sata_sx4.c - Promise SATA S150 SX4 Controller - Problems loading driver

sata_sx4.c - Promise SATA S150 SX4 Controller - Problems loading driver

[Simen Rønning]

I have severe problems when loading the sata_sx4.c driver.
I cannot find any relevant information on the net (I've been google'ing
for several days now) to my problem, whatsoever.

If this is a very wrong place to ask my question, I do apologize; and
please point me to the right forum for this kind of questions.

The problem is as following:
When doing "modprobe sata_sx4", it shows up with:

root@fp:/usr/src/linux/drivers/scsi# modprobe sata_sx4
/lib/modules/2.4.28-pre3/kernel/drivers/scsi/sata_sx4.o: init_module: No
such device
/lib/modules/2.4.28-pre3/kernel/drivers/scsi/sata_sx4.o: Hint: insmod
errors can be caused by incorrect module parameters, including invalid
IO or IRQ parameters.
      You may find more information in syslog or the output from dmesg
/lib/modules/2.4.28-pre3/kernel/drivers/scsi/sata_sx4.o: insmod
/lib/modules/2.4.28-pre3/kernel/drivers/scsi/sata_sx4.o failed
/lib/modules/2.4.28-pre3/kernel/drivers/scsi/sata_sx4.o: insmod sata_sx4
failed


When looking at DMESG I can see this output (and the usual stuff that
fills the entire screen):
libata version 1.02 loaded.
sata_sx4 version 0.50
Detect Local DIMM Fail


I have tried the following kernels with the EXACT same results:
2.4.27
2.4.28-pre3 (patches applied to 2.4.27 and libata patches)
2.6.8.1
2.6.9-rc2

The configuration of my Promise S150 SX4 controller is:
2 200GB disks, each in JBOD (single disk) mode.

My hardware is as following (briefly):
HP Netserver LH3, Intel 440BX chipset
512MB RAM
NetRaid3 RAID SCSI controller (AMI MegaRAID chipset)
HighPoint ATA controller (HPT366/368/370/370A/372 (rev 03))
Promise S150 SX4 SATA controller equipped with 64MB ECC RAM (Controller
has no complaints in POST booting process)
Onboard PIIX4 IDE controller

This server only has 1 CPU so I configured my kernel without SMP support
(I have tried with SMP support enabled just to check).

As distro I am using Slackware 10.

To mention; I have tried EVERY possible kombination of the IDE
controller cards. I've disabled the onboard, I have removed the
HighPoint controller, I have swapped PCI slots, changed memory on SX4
controller.

I am out of options :(
If more verbose output/information is needed, just speak up and I will
provide it. I would very much like to have my controller working.

In advance; thanks for your help!

Sincerely,
Simen Rønning
sniffe@upngo.no

Re: sata_sx4.c - Promise SATA S150 SX4 Controller - Problems loading driver

[J. Ryan Earl]

Simen Rønning wrote:

>Detect Local DIMM Fail
>  
>
That looks like a problem if there is a DIMM present.

>To mention; I have tried EVERY possible kombination of the IDE
>controller cards. I've disabled the onboard, I have removed the
>HighPoint controller, I have swapped PCI slots, changed memory on SX4
>controller.
>  
>
Have you tried a different SX4 card?  Perhaps your hardware is faulty.

-ryan

RE: sata_sx4.c - Promise SATA S150 SX4 Controller - Problems loading driver

[Simen Rønning]

Finally, I got it to work! :)

It seems that the BIOS on the SX4 card can report the DIMM-module as
beeing OK, while it sure isn't.

After moving the card to another system, and the same error occured I
ran memtest86 on the DIMM-module, and it shows up OK. When trying the
Memtest.exe (downloaded from Promise web-site) to check DIMM module when
installed in SX4, it reported it as FAILED.

It seems it is worth noticing this as the BIOS DIMM check-thingy seems
to be not-so-clever ;)

Thanks for the replies I got.

Sincerely,
Simen Rønning

-----Original Message-----
From: J. Ryan Earl [mailto:heretic@clanhk.org] 
Sent: 27. september 2004 21:39
To: Simen Rønning
Cc: linux-ide@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: sata_sx4.c - Promise SATA S150 SX4 Controller - Problems
loading driver


Simen Rønning wrote:

>Detect Local DIMM Fail
>  
>
That looks like a problem if there is a DIMM present.

>To mention; I have tried EVERY possible kombination of the IDE 
>controller cards. I've disabled the onboard, I have removed the 
>HighPoint controller, I have swapped PCI slots, changed memory on SX4 
>controller.
>  
>
Have you tried a different SX4 card?  Perhaps your hardware is faulty.

-ryan