Kevin Hemenway" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>* Upgraded to Redhat 6.0, fresh install on a new machine.
>* SCSI tape drive installed.
>
>The tape drive will work ONCE. The next time the tape drive is accessed,
>the following error message is given:
[snip error messages]
You're sure the tape drive, SCSI card, tape, etc., are all in working
order? I can't help with the error messages much more than that.
>We played it around with it the first time it happened and frustrated,
>rebooted the machine. During the reboot of the machine, the modprobe
>command which runs from rc.sysinit gave an error message saying that
>"module st not found". This error message can be duplicated on the command
>line.
I don't have a 6.0 production server to look at, but on my 5.2 box the init
process always tries to load the st module, even if it's part of the module
and not a kernel. Have a look at /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit and see if you have
something that looks like this:
# If a SCSI tape has been detected, load the st module unconditionally
# since many SCSI tapes don't deal well with st being loaded and unloaded
if [ -f /proc/scsi/scsi ] && cat /proc/scsi/scsi | grep -q 'Type:
Sequential-A
ccess' 2>/dev/null ; then
if cat /proc/devices | grep -qv ' 9 st' ; then
if [ -n "$USEMODULES" ] ; then
# Try to load the module. If it fails, ignore it...
modprobe st 2>/dev/null
fi
fi
fi
>* Redhat 6.0 doesn't come with the st.o kernel module
> (True. This is not located on our drives at all).
It may in fact be built into the kernel now because of the problem
mentioned above. I always build it into my kernels when appropriate.
>* kerneld is not running.
Why not? Unless you've got a monolithic kernel or have absolutely *no*
need to load any modules, it should be running. You can run
/usr/sbin/ntsysv to see if kerneld is started at boot time. (Or you can
use linuxconf or one of the GUI tools.)
>* Someone suggested to rebuild the kernel with st.o support. Other
>information I've seen says that the 6.0 kernel is already built with this
>support, which is why the module is missing. One guy had luck rebuilding
>the kernel... we don't have the inclination, the knowhow, or the
>possibility of downtime to make this an option
Again, without a running 6.0 box I don't know if the st support is
modularized or built-in to the stock kernel. Rebuilding the kernel is
pretty straightforward, although you'll need to substitute 'make bzImage'
for 'make boot' if you're following the instructions in the RH manual.
You'll need to have a few packages installed to actually rebuild the
kernel. I don't have a list at the moment but I could probably come up
with one. Assuming the new kernel works properly, downtime would be
limited to the actual reboot - you can rebuild the kernel while the server
is live with no problems. If you decide to build your own kernel, you may
want to keep the old modules just in case. That's one thing I don't like
about the kernel build process - the old modules get overwritten unless you
move them out of the way first. I could probably come up with a fairly
simple set of directions if you decide to try your own kernel. I highly
recommend it - there's nothing quite like the feeling of compiling your own
kernel and having it work. It gives you quite a sense of accomplishment. ;-)
>(Question: could we take the
>st.o module from someone else's 2.25smp distribution and just plop it in
>the right place?).
Depends on whether st support is modularized or built-in to the stock
kernel. If it's built-in, having the module *probably* won't help. If
it's modularized, it *might* work, but then again you might wind up with
unresolved module dependencies. You'd have to try it.
>* Playing around with lsmod, insmod, and depmod -a didn't seem to prove
>helpful, although more information using these commands can be forthcoming.
Something you might try after the next reboot:
1) Run lsmod and see which modules are listed *before* using the tape drive
2) Run lsmod again just after using the tape drive
Report your findings to the list. This might help determine if indeed st
is a module or built-in and what other module(s) are also being used.
>* I took a look back at temporarily unloading the scsi module (for the tape
>drive) and then reloading it, but paranoia sets in when I assume that the
>same scsi module is running the hard drives attached.
There can be several SCSI modules involved:
1) The SCSI card driver
2) General SCSI support
3) SCSI disk support
4) SCSI CD-ROM support
5) SCSI tape support
1 & 2 are needed for about anything SCSI, the others are fairly
self-explanatory. You could unload the SCSI tape driver without hosing any
of the other modules.
-Eric
Eric Sisler
Library Computer Technician
Westminster Public Library
Westminster, CO, USA
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Linux - don't fear the Penguin.
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