Can't install 64b version on Dual Xeon setup

[bmx34]

Hi

I am trying to install Debian on an old computer (dual CPU Xeon 3.40 GHz), but I can't manage to install any 64b version of it. Only the 32b works. After reaching the installer (in BIOS mode), I get a black screen when I press install, and I am stuck here.
I have tried plenty of ISOs (last one i tried is debian-10.3.0-amd64-netinst.iso), but I have the exact same behaviour on all of them. The only ones that works fine are the 32b versions. However according to "cpuid", my hardware is 64b, and should be able to run a 64b system.
Note that I also tried Fedora and openSUSE, and for both of them I can't reach the installer, and get "isolinux.bin missing or corrupt", which, again, seems to points towards a non-64b compliant CPU...

Here is my setup :
Motherboard : Supermicro X6DAL-TG
Two CPUs : Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 3.40GHz
2GB of RAM
GeForce6800
SSD drive
Booting ISO from USB key

On my current 32b Debian :
uname -a prints 'Linux debian 4.9.0-11-686-pae #1 SMP Debian 4.9.189-3+deb9u1 (2019-09-20) i686 GNU/Linux'
uname -m prints 'i686'
uname -p prints 'unknown'

I tried to deactivate various options in the BIOS, including hyperthreading, onboard audio, serial & paralle ports, remapping of overlapped PCI memory, ... With no success>

I am running out of idea... Do I miss-read my cpuinfo, and my Xeon are 32b only ?
Do you have any idea of what I missed, or how I could diagnose what's wrong ? Maybe I am focusing on a 32/64b but the problem is not here...

Thanks for your help !


Find below more information on my cpu.

--- Here is my /dev/cpuinfo for the cpu 0 :

Code: Select all

processor	: 0
vendor_id	: GenuineIntel
cpu family	: 15
model		: 4
model name	: Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 3.40GHz
stepping	: 1
microcode	: 0x5
cpu MHz		: 3400.088
cache size	: 1024 KB
physical id	: 0
siblings	: 2
core id		: 0
cpu cores	: 1
apicid		: 0
initial apicid	: 0
fdiv_bug	: no
f00f_bug	: no
coma_bug	: no
fpu		: yes
fpu_exception	: yes
cpuid level	: 5
wp		: yes
flags		: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx [color=#FF0000]lm[/color] constant_tsc pebs bts pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl est cid cx16 xtpr
bugs		: cpu_meltdown spectre_v1 spectre_v2 spec_store_bypass l1tf mds swapgs
bogomips	: 6800.17
clflush size	: 64
cache_alignment	: 128
address sizes	: 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

--- output of cpuid (for cpu0) :

Code: Select all

CPU 0:
   vendor_id = "GenuineIntel"
   version information (1/eax):
      processor type  = primary processor (0)
      family          = Intel Pentium 4/Pentium D/Pentium Extreme Edition/Celeron/Xeon/Xeon MP/Itanium2, AMD Athlon 64/Athlon XP-M/Opteron/Sempron/Turion (15)
      model           = 0x4 (4)
      stepping id     = 0x1 (1)
      extended family = 0x0 (0)
      extended model  = 0x0 (0)
      (simple synth)  = Intel Pentium 4 (Prescott E0) / Xeon (Nocona E0) / Xeon MP (Cranford A0 / Potomac C0) / Celeron D (Prescott E0 ) / Mobile Pentium 4 (Prescott E0), 90nm
   miscellaneous (1/ebx):
      process local APIC physical ID = 0x0 (0)
      cpu count                      = 0x2 (2)
      CLFLUSH line size              = 0x8 (8)
      brand index                    = 0x0 (0)
   brand id = 0x00 (0): unknown
   feature information (1/edx):
      x87 FPU on chip                        = true
      virtual-8086 mode enhancement          = true
      debugging extensions                   = true
      page size extensions                   = true
      time stamp counter                     = true
      RDMSR and WRMSR support                = true
      physical address extensions            = true
      machine check exception                = true
      CMPXCHG8B inst.                        = true
      APIC on chip                           = true
      SYSENTER and SYSEXIT                   = true
      memory type range registers            = true
      PTE global bit                         = true
      machine check architecture             = true
      conditional move/compare instruction   = true
      page attribute table                   = true
      page size extension                    = true
      processor serial number                = false
      CLFLUSH instruction                    = true
      debug store                            = true
      thermal monitor and clock ctrl         = true
      MMX Technology                         = true
      FXSAVE/FXRSTOR                         = true
      SSE extensions                         = true
      SSE2 extensions                        = true
      self snoop                             = true
      hyper-threading / multi-core supported = true
      therm. monitor                         = true
      IA64                                   = false
      pending break event                    = true
   feature information (1/ecx):
      PNI/SSE3: Prescott New Instructions     = true
      PCLMULDQ instruction                    = false
      64-bit debug store                      = true
      MONITOR/MWAIT                           = true
      CPL-qualified debug store               = true
      VMX: virtual machine extensions         = false
      SMX: safer mode extensions              = false
      Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology     = true
      thermal monitor 2                       = false
      SSSE3 extensions                        = false
      context ID: adaptive or shared L1 data  = true
      FMA instruction                         = false
      CMPXCHG16B instruction                  = true
      xTPR disable                            = true
      perfmon and debug                       = false
      process context identifiers             = false
      direct cache access                     = false
      SSE4.1 extensions                       = false
      SSE4.2 extensions                       = false
      extended xAPIC support                  = false
      MOVBE instruction                       = false
      POPCNT instruction                      = false
      time stamp counter deadline             = false
      AES instruction                         = false
      XSAVE/XSTOR states                      = false
      OS-enabled XSAVE/XSTOR                  = false
      AVX: advanced vector extensions         = false
      F16C half-precision convert instruction = false
      RDRAND instruction                      = false
      hypervisor guest status                 = false
   cache and TLB information (2):
      0x50: instruction TLB: 4K & 2M/4M pages, 64 entries
      0x5b: data TLB: 4K & 4M pages, 64 entries
      0x60: L1 data cache: 16K, 8-way, 64 byte lines
      0x40: No L3 cache
      0x70: Trace cache: 12K-uop, 8-way
      0x7c: L2 cache: 1M, 8-way, sectored, 64 byte lines
   processor serial number: 0000-0F41-0000-0000-0000-0000
   deterministic cache parameters (4):
      --- cache 0 ---
      cache type                           = data cache (1)
      cache level                          = 0x1 (1)
      self-initializing cache level        = true
      fully associative cache              = false
      extra threads sharing this cache     = 0x1 (1)
      extra processor cores on this die    = 0x0 (0)
      system coherency line size           = 0x3f (63)
      physical line partitions             = 0x0 (0)
      ways of associativity                = 0x7 (7)
      ways of associativity                = 0x0 (0)
      WBINVD/INVD behavior on lower caches = false
      inclusive to lower caches            = false
      complex cache indexing               = false
      number of sets - 1 (s)               = 31
      --- cache 1 ---
      cache type                           = unified cache (3)
      cache level                          = 0x2 (2)
      self-initializing cache level        = true
      fully associative cache              = false
      extra threads sharing this cache     = 0x1 (1)
      extra processor cores on this die    = 0x0 (0)
      system coherency line size           = 0x3f (63)
      physical line partitions             = 0x1 (1)
      ways of associativity                = 0x7 (7)
      ways of associativity                = 0x0 (0)
      WBINVD/INVD behavior on lower caches = false
      inclusive to lower caches            = false
      complex cache indexing               = false
      number of sets - 1 (s)               = 1023
   MONITOR/MWAIT (5):
      smallest monitor-line size (bytes)       = 0x40 (64)
      largest monitor-line size (bytes)        = 0x40 (64)
      enum of Monitor-MWAIT exts supported     = false
      supports intrs as break-event for MWAIT  = false
      number of C0 sub C-states using MWAIT    = 0x0 (0)
      number of C1 sub C-states using MWAIT    = 0x0 (0)
      number of C2 sub C-states using MWAIT    = 0x0 (0)
      number of C3 sub C-states using MWAIT    = 0x0 (0)
      number of C4 sub C-states using MWAIT    = 0x0 (0)
      number of C5 sub C-states using MWAIT    = 0x0 (0)
      number of C6 sub C-states using MWAIT    = 0x0 (0)
      number of C7 sub C-states using MWAIT    = 0x0 (0)
   extended feature flags (0x80000001/edx):
      SYSCALL and SYSRET instructions        = false
      execution disable                      = true
      1-GB large page support                = false
      RDTSCP                                 = false
      [color=#FF0000]64-bit extensions technology available = true[/color]
   Intel feature flags (0x80000001/ecx):
      LAHF/SAHF supported in 64-bit mode     = false
      LZCNT advanced bit manipulation        = false
      3DNow! PREFETCH/PREFETCHW instructions = false
   brand = "                  Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 3.40GHz"

--- output of dmidecode :

Code: Select all

# dmidecode 3.0
Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs.
SMBIOS 2.3 present.

Handle 0x0004, DMI type 4, 35 bytes
Processor Information
	Socket Designation: CPU 1
	Type: Central Processor
	Family: Pentium 4
	Manufacturer: Intel            
	ID: 41 0F 00 00 FF FB EB BF
	Signature: Type 0, Family 15, Model 4, Stepping 1
	Flags:
		FPU (Floating-point unit on-chip)
		VME (Virtual mode extension)
		DE (Debugging extension)
		PSE (Page size extension)
		TSC (Time stamp counter)
		MSR (Model specific registers)
		PAE (Physical address extension)
		MCE (Machine check exception)
		CX8 (CMPXCHG8 instruction supported)
		APIC (On-chip APIC hardware supported)
		SEP (Fast system call)
		MTRR (Memory type range registers)
		PGE (Page global enable)
		MCA (Machine check architecture)
		CMOV (Conditional move instruction supported)
		PAT (Page attribute table)
		PSE-36 (36-bit page size extension)
		CLFSH (CLFLUSH instruction supported)
		DS (Debug store)
		ACPI (ACPI supported)
		MMX (MMX technology supported)
		FXSR (FXSAVE and FXSTOR instructions supported)
		SSE (Streaming SIMD extensions)
		SSE2 (Streaming SIMD extensions 2)
		SS (Self-snoop)
		HTT (Multi-threading)
		TM (Thermal monitor supported)
		PBE (Pending break enabled)
	Version: Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 3.40GHz                       
	Voltage: 3.3 V 2.9 V
	External Clock: 800 MHz
	Max Speed: 3400 MHz
	Current Speed: 3400 MHz
	Status: Populated, Enabled
	Upgrade: Socket 478
	L1 Cache Handle: 0x0005
	L2 Cache Handle: 0x0006
	L3 Cache Handle: 0x0007
	Serial Number: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
	Asset Tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
	Part Number: To Be Filled By O.E.M.

Handle 0x0008, DMI type 4, 35 bytes
Processor Information
	Socket Designation: CPU 2
	Type: Central Processor
	Family: Pentium 4
	Manufacturer: Intel            
	ID: 34 0F 00 00 FF FB EB BF
	Signature: Type 0, Family 15, Model 3, Stepping 4
	Flags:
		FPU (Floating-point unit on-chip)
		VME (Virtual mode extension)
		DE (Debugging extension)
		PSE (Page size extension)
		TSC (Time stamp counter)
		MSR (Model specific registers)
		PAE (Physical address extension)
		MCE (Machine check exception)
		CX8 (CMPXCHG8 instruction supported)
		APIC (On-chip APIC hardware supported)
		SEP (Fast system call)
		MTRR (Memory type range registers)
		PGE (Page global enable)
		MCA (Machine check architecture)
		CMOV (Conditional move instruction supported)
		PAT (Page attribute table)
		PSE-36 (36-bit page size extension)
		CLFSH (CLFLUSH instruction supported)
		DS (Debug store)
		ACPI (ACPI supported)
		MMX (MMX technology supported)
		FXSR (FXSAVE and FXSTOR instructions supported)
		SSE (Streaming SIMD extensions)
		SSE2 (Streaming SIMD extensions 2)
		SS (Self-snoop)
		HTT (Multi-threading)
		TM (Thermal monitor supported)
		PBE (Pending break enabled)
	Version: Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 3.40GHz                       
	Voltage: 3.3 V 2.9 V
	External Clock: 800 MHz
	Max Speed: 3400 MHz
	Current Speed: 3400 MHz
	Status: Populated, Enabled
	Upgrade: Socket 478
	L1 Cache Handle: 0x0009
	L2 Cache Handle: 0x000A
	L3 Cache Handle: 0x000B
	Serial Number: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
	Asset Tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
	Part Number: To Be Filled By O.E.M.

[Head_on_a_Stick]

Looks like a 64-bit CPU to me.

Did you try the non-graphical installer?

[bmx34]

Yes, I did, but it failed the same.

[stevepusser]

Does a MX Linux live session also fail to boot? It's based on Buster, and I help with it, so am curious to see if that has the same problems.

[Deb-fan]

Would be curious to see about MX too, mostly cause Stevep is naturally enough wanting to find out. Other than that, why lose any sleep over it? With some corner case exception like needing something only reasonably available in 64bit. Debian is bound to continue supporting 32b for a long time to come and that chip is no slouch. Have a dual-core @2.17ghz here and Buster runs great, so compared ... yours is a speed demon. As a last ditching effort, if it's really important to you, might try checking if there's a newer bios version or etc for that system. Though only my pointless 2cents would call it good and be happy with 32b.

[bmx34]

Thanks for your suggestion in trying MX. I have just tried it, and got (almost) the same result : I reach the first menu, choose to start (and tried a few failsafe options), and get stuck on a black screen. Only difference with Debian is that I have a blinking cursor with MX, where Debian is a full black screen.

The main reason I want to install a 64b version is for the kids to play Minecraft, especially in those days of confinement but lwjgl is not available in 32b anymore (http://forum.lwjgl.org/index.php?topic=6813.0).

[trinidad]

Add some RAM.

TC

[Head_on_a_Stick]

The main reason I want to install a 64b version is for the kids to play Minecraft

How about minetest?

[bmx34]

Hmm I don't think it will make it, they want to continue playing with their friends on a Minecraft server. I can't ask all of their online friends to switch to minetest
But anyway I am also trying to understand what's wrong with this computer in 64b mode. Minecraft is only one part of the equation.

[p.H]

Does the 64-bit expert install show any kernel messages before freezing ?

[bmx34]

hmm indeed, there is something that appears during a quarter of second before the black screen. I filmed my screen to get it. It says :

Probing EDD (edd=off to disable)... ok

then one bip, and that's all, it dies

If I start the install with "expert edd=off", I get

Loading /install.amd/vmlinuz... ok
Loading /install.amd/initrd.gz... ok

then black screen.

[axon3]

Hello I guess you should try booting with minimum config. What happen with no hard drive + live cd distrib ?

having few reads on kernel source code, looks like just after query_edd we are setting video mode. Not sure ...but may be video card be something to investigate at ?

Code: Select all

void main(void)
{
	/* First, copy the boot header into the "zeropage" */
	copy_boot_params();

	/* Initialize the early-boot console */
	console_init();
	if (cmdline_find_option_bool("debug"))
		puts("early console in setup code\n");

	/* End of heap check */
	init_heap();

	/* Make sure we have all the proper CPU support */
	if (validate_cpu()) {
		puts("Unable to boot - please use a kernel appropriate "
		     "for your CPU.\n");
		die();
	}

	/* Tell the BIOS what CPU mode we intend to run in. */
	set_bios_mode();

	/* Detect memory layout */
	detect_memory();

	/* Set keyboard repeat rate (why?) and query the lock flags */
	keyboard_init();

	/* Query Intel SpeedStep (IST) information */
	query_ist();

	/* Query APM information */
#if defined(CONFIG_APM) || defined(CONFIG_APM_MODULE)
	query_apm_bios();
#endif

	/* Query EDD information */
#if defined(CONFIG_EDD) || defined(CONFIG_EDD_MODULE)
	query_edd();
#endif

	/* Set the video mode */
	set_video();

	/* Do the last things and invoke protected mode */
	go_to_protected_mode();

[CwF]

Only difference with Debian is that I have a blinking cursor with MX, where Debian is a full black screen.

Then you're not frozen! for debian try to switch between terminals F1 F2 etc.

but may be video card be something to investigate at ?

yes

[bmx34]

I've just tried with MX and no drive plugged (neither SSD nor HDD), and got the same result : blinking cursor.
No key have any effect, even "Caps Lock" or "Num Lock" led do not respond. Like if keyboard is not init.

I'll try to swap the graphic adapter with another one later today, and will let you know...

[Head_on_a_Stick]

Please add code tags to the terminal output in the first post, I'm getting pretty ****** bored of scrolling through a few screens of output spam.

[bmx34]

Please add code tags to the terminal output in the first post

Apologies for that. That's fixed.

might try checking if there's a newer bios version

Indeed; I have found a "more recent" BIOS, from 2007 (previous was dated 2005). Flashed it via FreeDOS, but no improvement.

but may be video card be something to investigate at ?

Done that, I tried with something more recent (GTX750), but still no difference.

[CwF]

Back to the blinking cursor, that is maybe a failed VT7. Try switching Ctrl+Alt+F1 or F2. You tried that right?

[bmx34]

Yes, I did

[p.H]

Back to the blinking cursor, that is maybe a failed VT7.

There is no tty7 in the installer. Do you mean GUI (tty5) ?
Besides, if it was A GUI issue, the boot in expert mode should display a lot of text before.

[Deb-fan]

Really seems time to just accept your hardware limits that system to use of 32bit software. Shuffling components around, things like hdd's-etc is clearly not going to accomplish anything, it's just needless hassle and risk. Something gets damaged, incorrectly reinstalled or static discharge zaps something you'd prefer remains unzapped. All this time, effort and x-risk for zero real gain. Nothing you or anyone else can do is going to get around hardware limitations. Minecraft isnt the only thing in the world and thanks to Debian gnu/Linux that system can go on being a useful piece of equipment for a long time to come. Amazing in/of itself, a 15yr old PC can still be made to run well in 2020.

Ps, also doubt you're the only person ever, who wanted to use Minecraft servers on 32b, if you're going to dump more time into this would start googling on that angle see if somebody has already posted work-arounds online. Ah either way, good luck. You dang sure get A for effort.