Debian (Knoppix) on HP a350n

[sms@sonic.net]

> > I had concluded, perhaps wrongly, that it was inserted into the "main"
> > 2.4 tree with 2.4.22 & removed again upon reflection.  It's (more
> > than) possible that I was just reading too quickly/shallowly & drawing
> > unwarranted conclusions.
>
> Sorry I can't help you.  For all I know, there may well have been more
> than one thing called libata.  What I've encountered is:
> 1.  Jeff Garzik wrote a driver set called libata that supports numerous
>     ATA chipsets via the kernel's SCSI layers, for 2.5.x/2.6.x.
> 2.  That driver set is sometimes (rarely) applied as a backport to
>     2.4.x.

I suspect it's simply my unfamiliarity with what I was looking at; more
than likely, I was looking at a backport'ed patch to 2.4.22 that (for
whatever reason) was more-discussed or more-known than others, and I
mistook it for an "official" insertion into the primary sources.

Thus goes the learning-curve.  Apologies for any confusion/annoyance I've
engendered.  :(


>> <g>  The box has had a total of about 3h of uptime since I got Debian
>> installed; "working OK" is IMHO a premature conclusion.  I'd like to
>> find a few tests to apply and/or have a plan in case I find the thing
>> going panic/freeze on me...
>
> Well, OK, but my point is that, earlier, you seemed to be implying that
> you needed help solving some problem:  One becomes wary over time of
> leaping to assist someone who's asking for help, but who doesn't get
> around to identifying what problem he's trying to solve.

Erm... sorry.  I understand that you're not here to hold everyones hand
through every step.

Earlier, I *was* having a problem:  I found that I'd leapt before I'd
looked & bought myself some hardware which I was having trouble ID'ing,
& I was unsure which (if any) version(s) of Linux (pref Debian) I might
realistically attempt to install; your first post in response to that
question was a HUGE help (and thank you once again!).

At this point, I've (mostly) just got nagging worries about "how stable"
my box is (particularly around the SATA/PATA issue, which (as I read the
accumulated net.wisdom (aka Google)) is inclined to produce random
freeze), so I'm looking for some directions to work in; implementations
of SATA on Linux seem (via Google) to be producing lots of questions but
most actual info (that I've found so far; maybe I don't know the right
terms to refine my Google?) is oriented to basic-installation questions.


> When and if you have a problem and specify it, likely enough this
> mailing list will be a significant resource.

I like to at least take a 1st crack myself (unless I'm looking at a
critical situation & don't see an approach).  So, for example, I'm NOT
asking about the GRUB wierdness I'm seeing 'til I've done some debugging
&/or net searches.  But, my net-searches re:SATA have raised a lot of
questions, without much clear (to me) data.

Sorry if I had implied that I was (still) having "problems" with the
ATA disk.  My only "problems" (on that front) at this point are that
(1) I've seen many error-reports via Google and few resolutions, so
I'm nervous; & (2) I'm used to having some commandline (non-BIOS)
tools for probing HW-config's, and wondering if any exist to examine
the SATA/PATA & performance/stability issues; I'd even settle (rather
happily, in fact) for a way to reproducibly *force* a freeze if the
system is subject to same.

I'd rather know *NOW* & address the issue, than begin customization &
learn -- with dozens/scores/whatever hours invested -- that my Debian
install is too crash-prone on this hardware.

Again, thank you for all your help!  And, apologies if I've wandered
from the realm of "reasonable" help-requests.


- Steve S.