IDE disk drive controllers and disk drive sizes supported by RedHat 9 Shrike

IDE disk drive controllers and disk drive sizes supported by RedHat 9 Shrike

[Alexander Povolotsky]

Hi,

I have Linux Red Hat 9 on Pentium III PC (Dell Optiplex 110 )
running off the 8 Gb Disk Drive; there is also small boot drive on that IDE controller. 

I ran out of disk space on that 8 Gb disk drive.

There is also another IDE controller for the functional CD-ROM there.

I bought (3rd) SIIG UltraATA 100 PCI Controller and 80 Gb Western Digital IDE disk drive - could I add this new controller with this new disk drive and somehow make existing Linux Red Hat 9 recognize this new drive as additional disk space ? Is SIIG UltraATA 100 PCI Controller 
supported by RedHat 9 ? If yes, do I need to do something specific 
(like compiling module ? - if yes - could be 'dynamically loadable 
module' or the module should be statically compiled into the kernel ? -
are steps to be performed documented someplace on-line ?).
Somebody told me that 'SIIG's IDE controller is a bad choice for Linux Red Hat 9 and that IDE controller from 'Promise' is supported by RedHat 9 - is it true ? 
Is 80 Gb drive in general supported by RedHat 9 (which is Linux kernel 2.4 based ) ? If not what is the largest size supported: 10 Gb ? 20 Gb ? 40 Gb ?

Suppose alternatively to above discussed I will just add 20 Gb drive to the second (available) slot on the existent IDE controller, which now controls the CD-ROM - will it work ? (... and if 'yes' - are any actions needed on my part ?).

Thanks,
Alex



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Re: IDE disk drive controllers and disk drive sizes supported by RedHat 9 Shrike

[Kevin J. Cummings]

Alexander Povolotsky wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I have Linux Red Hat 9 on Pentium III PC (Dell Optiplex 110 )
> running off the 8 Gb Disk Drive; there is also small boot drive on that IDE controller. 
> 
> I ran out of disk space on that 8 Gb disk drive.

Yeah, I hate it when that happens.  B^)

> There is also another IDE controller for the functional CD-ROM there.
> 
> I bought (3rd) SIIG UltraATA 100 PCI Controller and 80 Gb Western Digital IDE disk drive - could I add this new controller with this new disk drive and somehow make existing Linux Red Hat 9 recognize this new drive as additional disk space ? Is SIIG UltraATA 100 PCI Controller 
> supported by RedHat 9 ? If yes, do I need to do something specific 
> (like compiling module ? - if yes - could be 'dynamically loadable 
> module' or the module should be statically compiled into the kernel ? -
> are steps to be performed documented someplace on-line ?).

Assuming that Linux supports (recognizes) the PCI controller (I don't 
know, but it should), its configured to be the tertiary controller (IO 
addresses, IRQ, possibly DMA) correctly, and either the kernel sees it, 
or you can configure the proper kernel parameters such that the kernel 
can use it, yes, theoretically, you can do this.  Plug it in, and see 
what happens.  B^)  That's what I'd do.  You mught want to look at the 
Linux Boot Prommpt HOWTO for the proper kernel parameters, if you find 
that you need them.  Disk devices on the tertiary controller would be 
hde & hdf.  Note that your mb BIOS won't see any drives on this 
controller in any event, so its completely up to Linux to recognize it 
and configure it properly.

> Somebody told me that 'SIIG's IDE controller is a bad choice for Linux Red Hat 9 and that IDE controller from 'Promise' is supported by RedHat 9 - is it true ? 

Sorry, I don't know if that particular SIIG controller is a bad choice 
or not, why not Google for it?

> Is 80 Gb drive in general supported by RedHat 9 (which is Linux kernel 2.4 based ) ? If not what is the largest size supported: 10 Gb ? 20 Gb ? 40 Gb ?

In general, Linux doesn't care about Hard drive size, *but* your 
motherboard BIOS *might*.  I had a mb with a 32GB hard drive size 
limitation.  Using a larger drive caused the POST to hang detecting the 
drive.  The workaround was to use the "cylinder limitation jumper" which 
told the BIOS the drive was a 32GB drive, and then I rebuilt the RedHat 
9 kernel to enable the kernel to query the drive directly for its proper 
LBA size.  I think the directive was something like CONFIG_IDE_STROKE.
I used this for my "new" 120GB drive on this old mb until I bought a new 
mb with larger IDE support.  See the Large Disk HOWTO for all the gory 
details on IDE disk limitations and under what circustances....

> Suppose alternatively to above discussed I will just add 20 Gb drive to the second (available) slot on the existent IDE controller, which now controls the CD-ROM - will it work ? (... and if 'yes' - are any actions needed on my part ?).

Yes, this *will* work, but there was always some question about what 
happens when an hdd & a cdrom share the same cable.  Some opinions were 
that the hdd accesses slow down to the cdrom speeds when both are in 
use, due to the way ATA is defined.  I don't know if that remains true 
today.  That's why I have 2 hdds on IDE0 and 2 cdroms (cdrom & dvd) on 
IDE1 on my machine.

> Thanks,
> Alex

-- 
Kevin J. Cummings
kjchome@rcn.com
cummings@kjchome.homeip.net
cummings@kjc386.framingham.ma.us

Re: IDE disk drive controllers and disk drive sizes supported by RedHat 9 Shrike

[Glynn Clements]

Kevin J. Cummings wrote:

> > Is 80 Gb drive in general supported by RedHat 9 (which is Linux
> > kernel 2.4 based ) ? If not what is the largest size supported: 10
> > Gb ? 20 Gb ? 40 Gb ?
> 
> In general, Linux doesn't care about Hard drive size,

You need a fairly recent kernel for drives larger than ~137Gb (2^28
512-byte sectors). 2.6 and the last few 2.4 kernels are OK, but older
2.4 kernels will only see the first 137Gb .

If you think that you might need to access a disk with an older kernel
(e.g. a rescue disk or a bootable CD from a not-so-recent
distribution), you might want to partition the disk so that everything
important is on a partition which doesn't extend beyond the 2^28
sector barrier.

There is a guide to the various disk size barriers at:

	http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/bios/size.htm

Most of these are either BIOS issues or DOS/Windows filesystem issues,
so they aren't an issue for Linux (other than for booting, as the boot
loader relies upon the BIOS for disk access). However, the 137Gb limit
is an ATA issue rather than a BIOS issue.

-- 
Glynn Clements <glynn@gclements.plus.com>

Re: IDE disk drive controllers and disk drive sizes supported by RedHat 9 Shrike

[Art Wildman]

Alexander Povolotsky wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I have Linux Red Hat 9 on Pentium III PC (Dell Optiplex 110 )
>running off the 8 Gb Disk Drive; there is also small boot drive on that IDE controller. 
>
>I ran out of disk space on that 8 Gb disk drive.
>
>There is also another IDE controller for the functional CD-ROM there.
>
>I bought (3rd) SIIG UltraATA 100 PCI Controller and 80 Gb Western Digital IDE disk drive - could I add this new controller with this new disk drive and somehow make existing Linux Red Hat 9 recognize this new drive as additional disk space ? Is SIIG UltraATA 100 PCI Controller 
>supported by RedHat 9 ? If yes, do I need to do something specific 
>(like compiling module ? - if yes - could be 'dynamically loadable 
>module' or the module should be statically compiled into the kernel ? -
>are steps to be performed documented someplace on-line ?).
>Somebody told me that 'SIIG's IDE controller is a bad choice for Linux Red Hat 9 and that IDE controller from 'Promise' is supported by RedHat 9 - is it true ? 
>Is 80 Gb drive in general supported by RedHat 9 (which is Linux kernel 2.4 based ) ? If not what is the largest size supported: 10 Gb ? 20 Gb ? 40 Gb ?
>
>Suppose alternatively to above discussed I will just add 20 Gb drive to the second (available) slot on the existent IDE controller, which now controls the CD-ROM - will it work ? (... and if 'yes' - are any actions needed on my part ?).
>
>Thanks,
>Alex
>
>
>
>  
>

If you use that controller you may have to disable another, I would try 
to use the existing IDE interfaces first.

YoLinux Tutorial: Add an Additional New Hard Drive to Your Linux System
http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialAdditionalHardDrive.html

--
Art Wildman/ITO @ WFO-JAX - art.wildman@noaa.gov
National Weather Service Office  - http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jax
13701 FANG Dr., Jacksonville, FL. 32218
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin

Re: IDE disk drive controllers and disk drive sizes supported by RedHat 9 Shrike

[chuck gelm]

Alexander Povolotsky wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I have Linux Red Hat 9 on Pentium III PC (Dell Optiplex 110 )
>running off the 8 Gb Disk Drive; there is also small boot drive on that IDE controller. 
>
>I ran out of disk space on that 8 Gb disk drive.
>
>There is also another IDE controller for the functional CD-ROM there.
>
>I bought (3rd) SIIG UltraATA 100 PCI Controller and 80 Gb Western Digital IDE disk drive - could I add this new controller with this new 
>
Do You have a (1st and 2nd) SIIG UltraATA PCI Controller or is this the first 'add on' PCI IDE card?

>disk drive and somehow make existing Linux Red Hat 9 recognize this new drive as additional disk space ? Is SIIG UltraATA 100 PCI Controller 
>supported by RedHat 9 ? 
>
If BIOS can recognize the drives on the new controller card,
 I will bet that linux will be able to use them.  'Somehow make existing 
linux'
recognize the drive just like it somehow recognizes the current drives.
Edit 'fstab' or mount the new partitions manually with a script.

>If yes, do I need to do something specific 
>(like compiling module ? - if yes - could be 'dynamically loadable 
>module' or the module should be statically compiled into the kernel ? -
>are steps to be performed documented someplace on-line ?).
>
You did not mention, but are your existing drives IDE?
If yes, you need NOT load any more modules than you already have.
If yes, you already have the necessary drivers (modules or static).

>Somebody told me that 'SIIG's IDE controller is a bad choice for Linux Red Hat 9 and that IDE controller from 'Promise' is supported by RedHat 9 - is it true ? 
>
My three (3) Promise PCI IDE controller cards are recognized by the BIOS 
on each separate motherboard.
BIOS recognizes them, therefore linux recognizes them.

IIRC, Promise mentions that three (3) of their cards can be added to a 
single motherboard.

>Is 80 Gb drive in general supported by RedHat 9 (which is Linux kernel 2.4 based ) ? If not what is the largest size supported: 10 Gb ? 20 Gb ? 40 Gb ?
>
I am using kernel 2.4.22 and it recognizes my new 250 Gigabyte hard drive.

>
>Suppose alternatively to above discussed I will just add 20 Gb drive to the second (available) slot on the existent IDE controller, which now controls the CD-ROM - will it work ? (... and if 'yes' - are any actions needed on my part ?).
>
If this SIIG controller is faster that the 'built in' controller on your 
motherboard,
you may want to put your faster drives on it too.

If you were more specific with your equipment;
'Dell Optiplex 110' has a UDMA [33, 66, 100, 133] controller on IDE0.
"                                                      ?    ?      
?       ?    "                  IDE1.
The SIIG as mentioned appears to be UDMA 100.

Short answer, Yes.
Long answer, Yes probably.

Please try installing the card and attaching the new drive and let us 
know what happens.
OBTW, why are we crossposting?
IMHO, this would be better served in linux-newbie.
:-|
HTH, Chuck


>
>Thanks,
>Alex
>  
>