NetBSD/xen kernel failures?

My build of "release" for i386 (under NetBSD/xen)
finished, but the
resulting XEN3_DOM0 kernel still wouldn't load.  Xen
complained about:

    Not a XEN-ELF image:  '__xen_guest' section not found.

Attempting to load a native NetBSD/i386 kernel with GRUB
results in:

    Error 13:  Invalid or unsupported executable format.

The other problem I mentioned with some NetBSD/xen kernels
crashing I
cannot report on better until I can arrange to have a serial
console
attached to another machine.

Just for grins, I rebuilt my custom "JDBT-X3D0"
kernel (which has a
supporting "JDBT-X2D0" config, which is the
XEN2_DOM0 config with the
extraneous device support commented out).  This was also
built with the
system running under the previous working XEN3_DOM0 kernel.

I copied the custom NetBSD/xen kernel into place and it
loaded successfully.
What gives?  I made no changes at all.  Not even updating
the source tree.

Output of 'uname -a':
NetBSD jdb-test.sac.accd.edu 4.0_BETA NetBSD
4.0_BETA (JDBT-X3D0) #3: Thu Oct 19 11:38:34 CDT 2006
sysopjdb-test.sac.accd.edu:/space/nbsd/build/sys/arch/i386
/compile/JDBT-X3D0
i386

The only odd thing about my custom kernel, is that I get
complaints at boot
time (and now that I'm starting to experiment with getting a
DOMU running),
about:

    /kern/xen/balloon:  No such file or directory

I don't see anything in the kernel config file that I might
have
accidentally commented out that would cause that.

Below is what my configuration looks like.  All filesystems
are FFSv2
with softdeps enabled.  The listing of the root directory
was made
back when I first posted about my observations.

output of 'df -k':
Filesystem  1K-blocks      Used     Avail Capacity  Mounted
on
/dev/wd0a       63798     39328     21282    64%    /
/dev/wd0f      246503     20500    213678     8%    /var
/dev/wd0g     3050142   1493810   1403826    51%    /usr
/dev/wd0e      246503         7    234171     0%    /tmp
/dev/wd0h    14316326   6537488   7063022    48%    /space
kernfs              1         1         0   100%    /kern

/grub/menu.lst:
#
# menu.lst - GRUB boot menu configuration file
#

# setup GRUB appearance
color light-gray/blue black/light-gray

# The default entry if no user selection, 0-based.
default=0
fallback=1

# wait this long for user to select.
timeout=10

# Xen 3 with /netbsd-x3d0 as domain 0 noapic
title Xen 3.0 / NetBSD-4.0_BETA (hda0, VGA, noapic)
  root (hd0,0,a)
  kernel (hd0,0,g)/pkg/xen3-kernel/xen.gz dom0_mem=131072
noapic
  module (hd0,0,a)/netbsd-x3d0 root=/dev/hda1 ro console=pc

# Xen 3 with /netbsd-x3d0 as domain 0 noapic backup
title Xen 3.0 / NetBSD-4.0_BETA backup (hda0, VGA, noapic)
  root (hd0,0,a)
  kernel (hd0,0,g)/pkg/xen3-kernel/xen.gz dom0_mem=131072
noapic
  module (hd0,0,a)/netbsd-x3d0.old root=/dev/hda1 ro
console=pc

# Xen 3 with /netbsd-x3d0 as domain 0
title Xen 3.0 / NetBSD-4.0_BETA (hda0, VGA)
  root (hd0,0,a)
  kernel (hd0,0,g)/pkg/xen3-kernel/xen.gz dom0_mem=131072
  module (hd0,0,a)/netbsd-x3d0 root=/dev/hda1 ro console=pc

# Xen 3 with /netbsd-x3d0 as domain 0 backup
title Xen 3.0 / NetBSD-4.0_BETA backup (hda0, VGA)
  root (hd0,0,a)
  kernel (hd0,0,g)/pkg/xen3-kernel/xen.gz dom0_mem=131072
  module (hd0,0,a)/netbsd-x3d0.old root=/dev/hda1 ro
console=pc

# NetBSD
title NetBSD 4.0_BETA
  root (hd0,0,a)
  kernel --type=netbsd /netbsd

# NetBSD backup
title NetBSD 4.0_BETA backup
  root (hd0,0,a)
  kernel --type=netbsd /netbsd.old

# NetBSD chainloader
title NetBSD chain
  root (hd0,0,a) 	     # NetBSD on 1st MBR partition of 1st
IDE disk
  chainloader +1

output of 'ls -laF /':
total 45544
drwxr-xr-x  26 root  wheel      512 Oct 16 21:58 ./
drwxr-xr-x  26 root  wheel      512 Oct 16 21:58 ../
-rw-r--r--   2 root  wheel      940 Sep  2  2003 .cshrc
drwxr-xr-x   2 root  wheel      512 Sep  8 16:38 altroot/
drwxr-xr-x   2 root  wheel      512 Aug 29 17:43 amd/
drwxr-xr-x   2 root  wheel     1024 Sep 28 16:12 bin/
-r--r--r--   1 root  wheel    53820 Aug 29 16:12 boot
dr-xr-xr-x   2 root  wheel      512 Oct 16 21:58 cd/
drwxr-xr-x   4 root  wheel    31232 Oct  6 11:51 dev/
drwxr-xr-x   2 root  wheel      512 Sep 28 12:57 emul/
drwxr-xr-x  25 root  wheel     2048 Oct 16 21:58 etc/
drwxr-xr-x   2 root  wheel      512 Oct  5 17:40 grub/
dr-xr-xr-x   2 root  wheel      512 Oct 17 16:32 home/
dr-xr-xr-x   3 root  wheel      512 Oct 17 17:42 kern/
drwxr-xr-x   2 root  wheel     1536 Sep 28 16:03 lib/
drwxr-xr-x   3 root  wheel      512 Sep  8 16:38 libdata/
drwxr-xr-x   2 root  wheel      512 Sep 28 16:03 libexec/
drwxr-xr-x   2 root  wheel      512 Sep  8 16:38 mnt/
dr-xr-xr-x   2 root  wheel      512 Oct 16 21:58 net/
-rwxr-xr-x   1 root  wheel  4717643 Oct 12 13:22 netbsd*
-rwxr-xr-x   1 root  wheel  4849098 Oct 12 17:54
netbsd-x3d0*
-rwxr-xr-x   1 root  wheel  8827257 Oct  5 22:01
netbsd-x3d0.old*
-rwxr-xr-x   1 root  wheel  4717643 Oct  5 15:00 netbsd.old*
drwxr-xr-x   2 root  wheel      512 Aug 29 16:12 proc/
drwxr-xr-x   2 root  wheel     2560 Sep 28 16:15 rescue/
drwxr-xr-x   3 root  wheel      512 Sep  9 00:42 root/
drwxr-xr-x   2 root  wheel     2048 Sep 28 16:14 sbin/
drwxr-xr-x   6 root  wheel      512 Oct  9 20:00 space/
drwxr-xr-x   2 root  wheel      512 Sep  8 16:38 stand/
drwxrwxrwt   6 root  wheel      512 Oct 17 17:41 tmp/
drwxr-xr-x  15 root  wheel      512 Sep  8 16:38 usr/
drwxr-xr-x  24 root  wheel      512 Oct  5 13:44 var/

--
John D. Baker
jdbaker()mylinuxisp!com

On Fri, Oct 20, 2006 at 11:57:43AM -0500, jdbakermylinuxisp.com wrote:
> My build of "release" for i386 (under
NetBSD/xen) finished, but the
> resulting XEN3_DOM0 kernel still wouldn't load.  Xen
complained about:
> 
>     Not a XEN-ELF image:  '__xen_guest' section not
found.
> 
> Attempting to load a native NetBSD/i386 kernel with
GRUB results in:
> 
>     Error 13:  Invalid or unsupported executable
format.
> 
> The other problem I mentioned with some NetBSD/xen
kernels crashing I
> cannot report on better until I can arrange to have a
serial console
> attached to another machine.
> 
> Just for grins, I rebuilt my custom
"JDBT-X3D0" kernel (which has a
> supporting "JDBT-X2D0" config, which is the
XEN2_DOM0 config with the
> extraneous device support commented out).  This was
also built with the
> system running under the previous working XEN3_DOM0
kernel.
> 
> I copied the custom NetBSD/xen kernel into place and it
loaded successfully.
> What gives?  I made no changes at all.  Not even
updating the source tree.

I already noticed that grub has troubles reading ffs in some
circunstances
(it  fails to find the file, or loads the wrong blocks). 
What parameters do you have for / ? I suspect for a working
grub, you need
a 8k/1k block/fragment size, ffsv1 only.

-- 
Manuel Bouyer <bouyerantioche.eu.org>
     NetBSD: 26 ans d'experience feront toujours la
difference
--

On Fri, 20 Oct 2006 20:16:19 +0200
Manuel Bouyer <bouyerantioche.eu.org> wrote:

> I already noticed that grub has troubles reading ffs in
some
> circunstances (it  fails to find the file, or loads the
wrong
> blocks). What parameters do you have for / ? I suspect
for a working
> grub, you need a 8k/1k block/fragment size, ffsv1 only.

Looks like there's a size limit in grub loading kernel
files, because
days ago when I added the bluetooth devices into XEN2_DOM0
I had this error too.

My workaround was to compress it with gzip, worked
perfectly.

On Fri, Oct 20, 2006 at 11:57:43AM -0500, jdbakermylinuxisp.com wrote:
> My build of "release" for i386 (under
NetBSD/xen) finished, but the
> resulting XEN3_DOM0 kernel still wouldn't load.  Xen
complained about:
> 
>     Not a XEN-ELF image:  '__xen_guest' section not
found.
> 
> Attempting to load a native NetBSD/i386 kernel with
GRUB results in:
> 
>     Error 13:  Invalid or unsupported executable
format.
> 
> The other problem I mentioned with some NetBSD/xen
kernels crashing I
> cannot report on better until I can arrange to have a
serial console
> attached to another machine.
> 
> Just for grins, I rebuilt my custom
"JDBT-X3D0" kernel (which has a
> supporting "JDBT-X2D0" config, which is the
XEN2_DOM0 config with the
> extraneous device support commented out).  This was
also built with the
> system running under the previous working XEN3_DOM0
kernel.
> 
> I copied the custom NetBSD/xen kernel into place and it
loaded successfully.
> What gives?  I made no changes at all.  Not even
updating the source tree.

I already noticed that grub has troubles reading ffs in some
circunstances
(it  fails to find the file, or loads the wrong blocks). 
What parameters do you have for / ? I suspect for a working
grub, you need
a 8k/1k block/fragment size, ffsv1 only.

-- 
Manuel Bouyer <bouyerantioche.eu.org>
     NetBSD: 26 ans d'experience feront toujours la
difference
--

On Fri, 20 Oct 2006 20:16:19 +0200
Manuel Bouyer <bouyerantioche.eu.org> wrote:

> I already noticed that grub has troubles reading ffs in
some
> circunstances (it  fails to find the file, or loads the
wrong
> blocks). What parameters do you have for / ? I suspect
for a working
> grub, you need a 8k/1k block/fragment size, ffsv1 only.

Looks like there's a size limit in grub loading kernel
files, because
days ago when I added the bluetooth devices into XEN2_DOM0
I had this error too.

My workaround was to compress it with gzip, worked
perfectly.

On Fri, Oct 20, 2006 at 08:18:46PM +0200, Juan RP wrote:
> On Fri, 20 Oct 2006 20:16:19 +0200
> Manuel Bouyer <bouyerantioche.eu.org> wrote:
> 
> > I already noticed that grub has troubles reading
ffs in some
> > circunstances (it  fails to find the file, or
loads the wrong
> > blocks). What parameters do you have for / ? I
suspect for a working
> > grub, you need a 8k/1k block/fragment size, ffsv1
only.
> 
> Looks like there's a size limit in grub loading kernel
files, because
> days ago when I added the bluetooth devices into
XEN2_DOM0
> I had this error too.
> 
> My workaround was to compress it with gzip, worked
perfectly.

Hum, the issues I had was with loading smaller kernels, I
think.
After repartitionning, with a small 8k/1k / partition I
could load the
kernel.

-- 
Manuel Bouyer <bouyerantioche.eu.org>
     NetBSD: 26 ans d'experience feront toujours la
difference
--

On Fri, Oct 20, 2006 at 08:18:46PM +0200, Juan RP wrote:
> On Fri, 20 Oct 2006 20:16:19 +0200
> Manuel Bouyer <bouyerantioche.eu.org> wrote:
> 
> > I already noticed that grub has troubles reading
ffs in some
> > circunstances (it  fails to find the file, or
loads the wrong
> > blocks). What parameters do you have for / ? I
suspect for a working
> > grub, you need a 8k/1k block/fragment size, ffsv1
only.
> 
> Looks like there's a size limit in grub loading kernel
files, because
> days ago when I added the bluetooth devices into
XEN2_DOM0
> I had this error too.
> 
> My workaround was to compress it with gzip, worked
perfectly.

Hum, the issues I had was with loading smaller kernels, I
think.
After repartitionning, with a small 8k/1k / partition I
could load the
kernel.

-- 
Manuel Bouyer <bouyerantioche.eu.org>
     NetBSD: 26 ans d'experience feront toujours la
difference
--

On Fri, Oct 20, 2006 at 08:18:46PM +0200, Juan RP wrote:
> On Fri, 20 Oct 2006 20:16:19 +0200
> Manuel Bouyer <bouyerantioche.eu.org> wrote:
> 
> > I already noticed that grub has troubles reading
ffs in some
> > circunstances (it  fails to find the file, or
loads the wrong
> > blocks). What parameters do you have for / ? I
suspect for a working
> > grub, you need a 8k/1k block/fragment size, ffsv1
only.
> 
> Looks like there's a size limit in grub loading kernel
files, because
> days ago when I added the bluetooth devices into
XEN2_DOM0
> I had this error too.
>
> My workaround was to compress it with gzip, worked
perfectly.

Someone must have reused a bit of Linux code in grub,
apparently ))

( I also remember compressing /netbsd )

-- 

florian heigl			 http://deranfangvomen.de/
Uebrigens: Viele DV-Leiter reagieren auf die Frage, welche
Backup-Loesung sie einsetzen werden, dass sie zu weiteren
Aussagen nur bereit seien, wenn sie nicht zitiert werden.
			(computerwoche, 1989)

On 20 Oct 2006, at 13:49, Manuel Bouyer wrote:

> On Fri, Oct 20, 2006 at 08:18:46PM +0200, Juan RP
wrote:
>> On Fri, 20 Oct 2006 20:16:19 +0200
>> Manuel Bouyer <bouyerantioche.eu.org> wrote:
>>
>>> I already noticed that grub has troubles
reading ffs in some
>>> circunstances (it  fails to find the file, or
loads the wrong
>>> blocks). What parameters do you have for / ? I
suspect for a working
>>> grub, you need a 8k/1k block/fragment size,
ffsv1 only.
>>
>> Looks like there's a size limit in grub loading
kernel files, because
>> days ago when I added the bluetooth devices into
XEN2_DOM0
>> I had this error too.
>>
>> My workaround was to compress it with gzip, worked
perfectly.
>
> Hum, the issues I had was with loading smaller kernels,
I think.
> After repartitionning, with a small 8k/1k / partition I
could load the
> kernel.

Ok, I tried gzip-ing things.  This seemed to work for the
rebuilt
stock XEN3_DOM0 kernel.  No change on anything else.

After some trial and tribulation, I converted my / partition
to
ffsv1 with 8k block and 1k fragment sizes and reinstalled
grub.
Still no change.

The NetBSD/xen kernels that boot successfully cause the
following
message when trying to start a DomU:

     [Error 2] No such file or directory:
"/kern/xen/balloon"


John D. Baker                            NetBSD    
Darwin/MacOS X
http://mylinuxisp(dot)com/(tild
e)jdbaker/     OpenBSD            FreeBSD
BSD.  It just sits there and _works_.
GPG fingerprint = D703 4A7E 479F 63F8 D3F4  BD99 9572 8F23
E4AD 1645

On Tuesday 24 October 2006 13:57, John D. Baker wrote:
> [Error 2] No such file or directory:
"/kern/xen/balloon"

That looks like a memory issue. I'm not sure if it is a
misconfiguration or 
lacking support, but I have seen this error when trying to
allocate memory 
that doesn't exist.

Check your dom0 min, mem and the allocation to domU. dom0 is
196 min default 
which may not help.

Sarton