Vicibox 3.0.6 - firstboot_write failure

[darryldale]

I'm in the process of setting up a disaster recover system for my ViciBox.

Downloaded 3.0.6 iso image (since that is what my live system is currently using) and it boots up fine.

I get past the network card configuration screen and then get an error indicating there is an error in the firstboot_write package and to look at the log. I can see in behind the error message a bunch of errors indicating that the log file cannot be written to either.

Any ideas what might be causing this?

I did a search in the forums for firstboot_write but didn't come across anything. I don't really want to download the newest version as I would like my DR box to have exactly the same version as my production box.

Note that the box I am trying to install to is a system that has a very old version of vicidialnow on it that we were playing with about a year ago.

Darryl

[Eugene]

The first impression is that live CD does not detect hard drive.
Well, the second thought (which deserves to be the first) is to verify MD5 of the installation media.
Sorry, I am not an OpenSuse guru to give you more substantial advice.

[williamconley]

excellent eugene. great advice.

remember that your VICIBOX INSTALLER does not need to "match" unless you have made "mods" to the system overall. if you have made not mods to the system (outside the vicidial gui and .conf files in asterisk), you are safe installing the "latest" vicibox.

But you should try to match the VICIDIAL version and build. This can be done with SVN. Alternately, of course, you can simply copy from "Functional" to "DR" (nightly?) the entire setup. Since you'll be copying the database already anyway, that's not a stretch. Remember that the IP address will likely be WRONG on the DR box (Unless you intend to actually change the IP address to the main server ip in case of death and take the main server "offline").

Choices:

use SVN to change your version to match after a standard install of the newer VICIBOX

use backup/restore (restore is manual, but you'll need it to set up a DR box anyway ) to change the version in the DR box to match the production box

update the production box to the latest version using zypper up and / or SVN. (then the new box will already match at installation!)

also: if your VICIBOX install continues to fail, even on the latest, post your motherboard specs and try GoAutoDial (which can also use a backup set as a DR for a Vicidial box, the databases are the same!)

[darryldale]

Actually I downloaded the iso & md5 file and checked it before even burning to cd so I know that is good.

I will download the latest version today and give it another shot and see what happens.

Darryl

[williamconley]

And in all cases: I do recommend posting your motherboard model number, in case someone else has knowledge of any oddities.

in some cases it is as simple as removing all prior partitions from the HD before you begin.

[darryldale]

Well it looks like it got a little further after removing the existing partitions from the hard drive.

I tried with 3.0.6 and the latest and greatest downloaded this morning and in both cases it appears to be a hard drive issue.

I used ranish to remove all of the existing partitions from the drive.

If I then try and install ViciBox using either the old or new one it eventually crashes with an i/o error of some sort. If I then boot up off my utility disk and take a look at the partitions I don't see any partitions created at all.

My motherboard is an Asus P5GC-MX with a Sata hard drive.

Darryl

[williamconley]

an i/o error of some sort

i think this information may be useful.

you may also want to share the partitions that you created/attempted to create during the installation (lvm? what kind of partition and where?)

[darryldale]

Here is what I just did.

a) Booted up my utility disk and verified all partitions are gone

b) Booted up 3.0.6 and attempted an install. Got past the license agreement and network configuration screen (not making any changes and just leaving as dhcp).

It blew up on the "Writing system config" screen and at the top I see a "journal commit i/o error" which stays up for a minute or so and then a black screen full of the following line:

/etc/initscript: line 77: /etc/sysconfig/ulimit: Input/output error

c) With 3.1.6 I get pas the network configuration screen again and it blows up in exactly the same spot.

I don't even make it to the base o/s installation where the drive partitions would be setup.

Darryl

[williamconley]

have you read the notes kumba made regarding drives and the utilities he recommended to "clean" them before installation in case of "used drive" issues? it may be on point.

[darryldale]

I believe these are the notes you are referring to:

The installer can sometimes be finicky about hard-drives that have been repurposed from other things, I.E. non-blank drives. The easiest thing when this happens is to just wipe the partition table of the effected drives, and reboot onto the CD to start the install. DO NOT DO THIS ON A LIVE SYSTEM! It WILL flatten your drive, costing you ALL your data!

1) Boot from ViciBox cd and login as root with password vicidial
2) Type this: dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/path bs=512 count=1024
3) Reboot from ViciBox CD and proceed with Phase-1 install

Issue is that I can't even boot from the ViciBox CD. It doesn't get to the point where I can login. I used ranish partition manager to delete all existing partitions. Nothing but free space on the drive now.

I also saw the note about using a good nameserver so just tried the install again and manually configured my ip address, nameserver (using the google one like recommended 8.8.8..

Same issue.

Darryl
Darryl

[williamconley]

nope, different instructions. recent vicibox redux changes have been altered due to some issues with drives, and some of these issues remain (after all, it's the opensuse installer that is interacting with the drives ... kumba may not have full control over that just yet)

[darryldale]

Instead of beating my head against a wall I'll just grab another computer off the shelf and try it on that to see what happens.

Darryl

[williamconley]

or at least a fresh drive

[darryldale]

That is a thought but really how much cleaner could the drive be?

I've already removed all of the partitions? It is nothing but free space at this point.

Darryl

[williamconley]

that was the conversation thread i was talking about. apparently they are not as clean as one would think. or there is a special method to deal with them if they've already been used.

i've bumped into that a few times with some of the linux distros as well, but i've not yet found a universal fix for it.

[darryldale]

Instead of monkeying around with it any longer just grabbed another Dell desktop I had laying around and tried the install on it.

Worked first shot.

Live and learn I guess.

Darryl