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#1 2003-08-04 12:11:52

dunbar
Member
From: Central New Hampshire USA
Registered: 2002-08-14
Posts: 106

bus error @ Arch 0.5 install

Celeron 400, 64 megs PC100 SDRAM, Intel (430 or 440) chipset, 3 gig hard disk (128 meg swap, balance = root partition), 12 CDROM (Is ATAPI IDE bootable drive and is not a CDRW).

(2.1.1 What You Will Need

a working knowledge of Linux and your system, esp. your hardware
ARCH LINUX Installation Media (see 2.1.2)
the ARCH LINUX Install CD or
three boot disks for an FTP-based install
an i686-based computer (PPro, Pentium 2/3/4, Athlon, etc.)
some time to kill )

Ok, the system appears to meet the requirements.

Drive was already partitioned (I had been running Debian Woody on it, 128 meg swap, balance = root @ ext3fs). Because I already had defined my partitions (during Woody install), I decided to skip over the 'auto partition' choice. Should not make a difference when and where the correct partitions were made is my reasoning.

I defined the mountpoints and formatted the partitions via the Arch 0.5 installer (ext3fs, all is fine, no errors displayed in the installer).
Next step is to select packages, I selected everything on screen, and moved to the next screen, which, oddly enough asks me if I want to install everything - but didn't I just do that manually in the previous screen? Yes, install everything. Hit enter key.

Now installing pacman.....
bus error
bus error
bus error
"installation of packages failed"

Would you like to configure your system?
(Umm.. no....)

I suspect that the installer (still) has issues outside of the autosetup function..... Last time I needed asistance installing (0.4, I think), I was told that developers do not perform full installs.... Is that comment still true for 0.5?

Whether or not....

I reboot PC, before I run /arch/setup I run cfdisk on /dev/discs/disc0/disc, all is fine, IMO.
mke2fs -j /dev/hda2
mkswap /dev/hda1
swapon -a
then run /arch/setup.

I drop to the mount partitions routine, mount them, no formatting.
select packages, this time not manually selecting all packages in the first screen, letting the second screen do the 'all' packages function.

Same bus errors.


Any ideas?

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#2 2003-08-04 20:45:42

apeiro
Daddy
From: Victoria, BC, Canada
Registered: 2002-08-12
Posts: 771
Website

Re: bus error @ Arch 0.5 install

dunbar wrote:

I was told that developers do not perform full installs.... Is that comment still true for 0.5?

I've installed every official package thru 0.5's setup and it worked fine.  I don't think that part is the culprit, here.

I've never seen the "bus error" message before.  Anybody else have any hints?

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#3 2003-08-04 20:53:20

Xentac
Forum Fellow
From: Victoria, BC
Registered: 2003-01-17
Posts: 1,797
Website

Re: bus error @ Arch 0.5 install

I've seen bus error before... but I don't remember the details.  I believe it's a hardware interface thing... like the drivers for your hard drive aren't working right.  Actually... I believe the place I've seen bus errors mostly is on my Zaurus, trying to access certain SD cards... yeah, that's right.  My guess is that the culprit is your hardware.


I have discovered that all of mans unhappiness derives from only one source, not being able to sit quietly in a room
- Blaise Pascal

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#4 2003-08-05 02:32:55

dunbar
Member
From: Central New Hampshire USA
Registered: 2002-08-14
Posts: 106

Re: bus error @ Arch 0.5 install

Intel chipsets are defacto standards, the system had Debian Woody running fine on it just a half hour earlier, and Slackware 9.0 installed fine immediately after Arch failed the 2 times mentioned above.

Where can I learn which bus has the error? Serial bus, PCI bus, ISA bus, IDE bus that makes 4 to choose from. Hard disk controller is on the mobo.

Would dmesg be of any use (at this point in the install - still booted from CDR)?

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#5 2003-08-05 03:47:16

sarah31
Member
From: Middle of Canada
Registered: 2002-08-20
Posts: 2,975
Website

Re: bus error @ Arch 0.5 install

possibly it is a cable?

perhaps there is something in debian and slackware kernels (on the install discs) that handle things a little differently than the arch linux ones?

it is just a guess but cables are usually a good place to start.

not knowing the inner workings of the different installer discs but knowing you have had success with other distros makes me think that bus handling may be a bit different between them.


AKA uknowme

I am not your friend

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#6 2003-08-05 14:52:11

dunbar
Member
From: Central New Hampshire USA
Registered: 2002-08-14
Posts: 106

Re: bus error @ Arch 0.5 install

But, the other distros worked ok for me....

That means (to me) that Arch is doing things differently versus other distros, for some reason.

Does DEVFS come into play, at this install phase? I associate the following drive addressing style with DEVFS (possible I'm mistaken)

cfdisk /dev/discs/disc0/disc

That makes me think it may be involved in the issue I have.

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#7 2003-08-05 18:12:29

andy
Member
From: Germany
Registered: 2002-10-11
Posts: 374

Re: bus error @ Arch 0.5 install

I don't know the exact details but a bus error is similar to a segmentation fault. The bus in question is AFAIR somehow the memory bus. (Try google ;-) )I got bus errors with ancient (1.X 2.X 3.X) versions of Netscape (and the error indicated buggy software ...).

So, if it is not a software problem but hardware it would be either RAM, swap space or chipset settings. And when the other distros worked it could be a different initialization of the chipset.

A maybe obvious point : is the downloaded image corrupt ?

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#8 2003-08-05 18:51:15

hApy
Member
From: Victoria, BC
Registered: 2003-04-13
Posts: 194
Website

Re: bus error @ Arch 0.5 install

hmmm.. maybe try installing using reiserfs? or try mounting the partition you were trying to install to from while running your slackware distro... see if you can write to it, etc.

I looked just quickly on the web and somebody was saying they were getting "bus errors" and they ran fsck on the partition and found alot of bad i-nodes (disk structure errors) and once that was done they had no problems.

Are you doing a full format, or just mounting the pre-existing partition?

Hapy.

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#9 2003-08-11 19:41:19

dunbar
Member
From: Central New Hampshire USA
Registered: 2002-08-14
Posts: 106

Re: bus error @ Arch 0.5 install

From my first message:

Drive was already partitioned (I had been running Debian Woody on it, 128 meg swap, balance = root @ ext3fs). Because I already had defined my partitions (during Woody install), I decided to skip over the 'auto partition' choice. Should not make a difference when and where the correct partitions were made is my reasoning.

I defined the mountpoints and formatted the partitions via the Arch 0.5 installer (ext3fs, all is fine, no errors displayed in the installer).

No, not repartitioning;
yes, I am formatting.

ReiserFS is not what I chose, ext3 should still work if Arch is going to provide ext3, IMO; others may also choose conservatively.

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#10 2003-08-11 20:35:54

sarah31
Member
From: Middle of Canada
Registered: 2002-08-20
Posts: 2,975
Website

Re: bus error @ Arch 0.5 install

dunbar wrote:

ReiserFS is not what I chose, ext3 should still work if Arch is going to provide ext3, IMO; others may also choose conservatively.

indeed. i chose ext3 for my mainbox.

as for devfs being the culprit... i suppose it is possible but gentoo also uses devfs (well it did when i last used it).

i have no clue as to the problem or a solution other than testing cables and hardware, if at all possible. having a slightly older machine  you may have somepiece of hardware that must not swim so well with how arch is configured. i don't know if dmesg or any other will give you any clues. a bus error would point to some hardware problem.


AKA uknowme

I am not your friend

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#11 2003-08-11 20:37:45

hApy
Member
From: Victoria, BC
Registered: 2003-04-13
Posts: 194
Website

Re: bus error @ Arch 0.5 install

dunbar wrote:

ReiserFS is not what I chose, ext3 should still work if Arch is going to provide ext3, IMO; others may also choose conservatively.

I'm well aware the many people probably do choose ext3, but I suspect that it is not a problem with the ext3 installation process and is more a specific problem related to your system.

My suggestion was to TRY ReiserFS, if only to attempt to discover more about the problem. By changing options (even though you may not want them in your final setup) you can sometimes elicit new more descriptive error messages, or if it works, help you track down where the errors may be. So what I am saying is try playing around with the install, use different options and see what happens. Try making new partitions of the partition you are attempting to install on (carefully of course), etc, etc. Go through the install process and try out as many different things as you can while not disrupting your other distributions. The more you experiment the more you are likely to find the reason for your issue.

Another thing to check if you have not already, is look on VC/5 (I think? it's in the docs) to see if any errors have been printed to that console. The documentation mentions this, that error output is sent there instead of just to the main install interface.

Hapy.

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#12 2003-08-11 20:49:44

Gyroplast
Member
From: Germany
Registered: 2002-09-03
Posts: 166
Website

Re: bus error @ Arch 0.5 install

Folks, don't let the name fool you; This may very well be a code issue with pacman. I have found this thread here and could confirm that a SIGBUS is generated for quite a few memory management issues caused by freeing NULL pointers and the like in the current kernel sources.

Would be cool if this could be reproduced on a developer machine, or if you could somehow convince your system to dump core. Otherwise I don't see much of a chance fixing this except by exactly pinpointing the function where this error occurs and let Judd or another Dev have a really close look at the code in this place. Try summing your steps up and slap this into the bugtracker please, dunbar.

Greets,
  Dennis


"That's the problem with good advice. Nobody wants to hear it."
-- Dogbert

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#13 2003-08-22 18:16:12

dunbar
Member
From: Central New Hampshire USA
Registered: 2002-08-14
Posts: 106

Re: bus error @ Arch 0.5 install

Arch 0.4 worked on this system once, but with a different hard disk.
On the current hardware, I ran Debian 3.0.0, no problems.
Arch 0.5 failed twice, similar each time, exactly when the installation was to begin.
Slackware 9.0 ran fine after that.

The PC is now running Windows 95.
Same hardware, same cables, nothing was disconnected,  nothing repositioned, nor was anything relocated.

PC is being delivered to its new owner sometime next week.

Sorry folks, but this thread wont go any further on this hardware.

Yeah, I'm a jerk.

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