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 Linux on PowerPC FAQ-O-Matic : Hardware Compatibility :
PCI SCSI cards for "PC" under Linux for PPC |
I have an Adaptec 2940UW SCSI card for Intel and was wondering if it will work under Linux on my PowerMac. I realize that I will be unable to boot from any drive connected to the card and will be unlikely to use any drives connected under MacOS. Since Linux has a different driver system than the MacOS would I be able to use the Adaptec card for everything other than /boot?
I ask this since I have read some HCL's that seem to imply this is true. Has anyone tried this? Any one willing to try this? :^)
Once I get a new drive(s) I may end up answering my own question but if someone out there has an answer it will help in my purchasing decisions in the near future.
TIA,
Kurt Sellner
ksellner@earthlink.net |
I would also like to know whether any of the PCI Hardware RAID controllers such as the old DPT SmartRAID cards will work. I see that the source is included with the LinuxPPC distribution, and even builds when called out in the kernel config.make file, but I'm wondering if anyone has actually tried it before I go out and drop $700 on a SCSI card....
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I ended up answering my question after all. While installing Linux for PPC (I do not recall the distribution) on a PowerMac 4400 at work I took my Adaptec 2940UW for Intel and plugged it in. Linux recognized the card (where the MacOS did not) and I was able to mount an HFS partition on a connected drive. So my suspicions were correct.
If your interested in converting your PC card to a Mac one go to:
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/tips/adaptecConvert.html
There you will see how someone did the conversion. This conversion is not for everybody as it involves soldering a new ROM to an already working card.
It would seem to me that just about any PCI card would be cross-platform as long as Linux has support. Perhaps I'll try a SoundBlaster card in my LinuxPPC box. :^)
Kurt Sellner
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Advansys PCI SCSI cards will work as well. I use a 3940UW in my PCPro clone.
Jerry Quinn
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As a general rule, this only works if the manufacturer actually makes PCI
cards for MACs OR if the card does not require any open firmware code
to be loaded (if it has a ROM that can be flashed or upgraded, then it
probably does have such code). If it does, then the code has to be PowerPC code,
which is basically what you're inserting when you flash the ROM. I don't think,
for example, that DPT makes any PPC stuff and SCSI cards usually require
OpenFirmware code to work properly (especially at boot). Same for SoundBlaster,
unless (maybe) it has no ROM on the card.
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Dual Modems in LinuxPPC?