Hello
-----Original Message-----
From: anaconda-devel-list-bounces redhat com on behalf of Bill Nottingham
Sent: Mon 3/17/2008 8:13 PM
To: Discussion of Development and Customization of the Red Hat Linux Installer
Subject: Re: [ PATCH ] RFC: Search and load drivers automatically fromusb-storage media
Sandeep_K_Shandilya Dell com (Sandeep_K_Shandilya Dell com) said:
2) Automatic mounting of partitions with no way to opt-out can lead to
problems
over time
<sandeep> Do you have any specific areas in the anaconda loader that you
are referrring to?
we will anyway unmount the partition after copying the driver updates to
ramfs.
Imagine trying to search 500 SAN partitions for driver updates.
<sandeep> We only search usb-storage devices.
4) What's better about doing this automatically as opposed to actually
having
the user specify that "yes, I have a driver disk"
<Sandeep> Think about it this way, Suppose the drivers with new hardware
support are placed in a utility partition (OEM will prepare this on the
system) on an embedded USB storage device, or thinking a little bit more
into the future the driver may reside on the internet
Dell is already pursuing this and Dell servers to be released in future
may have embedded usb-storage with drivers, diagnostics etc...
Right, but what good does embedded usb-storage with drivers do you for
the next OS release a few months later?
<sandeep>
1. The same is with hardware and firmware which keep upgrading every few months.
2. OEMs like Dell have baselined to, say, version RHEL 5.0 Every time the hardware/firmware changes
which calls for a new driver then we will qualify the new driver and release it on our support
page. It will be a very exhaustive effort to qualify all new drivers for every update that Redhat releases.
3. The Embedded usb-storage could also contain other applications Eg diagnostics and the user to boot into it
to test the hardware on the server.
4. These drivers will be used at install time to recognise new hardware and in the post install phase of anaconda
a dkms rpm (http://linux.dell.com/projects.shtml#dkms) of the driver will be installed. The changes to backend.py
in the patch.