isolinux: Extremely broken BIOS detected
Yoper 2.1
---------
ISOLINUX 2.11 2004-08-16 isolinux: Loading spec packet failed, trying
to wing it...
isolinux: Extremely broken BIOS detected, last ditch attempt with drive = 9F
isolinux: Disk error 01, AX = 4209, drive 9F
Boot failed: press a key to retry...
Helix 1.5
---------
ISOLINUX 2.04 (Debian, 2003-06-06) isolinux: Loading spec packet
failed, trying to wing it...
isolinux: Extremely broken BIOS detected, last ditch attempt with drive = 9F
isolinux: Disk error 01, AX = 42BD, drive 9F
Boot failed: press a key to retry...
Fedora Core 3
-------------
ISOLINUX 2.11 2004-08-16 isolinux: isolinux: Loading spec packet
failed, trying to wing it...
isolinux: Extremely broken BIOS detected, last ditch attempt with drive = 9F
isolinux: Disk error 01, AX = 426F, drive 9F
Boot failed: press a key to retry...
Knoppix 3.6
-----------
ISOLINUX 2.04 (Debian, 2003-06-06) isolinux: isolinux: Loading spec
packet failed, trying to wing it...
isolinux: Extremely broken BIOS detected, last ditch attempt with drive = 9F
isolinux: Disk error 01, AX = 4231, drive 9F
Boot failed: press a key to retry...
SuSE 9.1 Personal
-----------------
ISOLINUX 2.08 0x4072248c isolinux: Disk error 01, AX = 4240, drive 9F
Hikarunix (version unknown)
--------------------------
Installation successful. CD-ROM 1 & 2 - OK
MS Windows 98 SE
----------------
Installation successful
MS-DOS (Win98SE boot disk)
--------------------------
FDISK successful, partitions created, formatted
System Configuration:
---------------------
Motherboard: DFI NFII Ultra AL Socket A
CPU: AMD XP3000+ Barton Core 333FSB
Memory: Ultra 512MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz
Motherboard BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Copyright (c) 1984-2003, Phoenix Technologies, LTD
BIOS POST echo: 12/24/2003 - nVidia - nForce - 6A61BD4AC - 00
Video Controller: ATI Radeon 9200 w/TV Out (AGP 8X)
HD: Seagate 40GB Barracuda (ATA-100)
HD Controller: Onboard ATA-133
CD1: Toshiba XM-6401TA (SCSI)
CD2: Plextor PX-W1210S (SCSI)
Tape: Seagate STD224000N (SCSI)
SCSI controller: Adaptec AHA-2940 S1 Ultra/Ultra W
BIOS version: 1.23S3
Date: 1996
Bus:Device - 01:08h
Adaptec Host Adapter checks
---------------------------
Physical...
Cable termination - OK (@ Toshiba XM-6401TA)
Cable integrity - OK
Connections - Secure
PCI Slot - Secure
BIOS...
Plug and Play SCAM support - Disabled
Host Adapter BIOS - Enabled
Support Removable Disks - Disabled
Extended BIOS translation for drives > 1 GByte - Disabled
Multiple LUN - Disabled
BIOS Support for Bootable CD-ROM - Enabled
BIOS Support for Int13 Extensions - Disabled
Support for Ultra SCSI Speed - Disabled
Enable Sync Negotiation - Yes
Maximum Sync Transfer Rate - 5.0
Enable Disconnection - Yes
Termination - Automatic
SCSI Disk Utility - ID's...
ID:0 Toshiba CD-ROM XM-6401TA
ID:2 Archive Python 04106-XXX
ID:4 Plextor CD-R PX-W1210S
ID:7 AHA-2940 Ultra/Ultra W
Motherboard BIOS Settings
-------------------------
Boot order: SCSI, Floppy, HDD-0
S-ATA: disabled
Secondary IDE: disabled
USB: disabled
Audio: disabled
LAN: disabled
WOL: disabled
ACPI: disabled
HDD S.M.A.R.T.: disabled
Serial Port 1: disabled
Serial Port 2: disabled
Parallel Port: disabled
IRQ's
======
Bus Device IRQ
--- ------ ---
0 SMBus Controller 10
0 IDE Controller 14
1 Mass Storage Controller 15
2 Display Controller 11
*******************************************************************
All attempts for installs tried using the Toshiba XM-6401TA CD-ROM
drive for error codes listed. I tried two other Adaptec SCSI Host
Adapters and got the same isolinux error messages. In my search to
resolve this issue through your site and searching with Google, I
came across various problems it could be such as:
dusty CD
scratched CD
corrupted ISO
not made as an ISO or Image
bad HD
bootable BIOS setting
motherboard BIOS settings
wrong motherboard BIOS
partition needs to be created first
Interrupt 13 issue
CD not being read consistently
incorrect controller cabling
dual CD-ROm drive issue
I also saw on zytor.com and elsewhere that this is an issue with the
BIOS and that it needs to be updated. I saw that persons did update
and had no change with the errors. I also found the thread "ISOLINUX
fails at boot on Award BIOS v6.00PG" @
http://www.zytor.com/pipermail/syslinux/002863.html and a similar
thread at http://bugzilla.redhat.com. A BIOS update concerns me
since only ISOLINUX is having a problem and not some other CD's
that installed correctly.
So I Have Some Questions...
Why do both HIRAKUNIX and Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition install
but none of the other ISOLINUX bootable CD's don't?
If certain files need to be on certain tracks of the ISO burn, will
this be posted at bugtraq so that those who make the ISO's do it
right for isolinux?
Is there a web page or text file that lists what the isolinux error
codes mean?
Will isolinux-debug.bin be the default for the next version of
ISOLINUX so I don't have to build custom CD's for those times
the install may or may not fail?
Will warnings about certain system BIOSes be posted at
syslinux.zytor.com/iso.php?
Will a help page be added to zytor.com that shows users how to create
floppy boot disks now that the images and rawrite are no longer included
on the latest LINUX distributions?
Does isolinux default with the message, "Extremely Broken BIOS
Detected" when the sense commands bring back an answer the probe
doesn't understand?
Or, does the isolinux probe automatically post this error if the BIOS
is not on the list?
What exactly is the probe isolinux getting wrong so I can alert the
Phoenix/Award BIOS people for the
correct fix?
Thank you,
Alexander Dick
P.S. The Phoenix/Award BIOS update website is http://www.esupport.com
for users who do not know.
It seems your BIOS is not broken, but the firmware of your SCSI controller. If you had an IDE drive, booting would probably work. I guess Smart Boot Manager will also fail, as there's no ATAPI cdromdrive? could you try Smart Boot Manager please? bootdisk image at: http://fdos.org/ripcord/beta9sr1/fdos1440.img write imagefile to floppy (use DD, WinImage, Rawrite, whatever), boot from floppy, select 1 (386+) select Smart Boot Manager (enter '2' and press ENTER key) Once inside Smart Boot Manager, select 'CDROM' and you should be able to boot from cdrom. Win98 uses DISKETTE EMULATION (1.44MB floppy), Isolinux uses non-emulation mode (or custom emulation, whatever the name is..). That Unix tool should probably also use Isolinux, so.. How about Isolinux v1.67, which was one of the latest series1 of Isolinux? Knoppix Linux used diskette emulation in the past, now it uses Isolinux, so that's yet another Linux distro that won't be able to help you. Bernd ---------------------------------------------------------------- Op deze e-mail zijn de volgende voorwaarden van toepassing: http://www.fontys.nl/disclaimer The above disclaimer applies to this e-mail message. ----------------------------------------------------------------
Alexander Dick wrote:> > Hikarunix (version unknown) > -------------------------- > Installation successful. CD-ROM 1 & 2 - OK > > MS Windows 98 SE > ---------------- > Installation successful > > MS-DOS (Win98SE boot disk) > -------------------------- > FDISK successful, partitions created, formatted >No idea about Hikarunix, but Win98 uses the floppy emulation mode of CD booting.> > I also saw on zytor.com and elsewhere that this is an issue with the > BIOS and that it needs to be updated. I saw that persons did update > and had no change with the errors. I also found the thread "ISOLINUX > fails at boot on Award BIOS v6.00PG" @ > http://www.zytor.com/pipermail/syslinux/002863.html and a similar > thread at http://bugzilla.redhat.com. A BIOS update concerns me > since only ISOLINUX is having a problem and not some other CD's > that installed correctly. >See above.> So I Have Some Questions... > Why do both HIRAKUNIX and Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition install > but none of the other ISOLINUX bootable CD's don't? > > If certain files need to be on certain tracks of the ISO burn, will > this be posted at bugtraq so that those who make the ISO's do it > right for isolinux?No. It'll be incorporated into mkisofs.> Is there a web page or text file that lists what the isolinux error > codes mean?They're not isolinux error codes; they're BIOS error codes. Try Ralf Brown's Interrupt List. Error 01 is invalid function; it means that the BIOS is simply not responding to the El Torito command set.> Will isolinux-debug.bin be the default for the next version of > ISOLINUX so I don't have to build custom CD's for those times > the install may or may not fail?No, but you're welcome to encourage people to use it instead of isolinux.bin.> Will warnings about certain system BIOSes be posted at > syslinux.zytor.com/iso.php?If I get enough.> Will a help page be added to zytor.com that shows users how to create > floppy boot disks now that the images and rawrite are no longer included > on the latest LINUX distributions?No; it's distribution specific.> Does isolinux default with the message, "Extremely Broken BIOS > Detected" when the sense commands bring back an answer the probe > doesn't understand?>> Or, does the isolinux probe automatically post this error if the BIOS > is not on the list?It prints this message when the BIOS doesn't respond to the standard commands.> What exactly is the probe isolinux getting wrong so I can alert the > Phoenix/Award BIOS people for the > correct fix?In this case, it looks like it gets the whole El Torito "no emulation" commandset completely wrong; it looks like it doesn't respond to it at all. -hpa
Correction on that other thread. It's: ISOLINUX fails at boot on Award BIOS v6.00PG http://www.zytor.com/pipermail/syslinux/2003-December/002863.html
Since the MS Windows 98 SE CD-ROM is using floppy emulation mode it still uses the SCSI controller to install since that's where the drive is attached to. So regardless of the emulation mode the SCSI controller is booting CD's even though you see the POST message for the SCSI controller during device detection as: A Bootable CD-ROM has been detected. Drive A: has now become drive B: (etc) I was thinking that isolinux is having a compatiblity issue with something else or that maybe it's a PCI compliance issue that isolinux is invoking when it performs the hardware device probe. I have another SCSI controller that I haven't tried yet and that's an Adaptec ASC-29160N with a newer BIOS. I will try it and get back to you with the results. And I understand that the ffdos1440.img is a workaround and will not resolve this issue with other later distributions. I'm also getting an updated motherboard BIOS shortly from Phoenix Systems. On Wed, 08 Dec 2004 20:48:47 -0800, H. Peter Anvin <hpa at zytor.com> wrote:> Blaauw,Bernd B. wrote: > > It seems your BIOS is not broken, but the firmware of your SCSI controller. > > If you had an IDE drive, booting would probably work. I guess Smart Boot Manager will also fail, as there's no ATAPI cdromdrive? > > Ah yes, missed that little detail. Yes, whenever you boot from a device > (any device) connected to a SCSI controller, you're using a piece of > BIOS code that is provided *with that SCSI controller.* This is > separate from your system BIOS, and generally has a completely separate > set of bugs. > > -hpa >
Not all implementations (floppy emulation, harddisk emulation, non-emulation mode) are properly implemented/present in each BIOS, so yes indeed, a cdrom with floppy emulation might boot, while another cdrom which uses non-emulation might fail. For example, try the cdrom of Windows2000 or XP. It uses non-emulation mode. Easier: try ReactOS LiveCD (www.reactos.com). Also the fdos1440.img contains Smart Boot Manager, which contains its own Eltorito stack to replace that of the BIOS. However, it requires that the cdromdevice is on onboard IDE channel. And it contains Memtest86+ v1.40. The advantages of the SYSLINUX bootloader :) probably an updated SCSI controller will help. Otherwise, try a $20 IDE/ATAPI cdromdrive. ISOLINUX requires non-emulation, simple as that. Smart Boot Manager can sometimes help. Bernd ---------------------------------------------------------------- Op deze e-mail zijn de volgende voorwaarden van toepassing: http://www.fontys.nl/disclaimer The above disclaimer applies to this e-mail message. ----------------------------------------------------------------
Try if Memtest86+ (www.memtest.org) ISO (burned to cdrom) works. It also uses non-emulation, and is just 100KB or so to download: http://www.memtest.org/download/1.40/memtest86+-1.40.iso.zip H. Peter Anvin also has a small ISO at: http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/boot/syslinux/Testing/vesatest/isoimage.gz but I have no idea how he got his ISO image so small!. MKISOFS seems to add a few 100KB (I tried recreating the Memtest86 ISO by using isolinux instead, then chainloading to memtest) Only thing that now seems possible is to recreate your own cdrom: create a 2.88MB floppyimage and put Linux kernel and initrd in it (maybe use SYSLINUX for it?), then remaster the cdrom using floppy emulation (with 2.88MB bootimage). Most modern Linux distro's use Isolinux, not a thing you can do about it. As there's so much bad BIOS existing in the world, indeed there are a lot of complaints. If you're able to use Linuxbios as system bios replacement, and then get Isolinux to work (not possible yet, IIRC), be my guest :) I think your IDE drive will work! Most modern BIOSs are pretty decent. (otherwise they would not succeed in adding booting from USB!) My Yamaha SCSI CDRW also failed, on LSI1010-66 SCSI controller. Bernd ---------------------------------------------------------------- Op deze e-mail zijn de volgende voorwaarden van toepassing: http://www.fontys.nl/disclaimer The above disclaimer applies to this e-mail message. ----------------------------------------------------------------
I found these links during my research for those people that don't know the commands to make a floppy boot disk for Linux. Most are for the 2.0 and 2.4 kernel. I suppose in the future Linux, 2.6.x kernel and above, might come with or have and option to download three of four floppy disk images. Which at that point will make Linux seem like OS/2 Warp and Windows NT & 2000 to the world for those of us who remember or have had experience with those operating systems. Here are the links: http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialRecoveryAndBootDisk.html http://www.geocities.com/thestarman3/Linux/linux.html http://www.toms.net/rb/ http://en.tldp.org/HOWTO/Bootdisk-HOWTO/index.html A place for rawrite2.exe download: http://www.zelow.no/floppyfw/download/
In the future, if booting from a cdrom device on an interface is not supported, you might be required to use a USB flash disk with Linux kernel/initrd which would then mount the cdrom on the desired interface. However, despite its name, Isolinux is a bootloader, and does not have that much to do with Linux itself. Memtest86 thus works for you, Isolinux does not (on SCSI). Nex step would be a limited Isolinux version, like ReactOS has. LiveCD available from www.reactos.com for IDE/Atapi dvd/cdromdrives, Smart Boot Manager can be used to temporarily use its Eltorito stack instead of the one supplied with BIOS. SCSI optical media is dying, by the way, but there are compatible media that will require working SCSI: *FireWire *USB (maybe) *SATA cdromdrives (like Plextor PX712SA) SATA cdrom/dvdrom drives can possible be connected to Serial Attached SCSI controllers, and there you have it: support for booting from SCSI is needed (don't know what hardware/software should implement it though). conventional SCSI optical media are obsolete by now. Newest SCSI adapter I could find with support for it is an Adaptec PCI-X controller (29320R or something like that, single channel controller, and about $400..). Bernd ---------------------------------------------------------------- Op deze e-mail zijn de volgende voorwaarden van toepassing: http://www.fontys.nl/disclaimer The above disclaimer applies to this e-mail message. ----------------------------------------------------------------