YDL-3 boot problem with adaptec 2940 uw scsi

Mon Jun 23 07:07:01 2003

I am a new user to linux and have been trying to install YDL3 on a Mac =
PPC 9500 it has an adaptec 2940uw scsi card and the only hdd is a 68 pin =
u160 scsi attached to this card. I also use a dec 10/100 ethernet card.
This is an oldworld mac so i am using bootx
The anaconda installer seems to complete without any problems, when the =
install is finished i change the kernel option in bootx from the vmlinux =
2.4.20-8dBOOT to vmlinux 2.4.20-8d and specify hda8 as the root fs =
location etc.
But when the system tries to boot from that kernel i get a kernel panic =
vfs:unable to mount root device.
I have noticed that the AIC7XXX drivers for the adaptec 2940 scsi card =
dont seem to be loading wereas they do seem to load during the install =
when you use the vmlinux 2.4.20-8dBOOT kernel and ramdisk image.
I have checked on the YDL Web site and the scsi controller is listed as =
compatable.
I have now downloaded YDL 2.3 ISO and installed this older version with =
no problems at all.
However i would like to install the newer version.
I have looked through previous posts to the mail lists and it seems that =
some =20
people with ATTO scsi cards have had simaler problems i have checked out =
the proposed solutions but dont seem to be in a possition to implement =
any of them
as they involve either recompiling the kernel or  adding a kernel module =
using an initial ram disk (initrd.img)  Both these options seem a little =
scary but what the hell i am willing to give it a try, however in both =
cases you seem to need as a pre-requisit a system that boots to linux. =
The other more promissing option was to use a preconfigured kernel =
called linux-powermac-ow-scsi-2.4.20-benh available from ppckernel.org =
however when i visited that site allthough there was a ben kernel tree =
and an oldworld scsi 2.4 kernel listed under specialised kernels it just =
has a message saying there are currently no builds of this kernel =
available.
If anyone has any suggestions, help, advice on any of the above i would =
be most greatfull.

Cheers There=20
Mick Dolan.=20