Help with adding SATA to Xubuntu 14.04

[igbee]

Hello,

I am trying to build a TV server with a Joggler using TVHeadend and Buzz's Trusty image. I have things working but I'd now like to add some drives to store all the recordings. I have a Mini PCIe card called Commell mpx-3132 and this works with linux using a specific driver (I have taken out the wireless card I put this card instead). Unfortunately I don't think the drivers are included in Buzz's image because most would not use it.

Does anyone know how I can add all the SATA stuff (that would likely include the driver I need)?

Thanks!

[pete]

I personally have removed and only tried a Crystal HD mini PciE card and it worked perfectly. Never tried a sata card. Most of the ones I looked at were too large.

I did a quick google of a search for buntu drivers and did not find any references to buntu 14.04 and said device you mention.

[igbee]

I personally have removed and only tried a Crystal HD mini PciE card and it worked perfectly. Never tried a sata card. Most of the ones I looked at were too large.

I did a quick google of a search for buntu drivers and did not find any references to buntu 14.04 and said device you mention.

The physical fit of the card is ok. I'm just trying to figure out what I need to install to get it working.

[pete]

The card is using a Si 3132 controller. I would first check and or update the BIOS on it using a different computer.

If the BIOS is what you want then have a read here about the driver.

http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/nat ... eebsd.html

Quickie google shows:

Problem:

Are Linux drivers available for the Silicon Image Sil3132 RAID controller?

Background:

The Silicon Image Sil3132 RAID controller is used on VersaLogic products such as the VL-EPHs-S1 SATA adapter board and the VL-EPMs-M1 USB and SATA module.

The Sil3132 is not a true hardware RAID controller but what is called a "FakeRAID" controller. It is a multi-channel disk controller combined with boot ROM configuration options and software drivers to assist the OS in performing RAID operations. This gives the appearance of a hardware RAID, because the RAID configuration is performed using a boot ROM screen, and the operating system can be booted from the RAID.

Solution:

Silicon Image provides proprietary Linux drivers for the Sil3132 RAID controller; however, these drivers are for the enterprise based Linux distributions SLES (SUSE) and RHEL (Red Hat). Instructions for installing these drivers are specific to these distributions and are atypical of most installations. For example, the SUSE installation involves using the Windows install CD and loading the Linux driver from a floppy disk, and then swapping the Windows install CD with the SUSE install CD. Downloads of these drivers are available below.

Silicon Image provides no Debian Linux drivers for the Sil3132 RAID controller. Debian Linux, like other distributions, supports software RAID, which is implemented in the kernel (at the OS level), and you can use software RAID with the Sil3132 controller; however, you can use software RAID with any kind of drive (SATA or PATA) whether a RAID controller is present on the the system or not.



Looking some more here...

root@ICS-JogglerOH1:/home/joggler# uname -a
Linux ICS-JogglerOH1 3.2.69joggler1 #39 SMP Sat May 23 18:44:46 UTC 2015 i686 i686 i686 GNU/Linux

NOTE: I have not updated this Openpeak to most current kernel version 3.2.71

apt-file search sata_sil24.ko

linux-image-2.6.32-305-ec2: /lib/modules/2.6.32-305-ec2/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
linux-image-2.6.35-22-generic: /lib/modules/2.6.35-22-generic/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
linux-image-2.6.35-22-generic-pae: /lib/modules/2.6.35-22-generic-pae/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
linux-image-2.6.35-23-generic: /lib/modules/2.6.35-23-generic/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
linux-image-2.6.35-23-generic-pae: /lib/modules/2.6.35-23-generic-pae/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
linux-image-2.6.35-24-generic: /lib/modules/2.6.35-24-generic/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
linux-image-2.6.35-24-generic-pae: /lib/modules/2.6.35-24-generic-pae/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
linux-image-2.6.35-25-generic: /lib/modules/2.6.35-25-generic/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
linux-image-2.6.35-25-generic-pae: /lib/modules/2.6.35-25-generic-pae/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
linux-image-2.6.35-27-generic: /lib/modules/2.6.35-27-generic/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
linux-image-2.6.35-27-generic-pae: /lib/modules/2.6.35-27-generic-pae/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
linux-image-2.6.35-28-generic: /lib/modules/2.6.35-28-generic/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
linux-image-2.6.35-28-generic-pae: /lib/modules/2.6.35-28-generic-pae/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
linux-image-2.6.35-30-generic: /lib/modules/2.6.35-30-generic/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
linux-image-2.6.35-30-generic-pae: /lib/modules/2.6.35-30-generic-pae/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
linux-image-2.6.35-31-generic: /lib/modules/2.6.35-31-generic/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
linux-image-2.6.35-31-generic-pae: /lib/modules/2.6.35-31-generic-pae/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
linux-image-2.6.35-32-generic: /lib/modules/2.6.35-32-generic/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
linux-image-2.6.35-32-generic-pae: /lib/modules/2.6.35-32-generic-pae/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko

to


linux-image-extra-3.19.0-18-generic: /lib/modules/3.19.0-18-generic/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
linux-image-extra-3.19.0-20-generic: /lib/modules/3.19.0-20-generic/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
linux-image-extra-3.19.0-21-generic: /lib/modules/3.19.0-21-generic/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
linux-image-extra-3.19.0-22-generic: /lib/modules/3.19.0-22-generic/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
linux-image-extra-3.19.0-23-generic: /lib/modules/3.19.0-23-generic/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
linux-image-extra-3.19.0-25-generic: /lib/modules/3.19.0-25-generic/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko
linux-image-extra-3.19.0-26-generic: /lib/modules/3.19.0-26-generic/kernel/drivers/ata/sata_sil24.ko

[igbee]

thanks Pete. I am on a similar kernel as you. Forgive my ignorance. Does this mean the sata_sil24.ko is not available for this kernel?

[pete]

Yes.

There is only the Ubuntu reference for creating the driver mentioned above.

[igbee]

This link you provided (http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/nat ... eebsd.html) says to do this:

To compile this driver into the kernel, place the following lines in your
kernel configuration file:

device pci
device scbus
device siis

Does this mean I need to follow instructions similar to these: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/ubuntu/h ... tu-kernel/
Or is there a file I can edit and add those lines in?

[BuZz]

Didn't include sata drivers sorry - but I can get you another image with an updated kernel with them included.

[pete]

Great new BuZz!!!

Does this mean I need to follow instructions similar to these

Yes and original references relate to BSD builds.

With an updated BuZz kernel you would not have to do this.

Guessing this relates to using the Openpeak device with the front speakers eh?

[BuZz]

Here are some images with the driver included:

Base/Server image - http://jwills.co.uk/files/joggler/ubunt ... xt4.img.gz
Xubuntu image - http://jwills.co.uk/files/joggler/xubun ... xt4.img.gz

[igbee]

Here are some images with the driver included:

Base/Server image - http://jwills.co.uk/files/joggler/ubunt ... xt4.img.gz
Xubuntu image - http://jwills.co.uk/files/joggler/xubun ... xt4.img.gz

Thanks so much! I will have to redo the Linux TV stuff but I think that was easy enough. My tvheadend is no longer working so a complete reinstall could work well.

And yes I'm using the OpenPeak device with the speakers in the front, although the whole thing is pulled apart and my wife thinks it's a bomb.

[hawsey]

Ha ha ha

[igbee]

Hmmm....I wonder if I can place my OS on a sata drive when everything is said and done?

[pete]

For my current Ubuntu boot I put the OS and whatever on the SSD drive that is connected to the zif pata port. This OP2 has a 2 Gb storage MMC versus the 1 Gb storage MMC on the Joggler. I got paranoid about the RW's on the MMC and just moved it to the SSD. You can fit a small tight build though on the 2GB MMC soldered on to the OPII motherboard.

If you stay "inside" of the OP case you can maybe use an SSD to SATA device; they are really flat or a ZIF drive like in the little IPods and do not really use much power. You will need external power for a regular SATA drive. A while back here went to using 1st generation 1Tb laptop drives for my tiny Patriot PBO media boxes (versus the now KODI boxes running in Ubuntu 14.04 where I use SSD smaller drives).

It really depends on how much you want to save to the SATA drive. I save some recorded old television shows and do an auto delete of the shows after a few weeks or so if I do not watch them.

Here I just tested and utilized the Broadcom Crystal HD video mini PCIE card for streaming live HD television and it did work better than the Intel HD graphics built in to the OP2. Saving of temporary stuff is on the main box while long term savings of media goes to the NAS box. I do save much less these days as I wouldn't watch much of it and it just utilized space on the drives. IE: for a while I was saving all of the Star Trek shows and MythTV did a good job of removing the commercials. That said though it looked like the shows were sped up or compressed a bit. I do also still have VHS tapes of the television series. I did find a Star Trek web site which had all of the original series shows for streaming (and they were uncut and unaltered). Relating to just satellite television noticed that there are different rates of compression for video HD which dings the viewing.

I went to using the kitchen table for a bit on some stuff. It did push or accelerate my endeavours as we use the kitchen table every night for dinner. I also have my workshop workbench configured with a few projects and today it's looking a bit cluttered even though there is some structure to my project clutter.

I did cause a low WAF one day taking apart one laptop on the kitchen table that I had wanted upgrade the CPU. Needed a jewelers screwdriver and forceps and being a bit gentle with the ribbon cables. It was a PITA cuz of all of the small parts on it. It was simple to swap the CPU but very difficult to get to the CPU without an almost total disassembly of the laptop. It worked after I put it back together where as wife had told me to throw it out. I have also dropped tiny parts / screws and spent probably way too much time looking for them on the floor.

[BuZz]

Thanks so much! I will have to redo the Linux TV stuff but I think that was easy enough. My tvheadend is no longer working so a complete reinstall could work well.

And yes I'm using the OpenPeak device with the speakers in the front, although the whole thing is pulled apart and my wife thinks it's a bomb.

did you try the image out ?

[igbee]

did you try the image out ?

Yes, I finally did this week. I used the server version and it did not work for the drive I had attached. I am a bit limited in linux but I could not see that it was recognizing the drive hardware to be able to mount it.

My guess is that the pcie card is only supported by an older kernel. A long time ago I seem to remember that I had it hooked up to an original Apple TV that ran on Crystalbuntu (based on Ubuntu) and it worked out of the box.

[BuZz]

which card ? can you lspci -v ?

[igbee]

which card ? can you lspci -v ?

The card is a Mini PCIe card called Commell mpx-3132. It looks like as posted above it was supported by the kernal until 3.21?

I will try that command tonight and report back. Thanks.

[igbee]

Sorry 3.19...not 3.21

[BuZz]

yeh it's possible our kernel is too old, sorry :/