RE: Problem installing debian on alpha personal workstation
> > Two other ideas:
> > a) Use a small Compact Flash Card with and CF-2-IDE Adaptor as /boot
> > b) Use an old SCSI-ZIP drive instead of the Floppy and boot from it
> >
> > I have a AlphaStation using b) (as AlphaStations do not have IDE) and
> the
> > machine boots from a BSD-Partitioned ZIP-100 Disk containing /boot and
> aboot
> > partitions. The root file system is on a very large SATA (!!!) disk
> running
> > with a Silicon Image SATA PCI controller (~10 $) that works perfectly in
> a
> > PCI slot.
> > CF cards and (mostly not used) ZIP drives have very low power
> consumption,
> > hard disks spin all the time, even when not used anymore after boot
> (because
> > only /boot is on it).
>
> The CF card would work as long as the CF card does NOT support DMA, well
> at least in the case of the many PWS that break when IDE DMA is used.
> Some CF cards do, some don't.
But old and small ones like a 64 or 128 MB one without the e.g. Xtreme
labels from Sandisk, I have here, do not support DMA. You only need space
for /boot which is kernel, initrd and aboot.
You wrote: "If you disable DMA access to the HD (I forget exactly how I did
that when I installed mine), then it works fine." -- so there may be a way
to disable it.
Uwe
Reply to: