Click to See Complete Forum and Search --> : Compaq Proliant 4500 installation issues


ArcAiN6
01-02-2003, 02:32 PM
I'm trying to install SuSE Linux 8.0 Professional on a Compaq Proliant 4500 i'm told that the onboard scsi controller is the same as in the 1500 model, no real clue on the actual specs of the controller though, Compaq wasn't any help either. as far as i know there isn't a way for me to find the address of the card using the configuration utility, or the system's rom. i have issues with Linux " no hard drives found " during installation. what i'm needing to know is :

1) can the proliant 4500 scsi card be identifyied, how, where can i get more info...

2) Is there a known issue with the proliant 4500's onboard scsi, or are there any known modules to use while installing with linux, and where can they be found.

3) is there any " usefull " documentation to be found for the Proliant 4500 and it's internal boards i.e. the scsi controller name, and such..

And here is a little tip for others installing linux on servers...


This will help those with the proliant series servers that have memory issues of finding and addressing memory abouve 16mb..

On servers that don't detect above 16MB, here is an alternate method that may work as well as Method #1:
mem=exactmap mem=0x9f000@0 mem=0x13f00000@0x100000
I translated the above values here for easier reading:
0x9f000 = 651264 bytes = 636k
0xA0000 = 655360 bytes = 640k
0x13f00000 = 334495744 bytes = 326656k = 319M
0x14000000 = 335544320 bytes = 327680k = 320M
0x100000 = 1048576 bytes = 1024k = 1M

"mem=0x9f000@0" will set up the lower 640k.
"mem=0x13f00000@0x100000" will set up from 1M to 320M

As far as I can tell, the above states to start at 1M and go out 319M. This will give you a total of 319M + the lower 640k

The above values will work (as shown if you have 320M), but I will need to double check exactly how much memory is being detected by using this method.

It appears that the method to calculate a value is to take your mem in MB, multiply by 1024, multiply by 1024, then convert to hex, then subtract 0x100000.

Here's an example:
For 128M:

128 * 1024 = 131072
131072 * 1024 = 134217728
134217728 -> Hex = 0x8000000
0x8000000 - 0x100000 = 0x7F00000

Then you would use:
mem=exactmap mem=0x9f000@0 mem=0x7f00000@0x100000
For 256M:

256M * 1024 = 262144
262144 * 1024 = 268435456
268435456 -> Hex = 0x10000000
0x10000000 - 0x100000 = 0xFF00000

Then you would use:
mem=exactmap mem=0x9f000@0 mem=0xff00000@0x100000
The other method that should arrive at the same number is to take your mem in MB, subtract 1MB, multiply by 1024, multiply by 1024, then convert to hex.
256M - 1 = 255
255 * 1024 = 261120
261120 * 1024 = 267386880
267386880 -> Hex = 0xFF00000

Here are some samples using Method #2:
16M: linux mem=exactmap mem=0x9f000@0 mem=0x0f00000@0x100000
32M: linux mem=exactmap mem=0x9f000@0 mem=0x1f00000@0x100000
48M: linux mem=exactmap mem=0x9f000@0 mem=0x2f00000@0x100000
64M: linux mem=exactmap mem=0x9f000@0 mem=0x3f00000@0x100000
80M: linux mem=exactmap mem=0x9f000@0 mem=0x4f00000@0x100000
96M: linux mem=exactmap mem=0x9f000@0 mem=0x5f00000@0x100000
112M: linux mem=exactmap mem=0x9f000@0 mem=0x6f00000@0x100000
128M: linux mem=exactmap mem=0x9f000@0 mem=0x7f00000@0x100000
144M: linux mem=exactmap mem=0x9f000@0 mem=0x8f00000@0x100000
160M: linux mem=exactmap mem=0x9f000@0 mem=0x9f00000@0x100000
176M: linux mem=exactmap mem=0x9f000@0 mem=0xaf00000@0x100000
192M: linux mem=exactmap mem=0x9f000@0 mem=0xbf00000@0x100000
208M: linux mem=exactmap mem=0x9f000@0 mem=0xcf00000@0x100000
224M: linux mem=exactmap mem=0x9f000@0 mem=0xdf00000@0x100000
240M: linux mem=exactmap mem=0x9f000@0 mem=0xef00000@0x100000
256M: linux mem=exactmap mem=0x9f000@0 mem=0xff00000@0x100000
512M: linux mem=exactmap mem=0x9f000@0 mem=0x1ff00000@0x100000

mdwatts
01-02-2003, 04:43 PM
Compaq/HP have quite a bit of Linux documentation on their site to help with installation on their servers.

You can also find the specs for the Proliant 4500 there.

mdwatts
01-02-2003, 04:51 PM
This search result (http://www.geocities.com/rlcomp_1999/Linux-Installation-Guide.html) looks helpful.

I found it with a G4L search for Proliant 4500 (http://www.google.com/linux?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Proliant+4500&btnG=Google+Search).

ArcAiN6
01-02-2003, 07:20 PM
Thanx alot for the information... and Compaq/HP's documentation for the Proliant 4500 is minimal at best, most of the documetation search results are recursive, and point to the obviouse, like what's printed on the inside cover...


Again thanks for the search link..


ArcAiN6

Alex Cavnar, aka alc6379
01-07-2003, 12:50 PM
My 1500R uses either the sym_5c82xxx (or something along those lines) module to gain SCSI access. I got ahold of Slackware 8.1 and started making all of the 2.4.x SCSI boot floppies that were available on the CD. Then, I just kept booting from each one until I found the right one. It's kind of trial and error, but it was the only thing I can think of to do.

BTW, how did you figure out the memory? My proliant's BIOS only shows 16384k when it posts, is that normal? I think I've got either 2 8MB or 16MB SIMMS in there as well. If I use the lilo option you mentioned, will that cause the kernel to recognize the memory even though the BIOS does not?

I'm not even sure if they are the right kind of SIMMS to go in it, though...

ArcAiN6
05-06-2003, 04:21 PM
Well found out there are NO linux modules for the scsi card in that Proliant 4500... also, mate with the memory issues, you MUST use ECC memory and install it in equal ammounts of sets of 4... so you would have to have 4 chips that are the same size and speed, and are also ECC compliant...

Now i have a Compaq Prolaint 5000 and it's just hanging during install
what a *****... says RAMDISK: Compressed image found at block 0
then it just sits there waiting on god knows what

Alex Cavnar, aka alc6379
05-06-2003, 10:32 PM
What version of Linux are you using on that 5000? I've found that FreeBSD works pretty well. In fact, I switched my Proliant 1500R from its original Slackware install over to a FreeBSD 4.6.2 install. Maybe you'll have better luck with that, as FreeBSD does have pretty good SCSI support.

But even still, I'd be surprised if there wasn't a SCSI module for the 4500. I do recall seeing somewhere that the 4500 had the same SCSI controller as the 1500. I've been running a 1500 now with no problems for nearly 8 months...

<edit>

After some digging through dmesg on my Proliant 1500 running FreeBSD, I've found out the model name of the SCSI controller. Hope it helps:

ncr 53c825 fast10 wide scsi

</edit>