Bug#41942: continuing problems with Adaptec SCSI during slink install
Package: boot-floppies
Version: 2.1_r2
[slink install CD "binary-i386-1.iso" obtained from umich mirror site]
Hardware Profile
================
processor: AMD k6/2 475
motherboard: TMC T15VG+
memory: 256M
video: generic S3 Virge/DX
SCSI card: Adaptec 2940AU
SCSI drives: Seagate ST34572N
Seagate ST31055N
Iomega Zip 100 (external)
SCSI cdrom: Sanyo CRD-254SH
installed OS: none
Symptoms
========
(*) mke2fs is VERY slow on partitions bigger than 1G in size
(*) dbootstrap hangs during attempt to install OS
My report is closely related to #41033 ("cannot write partition to SCSI
drive using fdisk or cfdisk") submitted Friday, July 9, 1999. However,
my particular problem does not appear to be directly connected with
fdisk or cfdisk -- both utilities successfully write the partition
table to disk. It is in the next install steps that problems
develop and finally halt the entire installation.
(*) mke2fs:
It appears that mke2fs takes 15 minutes or more to format any
partition bigger than about 1 gigabyte. It writes the inode information
in less than a minute, then it pauses while attempting to update
the superblock and write accounting information. After a few seconds
of disk activity, the drive light goes off. Several minutes later,
mke2fs reports that the operation is complete. (On a small number
of occasions, mke2fs has failed to report "done" and dbootstrap
has given the message, "The file system was not created.")
(*) dbootstrap (install from CD):
Even when mke2fs succeeds (either because I have waited >15 minutes
during formatting or because I have used smaller partitions),
dbootstrap hangs during the OS install. Immediately before this
step, I mount the root, usr, var, home and tmp partitions without
problems. Then dbootstrap determines that it is ok to begin installing
the various components, at which point it mounts the cdrom, locates
the base directory, and locates the subdirectory containing resc1440.bin.
Next is diplayed the message, "Installing the rescue floppy from images
stored on the mounted medium." The cdrom activity light flashes
for a few seconds and then goes off, and beyond this nothing happens
(I've left it running for an hour and it never displays another message
or gets past installing this first component!).
(*) other information
My general partitioning scheme is
sda:
/ ~48M
/usr ~1.5G
/usr/local ~0.5G
/home ~2G
sdb:
(swap) 128M
/var ~0.5G
/tmp ~0.5G (typically just under)
I've used the suggested line "linux aic7xxx=no_probe" at the boot:
prompt and still these symptoms persist. The md5sums on the CD
check out, so the problems are not likely a result of damaged
images.
Thanks for your advice and help!
__________________________________________________________________
Timothy Burt 919.660.2682
Duke University, Dept. of Physics 208C physics
Box 90305, Durham N.C. 27708-0305, USA tburt@phy.duke.edu
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