RHEL4 and AIC7899
Rick Stevens
rstevens at vitalstream.com
Thu Nov 17 22:12:49 UTC 2005
On Thu, 2005-11-17 at 20:07 +0100, Oliver wrote:
> >> >> >> >> >> during the first boot from the install CD of RHEL4AS, die system hangs
> >> >> >> >> >> while trying the module aic7xxx. It's installed an AIC7899 dualchannel
> >> >> >> >> >> onboard in the server (IBM IntelliPro M [6850]). Ther are no IDE
> >> >> >> >> >> harddisk
> >> >> >> >> >> devices in the computer.
> >> >> >> >> >
> >> >> >> >> > It sometimes takes a while for the aic7xxx driver to load up on the
> >> >> >> >> > initial install (it has to do a SCSI bus reset, then a spinup, then a
> >> >> >> >> > probe of the drives). This has been known to take over three minutes
> >> >> >> >> > in some cases. Did you wait that long?
> >> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> >> I've waited more than 30 minutes... Just tested the Server with other
> >> >> >> >> Linux versions like Knoppix_3.8 and with WindowsXP. Knoppix took 30
> >> >> >> >> seconds for probing...
> >> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> >> So I don't know, why RHEL4 doesn't recognize the controller correctly.
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> > Hmmm. Have you tried installing in text mode and checking the output
> >> >> >> > on the other three consoles (ALT-F2, ALT-F3, ALT-F4) to see if there's
> >> >> >> > something displayed there that might give a clue?
> >> >> >> > You didn't say if the CD was IDE or not (it may well be). If that's the
> >> >> >> > case, you might also try installing with DMA disabled for the IDE bus:
> >> >> >> > boot: linux ide=nodma
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> Now I downloaded the RHEL4AS Upd2 CDs and tried to install from them. I've
> >> >> >> started the installation at the boot prompt with linux ide=nodma text
> >> >> >> There is one CD-ROM drives on each IDE channel.
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> Like before, it seems(?) to hang.
> >> >> >> Here are the screens...
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> Installation screen shows:
> >> >> >> loading aic7xxx driver
> >> >> >> Alt-F3 shows:
> >> >> >> loaded e100 from /modules/
> >> >> >> loaded aic7xxx from /modules
> >> >> >> inserted /tmp/mii.ko
> >> >> >> inserted /tmp/e100.ko
> >> >> >> Alt-F4 shows:
> >> >> >> (6)e100: eth0: e100_probe: addr ...
> >> >> >> (6)ACPI: PCI interrupt 0000:03:01.0[A] -> GSI 10 (level low) -> IRQ 10
> >> >> >> (6)ACPI: PCI interrupt 0000:03:01.1[B] -> GSI 10 (level low) -> IRQ 10
> >> >> >> (6)scsi0: Adaptec AIC7xxx EISA/VLB/PCI SCSI HBA DRIVER, Rev 6.2.36
> >> >> >> (4) (Adaptec aic7899 Ultra160 SCSI adapter)
> >> >> >> (4) aic7899: Ultra160 Wide Channel A, SCSI id=7, 32/253 SCBs
> >> >> >> (4)
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> Hope you can help me and you have an idea :)!?
> >> >>
> >> >> > Well, it's obvious the driver loaded and recognizes your controller.
> >> >> > It's NOT seeing the drives, however, and that's where the problem lies.
> >> >>
> >> >> > Stupid question, but are you 100% certain you a) have the SCSI bus
> >> >> > terminated correctly, and b) have the drives spinning up? Get into the
> >> >> > SCSI BIOS and make sure it starts the drives at power up (disable the
> >> >> > "SCSI START/STOP" stuff).
> >> >>
> >> >> Rick
> >> >> When I wait for about half an hour I get error messages about not
> >> >> responding drives. He probes all IDs and at everyone an error appears that
> >> >> the reset didn't work...
> >> >>
> >> >> But when I boot with a 2.4 kerner version (I think the Knoppix v3.8 had
> >> >> also the old kernel), the recognization of the drives needs about 10
> >> >> seconds.
> >> >>
> >> >> The system is terminated as followed
> >> >> Channel A: Host controller and End of SCSI cable
> >> >> Channel B (extern): Only Host controller
> >> >>
> >> >> I can remember have read about the external termination at IBM website. It
> >> >> should be fine if the termination on the backside is only on with external
> >> >> devices on the bus. Is this correct?
> >>
> >> > Your termination seems OK. This is a very weird problem. Since you're
> >> > using RHEL4, have you contacted Red Hat support regarding this issue?
> >> > Remember, this list isn't official...we're just a bunch of Red Hat users
> >> > helping each other out.
> >>
> >> Rick
> >> My support contract is just the Knowledgebase, no phone or personal
> >> support. Because of that I haven't contacted RH yet.
> >>
> >> I've booted the system with the actual Knoppix v4 (Kernel 2.6.12) and this
> >> version work also very well. What the hell has RH edited in the AS4
> >> kernel?
>
> > AS4 also uses the 2.6 kernel, but with Red Hat tweaks. I've heard of
> > some issues with their aic7xxx driver, but nothing this drastic.
>
> > I did find a similar bug in bugzilla:
>
> > https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=150548
>
> > It looks to be very similar to your situation and the fix was a BIOS
> > update to the motherboard. I think you said that it's an IBM machine.
> > Check the IBM site for BIOS updates and apply them.
>
> Today i've checked the IBM support pages again. The firmware I use is the
> latest one...
>
> On the RHN I found an article about kernel options (for AS3 but thats more
> than nothing ;)). I wondered about the acpi option. I've tried the
> parameter noacpi more than one times and it didn't work. But when I tried
> the correct syntax 'acpi=off' the drives will be ercognized correctly
> now (yahoo! :)).
Glad to hear it. acpi=off, eh? Hmmm...now that's a weird one. Sounds
like the ACPI on your mobo wouldn't spin up the drives. Like I said,
weird!
> Rick many thanks for your time! Now I'm able to set up the server like
> I've planned before - this night is the right time I think...
Good luck. Keep us informed!
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- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer rstevens at vitalstream.com -
- VitalStream, Inc. http://www.vitalstream.com -
- -
- The Theory of Rapitivity: E=MC Hammer -
- -- Glenn Marcus (via TopFive.com) -
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