Steve M. Fabac, Jr. wrote:
> In the previous thread on Re: Openserver
> 6.0 wc -l /usr/adm/syslog reboots system
>
> Steve M. Fabac, Jr. wrote:
> > Bela Lubkin wrote:
> >> Steve M. Fabac, Jr. wrote:
> >>
> >>> Just returned from a new client with problems.
> >>> I was called when the Backup Edge Verify pass
> >>> was causing the machine to reboot.
> >>>
> >>> When I arrived, I checked the system and found it
> >>> running OS 6.0 with MP1 and some package add
> >>> patch.
> >>>
> >>> While surveying the system I used less /usr/adm/syslog
> >>> to view the system log file. Pressing shift G to
> >>> go to the bottom of the file took a long time.
> >>> So long that I gave up and pressed del to interrupt.
> >>>
> >>> When I executed l -l /usr/adm/syslog it showed it
> >>> at 108+ megabytes. I tried wc -l /usr/adm/syslog and
> >>> within .5 to 1 second the screen went blank and the
> >>> system was rebooting.
> >>>
> >>> I brought it up in single user mode and ran fsck -ofull
> >>> several times with no unusual problems reported.
> >>>
> >>> In single user mode the wc -l /usr/adm/syslog would
> >>> still cause the system to reboot.
> >>>
> >>> Funny thing: With the system back up in single user mode,
> >>> running cat /usr/adm/syslog > /dev/null worked without
> >>> problems.
> >>>
> >>> And, cat /usr/adm/syslog | wc -l reported 1.5+ million lines.
> >>> But wc -l /usr/adm/syslog (or /usr/adm/messages) will
> >>> trigger the reboot.
> >>>
> >>> No panic messages, the monitor just goes black and
> >>> then the boot up screen is displayed.
> >>>
> >>> Any suggestions on what to check first? I plan to install
> >>> a new IDE hard drive tomorrow and use recovery media
> >>> on the Backup Edge overnight backup to restore the system
> >>> to the new drive.
> >>
> >> You say that both /usr/adm/syslog and /usr/adm/messages trigger the
> >> problem. And `wc -l /usr/adm/syslog` crashes while `cat
> /usr/adm/syslog
> >> | wc -l` doesn't. Peculiar.
> >>
> >> I don't have an OSR6 system here, but a quick `truss` test on OSR506
> >> shows that `cat` does 1KB reads while `wc` does 16KB. OSR6 userland is
> >> mostly OSR5, so this is probably the same.
> >>
> >> See if:
> >>
> >> dd if=/usr/adm/syslog of=/dev/null bs=16k
> >
> > Good to hear from you Bela. I give dd a try when I get back on site
> > today.
> >
> > I just talked to the client. I had sent him out to pick up a hard disk
> > so that we can eliminate the disk by replacing it. He suggested that
> > he pick up a new machine so that we can restore the backup to it
> > and leave the current system in production for today's business
> operations
> > (front counter POS, 8 stations two remote locations).
> >
> > He called back from his preferred used computer supplier and they have
> > a Dell PowerEdge 2600 with 1G RAM, unspecified RAID controller, and
> three
> > 73G disks for $325. So I will be attempting to use the boot loadable
> > drivers for Backup Edge RE2 to transfer last night's backup to the
> > new hardware. Once that's accomplished, I test wc again prior to
> installing
> > MP2 and other recommended patches.
> >
> > I've done this before on OS5 but not OS6 so I'll likely need
> > recommendations on how to reconfigure the NIC (reconfigure?)
> >
> >
> > Whoops. Just checked with Microlite tech support, and BackupEdge on OS6
> > does not support moving to non-identical hardware (no btld support).
> So it looks
> > like a fresh install and porting their application and data to the
> new system.
> > Rats.
>
> As feared, this is not a cake walk. The client picked up a Dell
> Power Edge 2600 with 1G RAM 2.8GHz Xeon CPU, three 73G SCSI disks,
> PERC4/Di RAID on the motherboard, Dell DLT tape drive, Dell slimline
> CD & floppy drive on a single cable (not your standard PATA cable),
> and Adaptec 39160 SCSI card.
>
> The first plan was to install a IDE PCI controller in the available
> 32B PCI slot and connect a temporary PATA HD and DVD drive to
> attempt a bare-metal restore of the Backup Edge bootable DVD media.
> This of course failed as the PCI IDE card was a SATA RAID card with
> PATA connector usable for two PATA drives. The card would boot a
> PATA hard drive that I brought in and contained Windows 98. But if
> I connected the IDE DVD/RW drive, the PCI SATA/PATA card would no
> longer boot the PATA drive.
>
> Plan 2: Fresh install of OS6 on the PERC RAID with an HP USB DVD
> writer connected to the system during ISL. Then install Backup
> Edge and dump the nightly backup media to a mounted /oldsys file
> system and move data and programs as needed.
>
> After downloading drivers from both SCO and Dell to create the
> necessary (?) HBA driver disk for the PERC4/Di and booting
> the SCO 6.0 installation CD and reading in the downloaded drivers,
> all attempts to install on the PERC4/Di failed with the message
> "no root disk found." (Driving home after 6 hours, I realized that I
> had not tried the OS6 boot disk without additional HBA drivers.)

When the failure occurs, the HBA drivers "identified" are IDA. Perhaps,
I should edit the drive list and remove the IDA driver from the
available HBA adapters to prevent miss identifying the PERC as IDA?

I found the following post on
http://www.dellcommunity.com/support...cending&page=3

>>>>>>
---- quote
I am trying to install SCO 5.0.5 on a power edge 2800 with
the perc 4e/Di raid controller. I have obtained the raid
drivers from the dell site, created by btld disk and started
the install, however boot up tells me that no PERC adapter
was found and no root disk controller was found.

what did you have to do to overcome these problems (
if you had any) ?

regards
---- end quote

Mike,
The key to getting SCO 5.0.5 to load with the
new RAID cards rely in the initial boot instructions
(known as defbootstr) that you pass to SCO at the boot
prompt when you start the install. Essentially you need
to turn off SCSI and IDE scanning and tell SCO exactly
where each device connects to a controller, this includes
the hard drive, tape drive and CD.
>Also in the Server's BIOS
>if you want to RAID with this card you need to set BOTH
>channels on the controller to RAID.For example:

defbootstr link=perc disable=dptr,piiop,efp,wdex,mdac
Srom=wd(0,0,0,0) Stp0=perc(0,1,6,0) Sdsk=perc(0,0,0,0)


Hope this helps

Al Collier

>>>>>>>>

The above recommends setting both channels to RAID. I
know that I have not tried that. All failures to date have
been with channel 1 set to RAID and channel 2 set to SCSI.
I'll reset channel 2 to RAID the next time I'm on site on
this install.

Now, can anyone translate that defbootstr instruction above
for use on SCO 6.0?


>
> In desperation to get the new hardware up in advance of catastrophic
> failure of the old system, I used the Dell BIOS and changed the
> PERC4/Di ONMB setting from "RAID" to "SCSI" which allowed installation
> of OS6 with the HBA drivers included on the OS6 installation CD
> (as LSI MPT HBA).
>
> On an Openserver 5.0.7 system I would now try btldinstall to add the PERC
> drivers to the system and run mkdev hd to configure the kernel to
> include the PERC drivers.
>
> What is the equivalent steps on SCO 6.0?
>
> Since the Dell PowerEdge 2600 has two SCSI channels that
> can be configured as PERC4/Di RAID or LSI SCSI, I plan to move
> the single disk on the first SCSI channel to the second channel,
> reset BIOS from SCSI to RAID and reconfigure the kernel to add
> the PERC4/Di drivers to the kernel.
>
> Any suggestions, warnings, or other comments?

On 10 Mar, 17:45, "Steve M. Fabac, Jr." wrote:
> Steve M. Fabac, Jr. wrote:
>
> defbootstr link=perc disable=dptr,piiop,efp,wdex,mdac
> Srom=wd(0,0,0,0) Stp0=perc(0,1,6,0) Sdsk=perc(0,0,0,0)
>
> The above recommends setting both channels to RAID. I
> know that I have not tried that. All failures to date have
> been with channel 1 set to RAID and channel 2 set to SCSI.
> I'll reset channel 2 to RAID the next time I'm on site on
> this install.
>
> Now, can anyone translate that defbootstr instruction above
> for use on SCO 6.0?
>

Steve,

There is no direct translation of this. OpenServer 6 includes the
drivers for the Dell Perc RAID 4 and if the Perc controller is
properly configured it should just be picked up at ISL.

John

jboland@sco.com wrote:
>
> On 10 Mar, 17:45, "Steve M. Fabac, Jr." wrote:
> > Steve M. Fabac, Jr. wrote:
> >
> > defbootstr link=perc disable=dptr,piiop,efp,wdex,mdac
> > Srom=wd(0,0,0,0) Stp0=perc(0,1,6,0) Sdsk=perc(0,0,0,0)
> >
> > The above recommends setting both channels to RAID. I
> > know that I have not tried that. All failures to date have
> > been with channel 1 set to RAID and channel 2 set to SCSI.
> > I'll reset channel 2 to RAID the next time I'm on site on
> > this install.
> >
> > Now, can anyone translate that defbootstr instruction above
> > for use on SCO 6.0?
> >
>
> Steve,
>
> There is no direct translation of this. OpenServer 6 includes the
> drivers for the Dell Perc RAID 4 and if the Perc controller is
> properly configured it should just be picked up at ISL.
>
> John

John,

What is "properly configured"? I can find no information at Dell or
SCO on the "proper" configuration. The mega driver says it works
with the perc4/Di but it has no "proper" configuration information
in the driver package description.

--

Steve Fabac
S.M. Fabac & Associates
816/765-1670

On 14 Mar, 16:01, "Steve M. Fabac, Jr." wrote:
> jbol...@sco.com wrote:
>
> > On 10 Mar, 17:45, "Steve M. Fabac, Jr." wrote:
> > > Steve M. Fabac, Jr. wrote:
>
> > > defbootstr link=perc disable=dptr,piiop,efp,wdex,mdac
> > > Srom=wd(0,0,0,0) Stp0=perc(0,1,6,0) Sdsk=perc(0,0,0,0)
>
> > > The above recommends setting both channels to RAID. I
> > > know that I have not tried that. All failures to date have
> > > been with channel 1 set to RAID and channel 2 set to SCSI.
> > > I'll reset channel 2 to RAID the next time I'm on site on
> > > this install.
>
> > > Now, can anyone translate that defbootstr instruction above
> > > for use on SCO 6.0?
>
> > Steve,
>
> > There is no direct translation of this. OpenServer 6 includes the
> > drivers for the Dell Perc RAID 4 and if the Perc controller is
> > properly configured it should just be picked up at ISL.
>
> > John
>
> John,
>
> What is "properly configured"? I can find no information at Dell or
> SCO on the "proper" configuration. The mega driver says it works
> with the perc4/Di but it has no "proper" configuration information
> in the driver package description.

Steve,

By properly configured I mean that you have configured the disks
in the appropriate RAID configuration using the Dell Perc BIOS
prior to installing Openserver 6.

John

jboland@sco.com wrote:
> On 14 Mar, 16:01, "Steve M. Fabac, Jr." wrote:
>> jbol...@sco.com wrote:
>>
>>> On 10 Mar, 17:45, "Steve M. Fabac, Jr." wrote:
>>>> Steve M. Fabac, Jr. wrote:
>>>> defbootstr link=perc disable=dptr,piiop,efp,wdex,mdac
>>>> Srom=wd(0,0,0,0) Stp0=perc(0,1,6,0) Sdsk=perc(0,0,0,0)
>>>> The above recommends setting both channels to RAID. I
>>>> know that I have not tried that. All failures to date have
>>>> been with channel 1 set to RAID and channel 2 set to SCSI.
>>>> I'll reset channel 2 to RAID the next time I'm on site on
>>>> this install.
>>>> Now, can anyone translate that defbootstr instruction above
>>>> for use on SCO 6.0?
>>> Steve,
>>> There is no direct translation of this. OpenServer 6 includes the
>>> drivers for the Dell Perc RAID 4 and if the Perc controller is
>>> properly configured it should just be picked up at ISL.
>>> John
>> John,
>>
>> What is "properly configured"? I can find no information at Dell or
>> SCO on the "proper" configuration. The mega driver says it works
>> with the perc4/Di but it has no "proper" configuration information
>> in the driver package description.
>
> Steve,
>
> By properly configured I mean that you have configured the disks
> in the appropriate RAID configuration using the Dell Perc BIOS
> prior to installing Openserver 6.
>
> John
>

John,

I'm sorry for the sarcasm in my post. After fighting this thing for
three days and all drivers downloaded from SCO and Dell failing to
recognize the controller, I stumbled across the problem, and lo
and behold the mega driver dowloaded from SCO worked.

However, the documentation with the driver is incomplete and omits
very important hardware configuration information. Without that
setting in the controller card, you can build raid configurations
with the controller bios all day long and none of the drivers will
work. The letter with the driver should be updated to flag this
controller bios setting.

Since this was a used machine and when I first booted it, Windows 2000
server login screen appeared, I accepted that the hardware is working
and all I did was delete the RAID5 configuration and reset to RAID1
before trying to load SCO. Three days later....

On 15 Mar, 13:35, "Steve M. Fabac, Jr." wrote:
>
> However, the documentation with the driver is incomplete and omits
> very important hardware configuration information. Without that
> setting in the controller card, you can build raid configurations
> with the controller bios all day long and none of the drivers will
> work. The letter with the driver should be updated to flag this
> controller bios setting.
>
> Since this was a used machine and when I first booted it, Windows 2000
> server login screen appeared, I accepted that the hardware is working
> and all I did was delete the RAID5 configuration and reset to RAID1
> before trying to load SCO. Three days later....

Steve,

What is the setting and I will add it to the TA.

John

jboland@sco.com wrote:
>
> On 15 Mar, 13:35, "Steve M. Fabac, Jr." wrote:
> >
> > However, the documentation with the driver is incomplete and omits
> > very important hardware configuration information. Without that
> > setting in the controller card, you can build raid configurations
> > with the controller bios all day long and none of the drivers will
> > work. The letter with the driver should be updated to flag this
> > controller bios setting.
> >
> > Since this was a used machine and when I first booted it, Windows 2000
> > server login screen appeared, I accepted that the hardware is working
> > and all I did was delete the RAID5 configuration and reset to RAID1
> > before trying to load SCO. Three days later....
>
> Steve,
>
> What is the setting and I will add it to the TA.
>
> John

The Perc4/Di was set in BIOS to I2O mode. Windows 2003 was happy
with that. The magic fix is to set the controller to "mass storage" mode.

After I made that change, I booted the OS6 CD and loaded all the drivers
I had downloaded: Perc from Dell, mega from SCO, and another version of
PERC from Dell. The installation then identified the card as mega,
and the installation finished without further problems.

I did not test your statement that OS6 will recognize the PERC 4 without
additional HBA drivers, I was just happy that OS6 was loading. I left for
the evening with the installation running, planning to return the next day
to complete the migration.

Interesting: Disk performance is much better in RAID1 with the mega driver then
I experienced when I set the controller to LSI (SCSI) mode. The MP2 patch
took 30 minutes to install in LSI mode and only 10-15 minutes in RAID mode.
--

Steve Fabac
S.M. Fabac & Associates
816/765-1670