Re: Newbie first-time install advice: Highpoint Rocket 133SB

From: David Witbrodt (dawitbro_at_sbcglobal.net)
Date: 09/26/04

  • Next message: Stefan O'Rear: "Re: Newbie first-time install advice: Highpoint Rocket 133SB" 
    Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 21:46:15 -0400
To: debian-user <debian-user@lists.debian.org>

    Stefan O'Rear wrote:
    >
    > > My understanding of DHCP is that it is a networking protocol supported
    > > by some specific Linux package(s). As a newbie, I know about power
    > > buttons, but not technical alterations to configuration files in the
    > > event that the installer cannot figure out what to do.
    > Yes. and that package comes with all versions of debian. It is
    > automatically set up by debian-installer.

      Therefore, it should work OK. My point was only that I've never used
    it before, since I'm installing for the first time, so that if even a
    simple problem comes up I won't know how to fix it. This deb-user list
    can help me in that case, but I'll have to partition and install a
    Windows version to be able to access the list from home until I could
    get the Linux partition to work with the DSL connection.
      You mention (below) that the Woody installer comes with poor
    documentation, so that is another strike against it, I suppose? Is the
    Sarge documentation that much better? Are you assuming that netinst
    will work without needing extra help from me, so that documentation will
    be available from the net? (The netinst CD is quite small!)

      At any rate, we'll find out once I try it. Best way to learn is by
    doing. I enjoy troubleshooting, except when there is no solution at
    all....

     
    > > > Linux doesn't usually support devices. It supports chipsets. Often,
    > > > multiple device brands use the same chipset type. For instance, I have
    > > > Creative Labs integrated sound, but I use the Ensoniq ES1371 driver.
    [snip]
    > > > Chances are VERY good the Rocket 133SB uses a standard controller. There
    > > > is one driver that supports all standard IDE/ATA/SATA controllers.
    > >
    > > It is not a standard IDE controller, in the sense of the usual
    > > controller chipsets on the motherboards. We can know this because the
    > > manufacturer provides binary driver packages on their websites for
    > > several Linux distributions. (If the standard "one driver" provided
    > > with Linux for IDE support worked, those extra packages would be
    > > unnecessary, I presume.)
    > One would think that.
    >
    > > This controller is a PCI card that supports drives larger than 137 GB,
    > > with its own BIOS so that other OSes which rely on the BIOS for disk
    > > support can use these larger drives as well. (I also know that Linux
    > > does not rely on BIOS support for drive access, but it looks like I
    > > need a special driver for Linux to use the controller card.)
    > > My hope in posting to debian-user was to hear from someone using a
    > > Rocket 133SB, so they could tell me about their experiences. Does
    > > Debian have built-in support? (I doubt it, but I thought I would ask
    > > here in case someone who knows would see my message.) If not, what
    > > steps should I take to get myself a Debian kernel that can use the
    > > Rocket controller?
    >
    > Looking in the 2.6 tree, there are drivers supporting the Highpoint 343,
    > 345, 366, 370, 370A, and 372.

      Now that is helpful information! (May I ask how and where you found
    this, so I will bother other folks less in the future? The sooner I can
    become self-sufficient, the sooner I can start helping other newbies on
    this list! ;)
      According to the manual for the Rocket 133SB in the retail box, the
    Windows drivers are called HPT302. The source code tarball provided by
    Highpoint is called

            hpt302-opensource-v1.2.tgz

    Looks bad for me, at first. Maybe I should start another thread asking
    for advice (i.e., "What would you do?") about how to proceed. I have an
    older 37 GB drive that works as is, and a new 160 GB drive that will
    only work at maximum capacity if I use it with this Rocket133SB
    controller that I bought (like a big dummy, without checking into it
    first to see if Linux kernels already know about it).
      I had hoped to install all of the new hardware with my old OS first,
    just to make sure it works. Then I wanted to install Linux and XP
    directly to the new big drive (through the Rocket). Now the picture
    looks more complex. Maybe I should temporarily put my old WinME on half
    of the old drive (so I can use the net to get help if I have install
    problems with Debian), and install Debian on the other half. Then I
    need to compile the tarball above as a module (or should I compile a new
    kernel?) so that I can create a new setup that can use the Rocket. Then
    I can partition the big drive through the Rocket for Debian and XP, and
    install them over there.
      Or is/are there easier ways?

     
    > Not impossible, just rather difficult. No useful documentation, you
    > need to know the chipset used by most of your hardware, slow, encourages
    > you too partition your disk but doesn't tell you how to do it right,
    > chokes on ISA PNP, etc. YMMV, and probably won't be worse than mine.

      You make this sound pretty bad. I wonder if the HILUX CD is as bad as
    this. It's a lot smaller, and has a lot of updated (backported)
    packages for a minimal installation, which can then be finished by
    downloading anything else desired.

      I have a lot to learn in a hurry! Compiling my own kernel sounds very
    interesting, but I suppose that would be biting off more than I can chew
    as a newbie. If that Highpoint tarball has compilation errors, or
    simply fails to run on Debian, I might be at a standstill for quite a
    while! I'm not sure what alternatives I have, though.

    Thanks again for the help and advice,
    Dave W. 

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  • Next message: Stefan O'Rear: "Re: Newbie first-time install advice: Highpoint Rocket 133SB"