Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]

Groups > linux.debian.user > #207926 > unrolled thread

Is Debian 9 supposed to work on a Geode?

Back to article view | Back to linux.debian.user

Contents

  Is Debian 9 supposed to work on a Geode? Björn Persson <Bjorn@xn--rombobjrn-67a.se> - 2019-04-28 19:00 +0200
    Re: Is Debian 9 supposed to work on a Geode? Brad Rogers <brad@fineby.me.uk> - 2019-04-28 19:10 +0200
      Re: Is Debian 9 supposed to work on a Geode? Sven Hartge <sven@svenhartge.de> - 2019-04-28 19:30 +0200
        Re: Is Debian 9 supposed to work on a Geode? Brad Rogers <brad@fineby.me.uk> - 2019-04-28 19:50 +0200
    Re: Is Debian 9 supposed to work on a Geode? Sven Hartge <sven@svenhartge.de> - 2019-04-28 19:30 +0200
    Re: Is Debian 9 supposed to work on a Geode? Jonas Smedegaard <jonas@jones.dk> - 2019-04-28 19:50 +0200
      Re: Is Debian 9 supposed to work on a Geode? Brian <ad44@cityscape.co.uk> - 2019-04-28 20:10 +0200
        Re: Is Debian 9 supposed to work on a Geode? deloptes <deloptes@gmail.com> - 2019-04-28 20:40 +0200
        Re: Is Debian 9 supposed to work on a Geode? Björn Persson <Bjorn@xn--rombobjrn-67a.se> - 2019-04-28 20:50 +0200
          Re: Is Debian 9 supposed to work on a Geode? Björn Persson <Bjorn@xn--rombobjrn-67a.se> - 2019-04-28 22:00 +0200
            Re: Is Debian 9 supposed to work on a Geode? billium <billium@bucknall.me.uk> - 2019-04-28 22:30 +0200
            Re: Is Debian 9 supposed to work on a Geode? Brian <ad44@cityscape.co.uk> - 2019-04-29 10:40 +0200
    Re: Is Debian 9 supposed to work on a Geode? Björn Persson <Bjorn@xn--rombobjrn-67a.se> - 2019-05-05 18:00 +0200

#207926 — Is Debian 9 supposed to work on a Geode?

[Multipart message — attachments visible in raw view] — view raw

Hello!

I have a small server with a Geode processor – Geode LX 500 MHz
according to the BIOS boot screen – which I needed to upgrade from
Debian 8 to Debian 9. I know that Debian has dropped support for i586,
but I haven't been able to find a definitive answer to how that affects
Geodes. What little I could find on the Web seemed to suggest that
Geodes are mostly like i686, which is supposed to still be supported by
Debian 9, so I decided to try it, took a backup, and took the plunge.

It turns out that the kernel from Debian 9 won't boot. Both Linux
4.9.0-8-686 and 4.9.0-9-686 appear to hang early in the boot process.
Everything else seems to work, so right now I'm running Debian 9 on
Linux 3.16.0-8-586 from Debian 8. This works for now, but it's
obviously not a long-term solution.

So my question is: Is the Geode LX among the dropped processors, or is
the hang a bug that should be fixed?

Björn Persson

[toc] | [next] | [standalone]

#207927

[Multipart message — attachments visible in raw view] — view raw

On Sun, 28 Apr 2019 18:43:48 +0200
Björn Persson <Bjorn@xn--rombobjrn-67a.se> wrote:

Hello Björn,

>4.9.0-8-686 and 4.9.0-9-686 appear to hang early in the boot process.

I'm no expert, (and perhaps I'm being naive) but don't you want a 386
kernel, not a 686 one?

-- 
 Regards  _
         / )           "The blindingly obvious is
        / _)rad        never immediately apparent"
She's taken all my vitamins, used up my lighter fuel
Golden Green - Wonder Stuff

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#207928

Brad Rogers <brad@fineby.me.uk> wrote:
> On Sun, 28 Apr 2019 18:43:48 +0200 Björn Persson <Bjorn@xn--rombobjrn-67a.se> wrote:

>> 4.9.0-8-686 and 4.9.0-9-686 appear to hang early in the boot process.

> I'm no expert, (and perhaps I'm being naive) but don't you want a 386
> kernel, not a 686 one?

There has not been a i386 Kernel in Debian for a very long time.

Grüße,
Sven.

-- 
Sigmentation fault. Core dumped.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#207931

[Multipart message — attachments visible in raw view] — view raw

On Sun, 28 Apr 2019 19:23:59 +0200
Sven Hartge <sven@svenhartge.de> wrote:

Hello Sven,

>There has not been a i386 Kernel in Debian for a very long time.

Of course;  Stupid me.   :-)

Thx.

-- 
 Regards  _
         / )           "The blindingly obvious is
        / _)rad        never immediately apparent"
Dream on white boy, dream on black girl
Original Sin - INXS

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#207929

Björn Persson <Bjorn@xn--rombobjrn-67a.se> wrote:

> I have a small server with a Geode processor – Geode LX 500 MHz
> according to the BIOS boot screen – which I needed to upgrade from
> Debian 8 to Debian 9. I know that Debian has dropped support for i586,
> but I haven't been able to find a definitive answer to how that affects
> Geodes. What little I could find on the Web seemed to suggest that
> Geodes are mostly like i686, which is supposed to still be supported by
> Debian 9, so I decided to try it, took a backup, and took the plunge.

The Geode LX is missing some CPU instructions to be fully
i686-compatible.

> It turns out that the kernel from Debian 9 won't boot. Both Linux
> 4.9.0-8-686 and 4.9.0-9-686 appear to hang early in the boot process.
> Everything else seems to work, so right now I'm running Debian 9 on
> Linux 3.16.0-8-586 from Debian 8. This works for now, but it's
> obviously not a long-term solution.

Even if the Kernel boots, you might find other software which will
SIGILL if you try to run it on a Geode LX, because if the missing
instructions.

> So my question is: Is the Geode LX among the dropped processors, or is
> the hang a bug that should be fixed?

Geode LX is among the dropped processors, you need at least a Geode NX
for Debian Stretch.

Grüße,
Sven.

-- 
Sigmentation fault. Core dumped.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#207930

[Multipart message — attachments visible in raw view] — view raw

Quoting Björn Persson (2019-04-28 18:43:48)
> I have a small server with a Geode processor – Geode LX 500 MHz 
> according to the BIOS boot screen – which I needed to upgrade from 
> Debian 8 to Debian 9. I know that Debian has dropped support for i586, 
> but I haven't been able to find a definitive answer to how that 
> affects Geodes. What little I could find on the Web seemed to suggest 
> that Geodes are mostly like i686, which is supposed to still be 
> supported by Debian 9, so I decided to try it, took a backup, and took 
> the plunge.
> 
> It turns out that the kernel from Debian 9 won't boot. Both Linux 
> 4.9.0-8-686 and 4.9.0-9-686 appear to hang early in the boot process. 
> Everything else seems to work, so right now I'm running Debian 9 on 
> Linux 3.16.0-8-586 from Debian 8. This works for now, but it's 
> obviously not a long-term solution.
> 
> So my question is: Is the Geode LX among the dropped processors, or is 
> the hang a bug that should be fixed?

The officially supported CPUs - and how to check if yours is covered:
https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/release-notes/ch-information.da.html#i386-is-now-almost-i686

Some background on why the cut is there exactly: 
https://lists.debian.org/20161017131747.wbvvhjemegs43o7u@bunk.spdns.de


 - Jonas

-- 
 * Jonas Smedegaard - idealist & Internet-arkitekt
 * Tlf.: +45 40843136  Website: http://dr.jones.dk/

 [x] quote me freely  [ ] ask before reusing  [ ] keep private

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#207932

On Sun 28 Apr 2019 at 19:49:18 +0200, Jonas Smedegaard wrote:

> Quoting Björn Persson (2019-04-28 18:43:48)
> > I have a small server with a Geode processor – Geode LX 500 MHz 
> > according to the BIOS boot screen – which I needed to upgrade from 
> > Debian 8 to Debian 9. I know that Debian has dropped support for i586, 
> > but I haven't been able to find a definitive answer to how that 
> > affects Geodes. What little I could find on the Web seemed to suggest 
> > that Geodes are mostly like i686, which is supposed to still be 
> > supported by Debian 9, so I decided to try it, took a backup, and took 
> > the plunge.
> > 
> > It turns out that the kernel from Debian 9 won't boot. Both Linux 
> > 4.9.0-8-686 and 4.9.0-9-686 appear to hang early in the boot process. 
> > Everything else seems to work, so right now I'm running Debian 9 on 
> > Linux 3.16.0-8-586 from Debian 8. This works for now, but it's 
> > obviously not a long-term solution.
> > 
> > So my question is: Is the Geode LX among the dropped processors, or is 
> > the hang a bug that should be fixed?
> 
> The officially supported CPUs - and how to check if yours is covered:
> https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/release-notes/ch-information.da.html#i386-is-now-almost-i686
> 
> Some background on why the cut is there exactly: 
> https://lists.debian.org/20161017131747.wbvvhjemegs43o7u@bunk.spdns.de

And also here:

https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2011/11/msg00565.html

If it helps, 'cat /proc/cpuinfo" for my running Fujitsu Siemens A250 is:

processor       : 0
vendor_id       : AuthenticAMD
cpu family      : 5
model           : 10
model name      : Geode(TM) Integrated Processor by AMD PCS
stepping        : 2
cpu MHz         : 498.046
cache size      : 128 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 1
core id         : 0
cpu cores       : 1
apicid          : 0
initial apicid  : 0
fdiv_bug        : no
f00f_bug        : no
coma_bug        : no
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 1
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu de pse tsc msr cx8 sep pge cmov clflush mmx mmxext 3dnowext 3dnow 3dnowprefetch vmmcall
bugs            : sysret_ss_attrs spectre_v1 spectre_v2 spec_store_bypass
bogomips        : 996.09
clflush size    : 32
cache_alignment : 32
address sizes   : 32 bits physical, 32 bits virtual
power management:

brian@futro:~$ uname -a
Linux futro 4.9.0-7-686 #1 SMP Debian 4.9.110-3+deb9u1 (2018-08-03) i586 GNU/Linux

I have seen a reference to its being a Geode LX800. Sorry, I am not
rebooting to look at what the bios says as I do not want to interupt
the services it is operating.

-- 
Brian.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#207937

Brian wrote:

> I have seen a reference to its being a Geode LX800. Sorry, I am not
> rebooting to look at what the bios says as I do not want to interupt
> the services it is operating.

This is a GX2 - perhaps someone finds it interesting

$ uname -a
Linux fw 4.19.25gx2 #2 Wed Mar 20 21:13:42 CET 2019 i586 GNU/Linux

$ cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor       : 0
vendor_id       : Geode by NSC
cpu family      : 5
model           : 5
model name      : Geode(TM) Integrated Processor by National Semi
stepping        : 2
cpu MHz         : 332.010
fdiv_bug        : no
f00f_bug        : no
coma_bug        : no
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 1
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu de pse tsc msr cx8 pge cmov mmx mmxext 3dnowext 3dnow
cpuid
bugs            : cpu_meltdown spectre_v1 spectre_v2 spec_store_bypass l1tf
bogomips        : 664.02
clflush size    : 32
cache_alignment : 32
address sizes   : 32 bits physical, 32 bits virtual
power management:

$ top

top - 20:30:06 up 28 days, 19:49,  1 user,  load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00
Tasks:  43 total,   1 running,  24 sleeping,   0 stopped,   0 zombie
%Cpu(s):  1.1 us,  1.4 sy,  0.0 ni, 97.5 id,  0.0 wa,  0.0 hi,  0.0 si,  0.0
st
KiB Mem :   248988 total,     8948 free,    10996 used,   229044 buff/cache
KiB Swap:   503996 total,   501684 free,     2312 used.   229208 avail Mem


$ cat /proc/modules
tun 32768 2 - Live 0x00000000
xt_nat 16384 6 - Live 0x00000000
geode_aes 16384 0 - Live 0x00000000
^^^^^^^^^
  very nice

thermal_sys 32768 0 - Live 0x00000000
hwmon 16384 1 thermal_sys, Live 0x00000000
xt_state 16384 0 - Live 0x00000000
cs5535_mfgpt 16384 0 [permanent], Live 0x00000000
^^^^^^^^^^^^
  board controller

gxfb 16384 0 - Live 0x00000000
^^^^
  graphic controller

cfbfillrect 16384 1 gxfb, Live 0x00000000
cfbimgblt 16384 1 gxfb, Live 0x00000000
cs5535_mfd 16384 0 - Live 0x00000000
^^^^^^^^^^
  board controller

cfbcopyarea 16384 1 gxfb, Live 0x00000000
mfd_core 16384 1 cs5535_mfd, Live 0x00000000
fb 36864 1 gxfb, Live 0x00000000
fbdev 16384 1 fb, Live 0x00000000
ipt_REJECT 16384 22 - Live 0x00000000
nf_reject_ipv4 16384 1 ipt_REJECT, Live 0x00000000
xt_limit 16384 12 - Live 0x00000000
nf_log_ipv4 16384 20 - Live 0x00000000
nf_log_common 16384 1 nf_log_ipv4, Live 0x00000000
xt_LOG 16384 20 - Live 0x00000000
xt_conntrack 16384 9 - Live 0x00000000
iptable_nat 16384 1 - Live 0x00000000
nf_nat_ipv4 16384 1 iptable_nat, Live 0x00000000
nf_nat 24576 2 xt_nat,nf_nat_ipv4, Live 0x00000000
nf_conntrack 65536 5 xt_nat,xt_state,xt_conntrack,nf_nat_ipv4,nf_nat, Live
0x00000000
nf_defrag_ipv6 16384 1 nf_conntrack, Live 0x00000000
libcrc32c 16384 2 nf_nat,nf_conntrack, Live 0x00000000
nf_defrag_ipv4 16384 1 nf_conntrack, Live 0x00000000
iptable_mangle 16384 0 - Live 0x00000000
iptable_filter 16384 1 - Live 0x00000000
ip_tables 20480 3 iptable_nat,iptable_mangle,iptable_filter, Live 0x00000000
ata_generic 16384 0 - Live 0x00000000
^^^^^^^^^^^
  needed for my IDE-CF disk

pata_cs5535 16384 0 - Live 0x00000000
^^^^^^^^^^^
  needed for my IDE-CF disk

libata 151552 2 ata_generic,pata_cs5535, Live 0x00000000
^^^^^^
  needed for my IDE-CF disk

ohci_pci 16384 0 - Live 0x00000000
ehci_pci 16384 0 - Live 0x00000000
8139too 24576 0 - Live 0x00000000
mii 16384 1 8139too, Live 0x00000000
ohci_hcd 32768 1 ohci_pci, Live 0x00000000
ehci_hcd 45056 1 ehci_pci, Live 0x00000000
cs5535 16384 3 - Live 0x00000000
^^^^^^^^^^^^
  board controller

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#207938

[Multipart message — attachments visible in raw view] — view raw

Jonas Smedegaard wrote:
> The officially supported CPUs - and how to check if yours is covered:
> https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/release-notes/ch-information.da.html#i386-is-now-almost-i686

According to that test my processor should be OK. It has all of those
flags.

Brian wrote:
> If it helps, 'cat /proc/cpuinfo" for my running Fujitsu Siemens A250 is:
> 
> processor       : 0
> vendor_id       : AuthenticAMD
> cpu family      : 5
> model           : 10
> model name      : Geode(TM) Integrated Processor by AMD PCS
> stepping        : 2
> cpu MHz         : 498.046
> cache size      : 128 KB
> physical id     : 0
> siblings        : 1
> core id         : 0
> cpu cores       : 1
> apicid          : 0
> initial apicid  : 0
> fdiv_bug        : no
> f00f_bug        : no
> coma_bug        : no
> fpu             : yes
> fpu_exception   : yes
> cpuid level     : 1
> wp              : yes
> flags           : fpu de pse tsc msr cx8 sep pge cmov clflush mmx mmxext 3dnowext 3dnow 3dnowprefetch vmmcall
> bugs            : sysret_ss_attrs spectre_v1 spectre_v2 spec_store_bypass
> bogomips        : 996.09
> clflush size    : 32
> cache_alignment : 32
> address sizes   : 32 bits physical, 32 bits virtual
> power management:

Mine is:

processor	: 0
vendor_id	: AuthenticAMD
cpu family	: 5
model		: 10
model name	: Geode(TM) Integrated Processor by AMD PCS
stepping	: 2
microcode	: 0x8b
cpu MHz		: 499.891
cache size	: 128 KB
fdiv_bug	: no
f00f_bug	: no
coma_bug	: no
fpu		: yes
fpu_exception	: yes
cpuid level	: 1
wp		: yes
flags		: fpu de pse tsc msr cx8 sep pge cmov clflush mmx mmxext 3dnowext 3dnow vmmcall
bogomips	: 999.78
clflush size	: 32
cache_alignment	: 32
address sizes	: 32 bits physical, 32 bits virtual
power management:

The family, model and stepping numbers are the same. The flags are the
same except for 3dnowprefetch. I guess different versions of Linux
might explain some differences.

So far I've seen two replies saying it should work and two saying it
should not, so I'm rather confused at the moment.

> brian@futro:~$ uname -a
> Linux futro 4.9.0-7-686 #1 SMP Debian 4.9.110-3+deb9u1 (2018-08-03) i586 GNU/Linux

That's an older Linux than I got. Perhaps I could try that package, if
I can get hold of it.

Björn Persson

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#207946

[Multipart message — attachments visible in raw view] — view raw

Björn Persson wrote:
> Brian wrote:
> > brian@futro:~$ uname -a
> > Linux futro 4.9.0-7-686 #1 SMP Debian 4.9.110-3+deb9u1 (2018-08-03) i586 GNU/Linux  
> 
> That's an older Linux than I got. Perhaps I could try that package, if
> I can get hold of it.

I've installed linux-image-4.9.0-7-686. It hangs in the same way as the
later versions. I don't know why it works for you and not for me.

Björn Persson

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#207948

Geode does not have the full i686 instruction set. (Something about 
NOPL) Try i486
Apparently faster than i586.

This is from memory and depends on GX or LX some say compile with flags 
|-march=i486 -mtune=geode|

Or just use x86. :)

On 28/04/2019 20:54, Björn Persson wrote:
> Björn Persson wrote:
>> Brian wrote:
>>> brian@futro:~$ uname -a
>>> Linux futro 4.9.0-7-686 #1 SMP Debian 4.9.110-3+deb9u1 (2018-08-03) i586 GNU/Linux
>> That's an older Linux than I got. Perhaps I could try that package, if
>> I can get hold of it.
> I've installed linux-image-4.9.0-7-686. It hangs in the same way as the
> later versions. I don't know why it works for you and not for me.
>
> Björn Persson

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#207971

On Sun 28 Apr 2019 at 21:54:46 +0200, Björn Persson wrote:

> Björn Persson wrote:
> > Brian wrote:
> > > brian@futro:~$ uname -a
> > > Linux futro 4.9.0-7-686 #1 SMP Debian 4.9.110-3+deb9u1 (2018-08-03) i586 GNU/Linux  
> > 
> > That's an older Linux than I got. Perhaps I could try that package, if
> > I can get hold of it.
> 
> I've installed linux-image-4.9.0-7-686. It hangs in the same way as the
> later versions. I don't know why it works for you and not for me.

I upgraded to the newest stretch kernel (4.9.0-9-686); still boots.

I'd be inclined to install stretch on a USB stick; base system only
and then GRUB. A booting failure would motivate me to stick with a
working kernel.

-- 
Brian.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#208214

[Multipart message — attachments visible in raw view] — view raw

I've been trying various kernel command line parameters that have been
suggested in this thread. None of these made any noticeable difference:

· acpi=off
· systemd.restore_state=0
· init=/lib/sysvinit/init
· init=/bin/sh

I also found a parameter called initcall_debug that seemed like it
might provide more data, but that didn't lead anywhere either.

Even with init=/bin/sh I still see the string "starting version 232" –
which is the version number of SystemD – and "uninitialized urandom
read" messages that mention systemd-udevd and udevadm. Fortunately the
presence or absence of "quiet" has an obvious effect. Otherwise I would
have started to think that Grub ignored my changes to the command line.

Unpacking and examining initrd.img-4.9.0-9-686 I find that /sbin/init
is actually Busybox. So is /bin/sh, so that might explain why they both
do the same thing. /lib/sysvinit/init doesn't exist in the initrd, but
apparently Busybox gets started anyway. (Perhaps Linux falls back on
the default if the requested init program doesn't exist?) It seems that
I'll have to hack the initrd somehow if I am to get at a shell and poke
around in the initrd environment.

Booting from USB has been suggested several times. I'll do that if
someone can tell me the magic incantation that makes Combios boot a USB
device. I doubt it's possible. PXE booting is supposed to work. Maybe
some day in a few weeks or months I'll find the time to set up a boot
server.

Björn Persson

[toc] | [prev] | [standalone]

Back to top | Article view | linux.debian.user

csiph-web