Install on Ampere Altra based systems hangs

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Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 Service Pack 6
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 Service Pack 5

Situation

Whilst trying to install SLES to target servers based on Ampere Altra, the process may appear to hang.

An EFI stub message may also be seen on the boot screen:

WARNING: Working around broken SetVirtualAddressMap()

Resolution

Add the following option to the kernel boot parameters: console=tty

Cause

The kernel is not associating /dev/console to the desired or correct output device. This may cause the install process to look like it has hung.

Additional Information

Consoles defined via command line, SPCR, or device tree are considered to be explicitly requested. Only these explicitly requested consoles are enabled when at least one is defined.

The Kernel tries to enable a console by default only when there is no explicitly requested console. 'tty' is the first tried fallback console. This is why 'tty' is typically enabled by default.

If 'tty' is really needed, it should be defined on the command line or via the device tree. An alternative solution is to disable SPCR, then the kernel should enable 'tty' as the default fallback.

YaST uses the console associated with /dev/console. The Kernel associates this device with the last explicitly defined console. This is typically the last 'console=' parameter on the Kernel boot command line.

All enabled consoles are listed in /proc/consoles. The console associated with /dev/console should be the one with 'C' flag set.

Disclaimer

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