Re: need RAID driver for install, but no floppy drive

From: Justin Guerin (jguerin_at_cso.atmel.com)
Date: 04/14/04

  • Next message: Colin: "Re: new user" 
    Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 16:36:07 -0600
To: debian-user@lists.debian.org

    On Tuesday 13 April 2004 14:32, Matt Morgan wrote:
    > I'm trying to install Debian (3.0 r2) on a Penguin Computing Relion 140.
    > It has an LSI MegaRAID disk controller; the driver is not present on CD1
    > of the install CD's, so the install can't find any hard disks to install
    > on. Interestingly, the driver is present on the floppy install set I
    > downloaded, and of course you can download it.
    >
    > The problem is, this computer has no floppy drive. I tried a USB drive
    > and it didn't work. So I can't install because I get to the point where
    > the install asks for a floppy with the driver, and I can't provide it.
    > There does not seem to be an option to provide the driver on another
    > CD-rom.
    >
    > What is my best option here? I can think of
    >
    > 1) set up the network and install the driver from an NFS/FTP/HTTP share.
    > 2) Make my own CD1 somehow, that includes the driver. I guess I can
    > mount the iso, add the file(s) to the right folder, and then burn the
    > iso to CD. But I don't know where to put the files. Honestly I don't
    > even know if the .c and .h files (the ones I have) are what I need here.
    > 3) Figure out how to get the install to recognize a USB floppy.
    >
    > Which should I try? How do I go about them? Anybody done this before,
    > one of these ways, or some other way? I think I prefer #2, if that's
    > possible. Although if HTTP will work, I can do that pretty easily.
    >
    > Thanks,
    > Matt Morgan
    > Manager of Information Systems
    > Brooklyn Museum of Art

    Hi Matt,

    It seems as if you're going to have to load the driver manually. You can do
    this from a terminal, which you can access by hitting Alt-F2 at any point
    in the install.

    If you choose route #2, you could make a CD with only that module on it.
    You would then mount the CD-ROM and load the module. I can't remember if
    your shell has modprobe / insmod at the moment, but even if it doesn't, you
    could fake out the installer by making a boot subdirectory in /floppy and
    place the module in there. I'm not 100% sure you can eject the install CD
    at that point in the install, though. If you can't, you'll have to load it
    off the USB floppy or the network.

    I don't think the .c and .h files will do you any good. You need the
    compiled version of the module, the .o file. Copy it to your custom
    CD-ROM. If it's not already compiled, remember that you'll need to compile
    the module against the kernel you want to use when you load it, which in
    this case will be the install kernel. But if you got this off a floppy
    set, the .o should already exist, compiled for the correct kernel.

    If you want to load it off the USB drive, then you'll need to load the USB
    drivers first. That could be a catch-22 if they're not on the install CD
    already. Try the bf24 variety, if none of the others work.

    If that doesn't work, and you can't eject the CD, then you'll have to go
    network. You can jump to the step where you bring up the network, then
    mount the remote directory in the shell, then load the module manually (or
    fake it as if it was on a floppy, as above).

    As you can see, you've got a lot of options. The Debian installer is very
    powerful, and lets you jump around as much as you need, so you should be
    able to get all your devices up and running before you begin the actual
    install. Good luck!

    Oh, and don't forget: before you reboot after the install, you need to make
    sure that the disk driver module is either compiled into the kernel or is
    added to the initial RAM disk, or the kernel won't be able to mount your
    drives to find your driver module that it needs to mount your drives.

    Justin Guerin 

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