Red Hat Bugzilla – Bug 127022
FC2 anaconda aborts install
Last modified: 2007-11-30 17:10:45 EST
Description of problem:During a fresh install of released FC2 on a dual P-III (Supermicro P3TDE6), the anaconda installer aborts on some random package, does not allow any retry of the package, requiring a reboot and start from scratch. All CD's pass the install media check 100% every time locally, and these same media have been used to install other systems successfully. Over several install attempts, the anaconda abort occurred in a DIFFERENT package each time with no repeats, in many cases SUCCESSFULLY installing packages which aborted on earlier attempts - each attempt a total reformat of the disk and start from scratch. In each attempt, I examined the alternate- consoles before OK'ing the reboot and could not see any evidence logged on any of them of WHAT caused anaconda to abort on the package. Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):Anaconda as shipped with released Fedora Core 2. How reproducible: As noted above, fresh NEW install (including erasing all old partitions, repartition and reformat the disk for each attempt), have tried graphical install, have also tried text- only install both work until it starts installing packages, installs the first few packages and then at some random package declares a fatal error and insists on reboot start over. Expected results:SHOULD AT THE VERY LEAST PROVIDE SOME DIAGNOSTIC INFORMATION AS TO THE NATURE OF THE "FATAL ERROR"! Transient read errors on a CDROM should not be showstoppers, no matter what the error "appears" to be, the user should be given the option to RETRY the failing package, instead of giving up totally. Additional info: System is a dual (SMP) Pentium-III (Tualatin 1.4's), Supermicro P3TDE6-G motherboard w/AMI bios 1.2a (latest on Supermicro website as this posting), 2gig ECC RAM. Install is booting from Plextor CDRW (secondary master IDE) drive and installing to an WD1200JB (primary master IDE) drive. This system has had previous Linux releases installed on it with no difficulty... FC2 is the first which has ever stymied me this badly.
If you boot with 'ide=nodma' does it help?
Three attempts (booting as "linux ide=nodma") later... three more aborts, abort occurred on a different package each time. Could this be an FC2 versus "dual-PIII's" thing? Or maybe FC2 doesn't like the P3TDE6 mobo's IDE controllers? God knows, I've got everything else disabled in the bios.
Tried something different...plugged a SCSI CDRW drive into the P3TDE6's onboard SCSI adaptors... and booted FC2 install from there, (still installing to primary-master-IDE drive though)... and got all the way through the install using the same set of CDR's. Installing reading from secondary-master-ide CDRW and writing to primary-master-ide harddrive experienced random aborts... Installing reading from SCSI CDRW and writing to primary-master-ide harddrive works. Note: Was able to do a FreeBSD 5.2.1 install from that same secondary- master-ide CDRW drive to identical primary-master-ide harddrive without difficulties. (the HD is in a Vantec "drawer" and can be swapped to switch O.S. platforms. Both HD's were identical WD1200JB's.) So got FC2 installed, despite some lingering suspicions that something (maybe IDE related) is groaning a bit under very heavy load with both primary and secondary IDE controllers active simultaneously.
Should be happier with FC3.