New debian install w/ Promise ATA Raid controller...?

[Guest]

I'm trying to do a fresh install of Debian 3.0 (stable) on an intel SE7500WV2 w/ a Promise TX2000 fasttrack ATA RAID controller via netinst.

Since the netinst doesn't have all the IDE drivers/modules needed to recognize the controller, I don't know how to partition my disks during the install. Also, I want to run stripe0, not stripe1 (all the promise install instructions I've seen say to set the array to stripe1)

I tried partitioning both drives seperately and installing to just one of them, but upon reboot I get a boot error 21 - I'm assuming because linux doesn't recognize the RAID.

I have found alot of info on fixing this with older kernels, but those all assume a running system...

So, my questions are these:

How should my fasttrack BIOS be configured before installation? (Right now it's set to stripe0 w/ 2 disks) and should it be changed after installation?

Is there a way to get Debian 3 to recognize the RAID DURING the installation? Full disks perhaps? If so, which ones?

If It can't recognize the RAID array prior to installation, and I have to 'install' it later, how do I partition my disks during install so that they'll successfully boot a running system?

Thanks in advance - I've only been using linux for about a week, so I can use all the help I can get.

[drdebian]

I'm trying to do a fresh install of Debian 3.0 (stable) on an intel SE7500WV2 w/ a Promise TX2000 fasttrack ATA RAID controller via netinst.

It should work if you use Debian 3.1 (aka Sarge aka Stable) instead of Woody.

[Guest]

I was using debian-31r0a-i386-netinst.iso...

I guess I should have said that

Should I use the full CD version?

[phaeton]

You could try typing linux26 at the first prompt you get when booting from the CD. That will use the 2.6 kernel. The default is 2.4. I don't use RAID, so I don't know if this will solve the issue or not.

[Guest]

Nope...still doesn't recognize it...

[Guest]

Followup:

After reading around a bit, I've come to the conclusion that the promise RAID controller is more trouble than it's worth, so I decided to disable the "hardware" RAID. I'd wanted to do that earlier, just to get it to boot, but couldn't find how to disable the RAID feature. Without an array defined, both drives are bypassed and the Intel Boot Agent loads and tries a network boot (Because it sees no HD's).

Anyway, to disable the RAID feature on the onboard controller, I defined 2 (because I have 2 HD's) "1-disk" stripe0 arrays in the fasttrack BIOS (using manual define). It's painfully simple, I know, but I couldn't find it anywhere, so I'm typing it now to hopefully save someone else some time...

After doing that, btw, I had an effortless install and was aptgetting everything I needed in no time!

[drdebian]

You can always set up a software RAID1 using those 2 disks. If you're not using the RAID features of your controller, wouldn't it be easier to connect the disks the motherboard's onboard controller?