Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1756967AbYJ3VH2 (ORCPT ); Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:07:28 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S1753434AbYJ3VHO (ORCPT ); Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:07:14 -0400 Received: from hs-out-0708.google.com ([64.233.178.244]:8423 "EHLO hs-out-0708.google.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1752687AbYJ3VHM (ORCPT ); Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:07:12 -0400 DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=date:from:to:cc:subject:message-id:references:mime-version :content-type:content-disposition:in-reply-to:user-agent:sender; b=G44bR3xW6KcWrZLA3y1Q66uJz6rCDcQRx6uHxK3PmbtKmbtUjU5g2S1sneU6izJZOJ GlichEEQG+SFw4tb8fR9TIr6FAxetsKLxlLgJyVyMzOmEuoQVXVGgnDZWvM+L3rdQgpk 36IVNRCKpuz4i+i69PlkYBenBEE6DYgneiDJc= Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:05:22 -0400 From: Josh Boyer To: Paul Mackerras Cc: Mel Gorman , Linus Torvalds , Linux Kernel Mailing List , linuxppc-dev@ozlabs.org Subject: Re: 2.6.28-rc1: NVRAM being corrupted on ppc64 preventing boot (bisected) Message-ID: <20081030210522.GA6532@yoda.jdub.homelinux.org> References: <20081030142632.GA15645@csn.ul.ie> <18698.7794.500191.189515@cargo.ozlabs.ibm.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <18698.7794.500191.189515@cargo.ozlabs.ibm.com> User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.18 (2008-05-17) Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 1417 Lines: 36 On Fri, Oct 31, 2008 at 07:52:02AM +1100, Paul Mackerras wrote: >Mel Gorman writes: > >> On some ppc64 machines, NVRAM is being corrupted very early in boot (before >> console is initialised). The machine reboots and then fails to find yaboot >> printing the error "PReP-BOOT: Unable to load PRep image". It's nowhere near >> as serious as the ftrace+e1000 problem as the machine is not bricked but it's >> fairly scary looking, the machine cannot boot and the fix is non-obvious. To >> "fix" the machine; >> >> 1. Go to OpenFirmware prompt >> 2. type dev nvram >> 3. type wipe-nvram >> >> The machine will reboot, reconstruct the NVRAM using some magic and yaboot >> work again allowing an older kernel to be used. I bisected the problem down >> to this commit. > >Eek! > >Which ppc64 machines has this been seen on, and how were they being >booted (netboot, yaboot, etc.)? > >Is it just the Powerstations with their SLOF-based firmware, or is it >IBM pSeries machines as well? I'm pretty sure it was with pSeries machines. I saw reports of POWER5 being effected (p520 and p710). I believe one of them resolved the issue by upgrading firmware on the machine. josh -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/