Bug Report: IBM x3650M4 (32GB, 2x4-core Xeon E5-2600, IBM ServeRaid M5110e): fails in install with NMI

[Mike A]

On Wed, Aug 29, 2012 at 08:18:20AM -0400, John Baldwin wrote:

> Humm, that is bizarre.  All the early bootstrap code just relies on the BIOS
> to perform disk I/O, etc.  Can you PXE boot these machines?  That might be a
> way to get the CD out of the picture.  I haven't seen any machines with your
> symptoms.  At the least, if a machine does have a problem with the boot process
> due to a bug or some such, it is consistent in having the problem every time,
> not suddenly failing after working.
> 
> Also, to be honest, the original NMI in itself is a bit odd.  If you are having
> these problems now I do wonder if there isn't an underlying hardware issue.
> Regardless, I think netbooting would be a good thing to look to get the CD/DVD
> bit out of the way.

Agreed, in spades. My experience with FreeBSD, before this machine, is
that Things Just Work. I have never seen anything like this before, and
am seriously considering unboxing another server just to see if this is
typical of the hardware or peculiar to this one box. 

I am installing the stuff needed for PXE boot this morning, and will
provide results as I generate them. 

Many thanks. 

-- 
Mike Andrews, W5EGO
mikea at mikea.ath.cx
Tired old sysadmin