Re: [cobalt-users] Re: [qube-users] [Qube2] Dies...

[Mike Vanecek <nospam99@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sat, 17 Jun 2000 18:54:02 -0400, "Gerald Waugh" <gerald@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

:>> As it stands now, the CD Restore system is sitting at Loading initrd.img ....
:>> and the Qube2 is sitting at Net booting. The green lights on both cards are on
:>> and I have seen them shake hands. However, nothing else happens.
:>>
:>> Supposedly, tech support is going to call be today to assist, but I am not
:>> counting on it. If not, I think I will just bring up Win2K server and at least
:>> get back on line. Very frustrating.
:>>
:>>
:>Since you are using a windows computer, which I assume has never ran Linux, then
:>there could be problems.
:>There are some hardware constraints (though few) for a system to run Linux. Your
:>system may have incompatible hardware.
:>Also, You really need a system that supports booting from CD ROM. Didn't you say
:>that you had to disconnect the harddrive to
:>get the system to boot from CD. Your system should have this option in it's
:>'Setup' Bios configuration.
:>I did my restores from a computer which normally runs Red Hat Linux, an old
:>133Mhz Intel Pentium Box.
:>If you are going to maintain Cobalt Servers, I really suggest you either get a
:>computer that runs Linux or fix your computer to dual boot, so that you know the
:>computer will run Linux, THEN try the restore CD.
:>
:>The fact that the green lights came on only indicates that the Ethernet Chips
:>are communicating with each other.

Well, I built a quick version of Win2K server and Red Hat 6.2 on removable
hard drives to see if that would make a difference. My son brought over one of
his red hat machines and the CD worked on his.

What caused me the most aggravation was not knowing the significance of the
Loading initrd.img .... message. This did not mean that the network was
failing to communicate, it meant that the system was failing to boot. It
dawned on me while I was having trouble building the Red Hat system. The CD
reader is rather old (4X) and the motherboard is rather new. I put on a new
48x and now it zings right along. Once I got it to boot, the Netgear card
worked just fine (even though it is a revision D2 card). I am surprised that
the techies I talked with this did not pick up on the fact that the system was
booting to the point that network communications would start. In any event, it
is up again and ready for me to break it.

I do appreciate your help. I have a SoHo card which is Tulip based and Red Hat
did not like it. I had to download updated drives to get Red Hat happy (it may
not have liked the Netgear either, but I had pulled it to try to isolate the
problem.

This bring me to another question. I can get a Netgear driver, compile it, etc
on my Red Hat system to create a Tulip.o. However, when booting the Restore
CD, it boots its own system and Red Hat is not accessible (at least I cannot
figure it out). 

How does one overlay an updated Tulip.o on the Restore CD?  I have a burner,
but it is not connected to the Red Hat machine. As I understand it a bootable
CD is a very specific file structure that must be made on a Linux system. I
would feel much better if I had a Restore CD with the Tulip.o I created today
(nothing like a current driver). You said you had created a new module to get
your restore to work. How exactly did you do that?

Thanks, Mike - gotta go sleep, 3 hours a night is wearing thin.