Changes

==Introduction==

==Introduction==

This HOWTO describes how to get SME 7.x working properly on a [http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=34#j7f4 Jetway J7F4 Mini-ITX motherboard], or other Mini-ITX boards based on the VIA CN700 chipset. These motherboards are an extremely attractive option for builing a small, energy-efficient yet relatively fast server. The J7F4 series have two Realtek RTL8110SC Gigabit LAN adapters on board, and are powered by a VIA C7 (Ester) processor at 1.2 Ghz (with passive cooling), or at 1.5 or 2.0 Ghz with active cooling. In addition, the chipset includes hardware AES and SHA encryption/decryption, hardware MPEG2/4 decoding and a number of other potentially useful features. Unfortunately however, this hardware is not very well supported by the 2.6.9 kernel that is supplied with SME and CentOS 4. This document describes the compilation and installation of a custom kernel. It can also be used as an example of how to get SME running on or with any hardware that requires a modified or newer linux kernel.

This HOWTO describes how to get SME 7.x working properly on a [http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=34#j7f4 Jetway J7F4 Mini-ITX motherboard], or other Mini-ITX boards based on the [http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/chipsets/c-series/cn700/ VIA CN700] or a similar chipset. These motherboards are an extremely attractive option for building a small, energy-efficient yet relatively fast server. The J7F4 series have two Realtek RTL8110SC Gigabit LAN adapters on board, and are powered by a [http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/processors/c7/ VIA C7] (Esther) processor at 1.2 Ghz (passive cooling), or at [http://linitx.com/viewproduct.php?prodid=11337 1.5] or 2.0 Ghz with active cooling. In addition, the chipset includes hardware AES and SHA encryption/decryption, hardware MPEG2/4 decoding and a number of other potentially useful features. Unfortunately however, this hardware is not very well supported by the 2.6.9 kernel that is supplied with SME and CentOS 4. This document describes the compilation and installation of a custom kernel. It can also be used as an example of how to get SME running on or with any hardware that requires a modified or newer linux kernel.

==Procedure==

==Procedure==

===Before you start===

===Before you start===

It is always a good idea to make a backup, in case things get messed up. Furthermore, as the standard SME 7.x kernel doesn't support the RTL8110SC network controllers on board the J7F4, you might want to perform at least steps 1 through 4 on a different machine, and switch the harddisk to the Jetway machine after the new kernel is installed. If you follow the instructions below, the new kernel should run on most machines with a 686-compatible CPU (i.e. a Pentium II or higher).

It is always a good idea to make a backup, in case things get messed up. Furthermore, as the standard SME 7.x kernel doesn't support the [http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=4&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=9 RTL8110SC] network controllers on board the J7F4, you might want to perform at least steps 1 through 4 on a different machine, and switch the harddisk to the Jetway machine after the new kernel is installed. If you follow the instructions below, the new kernel should run on most machines with a 686-compatible CPU (i.e. a Pentium II or higher).  

 

Alternatively you could install a temporary network-card in the PCI slot on the Jetway-board, or [http://forums.contribs.org/index.php?topic=35435.0 temporarily install the r1000 kernel module from Realtek]. The r1000 driver works with all RTL8169 and RTL8110 gigabit ethernet controllers. However, many people have found it to be buggy and unstable, so as soon as you have installed the new kernel you should switch to the r8169 kernel module. Recent versions of this driver have support for the RTL8110.

===Step 1: Installing a compiler and build tools===

===Step 1: Installing a compiler and build tools===

         (X) VIA C7

         (X) VIA C7

If you have an older Mini-ITX board based on a VIA C3 processor, you should of course select one of the the VIA C3 options here instead of the C7. If your board has a 'Luke' CoreFusion or Eden-N processor (such as the VIA Epia VT or EK series Mini-ITX boards), you should probably select VIA C3-2 (Nehemiah). Symmetric multi-processing support (SMP) is only needed for dual Eden-N boards, such as the VIA Epia VT310DP.

If you have an older Mini-ITX board based on a [http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/processors/c3/ VIA C3] processor, you should of course select one of the the VIA C3 options here instead of the C7. If your board has a [http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/processors/corefusion/index.jsp 'Luke' CoreFusion] or [http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/processors/eden/ Eden-N] processor (such as the VIA Epia VT or EK series Mini-ITX boards), you should probably select VIA C3-2 (Nehemiah). Symmetric multi-processing support (SMP) is only needed for dual Eden-N boards, such as the VIA Epia VT310DP.

  Power management options (ACPI, APM)  --->

  Power management options (ACPI, APM)  --->

         ATA/ATAPI/MFM/RLL support  --->

         ATA/ATAPI/MFM/RLL support  --->

                 <*>        VIA82CXXX chipset support

                 <*>        VIA82CXXX chipset support

         Network device support  --->

         Network device support  --->

                 Ethernet (10 or 100Mbit)  --->

                 Ethernet (10 or 100Mbit)  --->

  title SME Server (2.6.21-rc5-git1-custom-via)

  title SME Server (2.6.21-rc5-git1-custom-via)

         root (hd0,0)

         root (hd0,0)

         kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.21-rc5-git1-custom-via ro root=/dev/hda6

         kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.21-rc5-git1-custom-via ro root=/dev/main/root

         initrd /initrd-2.6.21-rc5-git1-custom-via.img

         initrd /initrd-2.6.21-rc5-git1-custom-via.img

Before rebooting, you should tell SME what driver you want to use for the on-board ethernet controllers.

Before rebooting, you should tell SME what driver you want to use for the on-board ethernet controllers.

If your board has RealTek RTL8169 or RTL8110 gigabit ethernet controllers (e.g. the Jetway J7F4 or the [http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=34#modules 3x Gigabit LAN extension module] for the [http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=34#j7f2 Jetway J7F2]), you'll want to use the r8169 driver:

If your board has RealTek RTL8169 or RTL8110 gigabit ethernet controllers (e.g. the Jetway J7F4 or the [http://linitx.com/viewcategory.php?catid=140 3x Gigabit LAN extension module] for the [http://linitx.com/viewcategory.php?catid=141 Jetway J7F2]), you'll want to use the r8169 driver:

  /sbin/e-smith/config set EthernetDriver1 r8169

  /sbin/e-smith/config set EthernetDriver1 r8169

  /sbin/e-smith/config set EthernetDriver2 r8169

  /sbin/e-smith/config set EthernetDriver2 r8169

If your board has dual VIA 10/100 Mbit ethernet controllers (e.g. the [http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=2#epiavt VIA Epia VT] or [http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=2#epiaek Epia EK] series), you'll want to use the via-rhine driver:

If your board has dual VIA 10/100 Mbit ethernet controllers (e.g. the [http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=2#epiavt VIA Epia VT] or [http://linitx.com/viewproduct.php?prodid=11134 Epia EK] series), you'll want to use the via-rhine driver:

  /sbin/e-smith/config set EthernetDriver1 via-rhine

  /sbin/e-smith/config set EthernetDriver1 via-rhine

==Other Tips & Tricks==

==Other Tips & Tricks==

According to [http://forums.viaarena.com/messageview.aspx?catid=28&threadid=77032 this thread], the chipset used on many VIA Eden 1.2Ghz-based boards is quite sensitive to overheating. This may cause lockups during high disk activity, especially if your board is passively cooled and in a small case.  

According to [http://www.tkarena.com/forums/linux-arena/32095-j7f4k-hard-lockups-14.html#post228588 this thread], the chipset used on many VIA C7-based boards is quite sensitive to overheating. This may cause lockups during high disk activity, especially if your board is passively cooled and in a small case.  

The current workaround is to add a CPU-fan if you experience mysterious lockups, or to fit the board into a bigger case. Check [http://forums.viaarena.com/messageview.aspx?catid=28&threadid=77032 the VIA-Arena thread] for further developments.

Jetway has released a [http://download.jetway.com.tw/download.asp?sorder=Name&sword=J7F4K1G5D new BIOS version (A07) for J7F4 boards] that seems to more or less fix this problem. To flash it, you'll need to [http://www.nenie.org/misc/flashbootcd.html boot the board in DOS] and use the [http://download.jetway.com.tw/download/utilities/awdflash.zip Award flash utility]. If you keep experiencing mysterious lockups after the BIOS-update, it is advisable to add a CPU- or case-fan or to fit the board into a bigger case.

 

 

* [http://www2.multithread.co.uk/mtcshop/images/linitx.com/products/Jetway_J7F4K_1.2GHz_Eden_CN700_Mainboard_-_Dual_GigaLAN_-__NEW_REVISION_main.jpg New board, with larger heatsink]

* [http://www2.multithread.co.uk/mtcshop/images/linitx.com/products/Jetway_J7F4K_1.2GHz_Eden_CN700_Mainboard_-_Dual_GigaLAN_-__NEW_REVISION_Overview.jpg Overview of the new board]

 

==Kernel Version Issues==

 

People have reported that USB drive recognition will no longer work after updating the kernel. This is due to the fact that the udev version used in CentOS 4 will not work with kernel versions above 2.6.12. You will need to update the udev package. I will update this Howto as soon as I have tried this myself. In the mean time, you may find newer udev versions here: ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/hotplug/

 

Another problem is that the custom kernel may cause problems when trying to upgrade SME. On any update that includes a newer kernel, yum will complain about dependency problems because the custom kernel has a higher version-number than the kernel that is to be updated. The only way around this seems to be to uninstall the custom kernel (using yum remove ...), do the upgrade, and then re-install the custom kernel before rebooting.

==Author and Acknowledgements==

==Author and Acknowledgements==

This Howto is written by Levien van Zon (levien at scum.org). It is based to a large extent on forum postings and documents by Harro, Charlie Brady, Falko Timme, Simon Arlott, Neil and many others. See the references below for more information. This document may still contain mistakes and typos, so please feel free to add or correct things if you have wiki-access. You can also send corrections and suggestions to the author by e-mail.

This Howto is written by Levien van Zon (levien at scum.org). It is based to a large extent on forum postings and documents by Harro, Charlie Brady, Falko Timme, Simon Arlott, Neil, Ryan Salsbury and many others. See the references below for more information. This document may still contain mistakes and typos, so please feel free to add or correct things if you have wiki-access. You can also send corrections and suggestions to the author by e-mail.

==References==

==References==