[CUWiN-Dev] upgrade/partition table problems

[Bill Comisky]

On 2/28/07, Matthew Isaacs <isaacsm at cuwireless.net> wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> Bill Comisky wrote:
> > I'm passing along a question from the Lawndale network.. they have a few
> > nodes that have "resisted" upgrades in the past and as a consequence are
> > running older versions.  I'm not sure if an interrupted upgrade or
> > incorrect disk geometry or something else is to blame.  These nodes are
> > not trivial to access to just re-flash (net4526 boards).
> >
> > For example, on one node running CUWiN rev 3664:
> >
> > # mount
> > /dev/wd0a on / type ffs (read-only, noatime, local)
> > tmpfs on /dev type tmpfs (local)
> > tmpfs on /mfs type tmpfs (local)
> > /etc on /permanent/etc type null (local)
> > /home on /permanent/home type null (local)
> > /tmp on /permanent/tmp type null (local)
> > /var on /permanent/var type null (local)
> > /mfs/etc on /etc type null (local)
> > /mfs/home on /home type null (local)
> > /mfs/tmp on /tmp type null (local)
> > /mfs/var on /var type null (local)
> >
> > # upgrade -C ...
> > upgrade: upgrading the boot partition is dangerous; use -f
> >
> > I was told '-f' had already been tried and failed so I threw caution to
> > the wind and:
> >
> > # upgrade -f -C ...
> >
> > Disk: /dev/rwd0d
> > NetBSD disklabel disk geometry:
> > cylinders: 977, heads: 4, sectors/track: 32 (128 sectors/cylinder)
> > total sectors: 125056
> >
> > BIOS disk geometry:
> > cylinders: 977, heads: 4, sectors/track: 32 (128 sectors/cylinder)
> > total sectors: 727412841289204
> >
> > Partition 0:
> > <UNUSED>
> > Making partition 0 active.
> > Preparing for upgrade on /dev/wd0e.
> > newfs: /dev/rwd0e: open for read: Device not configured
> > Upgrade failed on newfs /dev/rwd0e [1]
> > /sbin/upgrade: tmpdir: parameter not set
> >
> > And this can't be good:
> >
> > # fdisk -vv
> > Disk: /dev/rwd0d
> > NetBSD disklabel disk geometry:
> > cylinders: 977, heads: 4, sectors/track: 32 (128 sectors/cylinder)
> > total sectors: 125056
> >
> > BIOS disk geometry:
> > cylinders: 977, heads: 4, sectors/track: 32 (128 sectors/cylinder)
> > total sectors: 727412841289204
> >
> > Partition table:
> > 0: <UNUSED> (sysid 0)
> >     start 0, size 0, Active
> >         beg: cylinder    0, head   0, sector  0
> >         end: cylinder    0, head   0, sector  0
> > 1: <UNUSED> (sysid 0)
> >     start 0, size 0
> >         beg: cylinder    0, head   0, sector  0
> >         end: cylinder    0, head   0, sector  0
> > 2: <UNUSED> (sysid 0)
> >     start 0, size 0
> >         beg: cylinder    0, head   0, sector  0
> >         end: cylinder    0, head   0, sector  0
> > 3: <UNUSED> (sysid 0)
> >     start 0, size 0
> >         beg: cylinder    0, head   0, sector  0
> >         end: cylinder    0, head   0, sector  0
> >
> >
> > So the partition table looks hosed.  Is there a recipe to follow that
> > could repair this node without having to haul out the big ladder?
> >
> > Bill
> >
> > --
> > Bill Comisky
> > bcomisky at pobox.com
> > _______________________________________________
> > CU-Wireless-Dev mailing list
> > CU-Wireless-Dev at lists.cuwireless.net
> > http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/cu-wireless-dev
>
> Someone emailed the support list the other day with this problem.  I
> thought it might be a bug with the memory disk image used to PXE boot
> the person's node.  I'll have the run fdisk -vv to confirm that it is
> the same problem.
>
> Regarding the corrupt partition table, I believe fixlabel was designed
> to be used in the instances.  Alternatively, one could PXE boot the node
> with and memory-disk image and run the upgrade from that.  The current
> md image is at 0.7.0, so it *shouldn't* pose any problem.
>
> Hope that helps.

I'll take a look at fixlabel when I get a chance.  As far as PXE
booting, is there any way to initiate that without having serial
console access in order to interrupt the boot process and enter the
BIOS?

thanks,
Bill

-- 
Bill Comisky
bcomisky at pobox.com