HP ML350 G3 won't boot.

[Tom King_4]

I have a Proliant ML350 G3 with latest BIOS and all firmware/drivers, etc. from HP SmartStart 7.5 disc. Running Windows SBS2003; Unit has SmartArray 641 controller as well as Ultra3 SCSI controller.
I am trying to install a hot-swappable SATA hard drive system on which we perform backups.
To do this, we are using the same Silicon Image SATALink 3112A Host Controller (one internal, one external port -- NO RAID) we've used for other systems with success. Those are essentially the same config but G4 and higher. On this system, it won't boot (Invalid System Disc) as long as there is a SATA drive connected- which causes problems if/when I want to reboot remotely for installs, patches, etc. HP BIOS is set to proper boot order. I've tried different SATA Card in different PCI slots and 3112A BIOS is not configurable. Any help would be appreciated.

[pankajsgalaxy]

Hi Tom

Try updating the support pack to 7.91A
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=15351&prodSeriesId=316537&prodNameId=3279705&swEnvOID=1005&swLang=8&mode=2&taskId=135&swItem=MTX-22527e670418447bb79060e720

Also check if any update available for the SATA Card?
is this the driver you have installed for it,
SiI3x12 64-bit Windows BASE Driver 1.2.14.2 6/25/2007 ??(http://www.siliconimage.com/support/supportsearchresults.aspx?pid=63&cid=3&ctid=2&osid=8&)

Regards

[James ~ Happy Dude]

Hello Tom,

>I have a Proliant ML350 G3 with latest BIOS and all firmware/drivers, etc. from HP SmartStart 7.5 disc.

Thats not latest; 7.91 is released for quite some time now. This is the only thing you can try now.

Clearly G3 systems supports no SATA drives; G4 servers & above, may be connected to MSA20s with SATA drive; hence they work for u;

Though Im not sure, u may try promise sata cards to check if they would allow u to configure sata drives in g3; promise sata cards have been known to work on ml350 g4-g5 servers.

Regards.

[Oleg Koroz]

I would not suggest for you to invest money and test STA cards with G3 or lower (COMPAQ Line), unless someone specify exact PCI card model for you, with older server you can play with SCSI and in some servers ATA.

[Tom King_4]

Sorry - my initial post was incorrect. It was SmartStart 7.9 disc that was used for updates. I am using latest driver from Silicon.

Has anyone used the Promise SATA controller with G3 with any success?

[mutsje]

Hi Tom,

Did you ever find a solution for this issue with this Silicon Image SATALink 3112 card?
Or any other solution to attach additional SATA drives next to the SCSI boot drives in this server?

I'm trying to hook up the same card for some additional storage in my ml350 g3 and running into the same issue:
It does not start up when a SATA drive is attached (just cursor on blinking - cannot find OS). It does start up with the SATA card in through. Once started up SATA drives can be attached and work fine no problem.
Any boot order changement did not fix anything.

Your help would be highly appreciated.

Cheers,
Rob

[Tom King_4]

Sorry, never figured it out. We just don't reboot the server unless we can go on-site to turn off the external drive (or have someone on-site do it).

[mutsje]

Sorry to hear that :( I'll have to go the same route as you did then.
But many thanks for the very fast answer!!