Are there any recommended configuration options for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 on the IBM 4838-310?

Updated -

Release Found: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 running on the IBM 4838-310

Problem:

You are experiencing various problems running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 on an IBM 4838-310. These problems might include:

  • System hanging during boot

  • One or more serial ports are not functional

  • System does not recover from stand-by mode

Solutions:

1. Use the kernel boot parameter 'pci=nomsi'.

This system requires the 'pci=nomsi' boot parameter during and also after the installation. If this parameter is not available and the network device is enabled during installation, the system will hang during boot after installation, and the file system gets corrupted. This problem is caused by the Broadcom BCM5906 Ethernet controllers set up via MSI. The workaround is to disable the Message Signalled Interrupts (MSI) using the above kernel parameter.

2. Use the kernel boot parameter 'pnpacpi=off'.

Without this parameter the serial ports are not functional. If this parameter is not used, four out of five serial ports are detected, but not functional. The workaround is to disable pnpacpi using the above kernel parameter.

3. Use the kernel boot parameter '8250.nr_uarts=5'.

There are five serial ports present in this machine model. The fifth port is used to connect the integrated touch screen to this hardware. The above kernel boot parameter is used to detect the fifth serial port. By default only four serial ports are detected. The next step is to configure the fifth serial port using 'setserial' command as given below.

setserial /dev/ttyS4 port 0x2d8 irq 7 uart 16550A ^fourport
spd_normal skip_test auto_irq low_latency baud_base 115200

4. Disable power management in the BIOS.

There is a known issue with this system being unable to recover from standby mode. It is recommended to disable power management in the BIOS to avoid this issue.

For questions around making changes the system BIOS, please contact IBM support: http://www.ibm.com/support/us/en/

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