Adaptec 2940 controllers

[glenn at aoi.ultranet.com (Glenn Burkhardt)]

> Subject: Adaptec 2940 controllers
> From: "Jerry Feldman" <gaf at zk3.dec.com>
> 
> I recently tried to upgrade the former Boston Computer Society server from 
> an old version of Slackware. The system has a 2940w controller which is one 
> of the ones that the 2.0 kernels don't like.
> I have tried several flavors of 2.0 kernels mostly 2.0.18 and 2.0.32. 
> Other than obtaining a different controller (which I am planning to do), 
> does anyone know of a driver or patch that could solve the problem.
> 
> The symptom is that during boot, the kernel detects the SCSI controller, 
> but does not detect any devices. During installation from ATAPI CD ROM, the 
> controller is properly probed. Most of the messages that I have seen posted 
> to newsgroups say essentially "don't use adaptec 2940" with Linux.
> 
> I am not averse to replacing the controller, but since the system is 
> co-located at an ISP, access to it is limited. If anyone can point me to a 
> reasonable patch, I am planning on working on the system for an hour or 2 
> tomorrow.
> 
> BTW: I have the system working on the original 1.0.xxx kernel.
> +--------------------------------------------------------------------+
> Jerry Feldman            Digital Unix Development Environment
> Digital Equipment Corp.  (work)gaf at zk3.dec.com (home)gaf at mediaone.net
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>  
> 
> 

I wish you hadn't sent this, because now my computer is going know that it's
not supposed to work, although it's been running flawlessly with a 2940
controller for almost a year.

It runs fine with Redhat 4.1 (although the SCSI boot image must be used to do
the install; the boot floppy with the system isn't enough), and with Redhat 4.2
(no special attention/action required).

My controller is a PCI bus model, with SCSI Ultra-Wide (AIC-7881U rev 0).

Both editions of RedHat have 2.0 kernels (2.0.18 and 2.0.30).

Any way, if my computer now stops working, it's your fault!