On Thursday 01 July 2004 16:41, Ken Schneider wrote:

-----Original Message----- From: "Plantz, Brenda (ACN) 7608" To: Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 15:52:56 -0400 Subject: [SLE] SuSE Linux Professional 9.1 Driver?

...

We have recently purchased and are in the process of upgrading to SuSE Linux Professional 9.1. The box we are trying to install on has 2-mirrored SCSI hard drives with an ADAPTEC SCSI RAID 2100S controller. SuSE 9.1 does not see these drives. Is there a driver available for this hardware that SuSE 9.1 can use?

I believe it is the 2010S card. We have a couple and are ANXIOUSLY awaiting a patch/fix/update to be able to install 9.1. Bummer for such a popular card. Craig Herring

Hmmmm. A search on Adaptec's site does not show this part. Are you sure of the part number?

Ken

On Tue, 6 Jul 2004 14:51:49 -0500 Craig Herring wrote:

This gentleman was not willing to give us support for installing Suse 9.1 using this configuration: Supermicro X5DL8-GG 2x Xeon 2.4Ghz Adaptec ZCR 2010S

For the record, I was also unable to get support for a dual opteron, even though the issue did not seem to be either dual-related or opteron-related. - Richard. -- Richard Kimber http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/

On Tuesday 6 July 2004 03:51 pm, Craig Herring wrote: | | We called Suse when we received our copy of 9.1 and they said that | because the RAID cards are considered a piece of hardware for server | platforms they would support in their server products (SLES8/9). | This gentleman was not willing to give us support for installing Suse | 9.1 using this configuration: Supermicro X5DL8-GG | 2x Xeon 2.4Ghz | Adaptec ZCR 2010S | Craig, I wouldn't gamble on getting support in SLES9 for any 32-bit, U160 Adpatec (or DPT) SCSI RAID controller. I called SuSE support on this issue when 9.0 came out. The 9.0 box said that SCSI installation support was provided, but Hartmut Meyer (who ran support at the time) refused to provide installation support for this card. I tried to explain to Hartmut that, while I thought that was false advertising on SuSE's part, the much more important issue to me was getting the card to work properly. He was not interested in having that conversation and did not respond to my emails or telephone calls. Upon the release of 9.1, I found that support for these cards had degraded even further, so I wrote a printed letter to the product head for SuSE Linux, asking if this family of cards would ever be supported. I have not heard anything back. I also twice filled out bug reports via the web form. No response, but I didn't expect any. I cannot see how these cards can be supported on SLES9/SLOX given SuSE's common architectures. I called SuSE pre-sales support today, and they had no information on hand as to whether these cards would be supported in SLES9, although the rep offered to try to find out, if I would only send him an email (which I will do). We've tested these cards on Knoppix, RHES and Fedora, and they work fine, so I'm not sure why SuSE can't get it right here. So, I called Adaptec pre-sales support and got the first piece of solid, actionable information, which follows: Basically, (according to Adaptec) the 32-bit U160 cards, like the 2100S, are nearing end of life and have much more limited operating system support than the 64-bit U320 cards, like the 2120S. The 2120S costs a little more than than the 2100S ($420 vs. $398 from CDW), but Adaptec's 64-bit DPT-based RAID controllers always work in 32-bit PCI slots, with the extra contacts just hanging off the end of the slot (this is supported, BTW). There are SuSE 9x drivers on Adaptec's web site for the 2120S; there are no SuSE 8x or 9x drivers for the 2100S. So, it seems that, at least for our clients, we'll need to upgrade their controller hardware if we want to be assured of support. When you are saving a client $10K in Microsoft license fees, an extra $400 is not too much to ask, but it is a shame that the other distros can provide support for an enterprise-class 32-bit RAID controller, and SuSE, ostensibly the leader in enterprise-class Linux, can't. Anyway, rant mode is now off. I hope this information is helpful to others. I wouldn't wager money on SuSE being able to support Adaptec 32-bit SCSI RAID cards going forward. Anybody interested in a few used 2100S cards and a DPT 2865U3? (Not kidding!) Mark -- _____________________________________________ A Message From... L. Mark Stone Reliable Networks of Maine, LLC 477 Congress Street, 5th Floor Portland, ME 04101 Tel: (207) 772-5678 Web: http://www.RNoME.com

On Wednesday 7 July 2004 10:34 am, Craig Herring wrote: | > Craig, | > | > I wouldn't gamble on getting support in SLES9 for any 32-bit, U160 | > Adpatec (or DPT) SCSI RAID controller. | > | > | > Basically, (according to Adaptec) the 32-bit U160 cards, like the | > 2100S, are nearing end of life and have much more limited operating | > system support than the 64-bit U320 cards, like the 2120S. The | > 2120S costs a little more than than the 2100S ($420 vs. $398 from | > CDW), but Adaptec's 64-bit DPT-based RAID controllers always work | > in 32-bit PCI slots, with the extra contacts just hanging off the | > end of the slot (this is supported, BTW). | > | > There are SuSE 9x drivers on Adaptec's web site for the 2120S; | > there are no SuSE 8x or 9x drivers for the 2100S. | > | > | > Anybody interested in a few used 2100S cards and a DPT 2865U3? (Not | > kidding!) | > | > Mark | | Thanks for this good info... but I'm not sure we are talking about | the same card.... I am talking about the Zero Channel RAID card that | needs to be used with on-board Adaptec SCSI controllers....the 2010S | http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/product/proddetail.html?sess=no&lang |uage=English+US&prodkey=ASR-2010S&cat=%2fTechnology%2fRAID%2fUltra320 | | It seems you are talking about the older: | http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/product/proddetail.html?sess=no&lang |uage=English+US&prodkey=ASR-2100S&cat=%2fTechnology%2fRAID%2fUltra160 | | {stinky model numbers} There is also another version that fits in a | SO-DIMM type slot that many 1U rackmount servers use: | http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/product/proddetail.html?sess=no&lang |uage=English+US&prodkey=ASR-2015S&cat=%2fTechnology%2fRAID%2fUltra320 | | These 2 products are part of their U320 line of SCSI products that do | not seem to be going away. | I forget where the link is but in the support portion of Suse they | note that RAID controllers are not supported in Suse 9.1 Craig, Yes, the 2010S is an odd duck; there's no SCSI chip on that card--the 2010S is basically a low-cost way to add RAID to approved motherboards that already have a built-in SCSI controller. I did not ask Adaptec about that product specifically, but looking at the downloads section for that product, it seems to have as much active development as the 32-bit 2100S, which is not much. It's supported on SLES8, but not on Pro 9.x. So, despite it being a 64-bit card, if Adaptec isn't developing for it, my guess is the chances of it being supported in SLES9 (or on Pro 9.x) are slim at best. But, I would call Adaptec Customer Service (NOT tech support) and get the pre-sales group to tell you what's going on with that card specifically. Then you too can decide whether to put it up on ebay or not! Mark -- _____________________________________________ A Message From... L. Mark Stone Reliable Networks of Maine, LLC 477 Congress Street, 5th Floor Portland, ME 04101 Tel: (207) 772-5678 Web: http://www.RNoME.com