Arch Linux

Ron74

Member

Registered: 2010-01-24

Posts: 31

[SOLVED] Problem with net install cd

Trying to install Arch on an old Asus P4BGL-MX board which is proprietary, probably something HP.  I have had no problems using the net install CD on 3 other Asus boards.  What happens is the install process starts (booting the kernel) and then halts with the screen black and the computer hung.

The last line before black screen is:  [13.34178412] ACPI: Invalid PBLK length [5]

==>> I think problem solved, but I don't understand it.  The board has on board Intel graphics, but I had an ATI PCI card installed with bios set for it.  Took it out and now the install goes as it should.  I'm marking this post as solved, but if anyone could shed some light on this, it would be appreciated.

Last edited by Ron74 (2012-01-02 19:46:25)

/dev/zero

Member

From: Melbourne, Australia

Registered: 2011-10-20

Posts: 1,247

Re: [SOLVED] Problem with net install cd

This says:

The warning is because of a problem with the Processor declaration in the _PR root namespace of your ACPI DSDT:
    Scope (\_PR)
    {
        Processor (\_PR.CPU0, 0x00, 0x0000E410, 0x05) {}
        Processor (\_PR.CPU1, 0x01, 0x00000000, 0x00) {}
    }
The syntax of the Processor declaration is as follows:
Processor (ProcessorName, ProcessorID, PBlockAddress, PblockLength)
Section 18.5.93 of the ACPI specification states that the PBlockLength is the length of the processor register block, in bytes and is either 0 (for no P_BLK) or 6. In your case, the it's been set to 0x05 in the first Processor declaration which is definetly not compliant with the specification, hence the kernel warning message. The ACPI specification can be downloaded from http://www.acpi.info/DOWNLOADS/ACPIspec40.pdf if your are interested in the details.
As it is, this is not a kernel bug, but a warning from the kernel that your BIOS is buggy and needs fixing. I suggest informing the manufacturer so that they can fix the BIOS.

Ron74

Member

Registered: 2010-01-24

Posts: 31

Re: [SOLVED] Problem with net install cd

This says:

As it is, this is not a kernel bug, but a warning from the kernel that your BIOS is buggy and needs fixing. I suggest informing the manufacturer so that they can fix the BIOS.

I saw, on Google, lots of posts where this was a problem with many ASUS boards.  However, all of the posts I read had to do with booting after the install.  And, there were a couple comments about bios bugs.  My board is old and unsupported, so I'll just use it until it heads south.  Thank you for the explanation, and have a wonderful new year.