Installed linux does NOT boot off the array

Hi everybody.

I have Compaq Proliant 2500 with Compaq 221 Smart Array. In the array
I have two SCSI discs. I configured the array and setup Linux. I used
lilo to make my system bootable. But unfortunately it doesnt boot off.
I tried to set boot directive in lilo config file to /dev/ida/c0d0 -
doesnt work, to /dev/ida/c0d0p1 also ..p3 - doesnt work. After booting
off, I always get the message "Non system disk, please insert bootable
disk and press a key". When I boot off the floppy or CD, and append
the "root=/dev/ida/c0d0p1" parameter to boot prompt, the system starts
with no problems.

How to make the system to boot of the array on his own ?

Thx in advance
Karol

It sounds like the boot member is not configured.

You could try to reset the member using fdisk /mbr (boot from a dos
floppy) and then re-install Lilo

I'm assuming you made your changes in lilo.conf, did you run /sbin/lilo
to write the config to the boot member? Did that succeed? I've had
difficulty getting that to work consistantly with the Smart2 series of
array controllers due to the various disk naming conventions supplied
by the drivers.

How is your system partitioned?
I typically have 4 partitions in my Proliant 2500 linux setup:
/dev/ida/c0d0p1 = /Boot
/dev/ida/c0d0p2 =Swap
/dev/ida/c0d0p3 = Compaq System Utilities
/dev/ida/c0d0p4 = / (root)

I've also had much better success with grub. There's a great howto in
forums.gentoo.org on setting Grub up with Smart2 series controllers.
VinceV

actually, I was going to suggest confirming that the 221 is the "first"
controller reported under the SCU.

Original Poster: Do you have the utilities partion installed on your array?
If not, do you have a SmartStart CD to boot from, from which to run the SCU
to make sure that the 221 is the first scsi controller?

Also, did you compile an SMP kernel for this box (do you have 2 processors?)
and is it init'ing properly?

- LC

"VinceV" wrote in message
ups.com...
It sounds like the boot member is not configured.

You could try to reset the member using fdisk /mbr (boot from a dos
floppy) and then re-install Lilo

I'm assuming you made your changes in lilo.conf, did you run /sbin/lilo
to write the config to the boot member? Did that succeed? I've had
difficulty getting that to work consistantly with the Smart2 series of
array controllers due to the various disk naming conventions supplied
by the drivers.

How is your system partitioned?
I typically have 4 partitions in my Proliant 2500 linux setup:
/dev/ida/c0d0p1 = /Boot
/dev/ida/c0d0p2 =Swap
/dev/ida/c0d0p3 = Compaq System Utilities
/dev/ida/c0d0p4 = / (root)

I've also had much better success with grub. There's a great howto in
forums.gentoo.org on setting Grub up with Smart2 series controllers.
VinceV

On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 14:10:47 -0600
NuTCrAcKeR wrote:

actually, I was going to suggest confirming that the 221 is the "first"
controller reported under the SCU.

Original Poster: Do you have the utilities partion installed on your array?
If not, do you have a SmartStart CD to boot from, from which to run the SCU
to make sure that the 221 is the first scsi controller?

Also, did you compile an SMP kernel for this box (do you have 2 processors?)
and is it init'ing properly?

- LC

There's another quirk too. Unless you run an initrd kernel, you will have to
compile the smart support statically into the kernel along with the filesystem
for the root partition for the thing to come up at all. Pain but doable,
www.cpqlinux.com has more iirc.


--





Hitting reply will get you devnulled. If you'd like an answer use:

shinguz a t phreaker d o t net

karol wrote:
Hi everybody.

I have Compaq Proliant 2500 with Compaq 221 Smart Array. In the array
I have two SCSI discs. I configured the array and setup Linux.

I'm curious about which flavor and version of Linux you are installing.
Some of the older installations were not known for their Array support.
I have a 2500 with a 221 Controller running Fedora Core 3...and it just
worked perfectly the first time. If it works for me, it should work for
you.

NutCracker, of course, makes a vital point. You need to boot to the
Diagnostic Partition and be certain that the Array is set as your
primary system partition device. If no drives (outside of the Array)
are connected directly to the motherboard, just running "System
Configuration" should AUTOMATICALLY set the Array as the device
containing the system partition.

Jeffrey Alsip wrote:
karol wrote:

Hi everybody.

I have Compaq Proliant 2500 with Compaq 221 Smart Array. In the array
I have two SCSI discs. I configured the array and setup Linux.


I'm curious about which flavor and version of Linux you are installing.
Some of the older installations were not known for their Array support.
I have a 2500 with a 221 Controller running Fedora Core 3...and it just
worked perfectly the first time. If it works for me, it should work for
you.

I installed Debian 3.0 with kernel 2.4.28. The cpqarray driver is
compiled into the kernel.

NutCracker, of course, makes a vital point. You need to boot to the
Diagnostic Partition and be certain that the Array is set as your
primary system partition device. If no drives (outside of the Array)
are connected directly to the motherboard, just running "System
Configuration" should AUTOMATICALLY set the Array as the device
containing the system partition.

I have CD-ROM connected to the motherboard. Apparently my controller
isn't ocnfigured as first one. Also when im running SCU, the following
warrning appears: "No fix disk could be detected", which is odd to me,
because I have configured one logical drive. But i assume that SCU is
looking for a fixed disk on the motherboard controller.

karol

NuTCrAcKeR wrote:
actually, I was going to suggest confirming that the 221 is the "first"
controller reported under the SCU.

Original Poster: Do you have the utilities partion installed on your array?
If not, do you have a SmartStart CD to boot from, from which to run the SCU
to make sure that the 221 is the first scsi controller?

I got SmartStart CD ( in german ). When I trying setup the utilities
partion using SCU, it claims that I dont have fixed disk. I think it
looks for an fixed disk connected to the motherboard controller. Am I
wright ?

Also, did you compile an SMP kernel for this box (do you have 2 processors?)
and is it init'ing properly?

I have two processors, though I didnt compile an SMP kernel yet. But I
dont think this could have an impact on abilitty of booting of an array.

- LC

"VinceV" wrote in message
ups.com...

It sounds like the boot member is not configured.

You could try to reset the member using fdisk /mbr (boot from a dos
floppy) and then re-install Lilo

Doesn't lilo make the same ??

I'm assuming you made your changes in lilo.conf, did you run /sbin/lilo
to write the config to the boot member? Did that succeed?

I succeed

I've had
difficulty getting that to work consistantly with the Smart2 series of
array controllers due to the various disk naming conventions supplied
by the drivers.

How is your system partitioned?
I typically have 4 partitions in my Proliant 2500 linux setup:
/dev/ida/c0d0p1 = /Boot
/dev/ida/c0d0p2 =Swap
/dev/ida/c0d0p3 = Compaq System Utilities
/dev/ida/c0d0p4 = / (root)

I have the same naming

karol

shinguz wrote:
There's another quirk too. Unless you run an initrd kernel, you will have to
compile the smart support statically into the kernel along with the filesystem
for the root partition for the thing to come up at all. Pain but doable,
www.cpqlinux.com has more iirc.


I dont use initrd. I've compiled all needed drivers into the kernel.

karol

Original Poster: Do you have the utilities partion installed on your
array?
If not, do you have a SmartStart CD to boot from, from which to run the
SCU to make sure that the 221 is the first scsi controller?

I got SmartStart CD ( in german ). When I trying setup the utilities
partion using SCU, it claims that I dont have fixed disk. I think it looks
for an fixed disk connected to the motherboard controller. Am I wright ?


That depends on what controller the system is trying to boot from, as I said
in my other post. Just before you select the SCU when booting from the CD,
press CTRL + A to get into advanced mode It will reaveal more options, such
as the cache mapping mentioned below.

The reason I asked about the SMP kernel is that you need to make sure that
your processor cache mapping table is set to "Full Table, Mapped" for it to
work properly

When you boot from the CD and run the ACU (array configuration utility), do
you have an array volume with physical disks that have been assigned into a
logical disk?

Also, did you check the boot order in the SCU to make sure that the 221 is
the FIRST controller? Even if the system thinks that the 221 is the first
controller, change it so that it is something other than first. let it
prompt you to update settings for other devices, and when that has finished,
change it back to first. Save and reboot.

- LC

I have CD-ROM connected to the motherboard. Apparently my controller isn't
ocnfigured as first one. Also when im running SCU, the following warrning
appears: "No fix disk could be detected", which is odd to me, because I
have configured one logical drive. But i assume that SCU is looking for a
fixed disk on the motherboard controller.


Were you simply running the SCU when you got that message? Or did you tell
the SS CD to update your system partition? Or perhaps, it was when it was
saving the files to disk before you restarted? If it was the latter, then I
would guess that you dont have a utilities partiion on your array volume, so
that message would be expected.

- LC