Red Hat Bugzilla – Bug 83386
(SCSI AIC7XXX)Adaptec driver fails to load the scsi interface
Last modified: 2007-04-18 12:50:37 EDT
Description of problem: I have 2 HP Kayaks model number D4701N (for description purposes I will call them pc-A and pc-B. They are almost identical except for the following differences. pc-B has a colorado tape drive, while pc-A does not. pc-B has a single 300mhz cpu, while pc-A has a single 350mhz. pc-B has a single ethernet card, while pc-A has 2 cards. pc-B has BIOS flash version HB 12.06US, while pc-A has HB 12.05US Other than that they are identical. They have the same amount of memory (512mb), same scsi cards and drives, monitor, keyboard, mouse, cdrom drive, etc. etc. etc. RH8.0 was installed (no dual boot after a low level format) on pc-A without trouble and it is acting as my Linux gateway for my internal network to my cable modem. RH8.0 was installed (no dual boot after a low level format) on pc-B without trouble. However........ When the pc-B performs a post-install boot ("normal" boot), when it gets to the place where it needs to bring the SCSI controller and all the devices hooked to it into service, the AHC driver kicks out the following error in a rapid, furious, and non-stopping loop. I have to hit the reset button to stop it. The readable error says. ahc_pci:0:8:0: ahc_intr - referenced scb not valid during SELTO scb(255,255) There is another error being printed in between these "SELTO" errors, but it is moving too fast for me to read. I read the driver code and it looks like I'm getting a null pointer returned when trying to select a device at a particular index. The index value is 255 according to the printf() statement. [ie (255,255)] I can "rescue" boot pc-B and I can chroot and use the machine. Everything looks good to me and I can't see a reason for the trouble. I guess the question is, what is the difference in a normal boot and a "rescue" boot? What is the normal boot driver probing for that the "rescue" boot driver isn't? Dan McNaul Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): How reproducible: Every time. Steps to Reproduce: 1. Get my Kayak (pc-B) 2. Install RH 8.0 3. Boot the machine Actual results: Continuous loop of ahc_intr error stated above Expected results: Adaptec driver should load scsi controller card and all the drives. Additional info:
the difference is that the BOOT kernel doesn't use a certain bios table the normal kernel does use. it looks like the bios version difference is the key factor here.....
Thank-you arjan, I'm working with HP to see if there is a way to flash the bios back to HB.12.05US. HP no longer has that version, but we may be able to backup the bios on the working machine (pc-A) and restore it on the non-working machine (pc-B) making it a HB.12.05US. HP thinks this should work, but says they won't guarantee that my machine won't be rendered useless. Give me some time to try and work through getting the old bios restored on the non-working machine. I need to fully understand the risks before proceeding. In the meantime, is there a newer AHC version I can try? Thanks again.
if the driver doesn't get interrupts... that's not going to help you... btw if you can get the machine to boot (say in rescue mode of the cd) you can see if it gets interrupts by looking at the /proc/interrupts file checking that is certainly worth it before doing the flash dance
in addition it might be wort it to try the SMP kernel if this is a UP machine...
Created attachment 89905 [details] `cat /proc/interrupts` for the working kayak with bios v 12.05us These are the interrupts for the fully functioning RH 8.0 on the working Kayak.
Created attachment 89906 [details] `cat /proc/interrupts` for the non-working kayak with bios v 12.06us These are the interrupts for the non-working kayak. This kayak was "Rescue" booted from the cd-rom and the interrupts were recorded.
I have loaded HP bios v12.05us on the non-working Kayak (pc-B). I have also disconnected the colorado tape unit. Now, the only difference between the two Kayaks is the cpu speed and the number of ethernet cards. I have gone through the bios screens on the working pc (pc-A) and made sure the same parameters are set on pc-B. I did the same for the SCSI card bios settings. I get the same result. Redhat v8.0 installs fine, tests the X screen perfectly, and reboots to the exact repeating "SELTO" SCSI error. I will try Redhat v9.0 soon, but I have to re-download Disc-1 of the distribution. I got a "Media Check" error on Disc-1. Dan McNaul
Thanks for the bug report. However, Red Hat no longer maintains this version of the product. Please upgrade to the latest version and open a new bug if the problem persists. The Fedora Legacy project (http://fedoralegacy.org/) maintains some older releases, and if you believe this bug is interesting to them, please report the problem in the bug tracker at: http://bugzilla.fedora.us/