[RndTbl] how do you install a adaptec ava1505 scsi controller

[Gilbert E. Detillieux]

According to S/C Conway:
> What is the process to install a scsi controller in RedHat 7.1?  I have a
> workstation loaded and operational. I tried installing a SCSI controller
> (i/o=0x140, Int=10) to host a Sony CDROM burner with no success.The
> parameters are jumpered on the board. I tried installing the card from a
> complete new linux installation and also tried installing the card after
> the OS is up and running. No success either way. The card does not appear
> to be detected. RedHat indicates the card is supported using aha152x
> driver.

I'm not familiar with this card.  Is it an ISA bus card, or PCI bus?
If it's PCI bus, it should have been auto-detected and configured correctly
as long as it's a supported card.  However, if it's ISA, it's possible that
it won't be auto-detected, and that you'll have to set up the configuration
manually.

If you're sure the aha152x driver is the right one, you should be able to
manually load the driver with "modprobe".  If you get that far, then the
following setup should work...

- Add the following line to /etc/modules.conf:

	alias scsi_hostadapter aha152x

- If you need to explictly set I/O address and/or IRQ values for the driver,
  then also add a line like this:

	options aha152x io=0x140 irq=10

  (Check the driver documentation, though, as I'm not sure if these are the
  right options for that driver.)

- Build (or rebuild) your initrd file for the kernel:

	mkinitrd /boot/initrd-2.4.9-12.img 2.4.9-12

  (Adjust the numbers above to match those for your installed kernel.)

- If not already done, add an initrd statement in /etc/lilo.conf:

	initrd=/boot/initrd-2.4.9-12.img

  (This should be after the "image=" line for the kernel to be booted.)

- Run "lilo", and reboot.

The reason for the slightly convoluted setup is that Red Hat configures its
kernels to load the SCSI driver as a module, but that module has to be made
available in an "initrd" file (initial ramdisk image), in case the system is
installed on a SCSI disk drive, in which case the file system wouldn't be
accessible until the driver is loaded.  (Sort of a catch 22 bootstrapping
problem.)  Because of the way Red Hat sets this up, you still need to do it
this way, even if you're not using the SCSI driver to access your system
disk.

> The card works. It now hosts a SCSI scanner and CDROM burner in a windows
> box.  If I can  successfully install the card I hope to eliminate that
> windows box.
> 
> I was hoping someone had some experience with this type of installation
> and might offer a stepped process to success.

As I said, I'm not familiar with your card, but the above setup has worked
for me for a number of cards, both ISA and PCI bus based.  (Although I've
never had to override I/O or IRQ settings with an options statement.)

-- 
Gilbert E. Detillieux		E-mail:	<gedetil at cs.umanitoba.ca>
Dept. of Computer Science	Web:	http://www.cs.umanitoba.ca/~gedetil/
University of Manitoba		Phone:	(204)474-8161
Winnipeg, MB, CANADA  R3T 2N2	Fax:	(204)474-7609