE boot

	Module added, but interferes with "S" setup key. Be persistent
	to enter setup. Shift-Tab cannot be entered through serial console,
	need to change to different PXE module without menu.

VGA

	ALIX.1C tinyBIOS does not support video.

Flash layout for ALIX						pd 070921
---------------------

The layout is controlled by the batch files used to build the BIOS,
for example lx3.bat.

00000 - 0FFFF	Config block (only first few bytes used, but the flash device
		has 64KB erase blocks)

10000 - 3FFFF	unused

40000 - 47FFF	unused / video BIOS (future use)

48000 - 5FFFF	unused

60000 - 6FFFF	PXE BIOS

70000 - 77FFF	SMI module

78000 - 78FFF	unused, space for runtime copy of config block

79000 - 7FFFF	tinyBIOS core

Memory layout for ALIX
----------------------

00000 - 9FFFF	RW	base 640K RAM

A0000 - BFFFF	-	unused / VGA memory

C0000 - C7FFF	RO	unused / video BIOS

C8000 - DFFFF	-	unused

E0000 - EFFFF	RW	PXE BIOS

F0000 - F7FFF	RW	SMI module

F8000 - F8FFF	RO	runtime copy of config block

F9000 - FFFFF	RO	tinyBIOS core

PCI Interrupt map
-----------------

Please note that ALIX.2A / ALIX.3A boards have a different mapping, please
use the correct files for these boards.

PCI dev	AD line	Int map		Description

00	..	-		unused

08	AD11	INTA		Geode LX host bridge (crypto)

10..40	12..18 	-		unused

48	AD19	INTB		LAN1 (right)

50	AD20	INTC		LAN2 (middle)

58	AD21	INTD		LAN3 (left)

60	AD22	INTA, INTB	miniPCI 1

68	AD23	-		unused

70	AD24	INTC, INTD	miniPCI2

78	AD25	INTA .. INTD	Geode CS5536

80..F8	..	-		unused

Interrupt map
-------------

IRQ0	timer
IRQ1	KBD (LPC)
IRQ2	cascade
IRQ3	COM1 serial (internal / LPC)
IRQ4	COM2 serial (LPC)
IRQ5	audio (CS5536)
IRQ6	FDC (LPC)
IRQ7	spare, used for MFGPT high resolution timer

IRQ8	RTC
IRQ9	PCI INTA
IRQ10	PCI INTB
IRQ11	PCI INTC
IRQ12	PCI INTD
IRQ13	floating point
IRQ14	IDE HDD
IRQ15	USB (CS5536)

dirom · Nov 9, 2007, 8:08 AM

Hello,

Can anyone explain me how to downgrade the bios to 0.92 ?
Can i use the freedos image from pcengines.ch on any 128mb compact flash or does only the cf128al have a geometry of 1002/8/32? ???

i have many 128mb cf cards here, but will they work with the freedos image without any modifications?

Thanks in advance

EarlBacid · Nov 9, 2007, 4:09 PM

ok, now I have the problem that I don't have a CF Card with this phys.

Does anybody know how I can use this FreeDOS (or another) image with a larger CF Card?

Everytime I tried to boot from my 512 MB CF Card I got the error "Invalid or damaged Bootable partition".
Th CF card itsels seems to work with the image, it readable with windows so I can put the BIOS file on it.

luma · Nov 9, 2007, 4:14 PM

Please try with WinImage. I add success with it. But I don't have any howto ready. And I don't really remember :) Sorry

cmb · Nov 15, 2007, 3:37 AM

I believe the boot should be working with the newest BIOS now, can someone please verify with RC3?

vangual · Nov 15, 2007, 8:01 AM

@cmb:

I believe the boot should be working with the newest BIOS now, can someone please verify with RC3?

embedded snapshot dated "2007-Nov-14 11:11:50" still does not get past "Starting DHCP service…done." with ALIX bios 0.98b

Clown · Nov 15, 2007, 2:53 PM

@cmb:

I believe the boot should be working with the newest BIOS now, can someone please verify with RC3?

Same here with 0.98b Bios, Boot until DHCP (even with connected network cables).