Installing SCSI driver in Linux Rescue

Rick Stevens rstevens at vitalstream.com
Fri Jan 20 17:20:17 UTC 2006 

On Fri, 2006-01-20 at 08:43 -0500, John Wirt wrote:
> Can I make sure I have this correct?
>   Use Rawrite to convert the driver file to an image file. (No other 
> files are included.)
>   Use Rawritewin to make a diskette from the image file.

The image file an image of the entire floppy.  I'll bet that if you
look at its size, it'll be 1.44MB (the same size as a floppy).

rawrite writes the image file to a floppy.  It's the DOS equivalent
of "dd".  rawritewin is the Windows (GUI) version of it.

> 
> John Wirt
> 
> Rick Stevens wrote:
> 
> >On Wed, 2006-01-18 at 22:17 -0500, John Wirt wrote:
> >  
> >
> >>A new front has opened in my endeaver to install Grub in the Linux root 
> >>("/") partition of drive 2 as part of a move to dual boot  Linux RedHat 
> >>Enterprise and XP on my machine using Bootit on drive 1 as the boot 
> >>manager. XP is on drive 1 and Linux is on drive 1. From Rick Stevens and 
> >>others on this forum (thank you), I know the procedure and Linux 
> >>commands to accomplish the necessary reinstallation of Grub.
> >>
> >>Last night I attempted to reinstall Grub using these commands but 
> >>immediately ran into a problem. I have three Adaptec U320 drives on the 
> >>machine. Two are combined into one RAID 0 drive (drive 1) and Linux will 
> >>be on the third physical drive (drive 2).
> >>
> >>I booted to the 1st RedHat Enterprise v.3 CD, selected Linux Rescue, and 
> >>got the boot: prompt (I think this was the order). Anyway I ended up at 
> >>the Boot: prompt in Linux Rescue.   Fine except in the course of this 
> >>boot it was clear that Linux could not find any drivers for my SCSI 
> >>drives on the CD. This is not surprising. When I installed XP, I had to 
> >>supply drivers. (Linux came installed on the machine by Dell.)
> >>
> >>The question is, how can I provide the necessary driver in booting from 
> >>the Linux RedHat CD #1.
> >>    
> >>
> >
> >At the "boot:" prompt, enter:
> >
> >	linux rescue dd
> >
> >When the system asks for the driver, stick in the floppy and press
> >ENTER.
> >
> >  
> >
> >>Dell has sent me the drivers that need to be installed. The driver 
> >>package seems to have the solution:
> >>
> >>    Installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3
> >>    For a new installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3, you will need to
> >>    use a device driver diskette image. Perform the following steps:
> >>      1. Copy the appropriate device driver diskette image to a Linux system
> >>      2. Put a floppy into the floppy drive
> >>      3. At a command prompt, type "cat dd if=<image name> of=/dev/fd0". 
> >>This
> >>          will create your device driver diskette
> >>      4. Boot to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 media
> >>      5. When you receive the "boot:" prompt, type "linux dd"
> >>      6. Follow the instructions onscreen to proceed
> >>
> >>Will this work?
> >>    
> >>
> >
> >For a fresh install, yes.  To do a rescue boot, you still need to
> >specify "rescue" in the boot command:
> >
> >	boot: linux rescue dd
> >
> >  
> >
> >>After loading the SCSI driver, I have to run the   install-grub  command 
> >>from Boot: to complete the Linux (re)installation.
> >>
> >>Apparently, I have to go to my friend's house and have him make the 
> >>device driver diskette (my friend is a Linux technician). Then, I can 
> >>load the driver from the disketter at the Boot: command.
> >>    
> >>
> >
> >Well, you really don't.  True, "dd" is a Unix/Linux-specific command,
> >but there is a program under DOS that does the same thing, "rawrite". 
> >Here's a link to it:
> >
> >    http://www.fdos.org/ripcord/rawrite/
> >
> >
> >  
> >
> >>Will this work?  Since the Linux running in memory from the CD sees no 
> >>SCSI drives, where  will it  put the driver? In memory? And then, boot 
> >>the SCSI drives? Is this going to work?
> >>    
> >>
> >
> >Yes, the driver will be loaded in to the kernel's memory on boot.  Once
> >the driver is loaded, the rescue boot will be able to see the SCSI
> >drives and you should be good to go.
> >
> >  
> >
> >>The copy of Linux already installed on drive 2 has the necessary SCSI 
> >>driver. The desired final configuration will be, selecting Linux from 
> >>the Bootit boot menu will "boot" Grub in the root partition on drive 2, 
> >>which will boot Linux on drive 2.
> >>    
> >>
> >
> >If you're certain the driver is actually there, after you do the
> >"chroot /mnt/sysimage" command, look at the "/etc/modules.conf" file
> >and make sure there's a line that looks like
> >
> >	alias scsi-hostadapter name-of-scsi-driver
> >
> >because that's what the mkinitrd command will use to load the
> >appropriate driver into the boot ramdisk image.
> >
> >  
> >
> >>Just to be complete, the final configuration is planned to be:
> >>
> >>      Drive 1
> >>         Part 1   MBR   XP
> >>         Part 2   Windows XP
> >>         Part 3   EMBR  (Extended Master Boot Record for Bootit boot 
> >>manager)
> >>         Part 4  Extended Partition
> >>         Part 5     Volume
> >>         Part 6     Volume
> >>
> >>      Drive 2  (simplified a bit)
> >>         Part 1   MBR
> >>         Part 2   Linux  /boot partition
> >>         Part 3   Linux root directory
> >>         Part 4   Linux swap partition
> >>    
> >>
> >
> >Your Linux tech friend may be able to help you with this.  He/she should
> >understand all this weird stuff with booting and how to make it work.
> >It's a bit difficult to describe in an email.
> >----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens at vitalstream.com -
> >- VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
> >-                                                                    -
> >-          When all else fails, try reading the instructions.        -
> >----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens at vitalstream.com -
- VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
-                                                                    -
-            Beware of programmers who carry screwdrivers            -
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