BEE BIOS Configuration

Before a new BEE is commisioned, the BIOS must be configured and the disk image loaded.

  1. Requirement: the per-spectrograph MOXA must be configured and the BEE’s serial console line connected. The address will be moxa-spN.pfs for N in 1..4 (the spectrograph number), port 400X for X in 1..3 (the dewar number: Blue=1, Red=2, NIR=3). Since it is a network device you should not need to specify a baud rate, but it will be 38400 baud.

  2. enable the serial console. We try to do this without requiring a monitor, but you do need to connect a USB keyboard. As it stands that requires a special P8 connector on the back of the piepan which feeds a female USB for a keyboard. There is one at IDG.

    • On powerup, hold down the DEL key for ~15s
    • 3*Right (to Boot)
    • 7*Down RET (into Console Redirection)
    • RET Down RET (enable Console Redirection)
    • 2*Down RET (to speed selection)
    • 2*Down RET (38400 8,n,1)
    • ESC 4*Right RET RET (Save config and exit)

    NOTE: This sequence only works for BIOSes where the serial console has _not_ been configured. There is no sane way to tell whether that has been done.

    When booting using the serial console, F4 (and not DEL) brings you to the BIOS, and F3 (not F11) brings you to the boot device chooser.

  3. check serial console.

    On a linux host, connect with something like miniterm.py --eol cr --raw socket://moxa-sp3:4001. That would be for b3; adjust to

    taste. See step 0.

    The last step of the BIOS work rebooted the BEE: you should see booting stuff in the miniterm.py session. Again, hold down F4 from power up to break into the BIOS. Do that now, and note the MAC address of the board for the DHCP/DNS server.

    While there: - Advanced/Miscellaneous Config: Disable the second (CN30) Ethernet - Advanced/Miscellaneous Config: Enable the watchdog interrupt on IRQ11 - Advanced/Serial Port Config: Set CN8 to 2 ports - Advanced/Digital I/O: Enabled, IRQ10

    If you need/want to power-cycle the BEE, from the PFS server invoke pcm.py --cam=b3 --off=bee --on=bee.

  1. reboot to install disk image.

    If still using the USB keyboard, restart while holding down F12 (forces network/PXE boot). If using the serial console, restart while holding down F3, then choose Network…00C8.

  2. install OS image. Reboot.

    Start the image server. On the IDG server (192.168.1.252 from inside the IDG network), log in and invoke nc -v -q 5 -l -p 9000 < /tftpboot/bee.hdd. Leave that window open until you have installed the image.

    Power bee down.

    Connect to the serial console, hold down the F3 key. Wait a few seconds after the BIOS stuff starts scrolling. This should bring you to the boot device selection page. Chose the single network.

    The PXE boot should bring to a Debian installer menu. Chose Advanced Options, then Rescue Mode.

    Select the default (hit return) for the language and location. Check that the hostname is as expected (“bee-b1”, say); accept pfs as the domain name.

    Default Debian mirror country and host, default (no) proxy.

    It will then build a runnable Linux system in RAM, which is all we need.

    If fetching time takes too long, just cancel out of that step.

    Default time zone.

    Now it gets more interesting. It should tell you that there are no disk partitions (a lie), or list the existing ones. If the former, Continue to rescue mode; if the latter, choose ‘Do not use a root file syatem’.

    At the next menu Execute a shell, then confirm that choice.

    At the BusyBox ‘#’ prompt, invoke “fdisk -l”, which should find /dev/sda and some partitions. If not, stop.

    Invoke the download, writing directly to the bare hard drive: nc tron.pfs 9000 > /dev/sda. You should see confirmation in the server window. The transfer takes a while (3-4 minutes). Both the server and the BEE should return to their respective prompts.

    Reboot (ON THE BEE!!!): reboot. Stuff should scroll by, eventually ending with login prompt.