Adding Drivers to the Live CD.

[Todd Denniston]

Nathan Woodruff wrote, On 07/24/2008 11:15 AM:
> I have a U2 server running Fedora. It has 4 500GB drives on an Adaptec SATA
> Raid 2420SA card. Last week we had a power failure over night. The UPS's ran
> for about 2 hours and then POOF no power.  None of us even though about
> checking on the servers that night. When our company finally got power the
> next morning, the Fedora server would not boot completely.
> 
>  
> 
> It runs the usual list of things that are okay and one or two that Failed.
> But it comes to a blank line and halts. I can't get a bash prompt.
> 
>  

By this you mean you are seeing init starting daemons? i.e.,
starting eth0                             [OK]
???

> 
> This server has some data we need to get off before we reformat the entire
> thing and start again. 
> 
>  
> 
> I've downloaded the Live CD and booted it but it doesn't recognize our
> drives. I would take the drives out and read them individually but the 4
> drives have been raided into one large drive and would be useless trying to
> read each individual drive.
> 
>  

Linux software RAID, or some Adaptec proprietary hard/soft RAID?

> 
> I need to add Adaptec's driver to the Live CD to be able to recover this
> data. But every tool that I have available to me can not read the .IMG files
> on the Live CD in order to add Adaptec's Raid driver.
> 

perhaps you could load the driver AFTER the live CD is up to runlevel 3|5

>  
> 
> Any help???
> 
>  

Assuming init is kicking daemons, then as the boot switches from the kernel to 
init, IIRC you can enter an 'I' for interactive and OK init to start each 
daemon individually.  If you can get in this mode you could maybe have init 
skip the two that fail and the one where the blank line and halt happen.

it might also help to know WHAT daemon is failing.

otherwise you are back to what Alan indicated.

good luck.


-- 
Todd Denniston
Crane Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC Crane)
Harnessing the Power of Technology for the Warfighter