i all,

I've been trying to do this for ages... basically get linux to recognise devices that are plugged into my 3rd and 4th ide connectors on my mobo. The motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-7VAXP.

They are meant for RAID, but in the BIOS I can switch them to ATA mode so I can use normal IDE/ATAPI devices on them. Currently I have an ATAPI Zip drive and a 6GB HDD plugged into the 3rd IDE channel.

Windoze can recognise and utilise them fine, but I can't see anything in Linux. I am running Slack 10.0, but also didn't work on Slack 9.1, and there is nothing of interest in the output from dmesg.

I have tried appending an hdx=ide-scsi to them (where x was from e to about i), but nothing (that was in slack 9.1 though).

Would like my zip drive to go in Linux, but also want to be able to boot from the 6gb HDD so I can run a third OS. But if Linux can't recognise the drive, then neither will LILO.

hmm.

You need to use the "append line" in lilo.

whats the output of:

less /proc/pci

something like this?

Bus 0, device 17, function 0:
Unknown mass storage controller: Promise Technology Unknown device (rev 2).
Vendor id=105a. Device id=d30.
Medium devsel. IRQ 10. Master Capable. Latency=32.
I/O at 0x9400 [0x9401].
I/O at 0x9000 [0x9001].
I/O at 0x8800 [0x8801].
I/O at 0x8400 [0x8401].
I/O at 0x8000 [0x8001].
Non-prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0xd5800000 [0xd5800000].

ideX=IO1,IO2+0x0002,IRQ1 ideY=IO3,IO4+0x0002,IRQ2
where ideX and ideY are the two IDE ports of Promise card our free disks are using.

So in the case above you'd have:

ide2=0x9400,0x9002,10 ide3=0x8800,0x8402,10

PCI bus irq sharing is on by default, which is why the irqs are the same.

so the append line would look like:

append="ide2=0x9400,0x9002,10 ide3=0x8800,0x8402,10"

Thanks for that, I will be back at my PC in a few days so will try it then. I know the raid controller is being picked up, I just don't think any ide lines are present....

if the controller is being picked up then you will see the ide lines in /proc/pci.

The IDE lines are NOT there. I just got back from hols and checked.... the Promise controller is there however and looks much the same to yours except for the IDE lines. I haven't got lspci output yet as my modem just stopped working in linux so I can't post it just yet.

But definitely no IDE lines

well, get that information and lets have a look at it.

here ya go!

ok, now go back and read what i wrote in reply to your first post again about the "append" line in the lilo.conf.

I don't get it. What would my 'append line' look like as I have no entries like your ide2/ide3 lines in my lspci about the raid controller!?

lets look at the relevant bits of mine:

Medium devsel. IRQ 10. Master Capable. Latency=32.
I/O at 0x9400 [0x9401].
I/O at 0x9000 [0x9001].
I/O at 0x8800 [0x8801].
I/O at 0x8400 [0x8401].
I/O at 0x8000 [0x8001].

and now lookat the _same_ relivant bits of yours:

Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 11
Region 0: I/O ports at b800 [size=8]
Region 1: I/O ports at bc00 [size=4]
Region 2: I/O ports at c000 [size=8]
Region 3: I/O ports at c400 [size=4]
Region 4: I/O ports at c800 [size=16]

This is the way that it should be set out in the append line:

ideX=IO1,IO2+0x0002,IRQ1 ideY=IO3,IO4+0x0002,IRQ2

where ideX and ideY are the two IDE ports of Promise card our free disks are using (in your case ide2 and ide3).

so the append line in _my_ case looks like this:

ide2=0x9400,0x9002,10 ide3=0x8800,0x8402,10

look at the addresses, `0x' means its a hex number. my addresses are all in hex but you still need to tell lilo that information. looking at your addresses they are all in hex arnt they? Based on that, what will your append line look like?

Dammit you sound like my uni lecturer, turning solutions into questions :P !!

Ok, I'll have a stab. From the general format you gave of
then each becomes
so should the append line now be:
Anywhere near right?

Or should that be


append="ide2=0xbc00,0xc000,11 ide3=0xc400,0xc800,11"

with the addition of the 0x's.

nearly, the format is a bit misleading as addresses start from 0 not 1 so it should be IO0 rather than IO1. Also you forgot to add the 0x0002 to move up the address range.

Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 11
Region 0: I/O ports at b800 [size=8]
Region 1: I/O ports at bc00 [size=4]
Region 2: I/O ports at c000 [size=8]
Region 3: I/O ports at c400 [size=4]
Region 4: I/O ports at c800 [size=16]

ideX=IO1,IO2+0x0002,IRQ1 ideY=IO3,IO4+0x0002,IRQ2

ideX = ide2
IO1 = 0xb800
IO2 + 0x0002 = bc00 + 0002 = 0xbc02
IRQ1 = IRQ2 = 11
ideY = ide3
IO3 = c000
IO4 + 0x0002 = c400 + 0002 = 0xc402

stick those into the append line you just wrote.

right so it becomes:
If so, i'll whack it in and reboot.
But why? I don't understand the hex thing etc.

"don't understand the hex thing etc." what dont you understand? You have to be more clear than that i'm afraid.