Archive for December, 2008

Fedora 10 with megaraid controller

This controller is found in some older Dell servers.

Install Fedora 10.
Boot of the first install CD in rescue mode and chroot /mnt/sysimage.
cd /boot
mv initrd-2.6.27.5-117.fc10.i686.img initrd-2.6.27.5-117.fc10.i686.img.orig
mkinitrd –with=scsi_wait_scan initrd-2.6.27.5-117.fc10.i686.img
exit
exit # to reboot
This worked fine for me on a Dell1600 with Perc controller. In troubleshooting this, I found some posts saying that the module is call scsi_wait-scan. This is incorrect. Scsi_wait_scan worked fine for me.

Fedora Hard Drive install from ISO image.

If you want install Fedora 10 from the DVD ISO image download to a hard drive, you need to extract the images/install.img into the same directory.

Assume the Fedora-10-i386-DVD.iso file has been downloaded to /download.
cd /download
mount -t iso9600 -o loop Fedora-10-i386-DVD.iso /mnt
mkdir images
cp /mnt/images/install.img images
cp /mnt/isolinux/initrd.img /boot
cp /mnt/isolinux/vmlinuz /boot
vi /etc/grub.conf

title Fedora 10 Upgrade
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz ro
initrd /initrd.img

Make sure you note device name for the partition of the /download directory.
Boot up the “Fedora 10 Upgrade”.
Choose Hard drive install.
Choose the correct partition device noted above, and the directory where the iso has been downloaded.

Fedora 10/Ubuntu Intrepid Trackpad configuration

Create the following file /etc/hal/fdi/policy/appletouch.fdi. This is the best place to make configuration in this version of linux. /etc/X11/xorg.conf is no longer the best place.

Put the following in the file:

f10trackpad

Problem unpacking archived Sun software in RHEL5/CentOS5.

Can get the following kind of error when trying unpack archive java software downloaded from the Sun website (http://java.sun.com/products/archive/):

# ./j2re-1_3_1_03-linux-i386-rpm.bin

Do you agree to the above license terms? [yes or no]
yes
Unpacking…
Checksumming…
1
The download file appears to be corrupted. Please refer
to the Troubleshooting section of the Installation
Instructions on the download page for more information.
Please do not attempt to install this archive file.

The solution is to set the following environment variable:

export _POSIX2_VERSION=199209

Linux kernel configuration options using sysctl.

This information is available in /usr/share/doc/kernel-doc-2.6.27.7/Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.txt when the kernel-doc package installed in RHEL5, CentOS 5, or Fedora. This particular file is from the 2.6.27.7-53 kernel.

Sysctl options

How to access MacOSX boot partions.

To force a MacBook Pro to boot a CD, hold down the C key while rebooting.
To view all the boot options available on a MacBook Pro, hold down the “option” key while rebooting.

Dual boot MacOSX and Fedora 10.

This was on a MacBook Pro (Powerbook G4 – Early 2008 model) running Leopard.

I went through the bootcamp procedure, and chose to install Windows.
I carved out 50GB of the 200GB drive.
Installed Fedora 10 on that partition.
I installed the boot loader on the partition, NOT the MBR.
I found that it would always boot up Fedora at that point.
I thought that I had messed up the boot record at that point, so I tried to boot of the CD.
That was when I discovered the “Hold down C at boot to force boot off CD.”
I did a repair on my MacOSX partition. All checked out fine, as I had expected.
Then, I discovered the “Hold down the “option” key at boot to view all your boot options.
There they were “MacOSX” and “Windows”.

I am currently using this to boot the different operating systems.

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