Re: replacement for ide-generic in Wheezy?

[Gary Dale <garydale@velcom.ca>]

On 08/08/13 06:28 AM, Jerome BENOIT wrote:
> Hello Gary,
>
> On 08/08/13 11:39, Gary Dale wrote:
> > The various ide modules (ide-generic, ide-cdrom, etc.) seem to be missing in the Wheezy kernel. However they still compile a 486 kernel so I'm assuming there is some intent to continue to support older hardware.
> >
> > In my case, I have an old laptop that I could run Squeeze on by including ide-generic in the /etc/initramfstool/modules file. However the same thing doesn't work in Wheezy because there is no ide-generic module.
> >
> > Googling around, I found one post that suggested it's been superseded by libata but I can't find that either.
> >
> > Is 486-era hardware still supported in the newer kernels or is this a lost cause?
>
> I guess that it is still supported by the kernel, but not by the kernel deb package as distributed by debian.
> You may build your own kernel, and the following link is a good place to start:
>
> http://kernel-handbook.alioth.debian.org
>
> hth,
> Jerome

Thanks. This would be a truly bizarre situation - creating a 486 kernel 
package for people but omitting the basic hardware drivers for hardware 
of the that vintage.

The basic difference between the 486 and 686 kernels is support for PAE. 
Pentium processors lack PAE but would generally need the IDE drivers.

In my case, I'm talking about Pentium-MMX @ 200MHz, which is far less 
powerful than a Raspberry Pi but still useful. However the CD-ROM and 
disk drives of that time need IDE drivers.

It wasn't long after that PAE was added (in the Pentium Pro and later). 
Why would anyone make a 486 kernel and not include the drivers? I could 
understand, but not agree with, dropping 486 support as some distros 
have done. But to simply not compile the drivers seems silly.