Adaptec 29320A-R SCSI controller: Slack 10.1 ok?
 

I am about to get a SCSI controller ADAPTED 29320A-R for new disks and
the HW store said there may be a problem with linux support.
I assume this is just junk(since the HW store does not use Linux),
but just out of curiosity, has anyone used this with Slack?
It should be supported since long time ago

I would say that a qualified Yes is the answer.

I'd be surprised if they didn't work out of the box, but if not, Adaptec claims to offer Linux drivers. Might require a recompile of the kernel, but that sounds like worst-case scenario.

Hmm. Kernel recompile would be bad,as I will ONLY have SCSI disks. So Slack will see no medium to install anything to start with. I too would be extremely surprised
but I'd rather be safe.

Yes Linux supports this controller and Slackware comes with a kernel that has support for it compiled in, that kernel being adaptec.s. Additionally, most of the other Slackware kernels have support for it as a module, including the bare.i kernel. The easiest way for you to install Slackware onto a disk controlled by this controller would be to use the adaptec.s kernel. You can select the kernel to boot at the initial boot: prompt when you start the installation. You'd just need to take care to install that kernel during the installation process verses the default one. You could also load the driver as a module and thereby use one of the other kernels, but doing so will be more involved since you'd need an initrd to get the module loaded prior to having access to the disks on the controller. Anyway, the Linux driver for this controller is the AIC79XX driver, ie CONFIG_SCSI_AIC79XX in the .config file.

Thanks! And I suppose no compatibility problems with an old M/B(ASUS CUV4X) either,-shouldn't be, as the controller will see the SCSI disks

I'd imagine it would be fine, but the only way to know for sure would be to do a little research. If it concerns you then you should go to Asus's website and get some info on the motherboard, like what chipset it uses, any intergrated cards it contains, and etc. Then take info and thumb through the kernel source documentation, as well as the source tree itself, to see what you find regarding it. You can find the source for any and all kernels at http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/. If you have an existing Linux system where you can unpack it, then it's trival to search through to find what you're looking for. For instance, to find which driver supported your Adaptec card I just cd'ed into the drivers/scsi directory (which is within the source tree) and ran the following command on the command line:
You'll also find all the info in the Documentation directory helpful, but I usually just go straight to the actual source files themselves and read them, by habit.

If you don't have access to a Linux system, then you should be able to download a free program for Windows (assuming that's what you're using) to unpack the kernel source. Then you can use windows tools to do the same thing.

Well, the M/B is no longer on the ASUS website
But it has a VIA 694XDP Chipset.
supporting the Intel PIII Coppermine processors. It is supported by the kernel(at least I have systems running on it), the question is whether there could possibly be a conflict with the new SCSI controller, which I doubt

/usr/src/linux-2.4.26/drivers/scsi : grep 29320 * -r | less says:

I am told the controller is 29320A-R (29320A is listed), so I assume it's ok

aic7xxx/aic79xx_pci.c:#define ID_AHA_29320A 0x8000900500609005ull
aic7xxx/aic79xx_pci.c:#define ID_AHA_29320ALP 0x8017900500449005ull
aic7xxx/aic79xx_pci.c:#define ID_AHA_29320 0x8012900500429005ull
aic7xxx/aic79xx_pci.c:#define ID_AHA_29320B 0x8013900500439005ull
aic7xxx/aic79xx_pci.c:#define ID_AHA_29320LP 0x8014900500449005ull
aic7xxx/aic79xx_pci.c: ID_AHA_29320A,
aic7xxx/aic79xx_pci.c: "Adaptec 29320A Ultra320 SCSI adapter",
aic7xxx/aic79xx_pci.c: ID_AHA_29320ALP,
aic7xxx/aic79xx_pci.c: "Adaptec 29320ALP Ultra320 SCSI adapter",
aic7xxx/aic79xx_pci.c: ID_AHA_29320,
aic7xxx/aic79xx_pci.c: "Adaptec 29320 Ultra320 SCSI adapter",
aic7xxx/aic79xx_pci.c: ID_AHA_29320B,
aic7xxx/aic79xx_pci.c: "Adaptec 29320B Ultra320 SCSI adapter",
aic7xxx/aic79xx_pci.c: ID_AHA_29320LP,
aic7xxx/aic79xx_pci.c: "Adaptec 29320LP Ultra320 SCSI adapter",
aic7xxx/aic79xx_pci.c: ID_AHA_29320,
aic7xxx/aic79xx_pci.c: "Adaptec 29320 Ultra320 SCSI adapter",
aic7xxx/aic79xx_pci.c: ID_AHA_29320B,
aic7xxx/aic79xx_pci.c: "Adaptec 29320B Ultra320 SCSI adapter",
aic7xxx/README.aic79xx: Adaptec SCSI Card 29320 Single Channel 64-bit PCI-X 133MHz to
aic7xxx/README.aic79xx: Adaptec SCSI Card 29320LP Single Channel 64-bit Low Profile
aic7xxx/README.aic79xx: ASC-39320, ASC-29320, ASC-29320LP, AIC-7901.