Hi Folks, I thought I had this file system thing handled in the last week. To recap, I installed SLES 8 for x86 (32 bit) on my dual Opteron server using MSI K8D Master board. Then, I tried to install a RAID onto the system using an Adaptec 29160 HBA. The first problem I had was when the RAID appeared as a disk with more than 1 TB of space, I was losing super blocks after creating a file system on it and doing write tests with it. That problem was avoided by using the RAID controller to split up the array into two LUNs, each less than a TB. Now, I have a different problem. When I tried to reboot the machine, I get the following error pretty early on: Unable to handle kernel null pointer dereference and the machine hangs, requiring holding the power switch down for 4 seconds to shut off. Now when it boots up, the 29160 HBA is no longer configured in the system, and none of its disks are visible. If I use YAST to bring up the Available Hardware information panel, I see the HBA with a green checkmark next to it, indicating that it should be configured. But if I use the Configure button, it shows that the AIC7xxx module has not been loaded. If I click on Test Loading Module, the module loads, and YAST comes up asking me if I want to configure the newly discovered disks. Then all appears to be fine again; the disks run like a charm. Now if I reboot the system again, I get the same thing; the message: Unable to handle kernel null pointer dereference comes up again, and hangs the system. After a power cycle, the system comes up without the AIC7xxx loaded. So I use YAST again to configure it, this time checking the box for Load module in initrd. It builds a new initrd file in /boot. I try to reboot again, and again the system hangs at the same place with the same null pointer message. Only this time, a power cycle does not help. Being no dummy, I kept a copy of the original initrd, and booted off the CD in rescue mode, and restored it back into /boot. The system comes up again after a power cycle. But I am still left with a system that does not properly configure the 29160 HBA upon bootup. Is there some kind of weird configuration setup that I have to do? What is the command that YAST is actually running when it loads the AIC7xxx module? Can I put a script into /etc/init.d to do this? Isn't the system supposed to do this correctly by itself? thanks for any assistance you can provide, eyc