Moving from DL380 to DL385 - is there an easy way to move drives?

[Larry Heimendinger]

We currently have several DL380 G1 servers and have been provided DL385 G1 replacements. THe new servers have a smart array 6i controller.

I thought it would be a simple matter to remove the drives from each DL380 and place them in a new DL385. No such luck. The drives won't boot. I assume this is because there is no driver for the 6i controller. I downloaded the W2003 drivers to install them on the drives before I moved them, but no such luck on that either. The downloaded drivers won't install on the DL380 systems because the hardware was not detected.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to do this? Just being able to install the driver before moving would give it a decent shot, I thought. I have been successful at doing that with other hardware platforms where I could install a SCSI driver ahead of trying to boot.

I also thought of booting from the W2003 CD, then doing a repair on the OS. But I really don't like that idea very much; not confident is what all repair does and never have been.

Thanks in advance for any help. THis is becoming a critical issue.

[Fussel]

I do not know about 2003 server; never used that.

If it is (and it should) remotely similar to XP, you could try the following:

Have a diskette ready with the drivers for the 6i (with a textsetup.oem!).

Boot up the 2003 CD, press F6 for "have driver disk". Insert disk when asked and choose the 6i controller.

Select install (not repair).

Windows should then search for previously installed systems and your old system should show up. If it does, select it and select "repair". Windows will then start to copy all its files and start the setup, meaning you should have your code ready. It might be necessary to enter your network specifics (IP address and so on) and you certainly have to re-install all upgrades and service packs later on, but otherwise your system will remain untouched (meaning all the programs are there and haven't deleted their registry keys, all the printers and so on).

This works perfectly with 2000, 2000 server, or XP. You need this procedure every time you want to switch an existing system to new hardware (or clone systems to different hardware).

Remember: don't use the FIRST repair option (when you are asked to install or repair) since this will delete the complete registry. Use the second repair option, and only on an existing installation that the setup process has found!

Hope this helps, and good luck to you.

[Larry Heimendinger]

thanks for your reply. the procedure you outlined is exactly what I described in my post.

The W2003 CD includes the necessary drivers, so I would not have to do the F6 thing. And, if I had the drivers I would just install them on the existing dl380. But I can't get the driver to install out of the package. Are you suggesting that if I extract the files, it is enough?

thanks.

[Fussel]

If the drivers are really on the 2003 CD, your existing installation should be recognized (when starting from the 2003 CD) and you should be offered to repair it. If this is the case, you don't need the F6 option.

If it is not recognized, you need

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=15351&prodSeriesId=428936&prodNameId=3288114&swEnvOID=1005&swLang=8&mode=2&taskId=135&swItem=MTX-6e0bff4e8c7646b58c14b1c678

which should be cp007419.exe. Unpack it to a floppy disk and use the F6 option with it.

regards
Fussel

[Larry Heimendinger]

Thanks, I will give it a shot.

I am pretty certain the W2003 CD supports the drivers out of the box. I did a trial install of a new system on one of the DL385s and it worked just fine.