Hello linux experts,
I have a problem in part similar to one described here

I have an old linux redhat distribution with 2.4.26 kernel. I need to use this machine because of some legacy software, so updating to the latest one is not an option.
This machine has LSI Logic controller installed with SAS drive and everything works fine.
So I have downloaded a bit newer kernel (2.4.27) and followed all instructions for compiling the kernel (make menuconfih, make dep.... make install) and everything works fine. New entry has beed added in the grub.conf and I can choose new kernel in boot prompt at the start of the machine. However if I choose this kernel, the boot process ends up in kernel panic.
I assume this is because initrd'2.4.27.img doesn't contain LSI logic drivers, or these drivers are not recongnized because they're not compiled for this newer kernel.
Exact error message is shown in the attached file.
So I have possibility to download linux drivers from IBM web page and I nned to compile this drivers for 2.4.27 and add these drivers to init ram drive.

However the problem is that I can boot only into 2.4.26.
What should I do?
I understand these kernels are very old, but I still think there are people who can describe the process/procedure I need to perform.
I know I don't need to change /etc/modules.conf file and I already did this:
mkinitrd -f -v initrd-2.4.27.img 2.4.27, but kernel panic still exists.

Please have a look at the attached file and let me know if you have any advice.

Thank you.

P.S.
I also have issues and cannot download from IBM ftp site:
https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/ls...intellistation

Attached Thumbnails

 

1. Login as root.
2. Copy /usr/src/linux-2.4.26/.config to /usr/src/linux which must point to /usr/src/linux-2.4.27 now.
3. cd /usr/src/linux
4. make menuconfig
5. Check whether driver for LSI Logic 1064e is selected (* or M). If you boot from a drive connected to LSI Logic 1064e, * must be selected to compile driver into kernel.
6. Save new configuraton.
7. Compile kernel again.

If this works think about updating to latest 2.4 kernel linux-2.4.37.9

Arnulfm thank you for your reply.
I have found that there is even newer kernel and that is 2.4.37.11, so I decided to use this one directly. The folder -usr-src is deleted ion the machine before, but there is config file in boot section. It is /boot/config-2.4.26, so I copied this file to my unpacked kernel foder in /tmp/linux-2-4-37.11
I cannot find LSI Logic anywhere but there is MPT Fustion driver, which could be it.
Can you please confirm?

Thank you once again.

P.s. after several tries, the problem remains. Before menuconfig I have copied config file from /boot folder into uncompressed /tmp/linux-2.4.37.11 as .config file with command:
cp /boot/config-2.4.26 /tmp/linux-2.4.37.11/.config
Then I do make menu config, check whether FPT base is checked and then do usual commands
Make dep, make bzImage, make modules, make modules_install and make install

I have even tried to execute mkinird -v -f initrd-2.4.37.11.img 2.4.37.11

But I still end up with kernel panic boot and with that unresolved symbols just like shown in the previous picture. Kernel 2.4.26 which is booting normally shows FPT base driver version 2.06.50 during boot phase

Attached Thumbnails

 

I can't confirm this because I don't have such hardware. You have to search the web, e.g. starting at https://linux-hardware.org/

Try to start some live Linux versions with different kernels and look whether LSI Logic 1064e is supported or not.

Give some more information about LSI Logic 1064e like device Id:vendor Id. Is this a PCI or PCIe device?

Thank you for the reply Arnulf.
I have made a workaround, I have placed regular SATA drive and cloned the previous SAS drive using clonezilla. I have managed to boot linux kernel 2.4.37.11 in IDE compatibility, so HDD is recognized as hda and not sda. Power from the SAS drive is previously unpluged, but the LSI Logic card is in the motherboard. The machine with new HDD booted successfully with kernel 2.4.37.11. During boot there were messages about unresolved symbols for mptbase, but it was possible to boot. I solved this problem by commenting alias scsihost adapter lines in the file modules.conf. There were 2 lines, one for mptbase and other for mptscsih

Now the problem is how to migrate this to LSI Logic controller, I can test this because LSI Logic SAS controller has regular SATA connectors also.
I have executed lspci command and then tried with modprobe and insmod.
The results are shown in the attachment. LSI Logic card id properly recognized by the linux 2.4.37.11, but modules cannot be loaded.
This is a bit strange and I cannot understand this. Modules are already in appropriate library.

The cause of the problem in my opinion is the following: lsi logic source driver is copied to machine with 2.4.26 kernel, then compiled with kernel 2.4.26 and initrd image is made with loaded LSI Logic (MPT Base) modules.
Now there is probably a mismatch in the kernels that prevents modules to be loaded.
Basically I now have a machine with multiple kernels, on original one, everything works fine.

I hope that the attached photo can help in further troubleshooting.

Attached Thumbnails

 

Your screenshot shows a SAS1064ET controller. This is a PCIe device. Kernel 2.4 is too old for adequate PCIe support. Upgrade to a late kernel 2.6 or above. This must not be a current kernel & current distro. Have a look at https://linux-hardware.org/?view=sea...SAS1064ET#list. SAS1064ET controller is supported by kernel ≥ 2.6.14.

Which "legacy software" are you running? Check for a newer (but not current) distro on which this "legacy software" can run.

Yes, kernel 2.4 is indeed too old, but drivers are successfully installed and is working ok with kernel 2.4.26. Unfortunately the driver source is removed, so it is not possible to compile it again against newer kernel. This particular job I‘m doing as an exercise. The problem is solved by converting machine to to virtual and using BusLogic driver to boot. There is some kind of custom made old database application that should be available if needed. So the actual migration problem is solved.

However, since I can play freely now, wondered how it would be possible to compile newer kernel and make machine boot again.
But it seems the only way is to find linux drivers for LSI Logic and compile them against newer kernel. It is not possible to use working modules compiled for older kernel.

Anyway thank you for your time and help.

I have also found this additional reference what unresolved symbols mean. In case if somebody is interested:
https://tldp.org/HOWTO/Module-HOWTO/basekerncompat.html