Syslinux - Dec 2013 - PXELINUX [BIOS] 6.02 - Upgrade to 6.02 from 4.07 introduces local boot regression

Gene, Ady thanks for your suggestions.
>> What if you dropped the timeout to 0.8-2.0 seconds or even 0.2 seconds?
I tried setting the delay to 2 seconds and 0.2 with no change in behavior.
>> First, please be sure you are using all C32 modules from the exact same
Syslinux version, including ldlinux.c32 and all lib*.c32 library modules,
all located somewhere under the "./bios/" directory path of Syslinux
6.02.

I went ahead and re-copied the "./bios/" 6.02 files (compiled from
source
from kernel.org). Just for sanity's sake. Below is the current list of my
tftpboot dir.

vmshe-dhcp ---> /tftpboot/linux
$ ls -l
total 588
-rwxrwxrwx   1 root root 123300 Dec 10 10:39 ldlinux.c32
-rwxrwxrwx   1 root root 187700 Dec 10 10:39 libcom32.c32
-rwxrwxrwx   1 root root  26468 Dec 10 10:40 libutil.c32
-rwxrwxrwx   1 root root   4856 Dec 10 10:40 linux.c32
-rwxrwxrwx   1 root root  19817 Sep 25 10:29 linux.jpg
-rwxr-xr-x   1 root root   1240 Dec 10 10:58 localboot.c32
-rwxrwxrwx   1 root root  10200 Dec 10 10:40 mboot.c32
-rwxrwxrwx   1 root root  26140 Dec 10 10:41 memdisk
-rwxrwxrwx   1 root root  29148 Dec 10 10:41 menu.c32
-rwxrwxrwx   1 root root  42817 Dec 10 10:42 pxelinux.0
drwxrwxrwx.  2 root root   4096 Dec  9 14:20 pxelinux.cfg
drwxrwxrwx  74 root root   8192 Dec  6 09:31 pxe_repo
-rwxrwxrwx   1 root root  48732 May 15  2012 splash.jpg
-rwxrwxrwx   1 root root  29668 Dec 10 10:43 vesamenu.c32
-rwxrwxrwx   1 root root  11708 Dec  4 16:23 wimboot

Behavior still persists.
>> Instead of 'LOCALBOOT 0', have you tried the localboot.c32
module?
Tried this out as follows:

UI vesamenu.c32
DEFAULT bootlocal
    prompt 0

    menu title Host Provisioning Tool
    menu INCLUDE pxelinux.cfg/graphics.conf
    MENU AUTOBOOT Starting Local System in # seconds
    MENU BACKGROUND splash.jpg

label bootlocal
      menu label ^Boot This Host
      KERNEL localboot.c32
      timeout 80

and I see the following output and a hang after timeout:

"Booting from local disk...
E46EB:0000"
>> After the official release of Syslinux 6.02, there were some patches.
:-) being in QA, as a profession, my general experience is to only apply
patches when they are known to fix issues you are looking for. I'm willing
to give it a shot though just as a datapoint. Is there a link directly to
the archlinux syslinux files or do I need to install archlinux to get the
files out?

Regards,

Cory




On Tue, Dec 10, 2013 at 2:36 AM, Ady <ady-sf at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > upgraded from version 4.07 to version 6.02 and, without making any
edits
> to
> > my default menu, immediately noticed a regression. I use vesamenu.c32
to
> > present a menu to the user which starts with something like this:
> >
> > default vesamenu.c32
> >     prompt 0
> >
> >     menu title Host Provisioning Tool
> >     menu INCLUDE pxelinux.cfg/graphics.conf
> >     MENU AUTOBOOT Starting Local System in # seconds
> >     MENU BACKGROUND splash.jpg
> >
> >     label bootlocal
> >       menu label ^Boot This Host
> >       menu default
> >       localboot 0
> >       timeout 80
> >
> > Prior to upgrading to pxelinux 6.02 If you did nothing for 8 seconds
the
> > system would boot from the local disk. Now the system will hang after
the
> > timeout. The only visual difference I can discern is that when the
system
> > properly boots I see a message briefly indicating the PXE boot rom had
> > exited properly. Now with version 6.02 It hangs just before that.
> >
> > Another datapoint, I reverted back to version 6.01 and the problem
seems
> to
> > be resolved.
> > Final datapoint, if you hit "enter" instead of waiting for
the timeout
> > (using version 6.02) it will boot properly
> >
> > My basic question is what is right place to report this issue to the
> > project?
>
> I would say that this mailing list is a good starting point to report
> the issue :).
>
> Although there seems to be some kind of regression, I'd like to
> suggest some potential workarounds, at least for testing purposes.
>
> First, please be sure you are using all C32 modules from the exact
> same Syslinux version, including ldlinux.c32 and all lib*.c32 library
> modules, all located somewhere under the "./bios/" directory path
of
> Syslinux 6.02.
>
> Regarding Syslinux 6.02; is that from kernel.org or from other
> source? Are you using built-in official upstream binary files, or are
> you rebuilding them from source?
>
> After the official release of Syslinux 6.02, there were some patches.
> I would suggest trying the current Syslinux package from Arch Linux,
> which includes some of those recent patches already. The patches were
> not specifically related to LOCALBOOT, but I'd think it's worth a
> test anyway.
>
> Instead of 'LOCALBOOT 0', have you tried the localboot.c32 module?
>
> I would also suggest testing a slight change in your default
> configuration file. Instead of:
>  default vesamenu.c32
> I would suggest using:
>  UI vesamenu.c32
>  DEFAULT bootlocal
>  # where 'bootlocal' is your LABEL for 'LOCALBOOT'.
>
> Reporting the results for each potential workaround might help narrow
> down the problem.
>
> TIA,
> Ady.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Syslinux mailing list
> Submissions to Syslinux at zytor.com
> Unsubscribe or set options at:
> http://www.zytor.com/mailman/listinfo/syslinux
> Please do not send private replies to mailing list traffic.
>
>

On Tue, Dec 10, 2013 at 1:42 PM, Cory Fair <cory.fair at gmail.com>
wrote:
> Gene, Ady thanks for your suggestions.
>
>>> What if you dropped the timeout to 0.8-2.0 seconds or even 0.2
seconds?
>
> I tried setting the delay to 2 seconds and 0.2 with no change in behavior.
>
>>> First, please be sure you are using all C32 modules from the exact
same
> Syslinux version, including ldlinux.c32 and all lib*.c32 library modules,
> all located somewhere under the "./bios/" directory path of
Syslinux 6.02.
>
> I went ahead and re-copied the "./bios/" 6.02 files (compiled
from source
> from kernel.org). Just for sanity's sake. Below is the current list of
my
> tftpboot dir.
Did you try just using the binaries as-compiled in the source/binary
archive to eliminate the chance of a build box issue?

--
-Gene

> Tried this out as follows:
> 
> UI vesamenu.c32
> DEFAULT bootlocal
>     prompt 0
> 
>     menu title Host Provisioning Tool
>     menu INCLUDE pxelinux.cfg/graphics.conf
>     MENU AUTOBOOT Starting Local System in # seconds
>     MENU BACKGROUND splash.jpg
> 
> label bootlocal
>       menu label ^Boot This Host
>       KERNEL localboot.c32
>       timeout 80
> 
> and I see the following output and a hang after timeout:
> 
> "Booting from local disk...
> E46EB:0000"
> 
> >> After the official release of Syslinux 6.02, there were some
patches.
> 
> :-) being in QA, as a profession, my general experience is to only apply
> patches when they are known to fix issues you are looking for. I'm
willing
> to give it a shot though just as a datapoint. Is there a link directly to
> the archlinux syslinux files or do I need to install archlinux to get the
> files out?
> 
 
As Gene mentioned, I would suggest not recompiling, but using the 
official binary files already included in the official packages. It 
is easier to reproduce reported behaviors and can help reduce the 
chances of additional interactions.

Regarding your pxelinux.cfg/default, please try commenting out (#) 
any non-relevant line for these tests. In particular, the lines that 
point to some (possibly nonexistent) file (splash.jpg, 
graphics.conf).

I would suggest, for testing purposes, the following simplified 
pxelinux.cfg/default:
# *** 
DEFAULT local
TIMEOUT 20
LABEL local
LOCALBOOT 0
# *** 

I would recommend for each and every other line (except the above 4 
directives) in the default configuration file to be commented out for 
these tests. Optionally, you might want to test whether adding either 
'PROMPT 1' or 'PROMPT 0' to the above 4 directives changes the 
resulting behavior for your hardware.

Regarding the patches mentioned before, they are already tested so to 
solve problems seen in the official Syslinux 6.02. The reason I 
suggested using the package from Arch Linux is because there is no 
new official upstream pre-release that includes them, but they are 
already in Arch Linux.

The Syslinux packages from Arch Linux already contain binary files 
too (so, no recompiling). The tar.xz archives can be downloaded from:
https://www.archlinux.org/packages/?q=syslinux
Select the relevant architecture (i686 or x86_64), and then on the 
right-side of the screen, under "Package Actions" you will see 
"Download From Mirror". The archives also contain the corresponding 
C32 modules.

Since you mentioned that your original configuration file works with 
Syslinux 6.01, I would suggest also testing (always using the 
simplified configuration file) with Syslinux 6.02-pre14, to compare 
the result. It can be downloaded from:
https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/boot/syslinux/Testing/6.02/

TIA,
Ady.

>> As Gene mentioned, I would suggest not recompiling, but using the
official
binary files already included in the official packages.

Tried this and the issue persists.
>> The Syslinux packages from Arch Linux already contain binary files too
(so, no recompiling)

Installed these, and the problem is solved! I tried both a simplified
default config as well as my original. Seems to have no trouble local
booting.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I actually have a second issue I want
to send separately but I need to see if the 6.02-8 (archlinux) build solves
it first. You'll possibly be hearing from me again soon.

-Cory


On Tue, Dec 10, 2013 at 4:28 PM, Ady <ady-sf at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Tried this out as follows:
> >
> > UI vesamenu.c32
> > DEFAULT bootlocal
> >     prompt 0
> >
> >     menu title Host Provisioning Tool
> >     menu INCLUDE pxelinux.cfg/graphics.conf
> >     MENU AUTOBOOT Starting Local System in # seconds
> >     MENU BACKGROUND splash.jpg
> >
> > label bootlocal
> >       menu label ^Boot This Host
> >       KERNEL localboot.c32
> >       timeout 80
> >
> > and I see the following output and a hang after timeout:
> >
> > "Booting from local disk...
> > E46EB:0000"
> >
> > >> After the official release of Syslinux 6.02, there were some
patches.
> >
> > :-) being in QA, as a profession, my general experience is to only
apply
> > patches when they are known to fix issues you are looking for. I'm
> willing
> > to give it a shot though just as a datapoint. Is there a link directly
to
> > the archlinux syslinux files or do I need to install archlinux to get
the
> > files out?
> >
>
> As Gene mentioned, I would suggest not recompiling, but using the
> official binary files already included in the official packages. It
> is easier to reproduce reported behaviors and can help reduce the
> chances of additional interactions.
>
> Regarding your pxelinux.cfg/default, please try commenting out (#)
> any non-relevant line for these tests. In particular, the lines that
> point to some (possibly nonexistent) file (splash.jpg,
> graphics.conf).
>
> I would suggest, for testing purposes, the following simplified
> pxelinux.cfg/default:
> # ***
> DEFAULT local
> TIMEOUT 20
> LABEL local
> LOCALBOOT 0
> # ***
>
> I would recommend for each and every other line (except the above 4
> directives) in the default configuration file to be commented out for
> these tests. Optionally, you might want to test whether adding either
> 'PROMPT 1' or 'PROMPT 0' to the above 4 directives changes
the
> resulting behavior for your hardware.
>
> Regarding the patches mentioned before, they are already tested so to
> solve problems seen in the official Syslinux 6.02. The reason I
> suggested using the package from Arch Linux is because there is no
> new official upstream pre-release that includes them, but they are
> already in Arch Linux.
>
> The Syslinux packages from Arch Linux already contain binary files
> too (so, no recompiling). The tar.xz archives can be downloaded from:
> https://www.archlinux.org/packages/?q=syslinux
> Select the relevant architecture (i686 or x86_64), and then on the
> right-side of the screen, under "Package Actions" you will see
> "Download From Mirror". The archives also contain the
corresponding
> C32 modules.
>
> Since you mentioned that your original configuration file works with
> Syslinux 6.01, I would suggest also testing (always using the
> simplified configuration file) with Syslinux 6.02-pre14, to compare
> the result. It can be downloaded from:
> https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/boot/syslinux/Testing/6.02/
>
> TIA,
> Ady.
> _______________________________________________
> Syslinux mailing list
> Submissions to Syslinux at zytor.com
> Unsubscribe or set options at:
> http://www.zytor.com/mailman/listinfo/syslinux
> Please do not send private replies to mailing list traffic.
>
>