When we first tried Linux in an LPAR, about 3 months ago, we were
concerned about this.  The LPAR we were using was defined for another
purpose, and had access to 12,000+ DASD devices.  We went to IBM, and
they recommended CIO_IGNORE.  I tested that under VM, and it appeared to
work, but when we tried it in the real LPAR, the kernel couldn't find
ANY DASD devices.

Rather than delay the test, we booted without the parm, and it came up
fine, 12,000+ devices and all (they were scoped down in the module
parm).  It took about 5 minutes to scan them all on our z9 with Ficon.

We haven't tried Linux in an LPAR again since, so I have no way to
determine what went wrong.

-----Original Message-----
From: Linux on 390 Port [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of
David Boyes
Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2007 9:41 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [LINUX-390] Defining an LPAR on a z box to run LINUX


> > > You should also use cio_ignore= to ignore all devices you might
want
> > to
> > > use later but not now. The major issue (besides regulating access)
is
> > > not IPL time (though applications like HAL are extremely slow to
start
> > > with many devices)
> >
> > Can be order of 45-50 minutes with 16K devices.
> 
> Ugh. Do you know what takes so long (HAL?) FWIW, in-kernel detection
of
> devices is now done in max. 30 seconds due to parallelism (unlike 2.4,
> which literally may take hours if some devices behave badly).

Seems to spend most of it's time figuring out what kind of device it is.
As you say, newer versions are faster. I prefer to see it as another
compelling reason to run z/VM and not mess with Linux in LPARs. 8-)

> But nevertheless: Know how to use cio_ignore= :)

Indeed. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------
For LINUX-390 subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: INFO LINUX-390 or
visit
http://www.marist.edu/htbin/wlvindex?LINUX-390
--------------------------------------------------------

This message w/attachments (message) may be privileged, confidential or 
proprietary, and if you are not an intended recipient, please notify the 
sender, do not use or share it and delete it. Unless specifically indicated, 
this message is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of any investment 
products or other financial product or service, an official confirmation of any 
transaction, or an official statement of Merrill Lynch. Subject to applicable 
law, Merrill Lynch may monitor, review and retain e-communications (EC) 
traveling through its networks/systems. The laws of the country of each 
sender/recipient may impact the handling of EC, and EC may be archived, 
supervised and produced in countries other than the country in which you are 
located. This message cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free. This 
message is subject to terms available at the following link: 
http://www.ml.com/e-communications_terms/. By messaging with Merrill Lynch you 
consent to the foregoing.
--------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------
For LINUX-390 subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: INFO LINUX-390 or visit
http://www.marist.edu/htbin/wlvindex?LINUX-390

Reply via email to