Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 and CentOS 4.x installation guide

This Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 (RHEL4) and CentOS 4.x installation guide can be used on the Marquis M815, M816 and M818. Note: Only RHEL4 Update 1 or Update 2 is supported.

The ASL RHEL4/CentOS 4.x Device Driver CD is required to install the operating system. The latest RHEL4/CentOS 4.x Device driver CD can be downloaded here. Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions are provided.

http://updates.aslab.com/isos/RHEL4/

To install RHEL4 or CentOS 4.x, use the following steps.

  1. Boot RHEL4 or CentOS 4.x CD #1
  2. At the installation prompt, enter 'linux dd'
  3. When prompt for a driver disk, select Yes
  4. When prompt to insert the driver disk into /dev/hdc, remove RHEL4 or CentOS 4.x CD #1 and insert the ASL RHEL4/CentOS 4.x Device Driver CD. Then select OK
  5. When prompt to manually select the driver, select Manually Choose
  6. Select nForce Ethernet Driver (forcedeth) and select OK
  7. When prompt to load any more driver disks, select Yes
  8. When prompt to insert the driver disk into /dev/hdc, select OK
  9. When prompt to manually select the driver, select Manually Choose
  10. Select nVidia nForce SATA controllers (sata_nv) and select OK
  11. When prompt to load any more driver disks, select No
  12. Eject the ASL RHEL4/CentOS 4.x Device Driver CD
  13. Insert RHEL4 or Cent OS 4.x CD #1
  14. Continue the OS installation

Once completed and the system is restarted, the customization phase begins. At the Display configuration, accept the default settings below.

Because the onboard GeForce6 GPU is not supported in the RHEL4/CentOS 4.x Xorg X Server, it is necessary to install the Nvidia binary driver manually. The installation guide is provided in a separate document here.

Installation guide for Nvidia binary driver

Note: Do not use the Linux control panel to customize the display such as changing screen resolution or setting monitor parameters. It will not work because the open source tools do not support the Nvidia binary driver. To change the display setting, edit the X configuration file manually as documented in the Nvidia binary installation guide.

Special Notes:

  1. Audio is not supported.
  2. ACPI is not supported due to a motherboard BIOS bug.

    ACPI: Unable to load the System Description Tables

  3. The Ethernet driver included in the RHEL4 kernel is very old. It will not detect the onboard nForce4 Gigabit controller. In addition, the driver is buggy. To avoid problem with the network connection, it is necessary to compile the ASL supplied forcedeth driver after updating the kernel to a newer version.

    To compile the ASL supplied forcedeth driver, refer to the FAQ below:

    How to build ASL driver module after a kernel update