boot hanging for 30 + seconds at scs1 ata_piix

scottro · 2007-03-31 02:46:19

I'm running a vanilla install, stock kernel, default mkinitcpio, on a Gateway Arc 200 laptop.

I have two irksome problems, though neither is a showstopper. One is sound which, if I can't solve it, I'll post it in another thread--it's sporadic, but anyway...

The machine has no scsi drives, just your regular sda and a CDROM. During boot it does something like

scsi0 ata_piix

and continues for a few lines without problem. Then it goes

scsi1 ata_piix

It then hangs for at least 30 seconds, usually much longer, sometimes even over a minute. Eventually, it continues and boots. I've tried a few things, such as one suggestion from the forums of adding rootdelay to the kernel line, but this takes effect before it gets to that line. (There was another similar situation with another suggestion to add something to the kernel line in grub, but again, this issue happens before it gets to that.)

I haven't seen any recent mention of the problem (I'm using a stock 2.6.20 kernel) for anything after 2.6.19 or so, therefore it might be a "Just lucky me," issue, but if anyone has an idea I'd be grateful.

I don't want to bother building a custom kernel for this laptop, it's used for a few work related things, and that's it. (Insert whining about the good old days, when there weren't any mkinitrd's and mkinitcpio's and gee, everything was better then.)

rayjgu3 · 2007-03-31 03:06:30

for sound
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/ALSA_Setup

for boot up
are you using kernel26.img or kernel26-fallback.img?
did you configure your image or use default?

to generate your own /boot/kernel26.img try the following
mkinitrdcpio -M
copy modules put them in
/etc/mkinitrdcpio.conf
in section
MODULES="modules listed"
then under hooks
HOOKS="base udev autodetect ide scsi sata filesystems"
remove the interfaces not needed like scsi sata if you have usb listed remove it unless your using arch on a usb drive cause as you stated you have sda but no sata which would indicate usb or some other external drive

once you have /etc/mkinitcpio.conf setup run
mkinitcpio -g /boot/kernel26-custom.img
where custom marks your initrd file
then adjust your boot loader to boot from kernel26.custom.img

if that doesnt speed up your boot you could look here for msome tips
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pos … s_Speed_Up

scottro · 2007-03-31 03:26:53

Thank you for the answers. As I said, the sound is a separate issue--however, a quick note, I did follow the wiki.

As I said, I used the default (though not the fallback) kernel26.img. After posting, I tried removing sata and scsi--however, I have the same result. I'm familiar with mkinitcpio and its use--my post, didn't make that clear, for which I apologize.

The only speedup tip that I see in the link you post is if one uses lilo. (Sigh, I didn't mention that I use grub, did I?--I apologize for that one too--I really do know how to describe problems, I don't know what happened with this one.)

However thanks for the reply--I was going to post again shortly, to say that I had tried with a customized mkinitcpio, but you beat me to it.

Last edited by scottro (2007-03-31 03:27:16)

rayjgu3 · 2007-03-31 10:58:49

have you cleared pacman cache recently?
if you have previous kernel 2.6.19 & there was no issue with it
pacman -U /var/cache/pacman/pkg/kernel26-2.6.19.X-Y.pkg.tar.gz
& then make sure you keep that kernel till next kernel release if problem persists you can always fall back to it
or try other flavors of kernel beyond, ck , mm, suspend2,
or if you really want to do away with the initrd stuff you could grab kernel24 from here ftp://ftp.nethat.com/pub/linux/archlinux/0.7.2/os/i686/

scottro · 2007-03-31 12:31:10

This is a brand new installation, so I don't have 2.6.19. I might play with ck and the like. However, if there's no easy fix, I might just live with it, again, I'm not planning to put a lot of effort into this box (or I'd build a custom kernel which would probably solve this problem.)

As for your other suggestion to do away with mkinitcpio---that would work and I could go back to OSS for sound too, probably solving the other problem.

Funny how lazy we get--I'll probably, in the end, play with the mm, ck and the like and it will probably take me more time than it would to simply build my own kernel. Ah well, the older I get, the lazier I become.

Seriously, thank you for your efforts to help. I do apologize for not giving enough info at first, which sort of wasted your time--it's the sort of thing for which I criticize others, so I am a bit embarrassed. (Well, next time I'll be nicer to others.)

Sigi · 2007-03-31 13:08:42

scottro: I know that you don't want to waste too much time solving this problem, but anyway..
Have you tried if adding ata_piix into the MODULES array of /etc/mkinitcpio.conf and recreating the initcpio image alternates/improves the behavior of your system during startup?

edit: I just re-read the whole thread and found my answer a little useless because of
1. the boot process hangs while loading ata-piix and not before
2. if you followed rayjgu3's post about mkinitcpio my post didn't add anything new in regard of your issue.
Hope I haven't wasted anybodies time except mine

Last edited by Sigi (2007-03-31 13:20:24)

scottro · 2007-03-31 13:49:48

Heh--don't worry. That's my payback for wasting rayjgu3's time by not describing my problem accurately. I think I'm just going to deal with it--this laptop is simply for travel and being able to access the VPN at work. (By deal with it, I mean, just accept that it doesn't boot as quickly as I'd like it to boot.)

Arch Linux

#1 2007-03-31 02:46:19

boot hanging for 30 + seconds at scs1 ata_piix

#2 2007-03-31 03:06:30

Re: boot hanging for 30 + seconds at scs1 ata_piix

#3 2007-03-31 03:26:53

Re: boot hanging for 30 + seconds at scs1 ata_piix

#4 2007-03-31 10:58:49

Re: boot hanging for 30 + seconds at scs1 ata_piix

#5 2007-03-31 12:31:10

Re: boot hanging for 30 + seconds at scs1 ata_piix

#6 2007-03-31 13:08:42

Re: boot hanging for 30 + seconds at scs1 ata_piix

#7 2007-03-31 13:49:48

Re: boot hanging for 30 + seconds at scs1 ata_piix

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