Re: Problem install.

[David Stern <dstern@u.washington.edu>]

On Wed, 27 Jan 1999 12:15:45 +0900, "" wrote:
> 
> I am new to Linux and trying intall Debian (hamm) to my K-62 machine.
> To begin with I create a rescue disk and boot.
> After that, following message apeared and the machine died.
> 
> md driver 0.35 MAX_MD_DEV=4,MAX_REAL=8
> 
> No key (even power button) can recover this situation, so I turned off
> main power.
> 
> I also tried another disturibution. (Turbo Linux)
> So no problem occured and I successfully install.
> In case, Same message is displayed.
> 
> md driver 0.36.3 MAX_MD_DEV=4,MAX_REAL=8
> 
> what is wrong? or what is "md driver"?
> Please tells me any informations.

MD driver is "multiple devices."  This is used for functions such as 
making two partitions perform as one large partition ("RAID 0," etc.).  
Most people do not use the MD driver, but it is needed at install time.

The reports I've read suggest hardware is being detected by the MD 
driver and an attempt is made to initialize the hardware, however 
either due to a system bios bug (I read reports that some system bios' 
were to blame) or an MD driver bug, I'm not sure which, hardware is 
improperly detected by the MD driver and the system hangs.

Certainly you should remove any hardware that is not needed for 
installation.  If you have a device that you suspect may cause a 
problem and you need it for install such as a scsi adapter for your 
hard drive and you can find the hardware address for it, you may be 
able to exclude this address at the LILO boot prompt using an exclude 
statement and initialize that device manually, but most reports I've 
seen have no such hardware.

I have seen a report that the MD driver included with newer kernels may 
provide a solution (workaround or bugfix, I don't know).  The report 
said that kernels 2.0.33 and 2.0.34 (in hamm) do not work, and kernel 
2.0.36 (in a redhat boot disk) does work.  The good news is that the MD 
driver was updated at kernel 2.0.35, and I'm told the slink boot disks 
have kernel 2.0.35, so slink boot disks (in frozen) may provide a 
solution.  Since slink is due to release shortly, this would save you 
from upgrading and provide the latest software.

You may want to try some other boot disks:
   http://www.debian.org/~adric/aic7xxx/ 
However, I think these are intended for improperly detected scsi 
adapters which hang the system during the scsi initialization phase, 
not the MD driver initialization phase, so they may not help.

David Stern
dstern@u.washington.edu