Well, I did it.
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| techiem2 Feb 19, 2007 10:21 AM EDT |
So a while ago I acquired an HP Netserver 4d/66 LM. This will bring up some images so you get an idea (I'll take some of my own when I get the box reassembled) [url=http://images.google.com/images?q=hp netserver 4d 66]http://images.google.com/images?q=hp netserver 4d 66[/url] It's a 486/66 with 128MB RAM. It's designed to be a scsi box and is currently running off a 9GB scsi disk (there's a second disk too, but I don't have it connected). So this weekend I did a netinstall of debian stable (I figured that would be a good choice for an old system, and it gives me an excuse to try out debian), then did a dist-upgrade to testing because of the packages I want to use (I'm planning to try to use it as my icecast2 server box and uses ices2 on another machine to feed it). The whole process has been an adventure considering the hardware in the box (mainly the scsi issue). I'm currently recompiling the kernel (yes, I'm actually having the box compile it's own kernel) to support the scsi cards that came with the box instead of the spare I had to put in so the installer would see it. I'd like to get it booting off the onboard controller instead of an external one. And I'd like to either pull my card and put the original back in, or pull all the offboard ones if I can get the bios to update the isa device list. When you change something (like take a card out), the box halts on boot and whines that the config changed and makes you hit esc to continue the boot process. So anyhow, that's my current adventure. I'm planning to do a writeup in my blog about the whole thing once I get it up and running how I want it. :) |
| jimf Feb 19, 2007 11:26 AM EDT |
> The whole process has been an adventure considering the hardware in the box (mainly the scsi issue). I thought that Debian was very good with SCSI? Since I have a PII 300 dual on a MSI server board with FW SCSI that's soon to be converted to Debian, details would be appreciated. |
| techiem2 Feb 19, 2007 11:38 AM EDT |
Well, apparently the cards in the box were kinda odder ones (aha 1711 and 2740? I think. will have to check at home). The netinstall cd didn't seem to have the drivers for them. But it worked fine with the old aha1520 once I manually loaded the module and ran the hardware detect again. I think I picked the right support in the kernel. I'll find out if it ever finishes compiling. hehe. |
| Aladdin_Sane Feb 19, 2007 12:43 PM EDT |
>aha 1711 and 2740? Sharing what I recall on old odd Adaptec SCSI: It sounds like VLB, as opposed to PCI, may be involved here. VLB would be old and odd from today's perspective, but I liked it at the time: VLB runs at 40 MHz x 32 bits, beating the performance (even today) of (vanilla) PCI at 33 MHz x 32 bits. >if I can get the bios to update the isa device list Theres going to be a utility from HP to do this. My advice back then was always "Stay away" or "Don't go there" for this type of ISA PnP. Having gone there, the Linux isapnptools package may help. There's a HOWTO at http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Plug-and-Play-HOWTO-4.html that may help get started. Finally, somewhere on HP's FTP site will probably be an old dusty directory containing the utility designed for that. Really, I envy you your task. Have fun! |
| jimf Feb 19, 2007 1:01 PM EDT |
Ok, that shouldn't be a problem here. AIC 7880 controller (yeah, I had to look it up) was a popular one, so, I'll bet it's included. The darn thing is fast enough so that, between the SCSI and the processor, it performs well. |
| Aladdin_Sane Feb 19, 2007 1:40 PM EDT |
>I'd like to get it booting off the onboard controller This must be supported in the hardware first, and even then, back then, it was a pain to set up. Booting must first be supported by the SCSI chip, the motherboard's chipset, the BIOS and CMOS Setup of both the onboard SCSI section and the MB itself. Setting it up was a bizarre and fun task that I recall losing sleep and weight over in the early 90's. What happens is that the system BIOS boot routine must be redirected to the SCSI BIOS for booting. This remap was very very hard for BIOS programmers then, as is, oh say, ACPI mapping for them now. Both the system BIOS, and the SCSI BIOS have to be set just right, and if you hold your mouth right, part your hair properly and note certain observable discolorations to the lunar surface, the system may boot from the onboard SCSI. Then you need to get GRUB/LILO and the initrd (or custom-compiled kernel) right to actually do the booting. For cross-referencing: In Adaptec-land AIC refers to a chip, and AHA refers to a card that contains a chip: Therefor when speaking of an AIC and an AHA we may be talking about the same, or different, things. In all these cases it's best to assume that a Linux driver is designed to drive the chip, not the card, but that driving the chip will have the same result. Not sure about the HP BIOSes of the time, but I know that Dell server BIOSes from back then made the boot task hard to impossible without understanding what, exactly, is going on. The System BIOS must have a config option to point the boot sequence at the onboard SCSI, though it may be well hidden in the Setup. There can also be jumpers and DIP switches that affect the process. |
| number6x Feb 19, 2007 3:43 PM EDT |
Slackware also had support for those Adaptec VLB cards. Well there were tarballs for them and they worked on Slack anyway. I had a 486 75Mhz with one. I remember it took a long time to uncompress the kernel from the boot floppy. :) |
| techiem2 Feb 20, 2007 10:22 AM EDT |
yeah, it's a pure ISA box. :)
Once I got the kernel recompiled it saw all the scsi cards.
So I have it booting off one of the original offboard cards now (so it's not whining about isa config changed at the moment).
I hooked the drive up to the onboard one but it wouldn't boot, though supposedly that controller is bootable.
Haven't had time to look into that further.
I found the manual online, though it doesn't say much (it's a manual that covers the whole series, and only has about 10 pages for each system).
Later I think I'm gonna reset the nvram and check out the isa config tool to see if there's anything useful, |
| techiem2 Feb 20, 2007 7:10 PM EDT |
Well, I've got it up and running well. I disabled the onboard scsi controller cuz it wouldn't boot right and I didn't feel like fighting it. I did find the latest bios and the isa configuration utility on the HP site, so that's kinda useful. It's currently happily running icecast for me to test out. Now I just need to go a writeup about it all. |
| techiem2 Feb 20, 2007 8:29 PM EDT |
Ok.
I did a writeup. http://techiem2.net/index.php?/archives/2-NetServer-Adventur... Enjoy! (be forewarned that the picture gallery is on my box here on my cable line as I haven't gotten around to getting the galleries setup on the real site yet, so it could be a tad slow) |
| dcparris Feb 20, 2007 10:41 PM EDT |
Submit it to the newswire!!! :-) |
| techiem2 Feb 21, 2007 3:35 AM EDT |
OK! :) |
| techiem2 Feb 21, 2007 2:37 PM EDT |
Ok. I got an initial gallery tree setup on the real site and put the pics there so I don't have to worry about my cable line (and viewers don't have to grumble about my slow upstream). :) |
| Sander_Marechal Feb 26, 2007 5:54 AM EDT |
Quoting: I thought that Debian was very good with SCSI? Since I have a PII 300 dual on a MSI server board with FW SCSI that's soon to be converted to Debian, details would be appreciated. I have 3 PII duals. All HP NetServer LC3's with SCSI. They work flawlessly with a standard Debian Sarge or Etch install. |
| techiem2 Feb 26, 2007 6:17 AM EDT |
It seems my problem was simply the cards that were in the box. Once I got it installed and the drivers for the original cards compiled into the kernel, they worked fine. |
| jimf Feb 26, 2007 10:57 AM EDT |
> I have 3 PII duals. All HP NetServer LC3's with SCSI. They work flawlessly with a standard Debian Sarge or Etch install. Thanks for that info sander :) |
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