Re: Debian Linux on IBM and Compaq servers
"Franz J Fortuny" wrote:
> We intend to set our Linux up on either an IBM or a COMPAQ server (6000).
Here's my summary about how I managed to use Linux on a Compaq Deskpro 6000.
BIOS:
Nothing in particular except that it forces all PCI devices on IRQ 11.
So much for greater performance!
Anyway, the default Adaptec 2940U driver (aic7xxx) in 2.0.30 does not
do shared IRQs without a tiny patch to aic7xxx.c:
- if (request_irq(config->irq, aic7xxx_isr, SA_INTERRUPT | SA_SHIRQ,
+ if (request_irq(config->irq, aic7xxx_isr, SA_SHIRQ, "aic7xxx", NULL))
so my network card wouldn't work until I applied the patch.
The following updated driver does use shared IRQs and is more stable:
ftp://ftp.pcnet.com/users/eischen/Linux/aic7xxx-2.1.26-Jun1.tgz
It compiled fine under 2.0.30. Make sure you read the README file
because there is some hand-editing to do.
I edited aic7xxx.c to enable tagged queueing with 6 commands per lun
for increased SCSI performance:
/* Uncomment this for tagged queueing. */
#define AIC7XXX_TAGGED_QUEUEING
/*
* You can try raising me if tagged queueing is enabled, or lowering
* me if you only have 4 SCBs.
*/
#define AIC7XXX_CMDS_PER_LUN 6
A newer version still of the aic7xxx driver will be included in 2.0.31
(at least it's in the pre-release I'm using).
Network:
The Compaq uses an onboard network card called the Compaq Integrated
NetFlex-3/P. James Banks <james@caldera.com> at Caldera is writting
a driver for it:
ftp://ftp.caldera.com/pub/stuff/tlan-0.29.tar.gz
It works great!
PD-CD
The Compaq came a few months ago with a neat SCSI PD-CD which reads
regular CDs and also handles PD rewritable 650 MB cartridges. The
SCSI PD device is supported under Linux (enable multiple LUN in the SCSI
part of the kernel configuration).
Since April or so, Compaq has started to ship Deskpro's with IDE/ATAPI
PD-CDs (instead of the SCSI model). Using a stock 2.0.30 kernel, the CD is
seen as /dev/hdc but the PD part is ignored (at least the CD works for
Linux installation!)
The PD device works under a patched 2.0.30 Linux kernel. The ide-scsi
stuff used is currently in 2.1.X kernels, but currently 2.1.45 has not
support for msdos filesystems which ruled it out for me.
Gadi Oxman <gadio@netvision.net.il> (the author) managed to get his
ide-scsi sources included in 2.0.31, available also in pre-release
pre-patch-2.0.31-3 available on www.linuxhq.com
E-mail me if you'd rather get the patches to 2.0.30. They may be more
stable (I've have problems with pre-patch-2.0.31-3).
After applying the patch, recompiling and booting the new kernel, the
CD is seen as /dev/sr0
This device did not exist on my machine, so I did this to get it:
cd /dev
./MAKEDEV sr0
The PD was seen as a standard SCSI disk (/dev/sdd in my case, since
I had 3 oher disks) on another SCSI device.
Sound
The sound card works with these SoundBlaster settings:
#
# Sound
#
CONFIG_SOUND=y
# CONFIG_PAS is not set
CONFIG_SB=y
# CONFIG_ADLIB is not set
# CONFIG_GUS is not set
# CONFIG_MPU401 is not set
# CONFIG_UART6850 is not set
# CONFIG_PSS is not set
# CONFIG_GUS16 is not set
# CONFIG_GUSMAX is not set
# CONFIG_MSS is not set
# CONFIG_SSCAPE is not set
# CONFIG_TRIX is not set
# CONFIG_MAD16 is not set
# CONFIG_CS4232 is not set
# CONFIG_MAUI is not set
CONFIG_AUDIO=y
CONFIG_MIDI=y
CONFIG_YM3812=y
SBC_BASE=220
SBC_IRQ=5
SBC_DMA=1
SB_DMA2=5
SB_MPU_BASE=0
SB_MPU_IRQ=-1
DSP_BUFFSIZE=65536
# CONFIG_LOWLEVEL_SOUND is not set
Keyboard
The keyboard has an awfully slow repeat rate. Drives you mad.
You can reset it with:
kbdrate -r 30
Video
The Matrox Millenium card is supported under the new XFree-3.3
using the SVGA server. It's very fast.
SCSI and Disk.
Uses an Adaptec 2940U, supported under Linux. See below about
booting Debian.
As for disk, I got the 4.3 GB version. It turns out it's a Seagate
Barracuda with a 9 MB/sec transfer rate. Fast enough for me!
Installing Debian
I'm using Debian 1.3, and had to build a custom boot disk because the
probing in the regular install boot disk would somehow touch the Adaptec
SCSI controller and reboot the PC. This was actually very easy to do using
another Linux machine. The custom kernel is at:
ftp://ftp.phys.ocean.dal.ca/users/rhogee/Debian/
--
Peter Galbraith, research scientist <galbraith@mixing.qc.dfo.ca>
Maurice-Lamontagne Institute, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada
P.O. Box 1000, Mont-Joli Qc, G5H 3Z4 Canada 418-775-0852 - FAX 418-775-0546
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