Re: Debian installation hangs
On Tue, 08 Dec 1998 23:48:07 GMT, "Mark Weston" wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I've been trying my first ever Linux installation from a Debian 2.0 CD,
> and have run into problems which are beyond me at the moment. I'd be
> really grateful for some help.
>
> The installation (CD or rescue floppy) loads the Linux kernel, and
> during the long series of hardware detection messages, successfully
> detects all the IDE devices and then hangs on the line.
>
> md driver 0.35 MAX_MD_DEV=4 MAX_REAL=8
>
> I've tried many times over with both media, and it always hangs in the
> same place.
>
> After this, I tried a RedHat 5.2 CD which installed successfully first
> time; on this one, the equivalent line was
>
> md driver 0.36.3....etc
>
> So now I have a working RedHat install, but I'd actually set my heart
> on Debian.
>
> What hardware is this "md driver" supposed to be driving, and how
> possible is it to get a Debian boot/rescue disk with the later working
> (on my PC) version of it? BTW, at three days into being a Linux user,
> I don't yet feel up to the compile-your-own option.
I searched the kernel sources and I found this is the "multiple
devices" driver. That handles disk striping (RAID 0), RAID 5, etc.
I have never heard of this problem, nor do I have any insight as to
what might cause this error. I was taught to disconnect unnecessary
devices when things like this happened, reconnect cables and check
master/slave settings, but maybe you already did that. I do see they
use different driver versions, and if 0.36.3 works, then perhaps you
need 0.36.3 for your box. The nature of drivers is to evolve and
support more devices, after all. I have kernel 2.0.36 (from slink)
installed (on hamm) and md is version 0.36.3.
I realize you're probably not up to compiling a kernel at this point,
but you'll probably need to get a boot floppy image with the newer
kernel, unless you want to wait a few weeks for slink to release.
Note that I'm not sure if there are any serious implications regarding
changes in the kernel between 2.0.34 and 2.0.36, or any other issues
which might make this task more complex than I've thus far presumed.
My experience with replacing kernels on bootdisks is nil, but if noone
else is willing and you don't mind waiting a day or two, let me know.
I'm not a complete moron, I know where the Bootdisk-HOWTO is, I have a
fairly new hamm system with a few slink packages, so it should be
doable.
I wonder if there's a boot-time option to disable md. Anyone?
--
David
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dstern@u.washington.edu
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