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Bug 2491 - APIC needed in gentoo install kernel on install CD
Summary: APIC needed in gentoo install kernel on install CD
Status: RESOLVED FIXED
Alias: None
Product: Gentoo Release Media
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Everything (show other bugs)
Hardware: x86 Linux
: High major (vote)
Assignee: Daniel Robbins (RETIRED)
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2002-05-06 09:44 UTC by Tyler Durden
Modified: 2005-03-25 11:24 UTC (History)
5 users (show)

See Also:
Package list:
Runtime testing required: ---


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Description Tyler Durden 2002-05-06 09:44:50 UTC
I've been trying to install gentoo 1.1a on an Intel L440GX+ motherboard with 
dual built-in Adaptec 7896 SCSI controllers (which are unused) and a Mylex 
DAC960-based PCI RAID card (which has 5 disks in a RAID 0 config).  

When autodetecting the PCI cards, it detects the Adaptec controllers first and 
then proceeds to take 10 (!) minutes to try to detect every possible 
connection on both controllers.  After this, it comes to the prompt.  I type 
in "modprobe DAC960".  It loads the module, shows the module info, and then 
freezes without detecting the card or the disks.

I have researched this problem, as Red Hat 7.2 and Mandrake 8.2 would not 
install either.  (FreeBSD and Windows 2000 installed.)  The trick for Red Hat 
and Mandrake is to type "linux apic" at the install prompt.  That turns on IO-
APIC and makes everything agreeable.  I tried this with the gentoo cd 
(both "linux apic" and "rescue apic") and neither works.  

I have been told on the mailing lists that it appears that APIC is not 
compiled in the install kernel for gentoo.  It appears that APIC is necessary 
to install linux of any flavor on these motherboards.
Comment 1 Daniel Robbins (RETIRED) gentoo-dev 2002-05-06 10:13:40 UTC
Yes, I removed APIC because it kills Dell Inspiron laptops.  I can add support
for it back, but disable it by default with noapic.  I'll do this for the next
CD and I'll keep this bug open until it's officially fixed.
Comment 2 Tyler Durden 2002-05-06 10:36:19 UTC
Thanks for the quick reply and for the forthcoming fix.  Looking forward to 
getting gentoo on this box.
Comment 3 Tyler Durden 2002-06-11 10:16:07 UTC
I saw that Gentoo 1.2 is out.  I downloaded it and tried "rescue apic" on it, 
but it still doesn't work.  Is there a reason why it was left out of 1.2, or 
am I doing something wrong?
Comment 4 Edward Roper 2002-07-16 21:41:29 UTC
No new information here, just a heads up that this affects quite a few of the
old va-linux models making gentoo quite uninstallabe without jumping through
some hoops ;)
Comment 5 Daniel Robbins (RETIRED) gentoo-dev 2002-12-23 01:27:13 UTC
go to http://www.gentoo.org/dyn/experimental/livecd/ and download a CD with a
date of "20021221" or later. These CDs have APIC auto-enabled, and will continue
to work this way. People with APIC issues can type "gentoo noapic" at the boot
prompt. Closing this bug :)
Comment 6 Daniel Robbins (RETIRED) gentoo-dev 2002-12-23 01:27:40 UTC
go to http://www.gentoo.org/dyn/experimental/livecd/ and download a CD with a
date of "20021221" or later. These CDs have APIC auto-enabled, and will continue
to work this way. People with APIC issues can type "gentoo noapic" at the boot
prompt. Closing this bug :)
Comment 7 Chris Gianelloni (RETIRED) gentoo-dev 2005-03-25 11:24:33 UTC
Moving these so we can remove the "Install CD" component from "Gentoo Linux".

I apologize to everyone for this spam, but according to the bugzilla developers,
this is the only reasonable way to do this.