Re: Xen boot strangeness (Was: Re: [SOLVED] Re: Xen 4.18.5_20250521nb0 not ELF binary (Was: Re: EFI and Xen))

[Manuel Bouyer <bouyer%antioche.eu.org@localhost>]

On Thu, May 29, 2025 at 05:20:53PM -0400, Chuck Zmudzinski wrote:
> On 5/29/2025 3:23 PM, Manuel Bouyer wrote:
> > On Thu, May 29, 2025 at 03:01:50PM -0400, Chuck Zmudzinski wrote:
> >> [...]
> 
> > 
> > This is because the userconf command from the boot loader doens't make it
> > to the dom0 kernel.
> > Remember that when booting Xen; Xen is the kernel and XEN3_DOM0 a module.
> > I don't know if multiboot allows passing extended informations to a module.
> 
> So can you confirm the only way to invoke userconf when booting NetBSD DOM0
> as a module is by passing -c on the NetBSD command line and that it is
> not possible to invoke userconf from a setting in boot.cfg? 

Correct

> 
> > 
> >> When I pass bootdev=dk12 in boot.cfg, the bootloader strangely tries dk1 as root
> >> (which is wrong) and correctly detects dk11 as the dump device. But it never
> >> gives me the chance to enter the correct root device and instead tries to load
> >> init which of course it cannot find the NetBSD init on dk1 because dk1 is not
> >> the correct NetBSD root device. In fact on this box a Linux distro is installed
> >> on dk1, as evidenced by the filesystem type detected on dk1: ext2fs.
> > 
> > Hum this could be a bug is the boot argiment parsing. I don't have more than
> > 9 partitions on my disks and root=dkX works in my case.
> 
> I think Greg has already chimed in agreement with this opinion.
> 
> > 
> >> 
> >> Here is where it stops to ask me for init, but it never gave me
> >> the chance to enter the correct root device of dk12. Of course it
> > 
> > Yes, it was given a root device, it won't ask again.
> 
> But when I gave it the bootdev of wd1 in boot.cfg, it did ask again and
> I was able to tell it to use dk12 after it realized wd1a was not the root
> device. But when I gate it dk12 as the bootdev in boot.cfg, you are
> correct, it does not ask again. So why the difference depending on what I
> give it as the bootdev in boot.cfg?

I guess, because it can't mount wd1 but can mount dk12

-- 
Manuel Bouyer <bouyer%antioche.eu.org@localhost>
     NetBSD: 26 ans d'experience feront toujours la difference
--