Chapter 17. Troubleshooting Installation on an IBM Power Systems server
This section discusses some common installation problems and their solutions.
For debugging purposes, anaconda logs installation actions into files in the
/tmp directory. These files include:
/tmp/anaconda.log- general anaconda messages
/tmp/program.log- all external programs run by anaconda
/tmp/storage.log- extensive storage module information
/tmp/yum.log- yum package installation messages
/tmp/syslog- hardware-related system messages
If the installation fails, the messages from these files are consolidated into
/tmp/anaconda-tb-identifier, where identifier is a random string.
You may also find the IBM Online Alert Section for System p useful. It is located at:
http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/sas/f/lopdiags/info/LinuxAlerts.html
All of the files above reside in the installer's ramdisk and are thus volatile. To make a permanent copy, copy those files to another system on the network using
scp on the installation image (not the other way round).
17.1. You Are Unable to Boot Red Hat Enterprise Linux
17.1.1. Is Your System Displaying Signal 11 Errors?
A signal 11 error, commonly known as a segmentation fault, means that the program accessed a memory location that was not assigned to it. A signal 11 error may be due to a bug in one of the software programs that is installed, or faulty hardware.
If you receive a fatal signal 11 error during your installation, it is probably due to a hardware error in memory on your system's bus. Like other operating systems, Red Hat Enterprise Linux places its own demands on your system's hardware. Some of this hardware may not be able to meet those demands, even if they work properly under another OS.
Ensure that you have the latest installation updates and images. Review the online errata to see if newer versions are available. If the latest images still fail, it may be due to a problem with your hardware. Commonly, these errors are in your memory or CPU-cache. A possible solution for this error is turning off the CPU-cache in the BIOS, if your system supports this. You could also try to swap your memory around in the motherboard slots to check if the problem is either slot or memory related.
Another option is to perform a media check on your installation DVD. Anaconda, the installation program, has the ability to test the integrity of the installation media. It works with the DVD, hard drive ISO, and NFS ISO installation methods. Red Hat recommends that you test all installation media before starting the installation process, and before reporting any installation-related bugs (many of the bugs reported are actually due to improperly-burned DVDs). To use this test, type the following command at the
boot: or yaboot: prompt:
linux mediacheck
For more information concerning signal 11 errors, refer to:
http://www.bitwizard.nl/sig11/