369 lines
9.4 KiB
HTML
369 lines
9.4 KiB
HTML
<HTML
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><HEAD
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><TITLE
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>Frequently Asked Questions</TITLE
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><META
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NAME="GENERATOR"
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CONTENT="Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet Version 1.7"><LINK
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TITLE="Installing GNU/Linux on the IBM RS/6000 43P model 7248 HOWTO"
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HREF="t1.htm"><LINK
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REL="PREVIOUS"
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TITLE="Todo"
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TITLE="Appendix: Updating from YellowDog 2.3 (Dayton) to 3.0 (Sirius)"
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>Installing GNU/Linux on the IBM RS/6000 43P model 7248 HOWTO</TH
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><TD
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WIDTH="10%"
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><A
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>Prev</A
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ALIGN="LEFT"
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WIDTH="100%"></DIV
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><DIV
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CLASS="SECT1"
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><H1
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CLASS="SECT1"
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><A
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NAME="FAQ"
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></A
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>Frequently Asked Questions</H1
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><A
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NAME="AEN814"
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></A
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><P
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> In this final chapter I've included som frequently asked
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questions. This list should probably be much longer. Please let
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me know if you have something to add.
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</P
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><DIV
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CLASS="SECT2"
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><H2
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CLASS="SECT2"
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><A
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NAME="XF68-OR-XF86"
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></A
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>XF68 or XF86</H2
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><P
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>What is right, XF68 or XF86?</P
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><P
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> I have got a lot of questions conserning the name of the
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X-server in the installation program mentioned in older
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versions of this document. I have called it "XF68_FBDev". On
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some CDs the server has got another name, "XF86_FBDev". The
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reason for this naming convention and confusion is purely
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historical. The Linux Frame Buffer Device was first developped
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on m68k Macintoshes, and the XFree86 server for the device was
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hence called XF68_FBDev. Later on the Frame Buffer Device was
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ported to other platforms like the x86 clones and
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PowerPC. What is the right name? The question is left as an
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exercise for the reader.
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</P
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></DIV
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><DIV
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CLASS="SECT2"
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><H2
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CLASS="SECT2"
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><A
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NAME="SNOW"
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></A
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>There is "snow" on my X desktop</H2
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><P
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>How can I configure X so it removes the "snow" on my desktop?</P
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><P
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> The easy answer is: You can't. The kernel frame buffer device
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made by David Monro is still in an early stage, though working
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very well. Distortions in the picture when moving the mouse
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or scrolling a window are perfectly normal at eg
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1024x768@60Hz. If you are a hacker, please fix it and post a
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patch to David or Leigh. We would all love it very much. note that
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lower resolutions like 800x600 og even 640x480 works great.
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And no, there are only 8bit colors availble.
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</P
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></DIV
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><DIV
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CLASS="SECT2"
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><H2
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CLASS="SECT2"
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><A
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NAME="SUPPORTED-HARDWARE"
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></A
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>I can't get my hardware to work</H2
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><P
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>How can I get my new ultra whizbang XYZ card to work?</P
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><P
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> The 7248 is a PC-like box with ISA and PCI interfaces, so one
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should think that using "normal" PC hardware made for the x86
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platform should work flawlessly. Sadly to say, it doesn't
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always do. The drivers often have to be ported, and there are
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not that many Carolina motherboard kernel hackers out
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there. In addition, much hardware made for the x86 platforms
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uses BIOS calls to work properly. As the 7248 and its
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relatives does not have such a BIOS, it's extremely difficult
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to get this hardware to run under Linux.
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</P
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><P
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> That said, there are working hardware for this box that runs
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with Linux. For questions about this, please contact the
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Workstation list, see <A
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HREF="x734.htm"
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>the Section called <I
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>Resources</I
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></A
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>.
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</P
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><P
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> Update: With the latest versions of the Linux 2.4 bk
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development tree (NOT the official Linux 2.4 sources), many of
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the problems stated above are fixed, and much more hardware is
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supported. For example did I put a standard eepro100 card in
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my box, and it worked flawlessly. This means you can use the
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7248 for example as a packet-filtering firewall. I've also
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heard rumours on plain standard ISA Soundblaster cards
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working. Try and see if your card works. If it's interesting,
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send me an email, and I'll put a note here. See <A
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HREF="x627.htm"
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>the Section called <I
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>Compile a kernel</I
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></A
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> for notes on building and installing a
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2.4 kernel.
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</P
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><P
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> </P
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></DIV
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><DIV
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CLASS="SECT2"
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><H2
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CLASS="SECT2"
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><A
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NAME="MOUNT-PREP-PARTITION"
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></A
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>The PReP boot partition?</H2
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><A
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NAME="AEN837"
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></A
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><P
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>Where should I mount the PReP boot partition?</P
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><P
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> To be able to understand the answer for this question, it's
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important that the reader understands how the 7248 boots into
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Linux. This is a three step procedure. First, the Firmware
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(which behaves in the same way as a PC BIOS) looks for
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something to boot. Usually, it should check the floppy drive,
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the CD drive, and then the first SCSI disk. On the SCSI disk
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it will look for a special partition called a PReP boot
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partition. On this partition, it will read the first program
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it can find there. If this is a Linux kernel bootloader, it
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will read and run this, and then the bootloader boots
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Linux. From here, Linux is in charge.
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</P
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><P
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> Many have asked where they should mount the PReP boot
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partition (the type 41 partition). This is a common
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misunderstanding. The PReP boot partition, usually located on
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/dev/sda1, should NOT be mounted anywhere. The files on this
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partition, usually only a single Linux kernel with a static
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linked kernel bootloader, are only used by the firmware when
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booting. The operating system does not use these files after
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the kernel has booted, so there is no need for mounting that
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partition.
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</P
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><P
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> Some people mix the meaning of the /boot directory and the PReP
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boot partition. Both use to contain kernels, but their use are
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different. /boot is used for storing kernels for later use,
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and for bookholding system info. The /boot directory is NOT
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read by the Firmware at boot time, so changing the contents of
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this directory does not change the way the Firmware loads
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Linux.
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</P
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><P
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> To be able to load a new kernel, you have to replace the
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existing kernel on the PReP partition. This is done with the
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dd command, see <A
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HREF="x627.htm"
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>the Section called <I
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>Compile a kernel</I
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></A
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> for details.
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</P
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></DIV
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><DIV
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CLASS="SECT2"
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><H2
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CLASS="SECT2"
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><A
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NAME="RAM"
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></A
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>It won't boot at all. Could it be bad RAM?</H2
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><A
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NAME="AEN846"
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></A
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><P
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> The machine won't boot at all. I suspect the RAM could be the
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problem. What kind of RAM should I use for this box?
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</P
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><P
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> The 7248 and it's cousines with Carolina motherboard do use
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special RAM, more specifically, they use only parity RAM. The
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spesifications are as follows: 72-pin SIMM, 5 Volt, Fast Page
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Memory with Parity, 70 ns. David Monro states that is is
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possible to make Carolinas work with other types of RAM if you
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remove the cache. Look at <A
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HREF="x734.htm"
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>the Section called <I
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>Resources</I
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></A
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> for
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details.
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</P
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></DIV
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><DIV
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CLASS="SECT2"
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><H2
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CLASS="SECT2"
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><A
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NAME="SCSI-HANG"
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></A
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>Kernel boots, but stops at "Parity checking"</H2
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><A
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NAME="AEN853"
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></A
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><P
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> And now I thought it would work, but it stops at "Parity
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checking". I can't get a step further. Can you help me,
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please? Has this something to do with bad RAM chips? Or is it
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something wrong with my scsi devices?
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</P
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><P
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> You use a 2.2 kernel, don't you?
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</P
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><P
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> This message comes from the SCSI subsystem, so it has nothing
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to do with your RAM. Sometimes, by uknown reason, the Linux
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NCR driver in the 2.2-series caused the scsi controller to
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hang in some uninterruptible state, which endured, even
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bypassing reboot. The solution then was to boot AIX or even
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Windows NT for PPC (yes, such a beast exists, but you really
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don't want it), which resat the controller in proper
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condition. Alternatively, switch off the machine, pull out the
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battery inside, let it stay out for a couple of weeks or so,
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and fit things back together. The 2.4 driver fixed this
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problem.
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</P
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><P
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> Boot a 2.4 kernel, and you should be allright.
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</P
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><P
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> This could of course also be a real SCSI parity problem. If a
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2.4 kernel doesn't help, check your SCSI devices for wireing
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and termination problems.
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</P
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></DIV
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></DIV
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>Home</A
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>Todo</TD
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> </TD
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><TD
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WIDTH="33%"
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ALIGN="right"
|
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VALIGN="top"
|
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>Appendix: Updating from YellowDog 2.3 (Dayton) to 3.0 (Sirius)</TD
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></TR
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