SataRaid help needed on install for Redhat enterprise ES/AS

[kingkennyb]

My Original Thread is actually on the following link:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...p;pagenumber=14

I have the same problem as the guy below.....

Hello everyone, I am new to Linux, so please be gently and over-explain everything for me.
I read this entire thread (and others) but am still having trouble.
I am trying to install RedHat 9 on a Supermicro X5DAL-TG2 motherboard with dual SiI3112A SATA controllers.
I followed both the instructions on the Redhat linux drivers located here
ftp://ftp.supermicro.com/driver/SAT...e/Linux/Redhat/
and tried the drivers from SiI thmselves.
Neither work.
When I install do the
" linux dd hde=noprobe hdg=noprobe hdi=noprobe hdk=noprobe "
as per the instructions, but then once it gets to looking for drivers, it says none found, so I say look on floppy, and it searches it, but then says none found.
So I choose manual, choose the driver, but then it says no driver loaded...
I tried over and over, but the same result every time!!
I must be doing something wrong, just dont know what.

I even tried saying OK.. and going past no driver loaded, but then (of couse) no HD's are found.

Please, if someone could give me detailed (and I mean detailed) instructions on how to install RedHat9, I would be forever in your debt.
The HD's being used are 2SATA Maxtor 120GB, trying for a Striped Raid.

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Well.....I have a Abit NF7-S v2.0 running 2 maxtor 80g drives with Win XP loaded in Raid 0 striped using the Silicon Image SataRaid Sil3112 controller.

I initially left 10 gig free at the start for linux and used P/magic to format it as Linux ext2 - as later I planned to install Linux.

I now have R/Hat enterprise ES/AS v3. which I think is version 9.1 with a kernel on 2.4.21

I have also downloaded the linux driver from the S/Image site. Used the rawwrite on the initial 1st RH boot CD and created a disk via the sil.img.

Now I have read.....and read.... and read for the last 4 days loads of forums on this - and now I dont have a clue what I need to do?

The R/Hat info from S/image says it supports R/Hat 9 and above.

Before I did this it did find drives known as hde and hdg but it states - The partition table on device HDE was unreadable. Do you wanna initialize loosing all data on this drive. I say no and it says the same for hdg and then - An error has occured No valid devices found to create new filesystems.

Regardless of what I do - linux dd hde=no probe etc... it still cannot see the drives (as one...)

I can see what I think is the module as per from the floppy that I created. It shows as SIL IMAGE 6512 Sataraid Controller.....yet no drivers can be found for this.

Again...if I continue I do get the same above msg - but only for hdg? is linux now seeing both drives as one hence hdg and no hde?

If I choose YES - will it wipe the disk and loose my windows XP system?

I have even manged to get to the CLT ALT F2 and mount the floppy and run what its states in the Sil Image Red Hat FULL INSTALL notes 'sh redhat_9.0_update_boot_loaders.sh' etc......

But then it goes on to say that I need a boot disk? or use GRUB?

Gotta say - as a newbie... this stuff appears well complicated.

Can anybody advise on what I need to do. I have read millions of forums regarding Vanilla Kernels and Medley stuff.....but i cannot even get a driver to load let alone build a bloody new kernel! lol

Any advise.... help....instructions would be greatly appeciated. I was so looking forward to learning linux, but at the mo....not having much luck or understanding of this system.

Cheers,

Kingkenny

P.S The controller I have on my B/Board is the 3112. The above shows as
SIL IMAGE 6512 Sataraid Controller. Is that normal?

[Stuart Browne]

The drivers supplied by various hardware vendors for Linux are *VERY* specific to a kernel.

RH9's kernel is very different from RHES3's kernel, and thus drivers are not interchangerable.

If you have RH9 drivers, you'll need to use RH9 unless S/Image can supply RH ES/3 drivers for you.

[kingkennyb]

Thanks for the reply....Much appreciated.

I kinda guessed it was something like that.
what about installing it on a standard IDE disk... and then maybe creating a new boot disk? or Kernel incoporating the open source Silicon image drivers?

Is that something that would work? or am I just blabbing on. Sorry.

For example. When installing windows u can use a standard IDE drive and once loaded - add the SATA 150 drives. load the drivers and then windows can see em - hence allowing u to partion them accordingly

Would that theory work with linux?

Otherwise... yeah I'll wait till the release the next drivers for RH-ES/AS.

[Stuart Browne]

Yea, the theory will work with Linux as well.

Install onto a flat IDE disk, get the drivers compiled, and installed.

Once done, the SATA container should be available to partition.