RHEL4 and AIC7899

[Oliver]

>> >> >> 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?

Thanks

Oliver