Messages

76

Operating Systems and Porting / Improvements for AST2600

« on: March 03, 2022, 09:43:47 am »

The Aspeed display driver is supposedly getting some work. I wonder if this could translate into a more usable desktop experience on Blackbird?

77

User Zone / Re: How to set hwclock (BMC) to correct date?

« on: February 28, 2022, 03:12:09 pm »

"Error: Date and time settings could not be saved" when I try to manually set date and time. Setting NTP servers for synchronization works, however.

78

User Zone / Re: How to set hwclock (BMC) to correct date?

« on: February 25, 2022, 09:56:59 am »

hwclock --set has not worked. I think my system has just been using Gnome location service to grab the network time each time it boots.

79

GPU Compute / Accelerators / Re: AMD rendering issues with Debian Bullseye

« on: January 19, 2022, 03:23:35 pm »

I'll say in all honesty I've had other issues with gdm and I just don't use it anymore on Fedora (strict text boot, manually start Xorg). Are you Xorg or Wayland?

I just tested Fedora 35 workstation today.

• ast (integrated HDMI): works successfully (x11)

I powered down, placed the VGA disable jumper and tried the GPU.

• amdgpu (polaris family card): works successfully (wayland, did not test x11)

I find it very convenient that Fedora includes the amdgpu firmware OOB. After testing this I can infer that the issue is not the GPU, video cable or cable type, board/firmware or conflict with other parts/peripherals. In fact, Debian has been a pretty poor showing on PPC lately.

• Since at least Buster, Debian fails to update initramfs automatically upon installation of firmware-amd-graphics.
• Since Bullseye (and retroactively?), Debian fails to enable the ast kernel module. Users wishing to install Debian must interact with the whiptail installer through serial to install and enable this module. 
• Now, it seems, there is an issue somewhere in the display stack affecting Debian on PPC. x11 environments yield rendering issues that make the system unusable, while wayland (GNOME) does not even make it to the greeter.

The OS specific wiki page basically exists because of me. Sorry, RCS support. Can I send you some pizza?

80

GPU Compute / Accelerators / Re: AMD rendering issues with Debian Bullseye

« on: January 14, 2022, 10:02:59 pm »

After coordinating with support a bit, it turns out that Debian does not enable the ast kernel module out-of-the-box and needs to be added in manually. With that cleared up, I can begin to investigate this original issue further. Unfortunately, upgrading to 2.00 firmware set has not changed anything for gdm crashing at startup.

81

Blackbird / Re: Question for fellow Blackbird owners

« on: January 14, 2022, 10:01:39 pm »

Support directed me on a few items, they created a dedicated wiki page for the issue. It ended up being that Debian does not enable the ast kernel module out-of-the-box, so needs to be added in manually.

I did some additional testing and found that Devuan is also affected, which would make sense since they are downstream from Debian.

82

Blackbird / Re: Question for fellow Blackbird owners

« on: January 08, 2022, 03:35:36 pm »

@Borley: If you have some support ticket numbers, I could post it to Raptor on Twitter.

Because I don't use microblogging, that would be much appreciated. There is an open issue at #318083. Maybe I should also link them to this thread from there.

Tried again today through the serial console per other user's recommendations, but found the same message and issue:


I'm not giving up yet, but with each failed attempt I begin to sympathize more with Cypher

83

Operating Systems and Porting / Re: Investigating switch to Void or Fedora

« on: December 31, 2021, 10:00:17 pm »

I think I'll start the new year by giving Devuan a shot. I figure it would be the least disruptive change considering I have a massively specialized config built around Debian tooling. Hopefully I discover some good news

84

Operating Systems and Porting / Re: [NEWS] Debian 11 is out

« on: December 31, 2021, 09:56:30 pm »

Unfortunately, my install still isn't working even when manually setting output for tty0. I don't want to clog up this thread so here is the link to the issue for those who care to take a look.

85

Blackbird / Re: Question for fellow Blackbird owners

« on: December 31, 2021, 09:53:53 pm »

I verified the image and signature with Debian role keys and SHA512. The media writes correctly and can be seen from Petiteboot with options for Default Install, Expert Install, Automated Install etc so there does not seem to be an issue with the any of my USB drives or the netinst ISO.

I am not as technically skilled as many of the people here, but I have tried enough things by now only to be able to conclude that there is either something wrong with the board firmware, or there is something wrong with Debian (how they have it configured in public images, perhaps).

The 6 month history of my experience looks like this:
Fully working system with Debian install, no issues 2019 through 2021 ----> Messed up petiteboot password ----> Reflashed PNOR to 1.0 firmware ----> could still boot and install linuxes but encountered graphical display issues (viewable but distorted) ----> upgraded entire firmware from 1.0 to 2.00 ----> Unable to boot (only Debian) ever since

It is the strangest issue I think I have ever seen in all my time working on computers. I am stumped and patiently awaiting my new Blackbird board that has been on back order since 2020. Once I have the new board in-hand, I will compare the issue between them. The real thing twisting the knife in my gut is that Raptor seem to have let go of all their support staff. I am totally on my own.

EDIT: to start the new year on a positive note, I am very lucky to have tons of computer hardware laying around from my work. This allowed me to fall back onto my next best trustworthy system, albeit x86, as a safety net while I sort this issue.

86

Blackbird / Re: Question for fellow Blackbird owners

« on: December 30, 2021, 01:48:20 pm »

Alright, so I'm beginning to see a pattern emerge here. Something about Debian is directing its output to serial on Raptor CS systems, not just Blackbirds.




I went ahead and tried amending the boot arguments for the install media:

Tried passing console=tty0 and console=tty1 as a boot argument after quiet, no success.
Already tried switching boot console from /dev/hvc0 to /dev/tty1 in petiteboot settings, no difference.

Is there some way to update the initramfs of installation images? chroot maybe?

87

Blackbird / Re: Question for fellow Blackbird owners

« on: December 29, 2021, 05:09:37 pm »

I guess, you have to blacklist one of the GPUs before you start the installer. The firmware version doesn't matter.

I have no dedicated GPU installed when I run the installation media. I would normally set that up after the base system has been installed.

88

Operating Systems and Porting / Re: [NEWS] Debian 11 is out

« on: December 29, 2021, 05:06:29 pm »

I did a fresh install of Bullseye instead of updating my current 10.9.
As with other Debian flavors it is not really ready for prime time, but yes, it does install and run at least in the AST chip.
Some of the missing software that I use regularly has not reached the distro yet and will no doubt be along soon (ish).
For example, Midnight Commander and XFE. No hurry...10.9 is working fine.

How did you install 11? Did you need to switch over to serial console to interact with the whiptail installer?

89

Operating Systems and Porting / Investigating switch to Void or Fedora

« on: December 28, 2021, 07:07:14 pm »

Due to unfortunate circumstances, I may need to swallow my pride and retool my system for Void (or something else) instead of Debian.
I have built up 5+ years of specialized configuration around my Debian install so I'd really hate to have to deploy something else, but if it comes to that:

I am apprehensive about running Void, as their PPC port is unofficial. Is it vetted? Will it become unmaintained if some guy in Nebraska gets hit by a bus?

The sooner I can get this system back up, the sooner I can get back to building software and contributing to guides here and on the wiki.

90

Blackbird / Question for fellow Blackbird owners

« on: December 28, 2021, 06:40:23 pm »

Do you have any trouble booting Debian?

My C1P9S01 Rev 1.01 has the 2.0 firmware installed. It can boot Fedora and Void successfully.

But it cannot boot any Debian (either install media or an internal drive with Bullseye pre-installed). It just hangs forever at "SIGTERM received, booting...". This was not a problem before installing 2.0 firmware.