[CentOS] network driver needed at install time

NiftyClusters T Mitchell niftycluster at niftyegg.com
Fri Dec 12 07:31:12 UTC 2008


On Wed, Dec 10, 2008 at 4:23 PM, Clint Dilks <clintd at scms.waikato.ac.nz> wrote:
> Jerry Geis wrote:
>> I am wanting to use a motherboard that uses the 8111b reaktek chip.
>> http://wiki.centos.org/AdditionalResources/HardwareList/RealTekRTL8111b
>> This was great information.
>>
>> My question is now that I have a compiled module for centos 5.2
>> is there any way I can include that module in a DVD or load the module
>> from USB
>> at the installation time???
>>
>> I use kickstart and that needs to work over the network.
>>
>> Is there an easy way to load a network driver at  install from USB or
>> something like that?
>>
>> Jerry
>> _______________________________________________
>> CentOS mailing list
>> CentOS at centos.org
>> http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
>>
>>
> Hi,
>
> You will need to create a custom initrd that contains the updated
> modules that you want to use.  Unfortunately it was some time ago since
> I had to do this so I cant give you clear instructions on how to go
> about doing this but there is lots of documentation on the web.  The key
> thing you will need to remember is that you need to build the module for
> the same version of the kernel as used by the installer.
>
> Good Luck :)

Building a custom initrd or just adding a driver to it can be found on
google....
kickstart makes it easy because you do not need to build a CDROM...

A quick and handy trick is to leverage an inexpensive USB ethernet
network device that
is already supported.   Once the OS is loaded the new driver can be compiled
and loaded on the system itself.   If you are kickstarting a handful  of
boxes one time this trick is the way to go.

-- 
        NiftyCluster
        T o m   M i t c h e l l



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