HP Proliant ML 350 with Slackware 9 or Redhat 8
 

I'm a linux newbie. I have a HP Proliant ML350 machine, with 2 processors Intel Xeon @2,4 GHz, 7 HDD's using HP Smart Array 641 RAID.
I had tried to install linux o.s., but it doesn't recognize the raid array. Using the bootable cd's from hp it recognizes the array ( i had installed RAID 5).
I had successfully install Windows 2000 Professional using the RAID, and it works, but with linux i cannot.
Someone told me that i should download the drivers from the hp/compaq site. There are the drivers to download (for a diskette?), but the size is 1,5 Mb and it doesn't fit on a floppy disk. How can i install this on my server.
I'm a beginner using the Linux O.S. and I'm planning to install Slackware 9.
Can someone "teach" me:
1. how can i install the HP Smart Array 641 RAID system on Linux?
2. after that how can i install Linux Slackware 9, step by step. (just the major steps, please)
I'm waiting for an answer from you.

Thank you very much!

robert@ccia-vrancea.ro

for a new Linux user, my opinion is change a newest version Linux, maybe newest RH Mandrake or SuSe, in most cases, I am sure you can find a version can recognize your hardware.