https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=807208 https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=807208#c0 Summary: Virtual machine fails to boot because of missing driver Classification: openSUSE Product: openSUSE 12.3 Version: RC 2 Platform: i686 OS/Version: SUSE Other Status: NEW Severity: Major Priority: P5 - None Component: Bootloader AssignedTo: jsrain@suse.com ReportedBy: jimc@math.ucla.edu QAContact: jsrain@suse.com Found By: Beta-Customer Blocker: --- Preparation: The virtual machine is hosted on a AMD Athlon Neo X2 6850e, run by KVM (qemu). I did a fresh installation (network install from the 12.3rc2 DVD unpacked on my own repo). Minimal X-Windows, showroom stock installation except I added M4 and Expect. I let it pick the kernel, which was kernel-desktop. (I expected to get kernel-default, which would have no problems, and later to have to force kernel-desktop onto the machine, but the installer messed it up with no help from me.) Installation was uneventful. When phase 1 finished the installation CD was still mounted and it did the "boot from hard disc" thing. What should have happened: It should have booted for phase 2 of installation. What actually happened: Grub said: Loading Linux 3.7.9-1.1-desktop ... Loading initial ramdisk ... And then it just sat there until killed; virtual CPU was maxed out. Interpretation: I first saw this on OpenSuSE-12.2. The issue is that kernel-desktop does not include the driver for the virtual disc. I think virtio_blk.ko is the missing one but I'm not quite sure. In OpenSuSE-11.4 this was included as a module, and kernel-desktop would boot; I never noticed that it was using a loaded module rather than a hardwired one. Workaround: When installing, evict kernel-desktop and insist on kernel-default. What I would like the developers to do: A. The installer should be aware of weird disc arrangements and should use kernel-default if there's any question that the required disc module might not be available. I noticed a lot of bug reports about USB flash drives failing to boot, which may or may not have a similar cause. B. Kernel-desktop should once again have the module for virtual disc IO. In fact, a case could be made that kernel-desktop should support all the same functions as kernel-default, just with more of them hardwired in the kernel. C. A case could also be made that kernel-desktop adds complexity and gives little value to the user, so it should be junked. The major effort during booting is probing and initializing devices, not reading the driver files, which have to be read anyway even if hardwired in the kernel. Kernel-desktop has hardwired drivers for popular devices which may not be present on particular systems, wasting memory. There are lots and lots of drivers which have to be modular even in kernel-desktop -- on my laptop (kernel-desktop) /proc/modules lists 121 drivers, while on my server (kernel-default), which has a greater variety of hardware, /proc/modules has only 99 drivers listed. I would vote to put kernel-default on the workstations, in the next release. -- Configure bugmail: https://bugzilla.novell.com/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are on the CC list for the bug.