NBP is too big to fit in free base memory

I’ve recently been playing with iPXE. Exploring it’s features, learning how to use a lot of it’s protocols to do some pretty cool installation/boot stuff but I’ve hit a wall and can’t figure out the problem.

I have functioning DHCP/TFTP/HTTP servers that test VM’s pull kernel & initrd files from before downloading a full .ISO file of the OS into memory from http. With Linux distros like Ubuntu Desktop & Ubuntu Server it works.

However when I try to apply this to a physical bare metal server I have it just refuses to even download ipxe.efi.

Screenshot from 2022-07-12 21-03-02

I’ve researched the error and everybody says it’s just a matter of enabling UEFI boot and disabling Legacy boot but I’ve tried that for every possible relevant setting I can find in the BIOS. This error just refuses to go away.

The NIC is a Intel X540-T2.
The motherboard is a Supermicro X10DRi-T
Secure Boot is disabled.

To add to the confusion I’ve verified it will netboot undionly,kpxe. I want to say I had it booting ipxe.efi a week or two ago…but I’m either remembering wrong or it was but refuses now.

I’ve exhausted my Google resources (patience basically). I’m not sure where to go from here.

Getting this server going is just one step towards a much larger objective. I’d like to use it for this testing because it has IPMI and it’s not doing anything so it’s a good test subject.

Thanks.

1 Like

weird… how big is the filename you’re trying to boot?

Maybe try pxelinux and have it chainload bigger stuff

2 Likes

All this ipxe.efi file points to is a main.ipxe file. It doesn’t directly load an .ISO image so the file is 1.8KiB.

I’ve not worked with pxelinux before. I’m thinking I should just install another network card but I don’t think what I have on hand supports UEFI.

Now that I come to think of it. The X540-T2 was launched back in 2012…maybe it doesn’t support UEFI PXE boot?

I’m running the latest BIOS 3.4a and looking to see if I can flash just the NIC the Intel utility from EFI Shell does not give me that option.

I may just have to use another server. :slightly_frowning_face: