Re: SOLVED: DMA is turned off on my HDD

[Anton Liaukevich <anthonyl@uvaga.by>]

Florian Kulzer wrote:
> On Tue, Jul 29, 2008 at 21:57:56 +0300, Anton Liaukevich wrote:
> > I have read some docs in the inet. I have understood what is initrd, how  
> > to use initramfs-tools debian package (in particular, update-initramfs  
> > command and "/etc/initramfs-tools/modules" file). I have being intended  
> > to add "blacklist ide-generic" string to "/etc/initramfs-tools/modules"  
> > file & to run "initramfs-tools -k $(uname -r) -u" command but when I  
> > opened this file I was shocked. That is I have seen:
> >
> > # Added by Debian Installer
> > ide-generic
> >
> > I decided simply delete this string from "modules" file (and update  
> > initrd then). And it has solved the problem!
>
> I am glad to hear that you have DMA working now. 
>
> > Nevertheless, I don't understand why Debian Installer add this  
> > ill-started module to "/etc/initramfs-tools/modules" file. Seems the bug  
> > to be Debian-specific.
>
> If the information on the Debian driver check page is correct, i.e. if
> you really need kernel 2.6.25 for the amd74xx module to work with your
> controller, then it may be reasonable to add ide_generic to /etc/modules
> to reduce the risk of the system not booting at all. (The installer has
> kernel 2.6.24.) However that may be, please send an installation report
> to the Debian installer team, describing your problems.
>
> > Now I'm intended to update initrd for all my kernels ;).
>
> Watch out, the 2.6.24 kernel might need ide_generic to use the
> controller at all.
I have ventured to update initrd for all my kernels and the result is
good! But I have one more question. There is list of my kernels:

leva:/home/anthony# awk '{if ($1=="kernel" && $NF!="single") print $2}' 
/boot/grub/menu.lst
/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.25-2-686
/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-1-686
/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-1-486

468-kernel is needed for me in case I will change my cpu to 
686-incompatible :) or I will transport my hdd to old computer and boot 
Debian from it.

But can I boot at least one of my kernels if I simply change my 
motherboard to one with non-nVidia chipset (that don't use "amd74xx" 
module) (after updating initrd for all kernels)?

ide-generic module seem to be not-loaded:

anthony@leva:~$ lsmod | grep 'ide'
video                  19728  0
output                  3712  1 video
ide_cd_mod             32864  0
cdrom                  31872  1 ide_cd_mod
ide_disk               13952  8
ide_pci_generic         4228  0 [permanent]
ide_core              100312  4 ide_cd_mod,ide_disk,ide_pci_generic,amd74xx

But it is included in initrd:

anthony@leva:~$ zcat /boot/initrd.img-$(uname -r) | cpio --quiet -t | 
grep -E '(ide|ata|amd)[^/]*\.ko'
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sis.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sx4.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_svw.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_uli.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_via.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_vsc.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ata/pata_artop.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_mv.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_nv.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ata/ata_generic.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_promise.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ata/pata_sis.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_qstor.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ata/pata_marvell.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ata/ata_piix.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_inic162x.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ata/libata.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ide/pci/amd74xx.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ide/pci/ide-pci-generic.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ide/ide-core.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ide/ide-pnp.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ide/ide-disk.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ide/ide-cd_mod.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ide/ide-tape.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ide/legacy/ide-cs.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ide/ide-generic.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/ide/ide-floppy.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/scsi/eata.ko
lib/modules/2.6.25-2-686/kernel/drivers/block/paride/paride.ko

Similarly for other kernels:

anthony@leva:~$ zcat /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-1-686 | cpio --quiet -t | 
grep 'ide-generic'
lib/modules/2.6.24-1-686/kernel/drivers/ide/ide-generic.ko
anthony@leva:~$ zcat /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-1-486 | cpio --quiet -t | 
grep 'ide-generic'
lib/modules/2.6.24-1-486/kernel/drivers/ide/ide-generic.ko