JUSTIN GERRY wrote:
Forgive me if I'm pointing out the obvious to some of you users who have been using Linux for years and have had trouble with hardware. I've only been a linux user for a couple of years and I am still learning all the time. <rant> I've been through two weeks of *hell* with a Promise FastTrack 4000. Its going back to reseller asap. In brief, the attitude of the support personnel towards Linux is terrible and the product does not appear to work as designed.
Similar problems with a Promise Ultratrack TX8. This is an external, 8-slot ATAPI RAID with Ultra LVD SCSI I/F.
Problems with the controller:
1) Promise only releases ONE driver compiled for ONE specific kernel
The I/F is UW SCSI, so no problems (except that it only supports Ultra LVD).
2) Forget about asking for source code to compile your own kernel.
Not an issue for me -- SCSI.
3) Forget about asking them for timely updates, in another conversation with them I asked them about Redhat 8.0 support. Response said they will release a driver in late January.... well it appears that the 8.0 kernel has been updated several times but I am positive (if history is any guide) that the only driver coming from Promise will support the original 8.0 release kernel only.
I reported a problem with the TX8 and fast kernels in June/July. If I put the TX8 on a 2G or faster XEON server (RH 7.2 or 7.3 at the time), large copies (e.g., ISOs) would cause the internal controller on the TX8 to lock up. If I rebooted the Linux box, Linux would not even see the RAID unless I cycled power on the RAID. The support person indicated he could duplicate the problem and a fix would be available soon. However he left the company and Promise dropped my support request and info. In September, I had to re-send all my info and re-open a support ticket. They NEVER told me when a new driver was ready and several subsequent inquiries went unanswered. They mentioned an update in October (firmware), but delivered in late November (but no mention of the lockup fix). I have yet to try the fix.
4) Controller does not work as advertised, especially with a RAID 5 setup, with issues regarding constant array rebuilds and zero tolerance for any sort of power failure. The last straw for me was when, mistakenly, the power on my webserver was shut off and it completely destroyed the array. I've never had a RAID 5 array that was this sensitive to power failures (wait, isn't that one reason why I set up a RAID 5 array in the first place???).
When I went on vacation in August, I left the RAID powered and connected to my dual PII/300 (works very well on that box). I accidently had not plugged it into the UPS. When I came back, the RAID was down and had dropped one of the drives (not in the RAID set, not just off-line). I could not recover and had to restore the entire 580GB RAID. I'm not very happy with them at this time and have yet to try the updated driver. BTW, I have a 650G rack-mount Promise RAID and it seems to work well with my dual XEON 2G server. It has given me NO trouble (yet). My 2 cents. -- Wade Hampton -- Psyche-list mailing list Psyche-list@redhat.com https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/psyche-list
