sata sil3114 support for RedHat Enterpise Linux AS for AMD64

[Rick Stevens]

Herwig Goemans wrote:
> Hello RedHat,
>  
>  
> Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS V3 does not seem to recognize the built in 
> SATA controller SIL3114 on my Tyan motherboard.
> I have a dual Opteron Tyan S2881 motherboard, 4GB of ram and 4*200 GB 
> SATA HD's connected to the integrated Silicon Image SIL3114 controller. 
> The disks are recognized in the bios, the raid array has been configured 
> in the bios:
> The bios is:"
> American Megatrends Inc.
> 
> 080008 - 12/24/2003"
> 
> I have registered myself in the rhn. The Hardware list for the server 
> (Sandbox) shows on the last line:
> "
> unknown device 1095 3114 	PCI 	CMD Technology Inc 	unknown
> 
> "
> I presume this represents the sil3114 controller, the number matches in 
> any case.
>  
> Sandbox is a development server and Red Hat v3 has been bought under a 
> development licence.
> Oracle software and database has been installed, the db is supposed to 
> store it's files on the sata disks.
> Right now the db files are stored on the 120 GB ide disk but we plan to 
> add much more data, we need to add storage as soon as possible.
>  
> My question is: Is this controller supported by RedHAt Enterpsie AS on 
> x86_64 Opteron platform ?

I don't know.  Did you check the Red Hat hardware list to see if it was?
It may be supported in 32-bit mode.  I didn't even know AS3 was
available for the Opteron--at least not in 64-bit native mode.

> If yes, What do I need to do to get Red Hat to identify the controller 
> correctly. Do I need to add parameter at the grub boot prompt. Do I have 
> to load a module to be able to recognize the SIL3114 controller. Rebuild 
> a kernel.

You may need to build the driver for your kernel, if you can get the
source for the driver.

> If No:
> I have downloaded from Silicon image a 3114_amd_linux driver bundle. 
> This bundle does NOT contain a RED HAT Enterprise Edition driver. It 
> does contain a driver for UnitedLinux 1.0 .
>  
> - Can I use this UnitedLinux driver. ?

No, it's not built for your kernel.  If that package includes the source
for the driver, then it's doable.  WARNING:  Red Hat probably won't
support your system.  AS/ES/WS are only supported if they have Red Hat
kernels and modules.  Adding a third-party driver may mean that they
won't support you fully.

> - Tyan has a beta driver for the SIL 3114 for the ES platform. Can this 
> driver be used for the AS platform as well ?

Again, probably not.  If either the kernel or module was built with
module versioning enabled, they MUST match.

> - does it make any sense to flash the bios with a more recent version 
> (if any)

No.

> Furthermore, this is a general support issue, I have downloaded the iso 
> images on March 12th, and apparently activated the two week support at 
> that time. It expired on March 26th. I have started my RedHat AS 
> Installation on March 27th. Can we please set the start date for this 
> support at March 27th.  I DO NEED all support I can get.
> I do not know where to get the Product ID number (if I have any) to 
> activate my product.

Uh, you may be laboring under a misunderstanding.  This list is not
the support forum for AS.  This is a volunteer list.  While Red Hat
supplies the servers to run the list, they rarely contribute to the
list directly.

Changing the start date of your support is something you must do through
Red Hat directly.  We have no control over that.  Go to
http://support.redhat.com and log in.
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- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens at vitalstream.com -
- VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
-                                                                    -
-           Vegetarian:  Old Indian word for "lousy hunter"          -
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