Syslinux - Oct 2019 - syslinux.efi and vendor-class-identifier

Ady Ady via Syslinux wrote:
> 
>> However, I have just tested the exact same boot procedure using a Dell
>> laptop (Latitude 7480) - and it all worked without a problem - that is,
>> syslinux.efi and ldlinux.e64 were downloaded without a problem - and
>> from a tcpdump, there was *no* DHCP transaction between downloading
>> syslinux.efi and ldlinux.e64
>>
>> So I'm puzzled as to why it doesn't work on the Dell 3930 - may
be a
>> firmware bug/feature (it is running the latest firmware) ?
> 
> 
> Reminder: syslinux.efi 6.04-pre1 does not support Secure Boot. Secure
> Boot needs to be set "off".
Secure boot is off
> Please also note that the behavior of this Dell 3930 system might vary,
> depending on the firmware's options; see below.
> 
>  From the manual for the Dell 3930 system:
> 
> 
> Network adapter:
> Integrated Intel 10/100/1000 Mb/s Ethernet (RJ45)
> Integrated Aquantia 10 GB/s Ethernet (RJ45)
> 
> 
> Integrated NIC:
> Allows you to control the onboard LAN controller. The option ?Enable
> UEFI Network Stack? is not selected by default. The options are:
> * Disabled
> * Enabled
> * Enabled w/PXE (default)
> 
> 
> Integrated NIC2:
> Allows you to control the onboard LAN controller. The option ?Enable
> UEFI Network Stack? is not selected by default. The options are:
> * Disabled
> * Enabled (default)
> * Enabled w/PXE
> 
> 
> UEFI Network Stack
> Allows pre-OS and early OS networking features to use any enabled NICs.
> This may be used without PXE turned on.
> * Enable UEFI Network Stack
> * Default - (Disabled)
> 
> 
> So, maybe these "BIOS" options (among others) might need to be
changed
> for syslinux.efi to work correctly with this system/NIC(s).
I've tried virtually every combination of the set up options for the 
NICs ... including disabling one of the NICs so the system only sees one 
NIC i.e. at least one NIC needs to be enabled with PXE and the UEFI 
Network Stack enabled

But nothing improves the situation
> Perhaps a PXE boot in CSM mode, using pxelinux.0 + ldlinux.c32 from the
> same 6.04-pre1 version would show a different behavior in this same
> system.
You can set up the system to PXE boot in legacy BIOS mode (which I'm 
guessing is CSM mode?) - and I _can_ install CentOS 7 via pxelinux.0 etc 
(we're using the pxelinux.0 supplied in the syslinux RPM that comes with 
CentOS - which I think is v4 ?) - however, as the Dell 3930 does not 
support booting from internal devices in legacy BIOS mode, it is 
impossible to then boot the installed system :-)

i.e. the reason I'm going down the EFI route

Thanks

James Pearson

On Mon, Oct 7, 2019 at 3:59 PM James Pearson via Syslinux
<syslinux at syslinux.org> wrote:
> Ady Ady via Syslinux wrote:
> >> However, I have just tested the exact same boot procedure using a
Dell
> >> laptop (Latitude 7480) - and it all worked without a problem -
that is,
> >> syslinux.efi and ldlinux.e64 were downloaded without a problem -
and
> >> from a tcpdump, there was *no* DHCP transaction between
downloading
> >> syslinux.efi and ldlinux.e64
> >>
> >> So I'm puzzled as to why it doesn't work on the Dell 3930
- may be a
> >> firmware bug/feature (it is running the latest firmware) ?
> >
> >
> > Reminder: syslinux.efi 6.04-pre1 does not support Secure Boot. Secure
> > Boot needs to be set "off".
>
> Secure boot is off
All of the aforementioned output should be from SYSLINUX though it'd
be better if the first line said so.
> > Please also note that the behavior of this Dell 3930 system might
vary,
> > depending on the firmware's options; see below.
> >
> >  From the manual for the Dell 3930 system:
> >
> >
> > Network adapter:
> > Integrated Intel 10/100/1000 Mb/s Ethernet (RJ45)
> > Integrated Aquantia 10 GB/s Ethernet (RJ45)
> >
> >
> > Integrated NIC:
> > Allows you to control the onboard LAN controller. The option ?Enable
> > UEFI Network Stack? is not selected by default. The options are:
> > * Disabled
> > * Enabled
> > * Enabled w/PXE (default)
> >
> >
> > Integrated NIC2:
> > Allows you to control the onboard LAN controller. The option ?Enable
> > UEFI Network Stack? is not selected by default. The options are:
> > * Disabled
> > * Enabled (default)
> > * Enabled w/PXE
> >
> >
> > UEFI Network Stack
> > Allows pre-OS and early OS networking features to use any enabled
NICs.
> > This may be used without PXE turned on.
> > * Enable UEFI Network Stack
> > * Default - (Disabled)
> >
> >
> > So, maybe these "BIOS" options (among others) might need to
be changed
> > for syslinux.efi to work correctly with this system/NIC(s).
>
> I've tried virtually every combination of the set up options for the
> NICs ... including disabling one of the NICs so the system only sees one
> NIC i.e. at least one NIC needs to be enabled with PXE and the UEFI
> Network Stack enabled
See also above.
> But nothing improves the situation
Thanks for trying various combinations.  If I were in your "shoes",
I'd definitely be trying one NIC enabled with PXE at a time across all
just out of stubbornness with either all others disabled, all enabled,
all of same kind enabled and all of same kind disabled.
> > Perhaps a PXE boot in CSM mode, using pxelinux.0 + ldlinux.c32 from
the
> > same 6.04-pre1 version would show a different behavior in this same
> > system.
>
> You can set up the system to PXE boot in legacy BIOS mode (which I'm
> guessing is CSM mode?) - and I _can_ install CentOS 7 via pxelinux.0 etc
> (we're using the pxelinux.0 supplied in the syslinux RPM that comes
with
> CentOS - which I think is v4 ?) - however, as the Dell 3930 does not
> support booting from internal devices in legacy BIOS mode, it is
> impossible to then boot the installed system :-)
>
> i.e. the reason I'm going down the EFI route
Oh how overjoyed I am to find a new mode of failure.

On Mon, Oct 7, 2019 at 12:05 PM James Pearson via Syslinux
<syslinux at syslinux.org> wrote:
>   Getting cached packet
>   My IP is 10.64.79.186
>   core_udp_sendto: stalling on configure with no mapping
>   core_udp_sendto: aborting on no mapping
>   disable UseDefaultAddress
>   core_udp_sendto: udp->Configure() unsuccessful (20)
So the 3rd/4th line would have been printed within ~1 second after the
"My IP is" statement.  At least we have a value for the error
"EFI_ALREADY_STARTED".  I'f I'm reading the protocol book
right, we
already have an open handle and it's refusing as a result.  I'd guess
when we attempt to use "UseDefaultAddress", it triggers the DHCP
Discover.

As a side note, some installers support booting in BIOS mode with the
CSM then installing to disk for UEFI boot.  I've also seen firmware
config options like "Allow legacy OROMs" that may help for BIOS boot.

-- 
-Gene

> > You can set up the system to PXE boot in legacy BIOS mode (which
I'm
> > guessing is CSM mode?) - and I _can_ install CentOS 7 via pxelinux.0
etc
> > (we're using the pxelinux.0 supplied in the syslinux RPM that
comes with
> > CentOS - which I think is v4 ?) - however, as the Dell 3930 does not
> > support booting from internal devices in legacy BIOS mode, it is
> > impossible to then boot the installed system :-)
 
 
If that's really the case (i.e. CSM is not allowed for internal HDD), 
then CSM would be almost useless. Is this really a UEFI "type 2" 
firmware?

> As a side note, some installers support booting in BIOS mode with the
> CSM then installing to disk for UEFI boot.  I've also seen firmware
> config options like "Allow legacy OROMs" that may help for BIOS
boot.
 
 
>From the system's manual:
Advanced Boot Options:
Allows you to select the Enable Legacy Option ROMs option, when in UEFI 
boot mode. By default, this option is selected.
* Enable Legacy Option ROMs
* Enable Attempt Legacy Boot
* Default? None Selected

Additionally, things like boot/admin password(s) might interfere with a 
correct/successful boot. Another thing that comes to mind is Windows' 
Bitlocker. IOW, these things might (also) prevent successfully booting 
(especially in CSM mode) when the system/firmware is not configured 
accordingly.

Regards,
Ady.

Gene Cumm wrote:
> 
> On Mon, Oct 7, 2019 at 12:05 PM James Pearson via Syslinux
> <syslinux at syslinux.org> wrote:
> 
>>    Getting cached packet
>>    My IP is 10.64.79.186
>>    core_udp_sendto: stalling on configure with no mapping
>>    core_udp_sendto: aborting on no mapping
>>    disable UseDefaultAddress
>>    core_udp_sendto: udp->Configure() unsuccessful (20)
> 
> So the 3rd/4th line would have been printed within ~1 second after the
> "My IP is" statement.  At least we have a value for the error
> "EFI_ALREADY_STARTED".  I'f I'm reading the protocol book
right, we
> already have an open handle and it's refusing as a result.  I'd
guess
> when we attempt to use "UseDefaultAddress", it triggers the DHCP
> Discover.
The errors appear ~75 seconds after the 'My IP is ...' line is printed
> As a side note, some installers support booting in BIOS mode with the
> CSM then installing to disk for UEFI boot.  I've also seen firmware
> config options like "Allow legacy OROMs" that may help for BIOS
boot.
I can't find any option to boot in BIOS mode and install an EFI boot set 
up on disk with the RHEL/CentOS 7 installer

Thanks

James Pearson