Disabling hdparms on install CD

[zzzzeeezzzz]

Love Gentoo.....have installed it many times on many machines.

This ones got me stumped though. Trying to install on IBM Netfinity 3500 (I know its Old)

When I boot the 2006 Minimal install cd everything is fine up to the point that it runs hdparms on /dev/hdc (my cdrom drive)...after that the next line "Auto-scambling root password" fails and I start getting lost IRQ's and SQUASHFS errors. I have tried every conceivable combination of boot options: ACPI=OFF, IDE=NODMA, NOAPIC, NOLAPIC, NOHOTPLUG. I've turned off CDROM enhanced performance in the BIOS. It always fails in the same place. I've looked around the forums and around the net and I find reference to this sort of thing but never the answer. Can anyone give me insight or a link if its allready been solved.
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Converting the world to Linux.....one server at a time.

[BradN]

It might not be a real solution, but my suggestion would be to use a different livecd to install gentoo with. Knoppix works great, and you can even browse the web and things like that while you install. You don't really have to do anything different except that knoppix automatically configures its network connection, so there's a couple less steps at the beginning. If the system doesn't have a lot of RAM, you'll want to be sure to get the swap space set up before you start the actual compilation going. Also make sure you switch to root before doing the install, or you probably won't get too far.

[zzzzeeezzzz]

Your correct, its not the solution I was looking for. It IS worth a try though....Thanks

I'd still be interested in the correct solution if someone has it.
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Converting the world to Linux.....one server at a time.

[cyrillic]

[zzzzeeezzzz]

What I mean by "correct solution" is this: Gentoo's philosophy is to give the user choices. Running hdparms as part of the boot process from the install cd should be a choice. If it is not a choice already it should be implimented as such.

Yes your are correct I could use a Knoppix or other live cd with network support to install Gentoo from. I could also change the CD rom to one that supports DMA, but these are workarounds.

My point is simply that you don't necessarily NEED to run hdparms as part of the install CD's boot process so I posed the questions.

1.) Is there already a way to disable it that I'm not aware of?

2.) If not, is it possible to get this choice added?
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Converting the world to Linux.....one server at a time.

[jmbsvicetto]

Hi.

It's not what you're looking for, but I believe it might be able to prevent the issue you're facing. On the boot menu append the docache option.
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Jorge.

Your twisted, but hopefully friendly daemon.
AMD64 / x86 / Sparc Gentoo
Help answer || emwrap.sh

[dmartinsca]

I haven't booted from the minimal install cd in a while now but can't you press 'I' during boot to do an interactive boot? -- letting you choose to not start the hdparm initscript then continue with the rest of the boot process

[Bad Penguin]

[zzzzeeezzzz]

After trying jmbsvicetto suggestion of caching the cd to memory I think I may have this figured out.

The caching to memory takes place before hdparms is run. Therefore I do get a clean boot. However, because hdparms ran afterwards I can no longer access the cdrom directly (makes sense). Apparently with my hardware being old and the cdrom not supporting DMA eventhough I turn DMA off as a boot option, hdparms sets it back on later in the process. Running hdparms again and turning off DMA on the cdrom allows me to gain access to it directly again.

This is an apparent minor oversite on the part of the developers. It should be addressed in the next release. As far as I'm concerned I have found a way to live with it.

Thanks again to jmbsvicetto for the docache suggestion. That was thinking outside the box my friend.
_________________
Converting the world to Linux.....one server at a time.

[jmbsvicetto]

zzzzeeezzzz,

I've seen before similar issues being solved by using the docache option. Glad it helped you out.
_________________
Jorge.

Your twisted, but hopefully friendly daemon.
AMD64 / x86 / Sparc Gentoo
Help answer || emwrap.sh

[brittney]

I have the same problem.. hdparm sets dma to on even when i boot with ide=nodma.. it says in the help screen that ide=nodma will change hdparms options but obviously it doesnt... anyways.. i tried the docache option to but on my comp i runned out of memory..

is there anything else i can do?

i used the mini cd and its a p2400 64mb ram

-bri

[jmbsvicetto]

brittney,

you can try to use another live-cd. Have you tried something like sysresccd ?
I don't think you'll be able to overcome this issue with the Gentoo live-cd and only 64MB of RAM. If you were able to get more, it should work.
_________________
Jorge.

Your twisted, but hopefully friendly daemon.
AMD64 / x86 / Sparc Gentoo
Help answer || emwrap.sh

[brittney]

How does it work?
I tried damnsmalllinux and it worked fine.. it is installed on the comp now.. I mounted the gentoo cd but i couldnt find any install script.. just a big squashfs file.. i guess its in there? but DSL doesnt support squashfs and the network card didnt work in DSL either :/ so what do i do?

[BradN]

Basically, you don't have to use the install cd to install gentoo (a little unintuitive), but you can follow the install instructions using any livecd (it tells you to download the appropriate files when you get to that part of the installation). Last time I installed, I used knoppix and it worked fine.