When used kernel version 2.4.23_pre8-gss or 2.4.23 vanilla, "OS Install Mode" is triggered in the BIOS of my Dell Dimemsion 4600. This does not occur with kernel 2.4.20, RedHat9 with 2.4.20, and Windows 2000 Server. On reboot it is required to edit the BIOS to turn off "OS Install Mode" (which restricts memory to 256M), and rebooting an additional time. Other than the need to manually edit the BIOS with each reboot, the system operates normally. Some system details: Kernel compiled for SMP. Single P4 2.4G processor in hyper-threading mode. Kernel patched with device-mapper 1.00.07. File systems running under EVMS 2.2.0 # uname -a Linux gecko 2.4.23 #1 SMP Tue Dec 2 11:19:07 PST 2003 i686 Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.40GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux # lspci 00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp. 82865G/PE/P Processor to I/O Controller (rev 02) 00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82865G/PE/P Processor to AGP Controller (rev 02) 00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801EB USB (rev 02) 00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801EB USB (rev 02) 00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801EB USB (rev 02) 00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801EB USB (rev 02) 00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801EB USB2 (rev 02) 00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82801BA/CA/DB/EB PCI Bridge (rev c2) 00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82801EB LPC Interface Controller (rev 02) 00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controller (rev 02) 00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controller (rev 02) 00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corp. 82801EB SMBus Controller (rev 02) 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV18 [GeForce4 MX 440 AGP 8x] (rev a2) 02:00.0 Multimedia audio controller: Ensoniq ES1371 [AudioPCI-97] (rev 08) 02:01.0 Ethernet controller: 3Com Corporation 3c905B 100BaseTX [Cyclone] (rev 30) 02:02.0 Communication controller: Conexant: Unknown device 2702 (rev 01) 02:08.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 1050 (rev 02)
>> Kernel compiled for SMP Can you see whether you get this when it's compiled for a uniprocessor system?
Recompiled kernel with SMP off, turned off Hyperthreading in BIOS, still get same behavior. The BIOS is Phoenix for Dimension 4600 version A02.
Okay - because these sources are upstream and not managed by Gentoo Technologies, Inc. we can't do that much. If you get this with vanilla sources, I urge you to contact the LKML <www.lkml.org> and send along an e-mail describing your problem.