Re: Newbie first-time install advice: Highpoint Rocket 133SB
Stefan O'Rear wrote:
>
> > My understanding of DHCP is that it is a networking protocol supported
> > by some specific Linux package(s). As a newbie, I know about power
> > buttons, but not technical alterations to configuration files in the
> > event that the installer cannot figure out what to do.
> Yes. and that package comes with all versions of debian. It is
> automatically set up by debian-installer.
Therefore, it should work OK. My point was only that I've never used
it before, since I'm installing for the first time, so that if even a
simple problem comes up I won't know how to fix it. This deb-user list
can help me in that case, but I'll have to partition and install a
Windows version to be able to access the list from home until I could
get the Linux partition to work with the DSL connection.
You mention (below) that the Woody installer comes with poor
documentation, so that is another strike against it, I suppose? Is the
Sarge documentation that much better? Are you assuming that netinst
will work without needing extra help from me, so that documentation will
be available from the net? (The netinst CD is quite small!)
At any rate, we'll find out once I try it. Best way to learn is by
doing. I enjoy troubleshooting, except when there is no solution at
all....
> > > Linux doesn't usually support devices. It supports chipsets. Often,
> > > multiple device brands use the same chipset type. For instance, I have
> > > Creative Labs integrated sound, but I use the Ensoniq ES1371 driver.
[snip]
> > > Chances are VERY good the Rocket 133SB uses a standard controller. There
> > > is one driver that supports all standard IDE/ATA/SATA controllers.
> >
> > It is not a standard IDE controller, in the sense of the usual
> > controller chipsets on the motherboards. We can know this because the
> > manufacturer provides binary driver packages on their websites for
> > several Linux distributions. (If the standard "one driver" provided
> > with Linux for IDE support worked, those extra packages would be
> > unnecessary, I presume.)
> One would think that.
>
> > This controller is a PCI card that supports drives larger than 137 GB,
> > with its own BIOS so that other OSes which rely on the BIOS for disk
> > support can use these larger drives as well. (I also know that Linux
> > does not rely on BIOS support for drive access, but it looks like I
> > need a special driver for Linux to use the controller card.)
> > My hope in posting to debian-user was to hear from someone using a
> > Rocket 133SB, so they could tell me about their experiences. Does
> > Debian have built-in support? (I doubt it, but I thought I would ask
> > here in case someone who knows would see my message.) If not, what
> > steps should I take to get myself a Debian kernel that can use the
> > Rocket controller?
>
> Looking in the 2.6 tree, there are drivers supporting the Highpoint 343,
> 345, 366, 370, 370A, and 372.
Now that is helpful information! (May I ask how and where you found
this, so I will bother other folks less in the future? The sooner I can
become self-sufficient, the sooner I can start helping other newbies on
this list! ;)
According to the manual for the Rocket 133SB in the retail box, the
Windows drivers are called HPT302. The source code tarball provided by
Highpoint is called
hpt302-opensource-v1.2.tgz
Looks bad for me, at first. Maybe I should start another thread asking
for advice (i.e., "What would you do?") about how to proceed. I have an
older 37 GB drive that works as is, and a new 160 GB drive that will
only work at maximum capacity if I use it with this Rocket133SB
controller that I bought (like a big dummy, without checking into it
first to see if Linux kernels already know about it).
I had hoped to install all of the new hardware with my old OS first,
just to make sure it works. Then I wanted to install Linux and XP
directly to the new big drive (through the Rocket). Now the picture
looks more complex. Maybe I should temporarily put my old WinME on half
of the old drive (so I can use the net to get help if I have install
problems with Debian), and install Debian on the other half. Then I
need to compile the tarball above as a module (or should I compile a new
kernel?) so that I can create a new setup that can use the Rocket. Then
I can partition the big drive through the Rocket for Debian and XP, and
install them over there.
Or is/are there easier ways?
> Not impossible, just rather difficult. No useful documentation, you
> need to know the chipset used by most of your hardware, slow, encourages
> you too partition your disk but doesn't tell you how to do it right,
> chokes on ISA PNP, etc. YMMV, and probably won't be worse than mine.
You make this sound pretty bad. I wonder if the HILUX CD is as bad as
this. It's a lot smaller, and has a lot of updated (backported)
packages for a minimal installation, which can then be finished by
downloading anything else desired.
I have a lot to learn in a hurry! Compiling my own kernel sounds very
interesting, but I suppose that would be biting off more than I can chew
as a newbie. If that Highpoint tarball has compilation errors, or
simply fails to run on Debian, I might be at a standstill for quite a
while! I'm not sure what alternatives I have, though.
Thanks again for the help and advice,
Dave W.
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