Date: Wed, 01 Mar 2000 15:28:24 EST From: "John Daniels" <jmd526@hotmail.com> To: FreeBSD-current@FreeBSD.org, FreeBSD-qa@FreeBSD.org, FreeBSD-questions@FreeBSD.org Cc: n_hibma@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: Instrallation floppies and USB Message-ID: <20000301202824.52769.qmail@hotmail.com>
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Hi:
I looked in BIOS setup to see if there were any settings that I could try
changing to make the boot floopies work. The only ones that I found that
seemed to apply were (defaults in brackets):
Configuration Table [Disabled]
PCI IRQ setting [Auto]
PCI IRQ sharing [No]
Plug and Play OS [Yes]
Reset Resource Assignments [No]
I thought that the Configuration Table might provide the ability to change
settings (IRQ, etc.) but it only summarized system specs. (Among these, it
showed USB 'enabled')
I didn't change PCI IRQ setting.
I thought that PCI IRQ sharing might allow for dynamic assignment of IRQs,
but changing this to 'Yes' had no effect.
Disabling Plug and Play had no effect
I thought that Reset Resource Assignments might enable the OS to set
resouces (IRQ, etc) but everytime I looked at this after I had chosen 'Yes,'
it had been set back to 'No.' Acer support tells me that all this does is
reset the resources back to their original values.
In sum, I was not able to change anything with the changes that I made. I
also went to the Acer support site to see if there were any BIOS or device
updates for my system. I didn't find any.
I am registered with Acer support and I would be happy to provide the
information needed (Toll free phone number, system serial number, my
customer id #, etc.) for Nick Hibma or another developer to contact them if
that would be helpful. FYI, I also have a 160Kbps DSL connection so if
anyone wants me to test reconstructed boot disks/kernels, I can do that. (I
believe that John Baldwin has been looking into this.)
To summarize the problem and the clues that we now have:
1. When I try to boot the kern.flp disk, I get the message:
/boot.config: -P
Keyboard: no
Booting continues but the keyboard is unusable unless I immmediately hit the
space bar then type '-Dh' at the 'boot:' prompt as described in the
TROUBLE.TXT document in the -CURRENT snapshot directory. NOTE: That
document says that the '-Dh' workaround is meant for older systems with an
84-key keyboard, but it is working for my 1999 Acer Asprire with a 102-key
USB keyboard!
2. The installation boots the kernel but immediately after the kernel config
screen appears (with 3 options: no config, full screen, CLI), the system
becomes unusable.
3. The floppy drive light remains on, as though the floopy is awaiting
instructions or has been interrupted in data transfer.
4. I have provided my complete system specs and resource usage in an earlier
post. It appears that there may be some resource conflicts. My system uses
IRQ 11 for the Intel 82371AB/EB PCI to USB Universal Host Controller, while
FreeBSD uses IRQ 11 for an adaptec SCSI Controller. My keyboard and
FreeBSD's use of IRQ12 and IOMem 0060h may also be a problem. (This is not
an exhaustive list of possible conflicts)
5. I can boot the NetBSD installation disk and use my keyboard to select
options (e.g. configure my NIC) so this may provide some additional info or
a possible roadmap to a solution. For example, does it dynamically find
resources for more devices than FreeBSD (especially the Adaptec SCSI
controller and keyboards/mice)? Does NetBSD provide support for USB
keyboards in their installation kernel?
Etc.
John
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