# Problems with Promise Fasttrak TX4

## GreyCrow

Hi everyone. 

Sorry, but I have a prob with the TX4 Version of the Promise Fasttrak. (Ya know, the one with 4 channels). With the new gentoo 1.2 iso cd nothing went straight, 'cause somehow it seems the drivers are broken. Many errors and timeouts, fallbacks to udma33, errors with "use 80pin cables" etc. etc. 

So after studying the forums I came over to a posting pointing out it has to be the new kernel. I downloaded the 1.1a ISO, booted: Working! No Hardware Probs. 

BUT: When I now want to run modprobe ataraid and pdcraid I have teh problem, that pdcraid shows only 2 of the 3 raid-1 drives configured in the bios of the controller. ??? Somehow it seems like pdcraid doesn't sees the second controller chip from the TX4 ('cause the missing two HDs which should be the missing RAID-1 drive are on the controller Channels 3 and 4 as master, the recognized are masters and slaves on channel 1 and 2). 

Anyone here to help me  :Question: 

```

|------------------------|

|                        |

| ===== Ch1  ======  Ch3 |

|                        |

| ===== Ch2  ======  Ch4 |

|                        |

|------------------------|

On Ch1:

  Master: 12GB Maxtor

  Slave : 80GB Maxtor

On Ch2:

  Master: 12GB Maxtor

  Slave : 80GB Maxtor

On Ch3:

  Master: 120GB Maxtor

On Ch4:

  Master: 120GB Maxtor

```

THANX   :Exclamation: 

----------

## rommel

damn i remember a post that addressed this issue i think....it was something funky witht eh second chip on the controller card....its been a while though....try searching some more , if i get lucky and come across that thread i'll link it for ya

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## rommel

here ya go, hope it helps

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## GreyCrow

Not really, 'cause in the posting all guys seems to actually _use_ the drives on the second chip. In my situation pdcraid don't even list the drives on the second chip. But a dmesg shows all 6 hds are recognized and initialized at booting time!    :Question:   :Question:   :Question: 

Have I forgotten something? Do I have to run a modprobe or insmod pdcraid again with some additional parameters to make it use the second chip?

I also read the posting and did not combine drives to a mirror-raid-1 over two channels on different chips. It's all exactly as proposed in the posting but somehow pdcraid don't see the second channel.

 :Evil or Very Mad: 

Hope someone has an   :Idea: 

Greets   :Confused: 

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## JohnHerdy

When you boot the 1.2 ISO the first thing you get is "Boot:", normally you press enter here and after that you get all the error notifcations.

Make a note which disks (i.e. HDE and HDF) are returning these errors. Reboot your PC and when you get the "Boot:" type

"rescue hde=noautotune hdf=noautotune" (you have to replace the HDE and HDF with all the drivenames you have noted in step 1 and without the quotes). When you press enter you wont see the error notifications anymore. When you reach the part where you must insert your modules, do a "modprobe ataraid" and after that "modprobe pdcraid".

Please post the results after doing this.

Regards,

John Herdy.

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## GreyCrow

Hi John,

with your tips it was possible to boot from the 1.2 ISO without greater problems. Now I'm getting nearer. But: the problem still resists. pdcraid now says:

```

  ataraid/d0: unknown partition table

Drive 0 is 12427Mb (56 / 0)

Drive 1 is 12427Mb (57 / 0) 

Raid1 array consists of 2 drives

  ataraid/d1: unknown partition table

Drive 0 is 76345Mb (56 / 64)

Drive 1 is 76345Mb (57 / 64)

Raid1 array consists of 2 drives

Promise Fasttrak(tm) Softwareraid driver for linux version 0.03beta

#

```

I'm still missing drives 5 & 6 on channels 3 & 4. They are listed in the dmesg output and initialized, but pdcraid doesn't even tell it sees them.

Why?

Greets Grey

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## JohnHerdy

The Promise-drivers where updated in 2.4.19-RC?. So it might be possible that the extra channel is supported with the new driver. I'm not able to test it because I have the 2 channel version. I have read in newsgroups that people were able to succesfully use the TX4. You could try to compile the pdcraid and ataraid modules on a different machine and modprobe those modules during the Gentoo installation. Please post the results after doing that.

Regards,

John Herdy.

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## JohnHerdy

Additional information: the driver is updated in 2.4.19-RC? so you must use the vanilla 2.4.19 kernel.

Regards,

John Herdy.

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## GreyCrow

Hi John,

will test it tonight. Will install Gentoo boot and root on the 13Gig Array on Chip 1, then configure the kernel and hopefully reboot with full functionality. Thanx for the remark in using the vanilla kernel. I will do so.

Posting afterward   :Very Happy: 

Greets

Grey (now full of hope)

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## GreyCrow

Hi Folks,

I'm now almost done with setting up gentoo on the first two discs hoping that after rebooting the new driver (you promised John *g) will in fact solve my problem. Now my last difficulty is, that grub dowsn't seem to like my partitions to boot from. When at the grub console and typing:

```
grub> root (hd0,0)

```

it says somewhat like bad or missing partition. Thought it is 'cause he can't access drives and partitions through hdX directly. But when only typing root and then pressing the TAB key, he presents two hds (hd0 and hd1) so I thought, that would be the two pdcraid found drives ataraid/disc0 and ataraid/disc1

Without grub booting results in: Missing operating system.

What have I done wrong?

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## GreyCrow

I've come over this problem with using a boot floppy with grub and then setting up partitions from there. hd0 was recognized and the command root (hd0,0) was succesful.

I even managed to boot from the raid-1 array but now running into a kernel panic with:

unable to mount root device ... blabla ... cannot mount ataraid/d0p3 (or hex 72:03) ... bla

Now I'm totally helpless. I tried every hint in modifying the root= statement in grub with no result. Every boot-time is kernel-panic-time.

Tried: ataraid/disc0/part3 , ataraid/d0p3 and even hexcode root=7203 with no result.

Plz Help!    :Evil or Very Mad: 

Somebody with   :Idea: 

P.S. for John: Kernel is Vanilla and Grub is 0.90. Can't say more 'cause can't boot   :Sad: 

----------

## TuxFriend

I guess your menu.lst should be something like this:

default 0

timeout 5 

splashimage=(hd0,0)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz 

title=Gentoo Linux

root (hd0,0) 

kernel /boot/bzImage root=/dev/ataraid/disc0/part hde=noautotune hdf=noautotune

I saw a post where someone suggested to remove /boot/grub/*stage1_5 maybe you could try this also.

TuxFriend

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## GreyCrow

Thats what I type at boot time (grub command line) 'cause I cannot boot into my system to change my .lst file. Grub isn't my enemy anymore (I think) but this damned ataraid or pdcraid driver. 

 *Quote:*   

> kernel /boot/bzImage root=/dev/ataraid/disc0/part hde=noautotune hdf=noautotune

 

I'll try that parameters with noautotune at grub cmd but hope has lost me   :Sad: 

----------

## GreyCrow

Here's what I got at Grub-Time:

```

grub> root (hd0,0)

 Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83

(I'm using ext3 on /boot and /root)

grub> kernel /boot/bzImage root=/dev/ataraid/d0p3 hde=noautotune hdg=noautotune

  [Linux-bzImage, setup=0x1400, size=0xdda7c]

(Using /dev/ataraid/disc0/part3 doesn't work - it doesn't even show the correct hex code then (0x00) )

grub> boot

```

And then the kernel begins to boot up. Then:

```

VFS: Cannot open root device "ataraid/d0p3" or 72:03

Please append a correct "root=" boot option

Kernel Panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on 72:03

```

Game Over   :Crying or Very sad: 

Will I ever get Gentoo running on this server? I'm near madness   :Evil or Very Mad: 

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## TuxFriend

This post might help you, people responded positive to the proposed solution.

TuxFriend

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=993

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## TuxFriend

I found this on the promise site. This document is for Red Hat but it might help you. The end of the document advise you what kernel parameters to use.

TuxFriend

          FastTrak Series Linux Driver Version 1.02.0.22

          Installation Note for RedHat Linux [06/27/2002]

[INTRODUCTION]

1.1 Foreword

       This driver diskette should be used with all Promise FastTrak Series

       adapter and onboard chipsets running under RedHat Linux operating

       systems.

       Do NOT use this diskette for other versions of Linux for FastTrak

       support.

NOTE:  For FastTrak users with Promise chips labelled PDC20265R or PDC20270

       (FastTrak100 Lite motherboard-embedded solutions or FastTrak100TX2)

       running with Linux kernel versions 2.4.x, be aware of additional

       instructions to be performed.

       See Item 1.3 below for description of the issue which use of the

       driver and instructions solves.

1.2 Support List

       PDC20262		FastTrak66

       PDC20265R	FastTrak100 Lite

       PDC20267		FastTrak100

       PDC20270		FastTrak LP/TX2/TX4

       PDC20271		FastTrak TX2000

       PDC20276		MBFastTrak133 Lite

       PDC20277		SBFastTrak133 Lite

       with

       Red Hat 7.0	(kernel 2.2.16-22)

       Red Hat 7.1	(kernel 2.4.2-2)

       Red Hat 7.2     	(kernel 2.4.7-10)

       Red Hat 7.3     	(kernel 2.4.18-3)

1.3 Linux kernel 2.4.x ATA issue on FastTrak Series PDC20265R/PDC20270

	Linux Kernels 2.4.x misidentifies PDC20265R/PDC20270 (FastTrak 100 Lite

    motherboard-embedded solution/FastTrak100TX2) cards and/or chips as simple

    IDE controllers. This results in the built-in Linux IDE driver trying to

    handle the controller and can prevent the proper FastTrak ATA RAID driver

    to be loaded. Follow the installation instructions AND the parameter

    commands referred to in the Notes section.

    This called "IDE issue."

[INSTALLATION]

       Extract the contents of the ZIP file on to a formatted floppy disk.

       (ZIP file can be extracted by `WinZIP' in windows or `unzip' in linux)

       Label the disk "FastTrak Driver Disk".

2.1 To install the FastTrak Series Linux Driver into an EXISTING SYSTEM:

   1.) Boot linux system and login as root.

   2.) Insert FastTrak Driver Disk for install FastTrak Driver by issuing

       commands :

       # mount /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy

       # cd /mnt/floppy

       # sh install	(Answer Yes/No when inquire setup configuration)

       You can answer Yes to load FastTrak driver when linux booting everytime.

       # cd ..

       # umount /dev/fd0

       NOTE: All IDE channels except the first and second one are disable 

             for the "Linux 2.4 ATA issue". It can be enable by removing 

             'ide2=0 ide3=0 ide4=0 ide5=0 ide6=0 ide7=0 ide8=0 ide9=0' in

             /etc/lilo.conf or /boot/grub/grub.conf.

   3.) Reboot redhat linux system.

2.2 To install the FastTrak Series Linux Driver into a NEW SYSTEM

   1.) Start the RedHat Linux Installation with CD ROM booting.

   2.) At the "Welcome to Red Hat Linux ..." installation screen, a 

       prompt labeled "boot:" will appear at the bottom of the screen. 

   3.) If you are in "IDE issue", please press TAB key and append parameters

       (see Note 1 below).

       --- OR ---

       If you are NOT in "IDE issue", type "expert" (without quotations)

       at the "boot:" prompt, then press the enter key.

   4.) At the "Devices" dialog box, insert the FastTrak Driver Disk in the 

       floppy drive and then select "OK" or "Yes".

       If installing RedHat 7.1/7.2/7.3, please skip to Step 9. 

   5.) After reaching the "Devices" dialog box again, select "Add Device".

   6.) When asked "what kind of device would you like to add?", select 

       "SCSI", and then select "OK".

   7.) Press the "P" key and scroll down to "Promise FastTrak Series ....",

       and then select "OK".

   8.) The installation process will now display "Promise FastTrak Series 

       Linux Driver" has been found. Select "Done".

   9.) If you are in "IDE issue", when the Boot Loader Configuration menu

       is displayed, please type parameters (see NOTE 2 below) in the Kernel

       parameters field.

       --- OR ---

       If NOT in "IDE issue", ignore step 9 and proceed to step 10.

  10.) Continue with the installation as normal.

  11.) If installing RedHat 7.2 or Update Linux to RedHat 7.1/7.2/7.3.

       Press Ctrl-Alt-F2 when installation at the "Congratulations" menu.

       Other RedHat version please click "Exit" button to finish installation.

  12.) Insert the FastTrak Driver Disk floppy, Issue commands to load FastTrak

       driver.

       # chroot /mnt/sysimage

       # mount /dev/fd0 /mnt

       # cd /mnt

       # sh setup-ft

       # cd /

       # umount /mnt

       # exit

  13.) Choose your selection here, after FastTrak driver setup successful.

       Please Press Ctrl-Alt-F7 and click "Exit" button to finish installation.

[NOTE] 

   1.) "expert ide0=0x1f0,0x3f6,14 ide1=0x170,0x376,15 ide2=0 ide3=0 ide4=0

        ide5=0 ide6=0 ide7=0 ide8=0 ide9=0"

   2.) "ide0=0x1f0,0x3f6,14 ide1=0x170,0x376,15 ide2=0 ide3=0 ide4=0 ide5=0

        ide6=0 ide7=0 ide8=0 ide9=0"

----------

## GreyCrow

Tried now to add

```
expert ide0=0x1f0,0x3f6,14 ide1=0x170,0x376,15 ide2=0 ide3=0 ide4=0 ide5=0 ide6=0 ide7=0 ide8=0 ide9=0
```

to the 

```
kernel /booz/bzImage root=7203
```

parameter without success   :Sad: 

Any other ideas please   :Idea:   :Question:   :Exclamation: 

----------

## TuxFriend

I'm out of suggestions, maybe someone else is able to help you. I'm not sure if the "root="-part is correct, but I can't tell you what kind of checks you need to do to make sure. I hope someone is able to provide more information.

TuxFriend

----------

## TuxFriend

Maybe a stupid question: have you double and triple checked your kernel parameters?

TuxFriend

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## TuxFriend

Other suggestion: there are a lot of people at #gentoo. You could try via IRC.

TuxFriend

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## GreyCrow

What especially do you mean with kernel parameters?

I switched all kernel options related to fasttrak on in menuconfig and used the vanilla kernel set as proposed from john.

What are you thinking of?

Any hint comes helpful!   :Exclamation: 

----------

## TuxFriend

The only things I can think of are:

PROMISE PDC202{46|62|65|67|68|69|70} support

Special UDMA Feature

Special FastTrak Feature

Support for IDE Raid controllers

Support Promise software RAID (Fasttrak(tm))

TuxFriend

----------

