[GLLUG] Fw: .c and .h files

[C. Ulrich]

On Mon, 2003-12-15 at 16:08, Bill Bartilson wrote:
> > I've got a number of old IBM servers (mostly 520's) on which I'd like to
> > install some flavor of linux.
> >
> > The architecture is old, but I've never had any problem installing Linux
> on
> > anything until now - regardless of the age of the hardware.
> >
> > The disk controllers in these things are MCA SCSI guys, for the most part
> > IBM ServerRAID style, as well as some with onboard SCSI controllers I have
> > yet to identify properly.
> >
> > I've tried 7.x and 9.0 installs of RH with no success.  Even though all
> seem
> > to include a ServerRAID option in the disk config, the install won't
> > recognize that the controller exists, and so there are no drives on which
> I
> > can install.

Then the only thing you can do is somehow figure out what kind of
controllers you have. Either that or stick a known Linux-compatible
adapter in there and just use that. (Assuming that Linux isn't choking
on the MCA bus itself or assuming that there's an open PCI slot in the
machine.)

> > Poking around on the 'net I've found a number of references to 'drivers'
> and
> > such available for this old architecture, but they aren't in a format that
> I
> > understand.
> >
> > The 'drivers' are gzipped files with a .c and a .h file in them
> Extracting
> > them to a floppy and letting the install see them is no help.  (not that I
> > really expected it would be)
> >
> > From reading the documentation, I have found no reference that would tell
> me
> > what to do with these files in order to make use of them during an
> install.

In addition to what Benjamin said, device drivers are usually tied to a
certain kernel version. It wouldn't surprise me if those drivers are for
a 2.2 or even developmental 2.1 or 2.3 kernels. Often you can get away
with compiling a driver that's not too far off from the "supported"
version, but there's never any guarantee. 

> > It seems that Debian may be a choice...I went to BN today and found 0
> books
> > with Debian included.  I started to DL Debian, and I'm having some trouble
> > figuring out the whole jigdo thing.  Seems like I ought to make a list of
> > the files I need and put it in a batch script or something.  Typing one
> file
> > name at a time seems like a *really* long way to go about getting the
> > distribution.  I'm obviously missing something completely here.
> >
> > I'm gonna mail order a set of disks, so that may be some help.  At $14.50,
> I
> > can hardly argue. :)

Debian might be your best option. Perhaps even Slackware. Almost any
other major distro else expects newer hardware and will either refuse to
install or will load the system down with extra stuff that an older
machine can't keep up with.

> > I also DL'ed the Gentoo .iso's and I'm about to burn them.   I just found
> > out about the 'new' Microsoft direction in which RH is heading, and Gentoo
> > was the recommendation of such geeks as I have access to directly.  So
> I'll
> > be trying that shortly.

You probably don't want Gentoo as it's one of those distributions that
compiles your whole system from the ground up. On a 520, that would take
an absolutely tremendous amount of time.

> > So, to summarize;
> >
> > 1.  I'm a smart guy, but I have very little administration experience with
> > Linux.  My experience was that you set it up, and it just worked until a
> > major hardware failure occurred.  My RH servers never did anything but
> work
> > flawlessly until a drive crash or a power supply failure.  And, I mean,
> > never.
> >
> > 2.  I know and can use vi, but that's really the level of my expertise at
> > it's maximum.  I know what a cron job is, but I have no idea how to create
> > one.  Hopefully that paints a picture of the level of assistance I need.

Sounds like all you need is a good book on Unix administration and you'd
be all set.

> > 3.  I'm not particular about flavor of linux at all.  One that would load
> > would be good. :)

Something you might consider is FreeBSD and NetBSD. FreeBSD is very much
geared toward servers and thus may have better support for "server"
hardware. NetBSD has the advantage that it is known to run on almost
anything, so one would think that they also spend some time working on
some of the more essential device drivers (such as disk controllers).
Just a thought.

> > 4.  Specifically, info about how to make use of these .c and .h files, or
> > any distribution that would work with this old IBM microchannel stuff
> would
> > be most appreciated.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Bill

If you could point to where you got the source files from, myself or
someone else on the list might be able to take a look at them and help
you formulate a plan, if it looks like there is a viable one.
Alternatively, you could even wait until after the holidays and bring
one in for the installfest on January 8 (if it's not too heavy, that is)
and at least one of us would probably be happy to take up the challenge.

Charles Ulrich
-- 
http://bityard.net