Re: SATA Silicon Image 3114 support for A64 images ?
On Sun, Jun 05, 2005 at 01:21:24AM +0200, Tudiatya wrote:
> Hi there,
>
> I'm using a MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum - 4 SATA port, 2 of them nVidia, 2 of them
> Silicon Image controllers. The built-in nvidia controller isn't much useful,
> since it's clock isn't fixed 33MHz - as I raise "FSB", it raises too and
> leads to serious freezes right at the beginning of the boot process.
>
> Do you dear Debian Sarge driver developers see ANY chance of integrating
> this module into the Debian Installer's module list ? Lots of A64
> motherboards use this, I use DDR500 anyway, CPU @ 2500 instead of basic 1800
> . Sometimes I play, sometimes I would use Debian .. but I can't (I won't go
> down with the clock, it's rock stable right now for days and fast enough).
>
> I tried to install several images and daily builds with sata_nv support,
> but:
> 1) I had to plug my HDD to the nVidia connector (the one NOT next to the
> CPU/AGP)
> 2) I had to go back to the basic clock 1800 in order to be able to boot in
> on the nVidia controller
I don't get the point oif overclocking, so I see no great loss there.
> 3) At every install at the first reboot while the system boots, I always get
> messages like "sata controller enabled" and after it "sata controller
> disabled" (the text may be something else, I don't remember actually). These
> messages occur if I press a button on the keyboard but if I don't do
> anything it still occurs continuously. It writes everything over what's on
> the screen, so I couldn't even set up my adsl account with pppoeconf..
> crazy, stupid, mad thing ..
Disable any unused SATA ports on the nvidia controller in the bios, and
those messages go away. I have no idea why that happens but it does.
> I think there're too much boards out there in order to make Debian Daily
> Builds and Sarge sil3114 compatible - so why doesn't it happen ??? :(
Is Sil3114 supported in the kernel (with no add ons) and specifically in
2.6.8 (which is what debian decided to use for sarge release)?
There is lots of hardware out there that would work better with 2.6.11
than with 2.6.8, but then again there is some stuff that apparently
works less well (sometimes not at all) so sarge is sticking with 2.6.8.
> SATA is more than 2 yrs old, and this controller isn't too young at all
> anyway.
Perhaps, but I am not even sure an open source driver exists for it yet,
but then again I haven't paid much attension to that. My board (about
15 months old) has a Sil3112A which just worked when I installed back
then. It doesn't do raid or any other crap like that, which to me makes
the 3112 a perfectly good controller.
> I don't use Debian (nor any other linux distro) because of it's limitation
> on that simple thing, that it won't support my
> fixed-33MHz-PCI-Bus-integrated-Silicon Image 3114 controller.
Buy linux supported hardware. That's what I do. I check for support
before I buy rather than wine about unsupported hardware after I buy
(which is usually caused by the maker of that hardware not releasing
specs in a timely manner).
> Please, guys, let somebody know that the driver's already out, it only has
> to be integrated into the debian installer (and it's modules) in order to be
> able to install it onto my SATA HDD - for example, the network install iso-s
I am not aware of debian having EVER included drivers in the install
that were not part of the kernel from upstream for that version. They
do however allow you to load additional drivers during the install so
all you need to do is get the sil3114 driver built against the kernel
headers of the kernel used on the install and you can load it using a
floppy and use it.
> If it helps, here I found a link to this controller's linux drivers -
> decide, which is easier to modify it to Debian "taste", I think it wouldn't
> take much time for a Pro, right ???
>
> Check out the "drivers" section:
> http://www.siliconimage.com/products/product.aspx?id=28
Where is the source driver there? A SuSE or RHEL driver is no good to
anyone.
> (One another writing, easy to understand, something else, but it may be a
> good starting point, too: http://unclean.org/howto/sii3114_linux.html ).
>
> I'm also likely to test such a finished Debian Installer iso. If it works,
> than fine, good job.
>
> Dear Debian Developers - It would be a REALLY huge relief for A64 users,
> since the best A64 chipsets come with this controller.. and even I wouldn't
> have to suffer under 1) + 2) + 3) (see above).
>
> Don't ask me to build my own Debian Installer on a Windows system, nor to
> try it on another Linux machine - I'm not a pro, a beginner, I actually good
> in iptables and networking, but kernel "hacking" .. nope.. :/
>
> But I test the image, if somebody helps me make it sil3114 compatible. ;)
Well you will have to hope someone makes an unofficial installer with a
different kernel, similar to many Dell users in the past. It is pretty
much certain that driver will not be included, and for that matter
probably can't be included (it certainly doesn't appear to be dfsg
free).
Len Sorensen
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