Topic: Driver Disk dunring Install

[Guest]

During Windows 200x installation the admin have the option of a driver disk insertion. The same functionality I have seen during VMWare ESX 2.x (RedHat Based) installation.
I think this is a neccessary extension to SME Server 6.x

[brad]

I agree!  

We could use that feature to install hardware RAID drivers at the install screen.

[msoulier]

I agree!  

We could use that feature to install hardware RAID drivers at the install screen.

I disagree. It's a lot of work to add, and it adds very little. If you have the drivers for the right kernel version, it's very little work to toss them into /lib/modules/<version>, run depmod -a, and then modprobe the right module(s). The last step would be updating /etc/modules.conf, if necessary.

Drivers under Linux are not easy, since there are so many kernel versions out there to compile against. It's difficult to find precompiled modules for your kernel version. If you can figure out how to build them yourself, you can handle the above steps.

Mike

[Anonymous]

I disagree. It's a lot of work to add, and it adds very little. If you have the drivers for the right kernel version, it's very little work to toss them into /lib/modules/<version>, run depmod -a, and then modprobe the right module(s). The last step would be updating /etc/modules.conf, if necessary.

How can I modify this files when the SME's implemented disk driver doesn't recognice the disk controller? For a professional Server System this must be possible.

Drivers under Linux are not easy, since there are so many kernel versions out there to compile against. It's difficult to find precompiled modules for your kernel version. If you can figure out how to build them yourself, you can handle the above steps.

Maybe that is it not easy. But the current SME Server run under one Kernel Version - 2.4.
Many Linux Developers have less or no field (I mean at customer's site) experience. So they always say - It is not necesarry or similar.

I'm a professional Sysadmin. Is all the same to me whether it is difficult - This feature is absolutly importand. A installation (not the configuration) have to be easy also for non Linux People.

VMWare know it. They have this feature implemented.


cu.

[mrjhb3]

You can be prompted to insert a drivers disk if you control-c out if the initial install, then type
accept dd.  If installing from CD, you must be quick, but it does work.  You get prompted to insert a drivers disk.  I haven't tested what happens once you insert the drivers disk to see if the driver is installed properly and loaded, as I did not have any new drivers to load.

YMMV,
JB