1:13 p.m.
Greetings;
I built a new box yesterday, and one of the things I'm seeing is about a 10
second lag between the bios clearing the screen after doing its thing, and
the "Loading Grub stage 2", which stays on screen for several seconds, then
its blanked for another 10 secs or so, and finally the grub 'choice' menu
comes up.
This is with the new grub. One thing I had done on the previous mobo was to
have just one entry in /boot/grub/devices, but I see that has been reset by
something from /dev/sdb to /dev/sda, presumably by upgrading grub this
morning.
The bios is set to boot from the first ide, which is (hd0,0) I believe.
What can I post that might be of interest?, just ask.
Thanks.
--
Cheers, Gene
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
People are always available for work in the past tense.
6:30 p.m.
On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 11:13 AM, Gene Heskett <gene.heskett(a)verizon.net> wrote:
Greetings;
I built a new box yesterday, and one of the things I'm seeing is about a 10
second lag between the bios clearing the screen after doing its thing, and
the "Loading Grub stage 2", which stays on screen for several seconds, then
its blanked for another 10 secs or so, and finally the grub 'choice' menu
comes up.
This is with the new grub. One thing I had done on the previous mobo was to
have just one entry in /boot/grub/devices, but I see that has been reset by
something from /dev/sdb to /dev/sda, presumably by upgrading grub this
morning.
The bios is set to boot from the first ide, which is (hd0,0) I believe.
What can I post that might be of interest?, just ask.
Thanks.
--
Cheers, Gene
What new grub? As far as I am aware there has been no update to grub.
10:14 p.m.
On Wednesday 01 October 2008, Kam Leo wrote:
On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 11:13 AM, Gene Heskett
<gene.heskett(a)verizon.net>
wrote:
> Greetings;
>
> I built a new box yesterday, and one of the things I'm seeing is about a
> 10 second lag between the bios clearing the screen after doing its thing,
> and the "Loading Grub stage 2", which stays on screen for several seconds,
> then its blanked for another 10 secs or so, and finally the grub 'choice'
> menu comes up.
>
> This is with the new grub. One thing I had done on the previous mobo was
> to have just one entry in /boot/grub/devices, but I see that has been
> reset by something from /dev/sdb to /dev/sda, presumably by upgrading grub
> this morning.
>
> The bios is set to boot from the first ide, which is (hd0,0) I believe.
>
> What can I post that might be of interest?, just ask.
>
> Thanks.
>
> --
> Cheers, Gene
What new grub? As far as I am aware there has been no update to grub.
The one that's been sitting in updates for 2-3 months, scared to install it
because my drive mapping was fubar on that biostar mobo with its outboard
sata controller. Now on this asus, it seems like hd0,0 is indeed /dev/sda1,
aka /boot in the label. Anyway, it worked.
--
Cheers, Gene
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
Refreshed by a brief blackout, I got to my feet and went next door.
-- Martin Amis, _Money_
11:32 p.m.
On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 8:14 PM, Gene Heskett <gene.heskett(a)verizon.net> wrote:
On Wednesday 01 October 2008, Kam Leo wrote:
>On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 11:13 AM, Gene Heskett <gene.heskett(a)verizon.net>
wrote:
>> Greetings;
>>
>> I built a new box yesterday, and one of the things I'm seeing is about a
>> 10 second lag between the bios clearing the screen after doing its thing,
>> and the "Loading Grub stage 2", which stays on screen for several
seconds,
>> then its blanked for another 10 secs or so, and finally the grub
'choice'
>> menu comes up.
>>
>> This is with the new grub. One thing I had done on the previous mobo was
>> to have just one entry in /boot/grub/devices, but I see that has been
>> reset by something from /dev/sdb to /dev/sda, presumably by upgrading grub
>> this morning.
>>
>> The bios is set to boot from the first ide, which is (hd0,0) I believe.
>>
>> What can I post that might be of interest?, just ask.
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>> --
>> Cheers, Gene
>
>What new grub? As far as I am aware there has been no update to grub.
The one that's been sitting in updates for 2-3 months, scared to install it
because my drive mapping was fubar on that biostar mobo with its outboard
sata controller. Now on this asus, it seems like hd0,0 is indeed /dev/sda1,
aka /boot in the label. Anyway, it worked.
--
Cheers, Gene
Why didn't you state that you were running F8? If it makes you feel
any better here is the changelog for grub-0.97-33.1-fc8:
Changelog
* Thu May 29 2008 Peter Jones <pjones(a)redhat.com> - 0.97-33.1
- Backport F-9's grub to F-8.
* Tue Apr 08 2008 Peter Jones <pjones(a)redhat.com> - 0.97-33
- Rewrite ia32 efi call wrapper to make the makefile simpler.
F9's grub is at 0.97-33. The previous version for F8 was 0.97-33.
Unless Peter Jones made some dramatic changes I don't see how this
backporting is going to adversely affect your system.
11:50 p.m.
On Thursday 02 October 2008, Kam Leo wrote:
On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 8:14 PM, Gene Heskett
<gene.heskett(a)verizon.net>
wrote:
> On Wednesday 01 October 2008, Kam Leo wrote:
>>On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 11:13 AM, Gene Heskett <gene.heskett(a)verizon.net>
>
> wrote:
>>> Greetings;
>>>
>>> I built a new box yesterday, and one of the things I'm seeing is about a
>>> 10 second lag between the bios clearing the screen after doing its
>>> thing, and the "Loading Grub stage 2", which stays on screen for
several
>>> seconds, then its blanked for another 10 secs or so, and finally the
>>> grub 'choice' menu comes up.
>>>
>>> This is with the new grub. One thing I had done on the previous mobo
>>> was to have just one entry in /boot/grub/devices, but I see that has
>>> been reset by something from /dev/sdb to /dev/sda, presumably by
>>> upgrading grub this morning.
>>>
>>> The bios is set to boot from the first ide, which is (hd0,0) I believe.
>>>
>>> What can I post that might be of interest?, just ask.
>>>
>>> Thanks.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Cheers, Gene
>>
>>What new grub? As far as I am aware there has been no update to grub.
>
> The one that's been sitting in updates for 2-3 months, scared to install
> it because my drive mapping was fubar on that biostar mobo with its
> outboard sata controller. Now on this asus, it seems like hd0,0 is indeed
> /dev/sda1, aka /boot in the label. Anyway, it worked.
>
> --
> Cheers, Gene
Why didn't you state that you were running F8? If it makes you feel
any better here is the changelog for grub-0.97-33.1-fc8:
I thought I did at first, but CRS could make a liar out of me. Sorry.
Changelog
* Thu May 29 2008 Peter Jones <pjones(a)redhat.com> - 0.97-33.1
- Backport F-9's grub to F-8.
* Tue Apr 08 2008 Peter Jones <pjones(a)redhat.com> - 0.97-33
- Rewrite ia32 efi call wrapper to make the makefile simpler.
F9's grub is at 0.97-33. The previous version for F8 was 0.97-33.
That is the same numbers. Typu?
Unless Peter Jones made some dramatic changes I don't see how
this
backporting is going to adversely affect your system.
Thanks. But this still does not explain why grub itself is so slow.
After the bios is done, then the next thing one normally sees is the "Grub
stage 2 loading", but I'm watching a monitor telling me there is no input
drive for about 12 seconds between the bios clearing the screen, and that
printout.
And normally that just sort of flickers for a few milliseconds, but that now
stays on screen for 2 or 3 seconds, then the screen is cleared again, and
about 10 seconds later the boot choice menu finally pops up. This only took
maybe 2 seconds total on the old motherboard, now it's a good 20-25 seconds
from the bios clearing the screen to the boot selection menu.
Its that time that I'm fussing about.
--
Cheers, Gene
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
If God had not given us sticky tape, it would have been necessary to invent
it.
12:18 a.m.
On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 9:50 PM, Gene Heskett <gene.heskett(a)verizon.net> wrote:
On Thursday 02 October 2008, Kam Leo wrote:
>On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 8:14 PM, Gene Heskett <gene.heskett(a)verizon.net>
wrote:
>> On Wednesday 01 October 2008, Kam Leo wrote:
>>>On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 11:13 AM, Gene Heskett
<gene.heskett(a)verizon.net>
>>
>> wrote:
>>>> Greetings;
>>>>
>>>> I built a new box yesterday, and one of the things I'm seeing is
about a
>>>> 10 second lag between the bios clearing the screen after doing its
>>>> thing, and the "Loading Grub stage 2", which stays on screen
for several
>>>> seconds, then its blanked for another 10 secs or so, and finally the
>>>> grub 'choice' menu comes up.
>>>>
>>>> This is with the new grub. One thing I had done on the previous mobo
>>>> was to have just one entry in /boot/grub/devices, but I see that has
>>>> been reset by something from /dev/sdb to /dev/sda, presumably by
>>>> upgrading grub this morning.
>>>>
>>>> The bios is set to boot from the first ide, which is (hd0,0) I believe.
>>>>
>>>> What can I post that might be of interest?, just ask.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Cheers, Gene
>>>
>>>What new grub? As far as I am aware there has been no update to grub.
>>
>> The one that's been sitting in updates for 2-3 months, scared to install
>> it because my drive mapping was fubar on that biostar mobo with its
>> outboard sata controller. Now on this asus, it seems like hd0,0 is indeed
>> /dev/sda1, aka /boot in the label. Anyway, it worked.
>>
>> --
>> Cheers, Gene
>
>Why didn't you state that you were running F8? If it makes you feel
>any better here is the changelog for grub-0.97-33.1-fc8:
I thought I did at first, but CRS could make a liar out of me. Sorry.
>Changelog
>
>* Thu May 29 2008 Peter Jones <pjones(a)redhat.com> - 0.97-33.1
> - Backport F-9's grub to F-8.
>* Tue Apr 08 2008 Peter Jones <pjones(a)redhat.com> - 0.97-33
> - Rewrite ia32 efi call wrapper to make the makefile simpler.
>
>F9's grub is at 0.97-33. The previous version for F8 was 0.97-33.
That is the same numbers. Typu?
>Unless Peter Jones made some dramatic changes I don't see how this
>backporting is going to adversely affect your system.
Thanks. But this still does not explain why grub itself is so slow.
After the bios is done, then the next thing one normally sees is the "Grub
stage 2 loading", but I'm watching a monitor telling me there is no input
drive for about 12 seconds between the bios clearing the screen, and that
printout.
And normally that just sort of flickers for a few milliseconds, but that now
stays on screen for 2 or 3 seconds, then the screen is cleared again, and
about 10 seconds later the boot choice menu finally pops up. This only took
maybe 2 seconds total on the old motherboard, now it's a good 20-25 seconds
from the bios clearing the screen to the boot selection menu.
Its that time that I'm fussing about.
--
Cheers, Gene
Have you checked the boot order in your BIOS settings? Also do you
happen to have non-bootable media in your CD/DVD drive?
8:22 a.m.
On Thursday 02 October 2008, Kam Leo wrote:
On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 9:50 PM, Gene Heskett
<gene.heskett(a)verizon.net>
wrote:
> On Thursday 02 October 2008, Kam Leo wrote:
>>On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 8:14 PM, Gene Heskett <gene.heskett(a)verizon.net>
>
> wrote:
>>> On Wednesday 01 October 2008, Kam Leo wrote:
>>>>On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 11:13 AM, Gene Heskett
<gene.heskett(a)verizon.net>
>>>
>>> wrote:
>>>>> Greetings;
>>>>>
>>>>> I built a new box yesterday, and one of the things I'm seeing is
about
>>>>> a 10 second lag between the bios clearing the screen after doing its
>>>>> thing, and the "Loading Grub stage 2", which stays on
screen for
>>>>> several seconds, then its blanked for another 10 secs or so, and
>>>>> finally the grub 'choice' menu comes up.
>>>>>
>>>>> This is with the new grub. One thing I had done on the previous
mobo
>>>>> was to have just one entry in /boot/grub/devices, but I see that has
>>>>> been reset by something from /dev/sdb to /dev/sda, presumably by
>>>>> upgrading grub this morning.
>>>>>
>>>>> The bios is set to boot from the first ide, which is (hd0,0) I
>>>>> believe.
>>>>>
>>>>> What can I post that might be of interest?, just ask.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks.
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Cheers, Gene
>>>>
>>>>What new grub? As far as I am aware there has been no update to grub.
>>>
>>> The one that's been sitting in updates for 2-3 months, scared to install
>>> it because my drive mapping was fubar on that biostar mobo with its
>>> outboard sata controller. Now on this asus, it seems like hd0,0 is
>>> indeed /dev/sda1, aka /boot in the label. Anyway, it worked.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Cheers, Gene
>>
>>Why didn't you state that you were running F8? If it makes you feel
>>any better here is the changelog for grub-0.97-33.1-fc8:
>
> I thought I did at first, but CRS could make a liar out of me. Sorry.
>
>>Changelog
>>
>>* Thu May 29 2008 Peter Jones <pjones(a)redhat.com> - 0.97-33.1
>> - Backport F-9's grub to F-8.
>>* Tue Apr 08 2008 Peter Jones <pjones(a)redhat.com> - 0.97-33
>> - Rewrite ia32 efi call wrapper to make the makefile simpler.
>>
>>F9's grub is at 0.97-33. The previous version for F8 was 0.97-33.
>
> That is the same numbers. Typu?
>
>>Unless Peter Jones made some dramatic changes I don't see how this
>>backporting is going to adversely affect your system.
>
> Thanks. But this still does not explain why grub itself is so slow.
>
> After the bios is done, then the next thing one normally sees is the "Grub
> stage 2 loading", but I'm watching a monitor telling me there is no input
> drive for about 12 seconds between the bios clearing the screen, and that
> printout.
>
> And normally that just sort of flickers for a few milliseconds, but that
> now stays on screen for 2 or 3 seconds, then the screen is cleared again,
> and about 10 seconds later the boot choice menu finally pops up. This
> only took maybe 2 seconds total on the old motherboard, now it's a good
> 20-25 seconds from the bios clearing the screen to the boot selection
> menu.
>
> Its that time that I'm fussing about.
>
> --
> Cheers, Gene
Have you checked the boot order in your BIOS settings?
This particular bios gives one the choice of media order, and I have HDISK set
as first choice. In another menu, the onboard IDE is first choice, and on
this ASUS mobo, there is only one ide socket/channel, followed by about 8
sata's, and I have a pata_sil plain pci ide card which addresses the other
partitions as not all of this system is on the same drive. Presently, there
is a 400 (372)GB Deathstar on sata1, and that is only used by amanda as its
repository for a 30 directory virtual tapes setup.
The output of df:
[root@coyote linux-2.6.27-rc8-4]# df
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda3 470854808 25622460 420928416 6% /
/dev/sdc2 143830328 6657620 129748672 5% /home
/dev/sdc3 148522020 39811816 101043988 29% /usr
/dev/sdc1 10426124 3147408 6740544 32% /var
/dev/sdb1 384578164 332136332 32906392 91% /amandatapes
/dev/sda1 248895 133498 102547 57% /boot
tmpfs 2073508 0 2073508 0% /dev/shm
/amandatapes was /dev/sdc on the old biostar mobo, and everything shown
as /dev/sdc was formerly /dev/sdb. Since /dev/sdc is on a separate pata_sil
controller and not included in the asus bios scan, I have not found a way to
re-sort that to put all ide's before the first sata. It boots from /dev/sda1
& 3 as it always has, and there is swap on both sda and sdc.
Also do you
happen to have non-bootable media in your CD/DVD drive?
Its a dual layer writer, and empty. At present, no floppy, and its disabled
in the bios.
I'm wondering now, if the mbr that initiates the boot to (hd0,0) is not
on /dev/sda. That would make the bios search all drives for the partition
marked as bootable.
How can I verify that what is now /dev/sda, on the onboard ide connector, is
actually the location of the grub stage 1 its using. I'm not fam enough with
the contents of the mbr to be able to confirm/deny that, although I can use
dd to dump them. Or maybe this bios, like scsi, has to scan all 8 sata
channels before it starts on the remaining on-board ide. That used to cause
a 49 second delay when scsi was set to scan all luns.
Maybe I should check the asus site for a bios update? It would not be the
first time I've bought a board with an old bios on it.
Its an ASUS "M2N-SLI DELUXE" if that triggers any memories here.
Thanks.
--
Cheers, Gene
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
wolf, n.:
A man who knows all the ankles.
1:30 a.m.
Gene Heskett wrote:
Thanks. But this still does not explain why grub itself is so slow.
After the bios is done, then the next thing one normally sees is the "Grub
stage 2 loading", but I'm watching a monitor telling me there is no input
drive for about 12 seconds between the bios clearing the screen, and that
printout.
And normally that just sort of flickers for a few milliseconds, but that now
stays on screen for 2 or 3 seconds, then the screen is cleared again, and
about 10 seconds later the boot choice menu finally pops up. This only took
maybe 2 seconds total on the old motherboard, now it's a good 20-25 seconds
from the bios clearing the screen to the boot selection menu.
Its that time that I'm fussing about.
Are you running on an x86_64 platform?
On my 64-bit machine, grub is running in 32-bit mode and it takes a fair
bit of time for the POST to GRUB transition, just like you describe.
My theory is that it is taking time to mode-switch from 64-bit to 32-bit
mode and then back.
8:27 a.m.
On Thursday 02 October 2008, G.Wolfe Woodbury wrote:
Gene Heskett wrote:
> Thanks. But this still does not explain why grub itself is so slow.
>
> After the bios is done, then the next thing one normally sees is the "Grub
> stage 2 loading", but I'm watching a monitor telling me there is no input
> drive for about 12 seconds between the bios clearing the screen, and that
> printout.
>
> And normally that just sort of flickers for a few milliseconds, but that
> now stays on screen for 2 or 3 seconds, then the screen is cleared again,
> and about 10 seconds later the boot choice menu finally pops up. This
> only took maybe 2 seconds total on the old motherboard, now it's a good
> 20-25 seconds from the bios clearing the screen to the boot selection
> menu.
>
> Its that time that I'm fussing about.
Are you running on an x86_64 platform?
No, the installed compiler is 32 bit only.
On my 64-bit machine, grub is running in 32-bit mode and it takes a
fair
bit of time for the POST to GRUB transition, just like you describe.
My theory is that it is taking time to mode-switch from 64-bit to 32-bit
mode and then back.
Possibly, but that sure seems like an excessive amount of time just to switch
modes, and it would only be from 64 to 32 anyway. I am using 32 bit kernels,
home brewed, and just last night got the PAE turned on in 2.6.27-rc8-4,
the -4 indicating its built smp etc. But that makes no diff in the wasted
time.
--
Cheers, Gene
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
"No one gets too old to learn a new way of being stupid."
9:51 a.m.
Gene Heskett wrote:
On Wednesday 01 October 2008, Kam Leo wrote:
> On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 11:13 AM, Gene Heskett <gene.heskett(a)verizon.net>
wrote:
>> Greetings;
>>
>> I built a new box yesterday, and one of the things I'm seeing is about a
>> 10 second lag between the bios clearing the screen after doing its thing,
>> and the "Loading Grub stage 2", which stays on screen for several
seconds,
>> then its blanked for another 10 secs or so, and finally the grub
'choice'
>> menu comes up.
>>
>> This is with the new grub. One thing I had done on the previous mobo was
>> to have just one entry in /boot/grub/devices, but I see that has been
>> reset by something from /dev/sdb to /dev/sda, presumably by upgrading grub
>> this morning.
>>
>> The bios is set to boot from the first ide, which is (hd0,0) I believe.
>>
>> What can I post that might be of interest?, just ask.
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>> --
>> Cheers, Gene
> What new grub? As far as I am aware there has been no update to grub.
The one that's been sitting in updates for 2-3 months, scared to install it
because my drive mapping was fubar on that biostar mobo with its outboard
sata controller. Now on this asus, it seems like hd0,0 is indeed /dev/sda1,
aka /boot in the label. Anyway, it worked.
I built a new computer this past spring using an ASUS MB and I had all
kinds of issues. I checked and found that the MB didn't have the latest
BIOS. In fact it was a few versions out of date.
Check the ASUS site for BIOS updates and see if that fixes this issue.
It fixed almost all my issues. I am running F8.
--
Robin Laing
5683
days inactive
5684
days old
9 comments
4 participants
participants (4)
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G.Wolfe Woodbury -
Gene Heskett -
Kam Leo -
Robin Laing