I just got Slackware 9.0 and I'm trying to set it up on a clean system.

Just for an extra challenge I'm also trying to use a Highpoint RocketRAID 133 adapter card (HPT372A chipset, trying to use Raid 1).

None of {bare.i raid.s ataraid.i scsi.s} seem to recognise the controller. I seem to remember Slack 8.1 had one boot image that recognised Highpoint "software" Raid???

Anyone have any suggestions how I can get the raid array recognised off the start? Do I need to go to a working system and build a custom boot disk somehow?

maybe you can get someone to mail you a kernel
with the support you need built in.
or you could install your stuff normally, build a kernel
with raid that supports what you need, and back the
stuff up, then build your raid.
I haven't done that stuff in 3 years, and i just used the
old linux raidtools.

Well I got the 2.4.20 kernel compiled on a (different) working system, and I got the manufaturer's drivers for the HPT372A from www.highpoint-tech.com

But the drivers compile as a module. Is there a way to link that module permanently into the kernel so I can use that kernel image to make a boot disk?

Otherwise I'm not sure what good a module will do me since it won't be there at boot time, when booting from a floppy on a clean system.

yea, and your kernel might not even have raid built in.
i'm making you a a 2.4.20-ac kernel with raid and
highpoint support built in. it'll be kind of big,
but you can have it if you want. how do you want me
to get it to you

Cool!

You can email it to me at: jh99@madNOSPAMrabbit.ca

Of course delete "NOSPAM" ffrom the address.

That account will handle a decent size attachment.

Thanks a lot

whansard: would you mind sending me a copy of that kernel as well?

ebowser @ promatch . net

also, any tips or pointers on configuration? i have tha same card, brand new, and i've never used raid before. i hope to do 0+1...

I have been doing a LOT of reading about this in the past few months, and I think I have it figured out now.

Check this out:
http://www.madrabbit.ca/howto/Bootin...AID-HOWTO.html

Let me know if it helps you out.

the site looks great. my case still hasn't arrived, but it should on monday, and i'll start building then.

i do have couple of questions though: what would i need to change in order to have seperate "/boot" and "/" partitions. i like to keep my boot partition mounted read-only...

also, how do i make a bzimage out of a kernel file i already have? (namely the one form whansard) - kernel compiles never go well for me...

I think you could follow my procedure fairly closely. Where I mounted hda2 (or later, sda2) onto "/" , you would want to mount hda2 (later sda2) onto "/" and hda3 (later sda3) onto "/boot" , for example. You would also need an additional /dev entry for sda3 in yout mkinitrd script.




It's been a while and I forget exactly what was in that one. But it would not work if it contains the open-source highpoint drivers in it. They are not compatible with the vendor-supplied ones since they take over the controller before the vendor-supplied ones can.

If you use a pre-compiled kernel with the procedure I outlined you have to pick a kernel with some specific things compiled in (as described in the howto), and the highpoint drivers left out. If it's missing some things it wont work.

great. i'll post some notes on my variations.

that was a bzimage. i just renamed it to vmlinuz-whatever,
so you wouldn't overwrite anything important with it.

ok. i have followed your howto, with a few variations...

first, i was mistaken about the card i purchased. it is a promise fasttrak tx2000.

second, i installed slack onto a drive on a regular ide. i then recompiled the kernel, fasttrack module (FastTrak.o), and busybox. ftp'd these out to another machine and built a new slackware iso set up to boot the recompiled kernel. if i boot from the new iso, and manually load the FastTrak.o module, the card comes up.

so far, good. so i boot off the new iso, load the module, and install directly to sda. after install, before rebooting, i chroot to the sda2 partition, copy FastTrak.o from the iso, and perform the mkinitrd proceedure.

now comes the problem:
i reboot, change the bios to boot from the card, and i see it starting to load my system. toward the end of the boot process (when it tries to load the FastTrak.o module) i get the following output:

insmod: unresolved symbol XXXXXXXXXXX

that flies by several times with different names. if i enable the shell in mkinitrd, i can go in and see the module didn't load, and if i try to load it there, i get the same insmod errors. i'm stuck here now, and don't know how to fix that error.

the module has to be built with the same kernel you
are using, not just the same version. all the same
settings.

it wasn't just the same version, i copied the custom kernel from my new iso in the install.

i'm thinking maybe the module need to be built static? does that even apply to modules?

i don't know much about compiling, but i looked at the Makefile in the fasttrak distro... it doesn't seem to support a static build. would i just be able to edit the makefile and add the "-static" argument?

here's a copy of the Makefile (with comments edited out) if i'm not mistaken, could i just add "-static" after the -I argument on the INDEP386 line:

Thanks guys!!!

Did you remember to run lilo when you were chrooted onto sda2? It sounds like you might not be booting from the kernel you think you were using, as I agree that it sounds like the kernel and modules don't match. Also did you copy over your System.map into the /boot directory along with the kernel?

After a boot attempt you can use the shift-pgup key combination to scroll your screen back and review your startup messages. The first one after the LILO messages should tell you when and where and by who the kernel was compiled (the kernel you are currently booting that is).