Default kernel parameter 'crashkernel=auto' crashes kernel on RHEL 6 on POWER Systems

Updated -

On some configurations of POWER systems users may experience a problem during installation. The steps below describe how to work around the problem and finish your installation.

Note: the ability to dump the system will be disabled by following these steps.

  • The RHEL6 installation will finish and the system will then reboot for first boot after installation. You may see the kernel fail to boot with the following message on the system console:

    returning from prom_init  
Kernel panic - not syncing: ERROR: Failed to allocate 0x4000 bytes below 0x10000000.  
Rebooting in 180 seconds..

  • The system will then reboot in 180 seconds. When the system gets to the yaboot prompt, you will see:

    Welcome to Red Hat Enterprise Linux!  
Hit <TAB> for boot options  
Welcome to yaboot version 1.3.14 (Red Hat 1.3.14-34.el6)  
Enter "help" to get some basic usage information  
boot:

  • Hit the Tab key. This will list the images available for booting. During the install process you can expect to see:

    linux

  • At the Yaboot prompt 'boot:', type the following:

    linux crashkernel=512M-2G:256M

and hit Return. The kernel will boot and you will see the system login prompt.

  • You should then log in as root and edit the /etc/yaboot.conf file. In the file you will see the following:

    # yaboot.conf generated by anaconda  

boot=/dev/sda1  
init-message="Welcome to Red Hat Enterprise Linux!\nHit <TAB> for boot options"  

partition=2  
timeout=5  
install=/usr/lib/yaboot/yaboot  
delay=30  
enablecdboot  
enableofboot  
enablenetboot  
nonvram  
fstype=raw  

image=/vmlinuz-2.6.32-59.el6.ppc64  
 label=linux  
 read-only  
 initrd=/initramfs-2.6.32-59.el6.ppc64.img  
 append="rd_NO_LUKS rd_NO_LVM rd_NO_MD rd_NO_DM LANG=en_US.UTF-8 SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 KEYTABLE=us console=hvc0 crashkernel=auto rhgb quiet root=UUID=63f94acf-6241-4a66-a861-9de912602287"

  • On the 'append' line delete the 'crashkernel' parameter. The append line will now look like:

    append="rd_NO_LUKS rd_NO_LVM rd_NO_MD rd_NO_DM LANG=en_US.UTF-8 SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 KEYTABLE=us console=hvc0 rhgb quiet root=UUID=63f94acf-6241-4a66-a861-9de912602287"

  • Save and exit the editing session. Now subsequent reboots will work and boot to system prompt.

Comments