Description of problem: Fedora 8 hung at the /sbin/loader stage Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): How reproducible: Every time, provided the Netgear MA301 PLX 802.11b PCI card was in the machine. Steps to Reproduce: 1. Install Netgear MA301 PCI card in machine (MA401 PCMCIA card not needed). 2. Boot Fedora 8 installation DVD 3. Select any option that invokes /sbin/loader Actual results: Machine hangs indefinitely. Expected results: anaconda is supposed to start configuring itself to begin installing Fedora 8. Additional info: The Linux 2.6.22.x and 2.6.23.x kernels all hang instantly in exactly the same way as soon as the hostap_plx (or the prism2_plx) kernel module is loaded, which is why I thought of removing the MA301 card before trying to install Fedora 8 again. Does /sbin/loader try loading this module too? I have no idea why Linux 2.6.x locks up but Linux 2.4.x does not with *exactly* the same card. The module is locking up during the pci_enable_device() call, so it's not as if it gets a chance to do anything illegal.
You should be able to work around with 'linux nonet' (which would then allow you to manually select a network driver if needed). But the lockup sounds like a kernel bug
Here's the complete PCI entry for the MA301 00:0e.0 Network controller: Netgear MA301 802.11b Wireless PCI Adapter (rev 02) Subsystem: Netgear MA301 802.11b Wireless PCI Adapter Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster- SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR+ FastB2B- Status: Cap- 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 5 Region 1: I/O ports at 1000 [size=128] Region 2: Memory at e8002000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K] Region 3: I/O ports at 1080 [size=64]
This hang seems to be a PLX9052 issue, because loading the orinoco_plx.ko module also hangs the PC. I have found a datasheet for the PLX9052 here: http://www.dyneng.com/plx_9052.pdf (Presumably the orinoco_plx module finds the PLX9052 bridge but hangs the PC before it can notice that the PCMCIA card within it is wrong.) The motherboard that hangs is an Intel SE440BX-2, whereas an older Intel Zappa motherboard works just fine. Could the newer Intel board need a bit of extra PCI initialisation before the CIS can be read? I am currently only able to boot Fedora kernels if I remember to delete the orinoco_plx.ko and hostap_plx.ko modules first.
Hello, I'm reviewing this bug as part of the kernel bug triage project, an attempt to isolate current bugs in the Fedora kernel. http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/KernelBugTriage I am CC'ing myself to this bug and will try and assist you in resolving it if I can. Bugs involving the installation process cannot usually be resolved after release date. We therefore ask reporters to use one (or both) of the following options: 1) Test with a Fedora Unity re-spin. These can be found at http://spins.fedoraunity.org/spins and include updates for installer bugs which may resolve the problem for you. 2) Test with an Alpha, Beta or Release Candidate for the next version. These can be found at http://fedoraproject.org/get-prerelease and by testing these we can work to resolve any installation issues so that the final release is free of such bugs. However if the problem no longer exists then please close this bug or I'll do so in a few weeks if there is no additional information lodged.
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Fedora 8 changed to end-of-life (EOL) status on 2009-01-07. Fedora 8 is no longer maintained, which means that it will not receive any further security or bug fix updates. As a result we are closing this bug. If you can reproduce this bug against a currently maintained version of Fedora please feel free to reopen this bug against that version. Thank you for reporting this bug and we are sorry it could not be fixed.
The needinfo request[s] on this closed bug have been removed as they have been unresolved for 1000 days