[RULE] Install RULE on SCSI hard disk

[Richard Kweskin]

On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 20:34:24 -0700
"Michael L'Heureux" <michael.lheureux at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> I've been trying for the past while to install RULE on an old Compaq 
> Prosignia 500 server (150MHz, 128MB) that I have.  Other distros are 
> able to install w/ a little tweaking, but with RULE I've been having a 
> really hard time having it detect my SCSI hard drive.  The machine has 
> on-board SCSI with a Promise Ultra ATA 100 card with an ATA drive 
> attached (I don't expect to be able to detect this until after RULE is 
> installed, since I need the drivers for the card).  I am able to get it 
> to detect my CD ROM drive & mount the RULE CD to /mnt/cdrom & link 
> /dev/scd0 to /dev/cdrom by loading the scsi_mod.o, sr_mod.o & 
> ncr53c8xx.o modules.  I can browse the files on the CD, when I switch 
> back to my first session to run the install, it tells me that it wasn't 
> able to locate the CD ROM & offers to let me select it (cdrom).  Then 
> when I get to the point where it asks me which device I would like to 
> install RULE on, I have no options to choose from.  What should I do?
> 
> Thanks in advance for any advice!
> 
> ML
> 
> PS: Here are the results from slinky detect:
> 
> CPU:GenuineIntel:Pentium 75 - 200:150:[HAS_FPU]:299.82:f00f
> MEMORY:127408:120840:0:72:3072:0:0
> BRIDGE:PCI:Compaq Computer Corporation:PCI to EISA Bridge:ignore
> SCSI:PCI:Symbios Logic Inc. (formerly NCR):53c810:53c7,8xx
> DISK:ATAPI/IDE:Unknown:WDC 
> WD1200JB-00GVA0:/dev/hde:-558553531:255:63:232581
> FLOPPY:Floppy Drive Controller:Unknown:1.44MB 3.5":/dev/fd0
> VIDEO:Unknown:Cirrus Logic:CL-GD5402:[SVGA]:512:AT&T 20C492:Unknown
> ETHERNET:PCI:Advanced Micro Devices [AMD]:79c970 [PCnet LANCE]:pcnet32
> ETHERNET:PCI:Compaq Computer Corporation:Netelligent 10/100:tlan
> MOUSE:PS/2:Unknown:Unknown:/dev/psaux
> SERIAL:/dev/ttyS0:COM0
> OTHER:105a6268:PCI:Promise Technology, Inc.:Unknown:Unknown
>
Hello Michael L'Heureux

I am sorry that I didn't respond straight away. I am even more sorry that my knowledge is very limited and it may, therefore, be entirely irrelevent what I am about to write.  :((

In any case here goes:

A while ago I submitted to the RULE website that I had installed with Slinky, Redhat 7.2 (I think) on a box with an Asus A7V motherboard. On board are two ide controllers, each with the expected two channels. One is the usual older type providing up to ata33. The other provides ata100 (or udma5.) My preference is to attach an ide dvd drive as a master on the primary channel of the slower ide and a udma5 hard drive as a master on the primary channel of the faster ide. This results in a GNU/Linux kernel booting up to detect the dvd as /dev/hda and the hd as /dev/hde.

When you reported that Slinky detect gives:

	DISK:ATAPI/IDE:Unknown:WDC 
	WD1200JB-00GVA0:/dev/hde:-558553531:255:63:232581

it looks like your Western Digital hard drive is an ide, not a scsi, but it is attached on a controller that is coming up with /dev/hde, /dev/hdf etc. as my second one does.

When I tried, originally, to install with Slinky, I, too, found only a blank list when it came time to ask on which device to install. My solution was simply to temporarily not use the Promise controller. Do the install, edit /etc/fstab and put the hd back on the promise controller. I assume there is no such option in your case. :((

I don't recall doing this in the past and it seems my test report was never put on the site for that box, but just now I tried booting with Slinky 5.0 on this box and again found that in dev/ there are no entries for hde, hdf, etc. and again the list of devices offered from which to choose was blank. Typing "hde" in was not accepted.

It happens that when Redhat (and indeed other distros) are installed by the more traditional method direct from the cd (the box has 256MB and a graphics card with 32MB) these additional entries in dev/ do exist. hde has a major of 33 and so I tried, at the point in the Slinky install where the blank list of devices is displayed, to go over to tty2 and type the commands:

	mknod /dev/hde b 33 0
	mknod /dev/hde1 b 33 1
	mknod /dev/hde2 b 33 2

which resulted in adding the entries in dev/ okay, but when I then tried:

	fdisk /dev/hde

it still complained there was no such device.  :((

My conclusion is that unless the proper kernel driver is invoked, the Promise controller is not accessible. Why the kernel used after the install (with my hd switched, firstly, to the slower controller and then putting it back to the Promise controller) immediately recognises the disk on dev/hde when Slinky's does not can only point to a lack of module(s)?

Sorry for the longwinded and probably unhelpful reply.  :((

Richard

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