From: Edward Wahl (wahl@cis.ohio-state.edu)
Date: 05/14/92


From: wahl@cis.ohio-state.edu (Edward Wahl)
Subject: HELP! with Adaptec- scsi installation!
Date: 14 May 1992 06:45:46 GMT


        Greetings. I am trying to install linux on my 386-33DX with 387,
with 32 megs of memory, and 2 Maxtor SCSI hard drives, running off an Adaptec
1542-B. (C is a XT8380S D is a XT8760S) I have 2 floppies: 1 5 1/4 HD, and
1 3 1/2 HD. I also have a 640x480x256 monitor with a Tseng ET4000 1meg.
        Recently I tried 3 different times to install linux, and have
only recently had any luck getting any farther than bootong the floppy.

        My last escapade invloved defining a 20 Meg partition with pfdisk
in DOS and then trying to make a file system inside linux.
        I tried the scsi.fdisk getting NOTHING except the next prompt.
        I then went and ftp'd and DL'ed the 96 bootimage. I tried scsi.fdisk
till I was blue.... Still nothing. So I went and did the following, and heres
what happened....: (oh, this was using the 95a root)
Received: xxq
#mknod /dev/sd0 b 8 1
#mkfs /dev/sd0 6144 (remember this is a 20 meg partition)

        Linux then proceded to go:
280.....5something.....
        Then the screen suddenly became filled with ANSI characters.. Every
one! (blocking the entire screen) After hitting a few keys, I locked up the
machine.
        So I went back and went into the highest rez-graphics-text mode.
(thinking that maybe my ET4000 was somehow at fault) This time after the
wonderfull graphics garbeled my screen, the kernal dumped! I tried all the
text modes, thinking maybe something was wrong with my card. The higher
modes all dump, and produce similar results:
Received: xxq
general protection: 0000
EIP: 0008: 0000B7E8
EFLAGS: 00010283
fs: 0017
base: 1C000000, limit: 04000000
pid: 17 process nr: 7
83,3b,03,75,0f,68,b3,b7,00,00
memory fault
##
#

Received: xxq
partition, and anything larger trashes memory. Can anyone out there offer
me some assistance? (drew?) Is the fact that I have 32 megs a prob?
        Why does the scsi.fdisk STILL not report anything? Yes, I linked
hd0 the hda, etc... ARGHHH!!!!
        (anyone know if any of the Adaptec's have bad ROMS in any rev?)

        This is really starting to irk me, as 4 tiny partions and 2 floppies
just don't do it!

                                HELP!

        Thanks in advance for any suggestions, etc....

-- 
====================================================================== 
"Better to be silent and thought a fool, then to speak and remove all
      doubt." --Abraham Lincoln
 wahl@cis.ohio-state.edu  !osu-cis!wahl    CIS/ENG DPT. OSU