Hi,
I have a Pegasus R4. I am using it with a Fedora 32 linux computer. How does one manage a Promise Raid array such as Pegasus R4 from linux? Is there a linux-based Promise Raid Management Software like Pegasus Utility for Windows?
If there isn't Promise software for linux, what linux based software can be used to manage the Pegasus R4?
Any help would be appreciated.
Hi James,
The Pegasus is not supported on Linux, but it is supported on Windows. If Fedora 32 has a driver for the storage, then it's possible that you can run the Windows Promise utility under Wine. I don't think this has a high probability of working, but it's worth a try.
I used 'Fedora 14' years ago but eventually Gnome 3 made it pretty much unusable. Ubuntu Mate seems to have fixed that up. Perhaps it's time to give Fedora another look.
Thank you R P. My Pegasus R4 (that I originally configured on Windows) works fine with Fedora 32. I just don't know enough about Linux to know how to manage the raid array. You are correct, there isn't any Pegasus specific management software for Linux. I hadn't thought about using Wine/Crossover. I like the idea and will give it a try.
Hi James,
Let's see, for fedora you might try if wine is not already installed.
yum install wine
Once installed you should be able to run the Promise Utility installer by double clicking on the installer executable.
Thinking more about it, due to the differences in how windows and linux drivers work, I don't expect this to work. But then, Wine may do some translation of system calls, so who knows.
Another possibility is to install a Windows virtual machine, you can use QEMU or Virtualbox. If configured to give Windows proper access to the hardware, this stands a better chance of working.
As a fallback, you can always attach to a Windows or Mac machine when you need to manage.
Hi R P,
I installed Wine and then installed the Promise Utility. The installation went fine. However, when I launched the utility, it could not find the Pegasus R4 (i.e., device not found). With all puns intended, it doesn't look Promising :)
Thanks anyway for your help. I think I will need to dual boot windows for managing the Pegasus R4.
Hi James,
I think the dual boot idea is best.
Another possibility occurred to me, also with a low probability of success. Many Promise HBAs (SAS or SATA PCI cards) were supported on linux. You don't need the driver as Fedora 32 has the inbox stex driver, but the Promise Utility for the HBAs might work. I'd probably not use the GUI utility of they have one, but the CLI might be usable for basic maintenance and checking status. The big problem here is that I'm reasonably certain that these utilities were written for the 2.6 kernal, now long passe, and they probably won't work on a modern Linux kernel.
Something like this might work, if it can be installed.
https://www.promise.com/DownloadFile.aspx?DownloadFileUID=671
Just a thought, again there's a low probability of success.
Hi James,
Curious how you are using the R4 from linux. Did it automatically mount for you? Did you have to add anything to startup?
