gutsy livecd fails in booting w/o irqpoll option on Abit IP35-Pro motherboard

[Shaya Potter]

Binary package hint: linux-source-2.6.22

On my Abit IP35-Pro motherboard (P35 chipset). The Gutsy livecd fails to boot and reports sata timeout errors (I believe, w/o serial console unsure). If I boot w/ irqpoll option, it works fine.

The bios is set to use the SATA HDs device in IDE mode. However, the CD drive is on the regular IDE port, so might be a pata problem.

[Henri Lanér (vade)]

Same problem on Abit IP35-E which has P35 and ICH9. My SATA is in IDE mode and all of my drives, including the DVD, are connected to SATA.

I assume P35/ICH9 is properly supported in 2.6.33. Haven't tested, though.

[Henri Lanér (vade)]

I studied a bit closer to this problem and found that the problematic IRQ in question was number 18. This was assigned to a USB keyboard SK0314U+P, or "Prodige UltraX flat", which is very similar to, if not the same as, a "Logitech UltraX flat". I detached the keyboard from USB and plugged it to PS/2 using an adapter, and now the computer seems to boot without the irqpoll parameter, and the kernel doesn't give any IRQ-related warnings nor SATA timeout errors.

[Shaya Potter (spotter)]

I don't have a USB keyboard installed.

[Henri Lanér (vade)]

After booting a few times to test things out the same error appeared again. It seems to pop up pretty much randomly. The uncaught interrupt comes from a USB controller that has no devices attached to it. The BIOS won't allow disabling USB controllers so there is not much that can be done. I also tried the low speed mode for USB without success.

[Mark Manashirov (arkainium)]

I'm also having this problem on an Abit IP35-E. I'm guessing SATA is in IDE mode as the BIOS doesn't offer any options in that regard.

After booting the LiveCD a bunch of times I finally got lucky and managed to install the system. The hangs seem to be completely random at the start of the boot process. Once I boot there's no sign of any problems. Not sure what else to say.

[Hong (kmldqj)]

I have a similar problem with an Abit IP35 Pro. My BIOS setting for SATA mode is "IDE" (factory default, other options are RAID and AHCI). I installed Kubuntu Gutsy with the alternative installation CD just fine. However, I need to switch SATA mode to RAID or AHCI in order to boot the installed system, and I need to switch back to IDE mode in order to boot windows XP (otherwise I'm greeted with a BSOD). It would be nice to be able to boot linux with SATA in IDE mode too.

[Mark Manashirov (arkainium)]

Well, this sucks! I decided to reinstall and it just won't work this time. I must have gotten really lucky before. I tried booting with 'irqpoll' and while that helps to complete the boot process, when I try to install the system it fails with an error:

[Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/rofs/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.22-14/arch/alpha'
This particular error is often due to a faulty CD/DVD disk or drive. It may help to clean the CD/DVD, to burn the CD/DVD at a lower speed, or to clean the CD/DVD drive lens (cleaning kits are often available from electronics suppliers).

Like I said, it worked before and when I do a CD check from the boot menu it passes with no errors.

I'm attaching my 'syslog' from booting with the 'irqpoll' option. I hope it helps.

[Mark Manashirov (arkainium)]

To be complete, here's syslog from a default boot.

[Teo (domeval)]

I'm having same problem with Ubuntu on a friend's PC, with abit ip35 pro.
7.04 live cd was not able to see any disk if set to IDE mode in BIOS, setting in AHCI was the only way to install but the system was unstable.
Upgrade to gutsy and the system was unstable the same way.
Fresh install with Gutsy cd: install was flawless,but at boot, grub randomly fails to load, when grub doesn't fail, system hangs giving error 18.... and something about cylinder,sorry I don't remember now.
Let me know if you need a more precise error report. I'll be happy to help.
PS
sorry for my english,I'm still studing it.

[Michael Vondung (mivo)]

Have you guys tried to boot with the irqpoll kernel option? I experienced the same issues as described here (with an Abit AB9 Pro), and irqpoll fixed it for me.

[moschops (simon-waddington)]

Glad I found this!

I installed Mythbuntu 7.10 on a GA-G33-S2H mobo system having G33 chipset, ICH9 (no RAID) and a SATA primary disk (plus IDE DVD/CD drive). The install and a few boots seemed to go great, then I switched the BIOS to enable ACHI mode for the disk and it fails to boot the OS after Grub. I know its not the system because my Windows partition still boots fine.

I figured it was just the drive naming problem in the Grub boot line because previously it was in IDE compatibility mode. So I switced back to no-ACHI in BIOS as it was when I installed and it still wouldn't boot - just hangs immediately after selecting the OS from Grub.

I will try the irqpoll option with and without ACHI mode enabled and see what happens.

[Brian Murray (brian-murray)]

I am assigning this bug to the 'ubuntu-kernel-team' per their bug policy. For future reference you can learn more about their bug policy at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeamBugPolicies .

[Mark Manashirov (arkainium)]

Just to clear something up about my last comment. The CD-ROM problem has nothing to do with this bug, and was a problem with my own hardware. I know this now because I replaced it and the problem went away. The boot issue still stands though. Sorry if I mixed anyone up.

[BassKozz (basskozz+ubuntu)]

Any updates on this?
I am having the same issues on my Abit IP35 Pro: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=698912

[Michael Vondung (mivo)]

I also still experience this bug (with an Abit AB9 PRO), and what's worse, it's also present in the 8.04/Hardy beta. It works well in Fedora 8 and Arch, so the issue is with Ubuntu and not with Linux in general.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Beginning with the Hardy Heron 8.04 development cycle, all open Ubuntu kernel bugs need to be reported against the "linux" kernel package. We are automatically migrating this bug to the new "linux" package. However, development has already began for the upcoming Intrepid Ibex 8.10 release. It would be helpful if you could test the upcoming release and verify if this is still an issue - http://www.ubuntu.com/testing . If the issue still exists, please update this report by changing the Status of the "linux" task from "Incomplete" to "New". We appreciate your patience and understanding as we make this transition. Thanks!

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

The Ubuntu Kernel Team is planning to move to the 2.6.27 kernel for the upcoming Intrepid Ibex 8.10 release. As a result, the kernel team would appreciate it if you could please test this newer 2.6.27 Ubuntu kernel. There are one of two ways you should be able to test:

1) If you are comfortable installing packages on your own, the linux-image-2.6.27-* package is currently available for you to install and test.

--or--

2) The upcoming Alpha5 for Intrepid Ibex 8.10 will contain this newer 2.6.27 Ubuntu kernel. Alpha5 is set to be released Thursday Sept 4. Please watch http://www.ubuntu.com/testing for Alpha5 to be announced. You should then be able to test via a LiveCD.

Please let us know immediately if this newer 2.6.27 kernel resolves the bug reported here or if the issue remains. More importantly, please open a new bug report for each new bug/regression introduced by the 2.6.27 kernel and tag the bug report with 'linux-2.6.27'. Also, please specifically note if the issue does or does not appear in the 2.6.26 kernel. Thanks again, we really appreicate your help and feedback.

[spotter (spotter-yucs)]

it works a little better. However, still problematic.

when it finds the sata drive (on ide emulation), it complains bitterly, dumps a stack trace and says to use irqpoll

but doesn't die like old (or at least as I remember old, haven't tested in a while as had motherboard on AHCI which is not problematic at all).

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Per a decision made by the Ubuntu Kernel Team, bugs will longer be assigned to the ubuntu-kernel-team in Launchpad as part of the bug triage process. The ubuntu-kernel-team is being unassigned from this bug report. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeamBugPolicies for more information. Thanks.

[Jeremy Foshee (jeremyfoshee)]

This bug report was marked as Triaged a while ago but has not had any updated comments for quite some time. Please let us know if this issue remains in the current Ubuntu release, http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download . If the issue remains, click on the current status under the Status column and change the status back to "New". Thanks.

[This is an automated message. Apologies if it has reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]

[Jeremy Foshee (jeremyfoshee)]

This bug report was marked as Incomplete and has not had any updated comments for quite some time. As a result this bug is being closed. Please reopen if this is still an issue in the current Ubuntu release http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download . Also, please be sure to provide any requested information that may have been missing. To reopen the bug, click on the current status under the Status column and change the status back to "New". Thanks.

[This is an automated message. Apologies if it has reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]