colony 4 live ppc64 crashes starting gnome desktop on imac g5

[LarryGrover]

I tested the Colony-4 live cd (ppc64) on an iMac G5.

Several times during the live cd start up, when the hardware is being detected
and configured, I get the error:
"error while running 'modprove -v sbp2'".
I assume that firewire in this model imac is not fully supported by the kernel?
 Continuing through these errors, everything seems to work up until the live
gnome session starts.

The automatic login works, and it appears that the gnome desktop is starting up,
but then the system hangs with the mouse pointer frozen in place on a plain
brown background. At this point the system seems totally non-responsive:
doesn't respond to keyboard input (I can't switch to a text console), doesn't
respond to mouse movements (the pointer stays in one place only), and doesn't
respond to pings over the network. I've let the system sit in the "frozen"
state for up 10-15 min; it never recoverd.

There is a short time period when the gnome desktop is starting that the
keyboard and mouse still function (several seconds). If I quickly switch over
to a console, I see a series of errors (copied by hand, so I am missing some
information and may have a few things wrong):
hda: lost interrupt
hda: media error (bad sector)...
ide: failed op code was: unknown
end_request: I/O error...
Buffer I/O error indevice hda...
mpic_enable_irq timeout
ide-cd: cmd 0x3 timed out

These errors repeat over and over.

I did check the CDR I am using using the live-cd media check, and it reported
that my CDR is good. I also tried burning the ISO to 2 different disks and got
the same result.

This is a "first generation" iMac G5, with Nvidia FX5200 graphics adapter, USB
keyboard and mouse (no bluetooth). This system has an airport extreme card in
it, but it doesn't appear to be recognized (no surprise). The built in ethernet
is recognized, configured and activated.

The URL I included is a photo of the screen after the system freezes.

http://users.zoominternet.net/~lgrover/colony4_live_ppc64_crashed.jpg: http://users.zoominternet.net/~lgrover/colony4_live_ppc64_crashed.jpg

[Matt Zimmerman (mdz)]

*** Bug 21155 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

[Ben Collins (ben-collins)]

The Colony 4 live CD worked on my G5 tower, so this was unexpected.

Has any previous version of ubuntu live-cd worked on this machine? If so, can
you boot to it and get me an lspci and a complete dmesg.

Since the period where you are experiencing this problem is well after the CD
has been used a lot, then I can't say it is an IDE driver error. Sounds to me
like the CD drive is having a hard time reading a certain part of the CD (since
it always occurs at the same time). Could be hw, but let's do some testing to be
sure one way or the other.

[bertrand anares (bertranddekoninck)]

> Several times during the live cd start up, when the hardware is being detected
> and configured, I get the error:
> "error while running 'modprove -v sbp2'".
> I assume that firewire in this model imac is not fully supported by the kernel?
> Continuing through these errors, everything seems to work up until the live
> gnome session starts.
>

Same here on 2*2.0 Ghz G5 tower (latest model), but the install went fine. Not
installing this module does not seem to hurt.

Bertrand Dekoninck

[LarryGrover (lgrover)]

(In reply to comment #2)
> The Colony 4 live CD worked on my G5 tower, so this was unexpected.
>
> Has any previous version of ubuntu live-cd worked on this machine? If so, can
> you boot to it and get me an lspci and a complete dmesg.

The hoary live CD did not work. The problem is described here:
https://bugzilla.ubuntu.com/show_bug.cgi?id=9115

Colony 3 has the same problem as Colony 4. I haven't tried any other Ubuntu
live CDs.

Here's the output of lspci, grabbed (copied by hand, so there may be mistakes)
from an ealier point in the startup, before the ubuntu live session is started:

0000:f0:0b.0 Host bridge: Apple Computer Inc.: Unknown device 0058
0000:f0:10.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV34M [GeForce FX
Go5200] (rev a1)
0001:00:01.0 PCI bridge: Apple Computer Inc.: Unknown device 0053
0001:00:02.0 PCI bridge: Apple Computer Inc.: Unknown device 0054
0001:00:03.0 PCI bridge: Apple Computer Inc.: Unknown device 0055
0001:01:01.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4306 802.11b/g Wireless
LAN Controller (rev 03)
0001:01:07.0 ff00: Apple Computer Inc.: Unknown device 004f
0001:01:0b.0 USB Controller: NEC Corporation USB (rev 43)
0001:01:0b.1 USB Controller: NEC Corporation USB (rev 43)
0001:01:0b.2 USB Controller: NEC Corporation USB 2.0 (rev 04)
0001:02:0c.0 IDE interface: ServerWorks: Unknown device 0240
0001:02:0d.0 ff00: Apple Computer Inc.: Unknown device 0050
0001:02:0e.0 Firewire (IEEE 1394): Apple Computer Inc.: Unknown device 0052
0001:03:0f.0 Ethernet controller: Apple Computer Inc.: Unknown device 0051

> Since the period where you are experiencing this problem is well after the CD
> has been used a lot, then I can't say it is an IDE driver error. Sounds to me
> like the CD drive is having a hard time reading a certain part of the CD (since
> it always occurs at the same time). Could be hw, but let's do some testing to be
> sure one way or the other.

If you need additional information, just let me know what you need and from
which point during the live CD startup you need it (keep in mind there's a very
limited window of time once the desktop session starts -- but there is enough
time to quickly switch over to a console and run a command or two before the
system locks up).

[Ben Collins (ben-collins)]

I had this same problem on my G4 under breezy. Never figured out what the cause
was, but it's fixed in dapper.

[LarryGrover (lgrover)]

(In reply to comment #5)
> I had this same problem on my G4 under breezy. Never figured out what the cause
> was, but it's fixed in dapper.

Well, unfortunately, it is not fixed, at least not on my system (iMac G5 rev 1)
and not with the Dapper Drake Flight 1 live CD.

The error messages about the sbp2 module are gone, but the system still freezes
when the gnome desktop starts. As in my original bug report, the system freezes
with a plain "ubuntu" brown background and a mouse pointer frozen in the middle
of the screen. At this point, the system is totally nonresponsive: keyboard
and mouse input has no effect, the system does not respond to pings over the
network.

I have some additional information which I did not have previously. I hope that
some of this may be helpful.

(1) Networking is functional up until the desktop starts. When I switch to a
console, I can see that my ethernet adapter is configured and I can ping my
gateway. Once the desktop starts, networking seems to be dead (no response when
I ping the system from another location on my network).

(2) USB support is not working correctly. The keyboard (apple USB keyboard)
remains funtional up until the desktop starts. If I immediately switch to a
console when the desktop begins to load, the keyboard remains functional for
several seconds, then dies. If I unplug the keyboard (mouse remains plugged
in), I get two "USB disconnect" messages for two different addresses (3 and 4).
 If I replug the keyboard, I get a message ("usb 1-2: new full speed USB device
using ohci_hcd and address 5"), however, the keyboard is non-functional and is
unpowered -- the "Caps Lock" light will not come on. Addition, rounds of
unplugging and plugging the keyboard fail to trigger a console message. I see
more or less the same thing with my mouse (Logitech optical scroll mouse): if I
unplug and replug it, the LED goes out and does not re-illuminate.

(3) If I switch to a conole during the live session start up, I see a series of
error messages which seem related to pbbuttonsd:

*Starting pbbuttonsd
[ 422.298830] ioctl132(pbbuttonsd:26921: Unknown cmd fd(3) cmd(40084502)(00)
arg(ffda20d0) on /dev/input/event0
[ 422.330266] ioctl132(pbbuttonsd:26921: Unknown cmd fd(3) cmd(40084502)(00)
arg(ffda20d0) on /dev/input/event1
[ 422.346124] ioctl132(pbbuttonsd:26921: Unknown cmd fd(3) cmd(40084502)(00)
arg(ffda20d0) on /dev/input/event2
[ 422.361612] ioctl132(pbbuttonsd:26921: Unknown cmd fd(3) cmd(40084502)(00)
arg(ffda20d0) on /dev/input/event3
[ 422.377038] ioctl132(pbbuttonsd:26921: Unknown cmd fd(3) cmd(40084502)(00)
arg(ffda20d0) on /dev/input/event4
ERROR: The file 'dev'pmu' doesn't exist.

                                        [fail]

(4) The Ubuntu graphical boot splash screen (usplash I think?) looks weird --
like it's being rendered with only a few colors (8-16).

When using the live CD, is there any way to prevent gdm/gnome desktop from
starting? I might be able to get more information if I was able to use the
system for a longer period of time before it freezes.

[Ben Collins (ben-collins)]

That's because flight 1 is still breezy kernel. Upgrade to 2.6.15.

[Ben Collins (ben-collins)]

This was fixed, but requires either 2.6.15 kernel, or you can wait for flight 2
cd's (today, hopefully).

[LarryGrover (lgrover)]

OK, I'll try Flight 2 when it's available, and reopen only if I continue to have
the same problem with it.