My OpenMediaVault odyssey... trying to wake up my NIC

Hello everybody,

So, I've been having an almost one week long journey, trying to install OMV.
To be sure, the fault is entirely mine, as I've ordered a mobo (AsRock FM2-A88X-ITX+) for my new built NAS, without ever checking if its NIC (Qualcomm-Atheros 8171) was supported by the current kernel of OMV. Hence my current adventure...

I've scoured the forum high and low, as well as Debian forums, and I've finally realized that there was no easy way to solve this very fast (at least not for a total green Linux noob like me) from the replies the others got.
The thing is I don't have a spare NIC to plug into my only PCIE x16 port on the mobo, nor does anybody I know.

So, I've been busy with a series of different attempts to solve it:

1. Installed Debian ISO from Debian site, containing 3.2.0 backports-->NOK, (the NIC is still not supported in that version).

2. Tried to manually upgrade from the above ISO to backports 3.10 as described here: http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?p=520152 by downloading the initramfs 0.113 and the backports kernel image 3.10--->NOK, upon running the install of initramfs it fails saying that it would break console-setup (apparently the version of console-setup in 3.2.0 is too low). Upon trying to manually update console-setup I got into a forest of dependencies and after downloading some more required packets I quit while I was still ahead...

3. Installed Debian 6.0.9 and tried to make the driver by downloading the compat drivers from here: https://www.kernel.org/pub/lin…vers-2013-03-04-u.tar.bz2 and then following the instructions from here: http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?t=105858#p506223 -->still NOK (after installing linux headers and build essential I was able to make and make install without errors) but even after a restart the OS still can't find my NIC.

Question: Was I supposed to do something more here after make install, in order to have the system detect the card ?

4. While browsing the forums tonight again, I saw that WastlJ was recommending another user in a similar situation that he could just plug a drive in another system and install OMV there and update to whatever backports would solve the issue, then plug the drive back in the NAS (thanks for this great idea; I never thought of it and it sounds so simple and elegant as opposed to the fumbling I've been doing so far, in case I can make it work).

Question: If I manage to install OMV and update it, let's say, to wheezy backports 3.10 like this (which would solve my issue as the driver is present in that version) can I then just simply plug the drive back in my NAS and have it work OK on the NAS ? Or there's more work to be done ?

If the answer to any of the questions above is uber-obvious, I apologize, I'm a first-timer in Linux (this is my first contact with it) and I'm learning as fast as I can, but it feels at times like drinking from the fire hose.

If you got with the reading this far, thanks for your time.

I've read about OMV 0.6 that is about to come soon.
But if I understand right it will use kernel 3.2.0 by default, won't it?
In which case I will be in the same perdicament (as kernel 3.2 doesn't support my NIC implicitly). From what I understand it's from about 3.8 - 3.9 that the drivers for the new Atheros chip have been integrated.

I've managed to plug my OS NAS hdd (via an USB to SATA adapter) into my laptop, and install OMV on it (it detected my NIC and installed properly).
I've been fighting all last evening to actually upgrade the kernel to backports 3.12, but I didn't have much success (either I'm doing something wrong or or a direct upgrade directly from 2.6 to wheezy-backports 3.12 is not possible).

Then I've tried to make the upgrade to squeeze-backports 3.2 and then from there to take it to wheezy-backports 3.12 but still no luck.

All the time it complains either about missing files in the /lib/modules or about the fact that it would break compatibility with initramfs (apparently it needs minimum 0.110 but the installed one after upgrading to squeeze-backports 3.2.0 is still below that).
I've tried to manually install initramfs 0.113 which I've downloaded, as said above, but it still complains about breaking compatibility with other packages.

So, I'm thinking that probably I'm missing something during the upgrade process or doing something wrong.
I don't remember by heart all the commands I've used (I'm at work now) but the question I wanted to ask was:

Is there any complete guide you know of somewhere on how to arrive from kernel 2.6 stable to wheezy-backports 3.12 ?

I kept searching the Internet but what I've read and folllowed so far didn't entirely work for me:
- editing /etc/apt/sources.list in order to add the lines for squeeze or wheezy backports repos
- running apt-get update
- running either apt-get upgrade or apt-get dist-upgrade
or
- running apt-cache search linux-image 3
- apt-get -t wheezy-backports install linux-image-...

If it's not possible to arrive from kernel 2.6 to backports 3.12, I was considering installing OMV on top of Ubuntu server (which seems to be using kernel 3.11 or 3.12) as described (in the "Alternatives to OMV" section) here: http://apcmag.com/how-to-build-your-own-nas-box.htm.
It's not very clear to me yet how this installing "on top" of another Linux distro works; when I boot would I get a choice which kernel (or OS to run) or would I be running both OS-es at the same time, in order to achieve this ?

Aha... I see; that's really good news.
Thanks.

However until OMV 0.6 comes out I'll still have to figure a way to make it work, as all my data disks are inside this new NAS (my 2 drive docking station I've been using until now is completely dead)...

I'll keep tinkering and trying, until I figure it out... Linux, here I come !

After some more days (actually the whole friggin' weekend) of searching, trying, testing, reading and then some more testing... it appears that any backports starting from 3.10 up, won't be very easily installed over the 2.6 kernel, or on top of 3.2 backports for that matter.
If there is a way to do it it's above my current Linux skills, so I'll leave it to rest for a while. Nonetheless, I've learned more about Linux and Unix in the last 2 weeks than in all the previous years of my life together, so all in all it's been a good experience and a fine jump start in the *nix world.

I've managed to install instead on my NAS, an Ubuntu server and setup Samba, SSH and Webmin in order to have my drives back in the network, for the time being.

One thought that keeps floating around my mind though is, whether it's possible to install OMV in a virtual machine (i.e. on my current Ubuntu server, for instance).
Can anybody confirm if it's doable and how hard is it, for a beginner ? The idea would be not only to install it and test it as a proof of concept, but rather if from a VM, OMV could actually access and manage the physical file system on my 3 hdds in my NAS (i.e. if the VM would completely isolate OMV or there is a way to actually give it access to the real FS and use it from inside the VM to do the same work it does when installed directly on hdd).

If that's doable, I would still like to get my hands dirty a little bit with this.

Some thoughts or experience with this anybody ?
Thanks.

Thanks guys for your replies.

WastlJ, actually I have installed the non-GUI version (Ubuntu Server) as I was trying to keep the installation as lean as possible (disabled most services except the ones that were really needed for NAS).

I did most of the config in CLI (following various guides on the Internet) and I actually love the idea of learning as much CLI commands as I can in the beginning phases of my Linux journey, as I think this may give me a more solid basis and the skills to work on virtually any Linux distribution even though I might not be familiar with every GUI environment the X-Window server offers (and there seem to be quite a few of those).

I only used Webmin's interface for acccelerating the setup of Samba, as I was really tired and needed my data back on the network.

That being said, is it impossible to set up a VirtualBox via CLI or is it just much more work than via a GUI?
I could try and install a GUI if it's absolutely needed, but otherwise I'd rather not.
I'll try and do some reading on VirtualBox this weekend.

On a side note: This server boots in about 20-30 seconds and shuts down in less than 5, which is friggin' awesome !
Never saw this shit happen even on the best configured Windows machines; they're still snails as compared to this.

Zitat von "WastlJ"

No, not impossible. But more work of course.

you can google for "phpvirtualbox". It offers a webinterface for managing and installing virtual machines.

Thanks, I'll peek on that this weekend maybe.

Zitat von "davidh2k"

UEFI + SSD + Windows 8 = Faster than that.

OK, I won't argue that. But this server is installed on an old 2.5" 5400rpm hdd I pulled out of an ancient laptop so that's exactly the reason I'm impressed; it's not the fastest drive you could get even by the standards of 6-7 years ago and I still remember how painfully slow it was booting my Windows XP on that laptop.

Granted, any OS will boot faster without having to load a GUI, but I'm still impressed.