Blank screen after installation (Quad-core xeon)

I am trying to install RTAI and have used EMC's Live CD earlier. Now I am unable to install it on a newer Xeon machine.

I have installed it successfully on single-core and dual-core machines earlier and we recently got a newer machine with the specs below:

Processor: 2 x Quad-core Xeon (2.53GHz)
Video chipset: XGI Z11M (onboard)
RAM : 12 GB
HDD: 2TB

Method 1: I could boot using the LiveCD

Method 2.
a) For the installation to work, I had to use 'xforcevesa' in the Grub menu. Without this, the screen just goes blank and won't proceed. It appears that the issue was with the video chipset.

b) I tried to use a PCIe video card (ATI) and changed the BIOS to use off-board video. That didn't help either.

c) After installation, when I restart the PC, I get a blank screen.

d) I could go to the recovery console and see the entries for the OS in the GRUB menu. When I select the OS, I cannot get past the blank screen.


Method 3. I tried to install Ubuntu 10.04 and used "apt-get" to download and install EMC's *.deb packages. On reboot, I get blank screen again.

Method 4: I tried to patch and compile the RTAI version of a vanilla kernel (2.6.32.11). I used EMC Live CD's .config file and modified it for the Xeon processor. However, I get a lot of messages/errors at reboot. For ex (the last few lines):

? pcibios_assign-resources+0x0/0x6b
kernel_init+0x128/0x17c
? kernel_init+0x0/0x17c
kernel_thread_helper+0x7/0x10

Any suggestions/ideas to get this working?

Thanks.

Have you tried nomodset?
ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1613132

Rick G

Yes, I did. I forgot to mention that.
Thanks.

When you boot from the live cd do you get good numbers on the latency test?
Can you turn the extra cores off in your bios to try?
Can you boot in low resolution mode?
Can you edit your config file to use an ATI video driver when you are using the add in card?
(I did have a machine that refused to use the VESA driver)

If you need to compile you might want to look here for some ideas...
code.google.com/p/neo-technical/wiki/emc2ubuntu

If you have another computer with EMC working on it can you swap that hard disk into the new machine and see if it boots?

Rick G

Hi,

I didn't try the first thee you mentioned (no latency tests, didn't turn off cores -- don't remember seeing it in the bios, and low-res mode). I'll try those.

What driver should I be using for the ATI driver?

I did try something similar to the compilation procedure you linked. I used a .config file from a working EMC2 machine and it didn't work. I'll try this method and see again.

Thanks.

Rick G wrote:

When you boot from the live cd do you get good numbers on the latency test?
Can you turn the extra cores off in your bios to try?
Can you boot in low resolution mode?
Can you edit your config file to use an ATI video driver when you are using the add in card?
(I did have a machine that refused to use the VESA driver)

If you need to compile you might want to look here for some ideas...
code.google.com/p/neo-technical/wiki/emc2ubuntu

If you have another computer with EMC working on it can you swap that hard disk into the new machine and see if it boots?

Rick G

I didn't try the first thee you mentioned (no latency tests,

O.K. you should probably start with the latency test, to see if the computer is a good candidate for EMC.

If I understand correctly the EMC live cd boots up and runs. So maybe start there and run the latency test.

Perhaps try "lshw" from a terminal to see which video driver is in use while running from the Live cd.

It's not a bios option, its a kernel parameter:

Yes there is a kernel parameter and on my 6 core it is also bios option.

There is some good info here
wiki.linuxcnc.org/emcinfo.pl?TroubleShooting

When you do get it to boot take a look at your xorg.conf file to make sure the changes are permanent.

I was able to compile with info from that link but did need to make some changes to make it work.

Rick G