Coreboot,T440P & GUIX installer

Coreboot,T440P & GUIX installer

[jerome moliere]

Hi all,
I just bought a refurbished machine (T440P) with Coreboot to run a fully
open source experience...
Experience is not so good for the moment, because I am stuck in the third
or fourth screen of the GUIX installer during network detection.
My laptop has an atheros wifi  chipset  supported for a long time by the
Linux kernel (no proprietary firmware)... This wifi chipset is recognized
but activating it fails during ESSID pairing (bad password)...
T440P has an ethernet connector, ethernet card is recognized too , the card
works on console during installation (ip a shows correct information, ping
works nicely inside my LAN or for public domains)  but network step finish
with RED screen saying my network is unable to provide access to
substitutes  (git repos for GUIX ?) while github is resolved in console...

I have tried to restart the network services, to play with conmanctl to
restart services, rescan... But it always fails!!!

I wondered if someone runs Coreboot with GUIX ? The machine is quite old so
all hardware is recognized, wifi chipset is compliant with free software,
so it should work nicely ..And I can't think that installer has a so big
bug (it should prevent many people from installing Guix)..

I have tried the 1.4 iso & the system crafter latest build but same
result...

Have you any idea...
thanks for sharing


-- 
J.MOLIERE - Mentor/J

Re: Coreboot,T440P & GUIX installer

[Felix Lechner via]

Hi,

On Wed, Feb 22, 2023 at 9:34 AM jerome moliere <jerome@javaxpert.com> wrote:
>
> I just bought a refurbished machine (T440P) with Coreboot

Congratulations on your commitment to free software!

> This wifi chipset is recognized
> but activating it fails during ESSID pairing (bad password)...

Do you use GNOME or NetworkManager to connect?

> ping
> works nicely inside my LAN or for public domains)  but network step finish
> with RED screen saying my network is unable to provide access to
> substitutes  (git repos for GUIX ?) while github is resolved in console...

You may have a DNS or firewall issue. Did you configure your router to
suggest 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 as default name servers for clients?

Please also try wget or curl on a known URL.

Finally, make sure you have ca-certificates installed (for TLS).

> I wondered if someone runs Coreboot with GUIX ?

Since you are already in Guix (or in the installer) I do not believe
your BIOS plays any role in your technical issues.

Kind regards
Felix Lechner

Re: Coreboot,T440P & GUIX installer

[jerome moliere]

Hi,
thanks for the reply Felix...
GUIX is not installed yet , I am stuck during the installation process...
So I have no WM or graphical desktop installed yet..
Opening a console during installation process just leaves me few options:
- I can use ifconfig or ip programs
- ping & telnet
- traceroute
but I don't think that wget or curl is available at this time (I will
double check)
DNS resolution seems ok, I can ping google.com or kernel.org
Where are the log files for the installer  (if any available)?

Thanks for your support

On Wed, Feb 22, 2023 at 8:03 PM Felix Lechner <felix.lechner@lease-up.com>
wrote:

> Hi,
>
> On Wed, Feb 22, 2023 at 9:34 AM jerome moliere <jerome@javaxpert.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > I just bought a refurbished machine (T440P) with Coreboot
>
> Congratulations on your commitment to free software!
>
> > This wifi chipset is recognized
> > but activating it fails during ESSID pairing (bad password)...
>
> Do you use GNOME or NetworkManager to connect?
>
> > ping
> > works nicely inside my LAN or for public domains)  but network step
> finish
> > with RED screen saying my network is unable to provide access to
> > substitutes  (git repos for GUIX ?) while github is resolved in
> console...
>
> You may have a DNS or firewall issue. Did you configure your router to
> suggest 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 as default name servers for clients?
>
> Please also try wget or curl on a known URL.
>
> Finally, make sure you have ca-certificates installed (for TLS).
>
> > I wondered if someone runs Coreboot with GUIX ?
>
> Since you are already in Guix (or in the installer) I do not believe
> your BIOS plays any role in your technical issues.
>
> Kind regards
> Felix Lechner
>


-- 
J.MOLIERE - Mentor/J

Re: Coreboot,T440P & GUIX installer

[Wil deBeest]

22 Feb 2023 18:35:03 jerome moliere <jerome@javaxpert.com>:

> Hi all,
> I just bought a refurbished machine (T440P) with Coreboot to run a fully
> open source experience...
> Experience is not so good for the moment, because I am stuck in the third
> or fourth screen of the GUIX installer during network detection.
> My laptop has an atheros wifi  chipset  supported for a long time by the
> Linux kernel (no proprietary firmware)... This wifi chipset is recognized
> but activating it fails during ESSID pairing (bad password)...
> T440P has an ethernet connector, ethernet card is recognized too , the card
> works on console during installation (ip a shows correct information, ping
> works nicely inside my LAN or for public domains)  but network step finish
> with RED screen saying my network is unable to provide access to
> substitutes  (git repos for GUIX ?) while github is resolved in console...
> 
> I have tried to restart the network services, to play with conmanctl to
> restart services, rescan... But it always fails!!!
> 
> I wondered if someone runs Coreboot with GUIX ? The machine is quite old so
> all hardware is recognized, wifi chipset is compliant with free software,
> so it should work nicely ..And I can't think that installer has a so big
> bug (it should prevent many people from installing Guix)..
> 
> I have tried the 1.4 iso & the system crafter latest build but same
> result...
> 
> Have you any idea...
> thanks for sharing
> 
> 
> -- 
> J.MOLIERE - Mentor/J
Hi Jérôme,

I am running Guix on a Lenovo X220 tablet with osboot (osboot.org).  I don't know how to help you, but if you have an idea or if you need me to check something, I can try and do that.


Cheers
Wil

Re: Coreboot,T440P & GUIX installer

[Tobias Geerinckx-Rice]

Hi Jerome,

Many people run Guix [sic] System on Coreboot (including Libreboot &c.) machines.  I have 3.  It's probably the most common single firmware implementation amongst Guix users—if you count all the copy/paste/modified vendor ones separately ;-)

I also use an Atheros card (ath9k, can't say which chip) without issue.  It's a fact that some routers refuse to reliably connect to older/less common hardware.  I'm lucky not to've encountered many.

The simple connectivity test performed by the Guix installer is at <https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/guix.git/tree/gnu/installer/newt/network.scm#n130>.  Only one of these two servers need respond.

> (git repos for GUIX ?)

No, pre-built artefacts that are opportunistically 'substituted' for the result of local builds, whenever they are available.  Guix can and will always fall back to local builds without user intervention.  Of course, these will take very long and require (source code) downloads of their own.

So, questions:

- Can you not continue after this red screen about substitute availability?  I can't test it now, but IMO this should not be fatal.  If you can't, see the link above for a work-around to be performed *before* this check:

  # touch /tmp/installer-assume-online

- Can you reach either server from the command line?

- You specifically mention 'resolving GitHub'.  Why the focus on address resolution?  You don't mention it being relevant before that part.  Can you download content?

- Could you try the 'latest' (daily) image, even if I'm not aware of any pertinent bug fixes since 1.4?  <https://guix.gnu.org/en/download/latest/>.

If the installer has emacs as I think it does, you can use eww to test Web browsing.  If it doesn't have wget or curl  (I really don't remember), you can use 'guix download URL' as a hacky substitute (...heh).


Kind regards,

T G-R

Sent on the go.  Excuse or enjoy my brevity.

Re: Coreboot,T440P & GUIX installer

[jerome moliere]

Thanks Tobias & others for your support.
I really appreciate !!

Once networking step fails , installation  cannot continue...(Since
packages download is impossible")

Focus on address resolution is just to mention that network card works ,
has an IP & some basic services are  working?

I will try the hack with  # touch /tmp/installer-assume-online
Thanks for sharing....

If it does not work I will try to another ISO , no problem..

Thanks again for your help
regards

On Thu, Feb 23, 2023 at 12:13 PM Tobias Geerinckx-Rice <me@tobias.gr> wrote:

> Hi Jerome,
>
> Many people run Guix [sic] System on Coreboot (including Libreboot &c.)
> machines.  I have 3.  It's probably the most common single firmware
> implementation amongst Guix users—if you count all the copy/paste/modified
> vendor ones separately ;-)
>
> I also use an Atheros card (ath9k, can't say which chip) without issue.
> It's a fact that some routers refuse to reliably connect to older/less
> common hardware.  I'm lucky not to've encountered many.
>
> The simple connectivity test performed by the Guix installer is at <
> https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/guix.git/tree/gnu/installer/newt/network.scm#n130>.
> Only one of these two servers need respond.
>
> > (git repos for GUIX ?)
>
> No, pre-built artefacts that are opportunistically 'substituted' for the
> result of local builds, whenever they are available.  Guix can and will
> always fall back to local builds without user intervention.  Of course,
> these will take very long and require (source code) downloads of their own.
>
> So, questions:
>
> - Can you not continue after this red screen about substitute
> availability?  I can't test it now, but IMO this should not be fatal.  If
> you can't, see the link above for a work-around to be performed *before*
> this check:
>
>   # touch /tmp/installer-assume-online
>
> - Can you reach either server from the command line?
>
> - You specifically mention 'resolving GitHub'.  Why the focus on address
> resolution?  You don't mention it being relevant before that part.  Can you
> download content?
>
> - Could you try the 'latest' (daily) image, even if I'm not aware of any
> pertinent bug fixes since 1.4?  <https://guix.gnu.org/en/download/latest/
> >.
>
> If the installer has emacs as I think it does, you can use eww to test Web
> browsing.  If it doesn't have wget or curl  (I really don't remember), you
> can use 'guix download URL' as a hacky substitute (...heh).
>
>
> Kind regards,
>
> T G-R
>
> Sent on the go.  Excuse or enjoy my brevity.
>


-- 
J.MOLIERE - Mentor/J

Re: Coreboot,T440P & GUIX installer

[jerome moliere]

Hi all,
FYI I managed to install GUIX.
touch /tmp/.... trick did the  job and enabled me to continue through the
installation process...
I was able to install a few packages more but now I am seeing messages with
bad tainted kernel, errors coming from the Ath9K module  and the machine
hangs for seconds or minutes....Many messages reported into the log
files....
Even if I do not succeed to connect to WIFI it seems that these hw problems
with Ath9K wifi card make the machine unstable & not usable...
I was not able to update the guix packages list with guix pull ...machine
hangs for several minutes and nothing happens...
I tried to install openjdk, same results...
I think I have a serious hardware problem...
Thanks again for your support
regards

On Thu, Feb 23, 2023 at 3:15 PM jerome moliere <jerome@javaxpert.com> wrote:

> Thanks Tobias & others for your support.
> I really appreciate !!
>
> Once networking step fails , installation  cannot continue...(Since
> packages download is impossible")
>
> Focus on address resolution is just to mention that network card works ,
> has an IP & some basic services are  working?
>
> I will try the hack with  # touch /tmp/installer-assume-online
> Thanks for sharing....
>
> If it does not work I will try to another ISO , no problem..
>
> Thanks again for your help
> regards
>
> On Thu, Feb 23, 2023 at 12:13 PM Tobias Geerinckx-Rice <me@tobias.gr>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Jerome,
>>
>> Many people run Guix [sic] System on Coreboot (including Libreboot &c.)
>> machines.  I have 3.  It's probably the most common single firmware
>> implementation amongst Guix users—if you count all the copy/paste/modified
>> vendor ones separately ;-)
>>
>> I also use an Atheros card (ath9k, can't say which chip) without issue.
>> It's a fact that some routers refuse to reliably connect to older/less
>> common hardware.  I'm lucky not to've encountered many.
>>
>> The simple connectivity test performed by the Guix installer is at <
>> https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/guix.git/tree/gnu/installer/newt/network.scm#n130>.
>> Only one of these two servers need respond.
>>
>> > (git repos for GUIX ?)
>>
>> No, pre-built artefacts that are opportunistically 'substituted' for the
>> result of local builds, whenever they are available.  Guix can and will
>> always fall back to local builds without user intervention.  Of course,
>> these will take very long and require (source code) downloads of their own.
>>
>> So, questions:
>>
>> - Can you not continue after this red screen about substitute
>> availability?  I can't test it now, but IMO this should not be fatal.  If
>> you can't, see the link above for a work-around to be performed *before*
>> this check:
>>
>>   # touch /tmp/installer-assume-online
>>
>> - Can you reach either server from the command line?
>>
>> - You specifically mention 'resolving GitHub'.  Why the focus on address
>> resolution?  You don't mention it being relevant before that part.  Can you
>> download content?
>>
>> - Could you try the 'latest' (daily) image, even if I'm not aware of any
>> pertinent bug fixes since 1.4?  <https://guix.gnu.org/en/download/latest/
>> >.
>>
>> If the installer has emacs as I think it does, you can use eww to test
>> Web browsing.  If it doesn't have wget or curl  (I really don't remember),
>> you can use 'guix download URL' as a hacky substitute (...heh).
>>
>>
>> Kind regards,
>>
>> T G-R
>>
>> Sent on the go.  Excuse or enjoy my brevity.
>>
>
>
> --
> J.MOLIERE - Mentor/J
>


-- 
J.MOLIERE - Mentor/J