[arm] Missing AHCI driver in Ubuntu Xenial Installer for ARM

[Thang Nguyen]

Download the media installation ISO file at https://www.ubuntu.com/download/server/arm and burn it to a CD-ROM. Then, put it into the SATA CD drive to install Ubuntu into Mustang/Merlin boards (XGene platform), the Installer does not detect the CD-ROM so it report a dialog with below content:
"Your installation CD-ROM couldn't be mounted. This probably means that the CD-ROM was not in the drive. If so you can insert it and try again. Retry mounting the CD-ROM?".
Investigate more on the installer media, I found that the AHCI driver is not enabled.
Below steps I have done to check:
- Mount ISO file and copy initrd.gz:
 # mkdir mnt
 # mount -o loop ubuntu-16.04.1-server-arm64.iso ./mnt
 # cp ./mnt/install/initrd.gz .
- Extract initrd.gz:
 # gunzip initrd.gz
 # cpio -id < initrd
- List the drivers/ata folder
 # ls lib/modules/4.4.0-31-generic/kernel/drivers
block gpio gpu hid i2c input media mfd power regulator rtc usb video
No lib/modules/4.4.0-31-generic/kernel/drivers/ata folder exist.

Try to check with x86 installer media:
 # ls lib/modules/4.4.0-31-generic/kernel/drivers/
ata block char firewire gpio gpu hid hv i2c infiniband input media mfd net parport pcmcia power regulator rtc scsi tty usb video
 # lib/modules/4.4.0-31-generic/kernel/drivers/ata/ | grep ahci
acard-ahci.ko
ahci.ko
ahci_platform.ko
libahci.ko
libahci_platform.ko

Can you help to add AHCI support for Ubuntu ARM Media installer?

Thanks,
Thang Q. Nguyen

PS: I submitted bug at https://bugs.launchpad.net/santacruz/+bug/1632559 but Thad asked to report here.

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This bug is missing log files that will aid in diagnosing the problem. From a terminal window please run:

apport-collect 1638779

and then change the status of the bug to 'Confirmed'.

If, due to the nature of the issue you have encountered, you are unable to run this command, please add a comment stating that fact and change the bug status to 'Confirmed'.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.

[Thang Nguyen (tqnguyen)]

The apport-collect command does not exist in the installer shell. So, can't run the command. Trying to save debug log but Ubuntu just support writing to floppy, web and mount folder.
Attachment contains logfile for installing Ubuntu. It just has information until right before Ubuntu installer start working.
We stuck at below dialog:
   ┌───────────────────┤ [!!] Detect and mount CD-ROM ├────────────────────┐
   │ │
   │ Your installation CD-ROM couldn't be mounted. This probably means │
   │ that the CD-ROM was not in the drive. If so you can insert it and try │
   │ again. │
   │ │
   │ Retry mounting the CD-ROM? │
   │ │
   │ <Yes> <No> │
   │ │
   └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

Can you see if this issue also happens with the latest daily image? It can be downloaded from:
Desktop:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/
Server:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-server/daily/current/

[Thang Nguyen (tqnguyen)]

Hi Joseph,
The issue still happen with latest daily image at http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-server/daily/current/zesty-server-arm64.iso.
It is because AHCI driver is still missing from this ISO image.
$ grep ata lib/modules/4.8.0-26-generic/modules.builtin
kernel/drivers/ata/libata.ko
kernel/drivers/phy/phy-brcm-sata.ko
ls lib/modules/4.8.0-26-generic/kernel/drivers/ata/
ata_generic.ko ata_piix.ko

[Thang Nguyen (tqnguyen)]

To solve this issue, need to integrate content of the pool/main/l/linux/sata-modules-4.8.0-26-generic-di_4.8.0-26.28_arm64.udeb package into initrd.gz.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for linux (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[Alan Ott (alan-signal11)]

This is still broken. The ARM64 installer can't do anything because it can't mount any drives including the installation medium because the ahci modules are not present.

Images tried:
   16.04.1 LTS (ubuntu-16.04.1-server-arm64.iso)
   Nightly (zesty-server-arm64.iso) - 2017-02-10

[Alan Ott (alan-signal11)]

BTW, mine is on a SoftIron OverDrive 1000 (AMD Opteron-A).

[Thang Nguyen (tqnguyen)]

Why the Ubuntu Server installer always require the CD-ROM detection to continue installation?
In other OSes such as SUSE, CentOS, Fedora, ... I can install without the need of CD-ROM. Just dd-ing the ISO file into a USB key drive and use it for installation.