[CentOS] Tyan S2891 and CentOS -- 6, 8, 10+ PCI busses in today's new systems

[Bryan J. Smith]

rik at harddata.com wrote:
> This must be old documentation.  The pci=nobios flag didn't
> work.

It doesn't mean the documentation is old.  The HOWTO clearly
lists the "pci=conf1" and "pci=conf2" options.  They wouldn't
exist if they merely only sent "pci=nobios" -- they are doing
something differently.

I probably means the "pci=conf1" does something a few things
more than just what "pci=nobios" does.  Most docs say try
"pci=nobios", "pci=conf1" and "pci=conf2" to see if they
resolve issues with how the BIOS enumerates PCI
busses/devices.

It wouldn't surprise me if modern Phoenix ServerBIOSes have
several ACPI configuration modes that send limited info by
default, and offer 1-2 additional modes (hence conf1/conf2)
with more info -- detailed lists that might hang OSes like
Windows (especially DOS-based) which are rather simplistic
and limited at the bootstrap.

Again, I'll do more research and put this in the ELManagers
FAQ.

> The problem was fixed by adjusting a BIOS setting.
> By changing the Installed OS to Linux I am able to boot the
> machine without any boot flags.

What this probably does is send the "Conf1" info as the
default.  Again, I need to research this more.

[ Although I'd love to see if a Windows install/boot hangs
with that setting -- especially Windows 95/98. ;-]


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