New MOBO, having PXE boot problems.

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supertight
Posts: 171
Joined: 2017/02/07 21:47:51

New MOBO, having PXE boot problems.

Post by supertight » 2018/04/04 02:59:56

I'm setting a new machine. I plugged it into the switch and attempted to pxe boot and install centos 7.

I started by setting up the drive with Gparted. Gparted network booted from my pxe server just fine.
Next I tried to start a cent 7 install and that's where the problems started. It keeps doing the error.

Code: Select all

Warning: /dev/root does not exist

Code: Select all

Warning: could not boot
I tried centos 6 on the same setup. Runs flawless. Tried centos 7 install on a laptop I have laying around. Runs Flawless.

It's just centos 7 on this board.
here is the pxelinux/default file:

Code: Select all

LABEL CentOS/7/64/manual
        MENU LABEL ^cOS7/external/64/manual
        KERNEL 7/vmlinuz
        APPEND initrd=7/initrd.img method=http://repos.lax.quadranet.com/centos/7.4.1708/os/x86_64/ ramdisk_size=100000 biosdevname=0 net.ifnames=0
I checked both the dhcp with nmap and the tftp availability with a client on the network. all is good.

The new board is ASRock N68-GS4 FX r2.0
anyone have any suggestions?

supertight
Posts: 171
Joined: 2017/02/07 21:47:51

Re: New MOBO, having PXE boot problems.

Post by supertight » 2018/04/04 06:36:04

supertight wrote:I'm setting a new machine. I plugged it into the switch and attempted to pxe boot and install centos 7.

I started by setting up the drive with Gparted. Gparted network booted from my pxe server just fine.
Next I tried to start a cent 7 install and that's where the problems started. It keeps doing the error.

Code: Select all

Warning: /dev/root does not exist

Code: Select all

Warning: could not boot
I tried centos 6 on the same setup. Runs flawless. Tried centos 7 install on a laptop I have laying around. Runs Flawless.

It's just centos 7 on this board.
here is the pxelinux/default file:

Code: Select all

LABEL CentOS/7/64/manual
        MENU LABEL ^cOS7/external/64/manual
        KERNEL 7/vmlinuz
        APPEND initrd=7/initrd.img method=http://repos.lax.quadranet.com/centos/7.4.1708/os/x86_64/ ramdisk_size=100000 biosdevname=0 net.ifnames=0
I checked both the dhcp with nmap and the tftp availability with a client on the network. all is good.

The new board is ASRock N68-GS4 FX r2.0
anyone have any suggestions?
I did some more trouble shooting. I attempted a centos 7 install via USB flash drive.... The board didn't like that either. Gave gray screen of death. I think this board may be DOA.

supertight
Posts: 171
Joined: 2017/02/07 21:47:51

Re: New MOBO, having PXE boot problems.

Post by supertight » 2018/04/04 07:31:41

supertight wrote:
supertight wrote:I'm setting a new machine. I plugged it into the switch and attempted to pxe boot and install centos 7.

I started by setting up the drive with Gparted. Gparted network booted from my pxe server just fine.
Next I tried to start a cent 7 install and that's where the problems started. It keeps doing the error.

Code: Select all

Warning: /dev/root does not exist

Code: Select all

Warning: could not boot
I tried centos 6 on the same setup. Runs flawless. Tried centos 7 install on a laptop I have laying around. Runs Flawless.

It's just centos 7 on this board.
here is the pxelinux/default file:

Code: Select all

LABEL CentOS/7/64/manual
        MENU LABEL ^cOS7/external/64/manual
        KERNEL 7/vmlinuz
        APPEND initrd=7/initrd.img method=http://repos.lax.quadranet.com/centos/7.4.1708/os/x86_64/ ramdisk_size=100000 biosdevname=0 net.ifnames=0
I checked both the dhcp with nmap and the tftp availability with a client on the network. all is good.

The new board is ASRock N68-GS4 FX r2.0
anyone have any suggestions?
I did some more trouble shooting. I attempted a centos 7 install via USB flash drive.... The board didn't like that either. Gave gray screen of death. I think this board may be DOA.
It looks like all 64 bit linux os crash. I can get winpe 64 to load and I can install windows 7 64 bit.... It's just 64 bit linux this board don't like. I've been googling around I can find any work around... looks like amazon is getting this board back.

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avij
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Re: New MOBO, having PXE boot problems.

Post by avij » 2018/04/04 08:18:52

As for the USB, make sure you are creating it correctly. The best way to do it is with dd, ie. dd if=CentOS-7-something.iso of=/dev/sdx where /dev/sdx is the device name of your USB stick. Many programs that create "bootable USBs" mangle the important bits, leading to the all-too-common "/dev/root does not exist" error message.

supertight
Posts: 171
Joined: 2017/02/07 21:47:51

Re: New MOBO, having PXE boot problems.

Post by supertight » 2018/04/04 08:50:04

avij wrote:As for the USB, make sure you are creating it correctly. The best way to do it is with dd, ie. dd if=CentOS-7-something.iso of=/dev/sdx where /dev/sdx is the device name of your USB stick. Many programs that create "bootable USBs" mangle the important bits, leading to the all-too-common "/dev/root does not exist" error message.

The USB was tested and functioning properly on another system.

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TrevorH
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Location: Brighton, UK

Re: New MOBO, having PXE boot problems.

Post by TrevorH » 2018/04/04 09:53:09

The USB was tested and functioning properly on another system.
Which makes no difference at all if one system is UEFI and the other legacy BIOS. Those use different install methods and use different parts of the DVD and it's those bits that are corrupted by using a "clever" utility that tries to rewrite the iso image as it copies it.
The future appears to be RHEL or Debian. I think I'm going Debian.
Info for USB installs on http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/InstallFromUSBkey
CentOS 5 and 6 are deadest, do not use them.
Use the FAQ Luke

supertight
Posts: 171
Joined: 2017/02/07 21:47:51

Re: New MOBO, having PXE boot problems.

Post by supertight » 2018/04/04 20:40:55

TrevorH wrote:
The USB was tested and functioning properly on another system.
Which makes no difference at all if one system is UEFI and the other legacy BIOS. Those use different install methods and use different parts of the DVD and it's those bits that are corrupted by using a "clever" utility that tries to rewrite the iso image as it copies it.

Pulled new copy of Centos-7.4.1708-x86_64-minimal.iso from Quadranet mirror.
Cleared a flash drive with parted.
used dd to setup fresh install image.
Success.... I have the new board running Centos 7 64 bit.

I'd still like to know why the new board wont PXE boot and install 64 bit operating systems.

I thank you both for the help.

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avij
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Re: New MOBO, having PXE boot problems.

Post by avij » 2018/04/04 20:48:38

I can't really comment on PXE, I haven't tested that, but I'll just note for the record and for further reference that it is not necessary to partition/format/empty the USB stick prior to dd'ing to it.

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