DEC Alpha
Alex Butcher
> Hello
Hi Ron - I used to configure UDBs/Multias whilst working for Annex. It was
a few years ago, so I'm a bit rusty, but I'll try to help!
First off, some useful sites:
<http://www.azstarnet.com/~jemorrow/multia/>
<http://www.brouhaha.com/~eric/computers/udb.html>
<http://www.elric.com/UDB/udbinsid.html>
<http://www.progsoc.uts.edu.au/~telford/reference/multia/>
The first of which will tell you how to setup MILO. I used this procedure
dozens of times around RH4.2/5.0 and it worked for me.
> I need some help. I have the following. A DEC Multia MultiClient Desktop
> Model VX42B-F2. (System box with flexible 512K cache, ZIF socket 233MHz
> Alpha
> CPU, 88MB Ram, 2.5-inch Toshiba 528MB SCSI HDD, 3.5-inch floppy,
> external SCSI-II 50-Pin high-density female connector.
>
> I have been running into a few problems. First let me set the situation
> up for you. I would like to install RedHat Linux 7.1 on this system.
>
> I have an external drive tower that I'm using a 50-pin high-density to
> 50-pin
> centronic SCSI cable to connected them together. I would like to use the
> drives that I have placed in the tower, The drive in the desktop is
> pinned out to disk 0 (sda) (Toshiba 528mb hdd) manufacturer setting,
> The following
> drives are in the tower. pinned out to disk 1 (sdb) is a 4.3 gig
> seagate, pinned out to disk 2 (sdc) is a 1.010 gig seagate, pinned
> out to disk 3 (sdd) is a 426mb seagate, and pinned out to disk 4 (sde)
> is a 426mb seagate. In its own drive case is the CD-ROM is pinned out
> to SCSI device #6
> (scd)
>
> Can this work? How do I make it possible for Linux to see and use all
> these hard disk drives?
Can't see why not, assuming properly terminated SCSI chain and so on.
Never plugged more than an external CD Rom drive and a DLT multi-changer
into the UDB though...
>
> Where should I put the Boot, Root and Swap partitions?
As long as you adjust where MILO gets the kernel from and where the
kernel uses as a root partition, anywhere you like.
> Which drive (s)?
> Is it possible to make Linux make these drives allowable ie: all useable
> by the OS to use for Programs & Storage? How do I set up these
> partitions with scsi 0 sda in the desktop being only 528mb?
I'd go for a small FAT16 partition and a linux /boot on this drive and
scatter /usr, /home and so on across the other drives. YMMV.
> How do I
> skip this drive but would still be able to use it if I need to? Or in
> what other way can it be used in the installation? ie: MILO? And for
> milo? how do you set it up to autoboot the system after the the install
> is done. If I where to use the 528mb drive for this, to set MILO on it
> permanently to point to the boot partition.
See my first link above.
> Now for my final problem. Trying to get x window to work. Knowing that
> the default X Server for RedHat 7.1 is version 4.0.3, to which I have
> gathered from posting on the usenet before asking for help on this I got
> this information. It does not work with the Multia due to a bug in the
> way the frame buffer works. The unit has a TGA UDB/Multia video card
> built into the motherboard. Model: ZLXp-E1 its a 2mb 8bit-plane version
> video card. I would like to use my ViewSonic 15GA on it. I've got the
> settings but have not tried them out. HorizSync 31.5-65 and VertRefresh
> 50-110, 1024 x 768 @ 75Hz to fit my monitor.
>
> I have been tolled that the older X Server version 3.3.6 is used to get
> this
> configuration working (running RedHat 7.1 on a DEC Multia MultiClient
> Desktop)
> The info I got was that the XFree-TGA file is included with RedHat 7.1
> for Alpha. To get this working I would have to install
> XFree86-TGA-3.3.6-38.alpha.rpm, and make sure that the symbolic link in
> /ect/X11 for X points to /usr/X11R6/bin/XF86_TGA, instead of
> /usr/X11R6/bin/XFree86, and use XF86Config rather than XFConfig-4
Sounds reasonable if XFree86 4.x doesn't work with TGA. I'd be surprised,
but...
> Only one problem I don't know how to do this!!! I'm rather (Newbie) new
> to Linux and new to this kind of hardware. So if you can spare the time
> to offer
> some help it would be really appreciated.
# cd /etc/X11
# mv X X.v4
# ln -s ../usr/X11R6/bin/XF86_TGA X
I trawled google for a sample XF86config file for you, but the best I
could find was
<http://lists.suse.com/archive/suse-axp/2000-Feb/0076.html>
Not sure how useful this will be, but it's a start... your monitor specs
and the default depth will need to be changed.
> Thanks
> Ron
Best Regards,
Alex.
--
Alex Butcher Brainbench MVP for Internet Security: www.brainbench.com
Berkshire, UK Need reliable and secure network systems?
PGP/GnuPG ID:0x271fd950 <http://www.watch.this.space/>
Ron
Thanks and I'll see what happends.
Ron
Spuggy Loonpant
>
>Hello
>I need some help. I have the following. A DEC Multia MultiClient Desktop
>Model VX42B-F2. (System box with flexible 512K cache, ZIF socket 233MHz
>Alpha
>CPU, 88MB Ram, 2.5-inch Toshiba 528MB SCSI HDD, 3.5-inch floppy, external
>SCSI-II 50-Pin high-density female connector.
Nice. Always run it in the vertical position, running it horizontally
can burn out one of the chips under the board.
>[external box of scsi discs]
>
>Can this work? How do I make it possible for Linux to see and use all these
>hard disk drives?
Yep, just partition and mke2fs on each one during the install. Mount the
biggest on /usr, the next biggest on /home, next biggest on /var and
the smallest on /tmp. You could also put a secondary swap partition
on one (or more).
>Where should I put the Boot, Root and Swap partitions? Which drive (s)?
I would put them on the internal disc. Create a 5MB (or 1 cylinder)
fat16 (DOS) partition at the beginning for milo. You probably don't
need a separate boot partition. Create a 200MB swap partition at the
end of the disc. Use the rest for root. This way the machine should
be able to boot even without the scsi box attached.
>And for milo? how do you set it up to
>autoboot the system after the the install is done. If I where to use the
>528mb drive for this, to set MILO on it permanently to point to the boot
>partition.
Multias have two kinds of BIOS: ARC which is meant for NT and is menu based,
and the other one whose name I forget. Use ARC. You might have to experiment
a bit to figure out the correct syntax for specifying the milo partition.
Read the RedHat manual carefully. There is an option for autoboot but I don't
use it as I don't know how to get back to ARC. I'd tell you my settings but
I'd have to reboot and I'm using it at the moment :-)
>Now for my final problem. Trying to get x window to work.
I can't give you much help here. I would hope the RedHat installer would
sort this out for you. I installed a vga card as the TGA is only
8 bit. This requires a kernel built with vga support. Get TGA working first
then compile a custom kernel, keeping the old one on hand.
Some S3 Virge cards are a good choice, some don't work. Go to a computer
fair and buy two or three different makes, if you can find any.
Good luck.
Roger Leigh
> On Sun, 17 Feb 2002 12:56:12 GMT, Ron wrote:
> >Can this work? How do I make it possible for Linux to see and use all these
> >hard disk drives?
>
> Yep, just partition and mke2fs on each one during the install. Mount the
> biggest on /usr, the next biggest on /home, next biggest on /var and
> the smallest on /tmp. You could also put a secondary swap partition
> on one (or more).
The size you allocate depends entirely upon your usage. I find my
/var/tmp is bigger than /usr as I tend to occasionally need vast
quantities of space. If you run a mail/news/print spool, you may want
a huge /var instead. If you have lots of users, /home will need to be
big.
For /tmp, don't allocate any disk for it. Use tmpfs, and add some
extra swap space. Mount tmpfs on /dev/shm for good measure too.
NB. Linux 2.4.x only.
--
Roger Leigh
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