This appendix is provided to illustrate some of the
possible parameters that may be needed by certain drivers[1] for particular hardware devices. In most cases, these
additional parameters are unnecessary, since the kernel may already be
able to use the device without them. You
should only use the settings provided in this appendix if you are having
trouble getting Red Hat Linux to use a particular device or you need to
override the system's default parameters for the device.
During the installation of Red Hat Linux, some limits are placed on filesystems
and particular device drivers supported by the kernel. After installation,
however, support exists for all filesystems available under Linux. At the
time of installation, the modularized kernel has support for (E)IDE
devices (including ATAPI CD-ROM drives), SCSI adapters, and network cards.
 | Note |
|---|
| | Because Red Hat Linux supports installation on many different types of
hardware, some drivers (including those for SCSI adapters, network
cards, and many CD-ROMs) are not built into the Linux kernel used by the
installation program. Rather, they are available as modules and are
loaded as you need them during the installation process. If necessary,
you will have the chance to specify options for these modules when
they are loaded from the driver disk.
|
To specify module parameters when a driver is loaded, type
linux expert at the boot: prompt
and insert the driver disk when prompted to do so by the installation
program. After reading the driver disk, the installation program will ask
you to select the type of device you are configuring. On that screen, you
can elect to specify a module parameter. Then, the installation program
will display a screen where you can type the correct parameters based on
the particular type of device you are configuring.
After the installation is complete, you may want to rebuild a kernel that
includes support for your specific hardware configuration. Note that in
most cases, a custom-built kernel is not necessary. See the
Official Red Hat Linux Customization Guide for more information about rebuilding your
kernel.
If you are providing parameters upon loading a module, you can usually
specify them using one of two different methods:
Specify a full set of parameters in one statement. For example, the
parameter cdu31=0x340,0 could be
used with a Sony CDU 31 or 33 at port 340 with no IRQ.
Specify the parameters individually. This method is used when one or
more parameters in the first set are not needed. For example,
cdu31_port=0x340 cdu31a_irq=0 can
be used as the parameter for the same CD-ROM used as an example for
the first method. An OR is used in the CD-ROM,
SCSI, and Ethernet tables in this appendix to show where the first
parameter method stops and the second method begins.
| Note |
|---|
| | Only use one method, and not both, when loading a module with particular
parameters.
|
 | Caution |
|---|
| | When a parameter has commas, make sure you do not
put a space after a comma.
|
