Syslinux - Feb 2007 - Version 3.35 problems with Broadcom BCM5780 chipset

I have used the SYSLINUX 3.35 successfully to boot up vesamenu.c32
as well as menu.c32 on an HP Intel PC (Intel 965 chipset) and a few
other types of PCs.

But when I use those very same SYSLINUX menus on an AMD Opteron server
(IBM x326m), it is capable of loading up vesamenu.c32 and menu.c32
and displaying a list of menu items.  But as soon as I select any item
whatsoever in the menu list, the server locks up and must be power cycled.

The TFTP server reports that menu.c32 was downloaded, but any files in
the menu items were never downloaded, so the lock-up must occur before
a TFTP get is attempted.  Apparently, the SYSLINUX problem is specific
to this type of chipset.

The IBM x326m server has a Broadcom chipset with this dual-Gigabit
Ethernet controller on the motherboard:
    Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5780 Gigabit Ethernet (rev 03)
It has the latest IBM firmware: Version 1.20.25, November 09, 2006, and
the Broadcom firmware update utility reports the version as 5780-v3.24.

I'd love to get SYSLINUX menu control of my IBM servers, so I wonder
if anyone can solve this problem ?

-- 
Ole Holm Nielsen
Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark

Ole Holm Nielsen wrote:
> 
> But when I use those very same SYSLINUX menus on an AMD Opteron server
> (IBM x326m), it is capable of loading up vesamenu.c32 and menu.c32
> and displaying a list of menu items.  But as soon as I select any item
> whatsoever in the menu list, the server locks up and must be power cycled.
> 
I wonder if this is the same class of problems which is affecting IBM 
laptops.  Either way, I'm afraid it falls under the same category -- I 
simply have no way to debug this without access to the machinery.  There 
isn't any "obvious" explanation for this behaviour, other than
possibly
BIOS misuse of high memory (which would have to be further diagnosed.)

	-hpa