Need help installing driver -> .patch file?
 

I need to install a driver for a new SATA card I have. I'm running RH9 2.4.20.

The problem is this is an OEM card, so no instructions. All I have is one file, called xxxxx.patch.

What is a .patch file, and how do I install it?

Thanks!

Crazy Joe Davola

A .patch file is just that: a patch to another program or piece of code. Many driver .patch files are patches against the kernel sources. What kind of SATA card is it? Support may already be in some kernels.

Thanks, I figured it out.

My kernel already had support, I just couldn't find it. Turns out the patch was unecessary.

The other problem I had was with the SATA drive I connected to it. It wasn't showing up anywhere. I could see it in /proc, but I couldn't open it with fdisk or anything.

This is a drive that used to be a 300GB, but at some point something happened to it and now it is being reported as 40GB (even in mobo bios). So, whatever happened to it, Linux couldn't access it. I thought that a user might have messed with some of the advanced settings on the drive (CHs limitations, UDMA modes etc.). Anyway, looks like I'm up a creek...