Configuring LH Pro

[Phil Cassel]

I'm new to this forum but the replies that I have seen seem to come from knowledgable people so here's my dilema:

I'm trying to configure an LH Pro to dual boot Win2k Server and Linux. Here are a few of the issues that I'm running into.

HDD's - I have 2 hot swappable 4066MB HP drives. One is an 80-880R and the other a 80-5252. I'm not sure their being different models makes any differece for RAID purposes but they are slow so I have Linux currently installed on one of them. I'd like to reinstall Linux to them as a RAID 0 pair. Here's where My first problem starts.

My 3rd HDD is a much faster 4105MB Quantum drive. Since the drive is faster and is truncated due to it's slightly larger size I didn't want to add it to the array. I also wanted to run in off the Adaptec's B channel rather than the NetRAID controller. With this drive plugged into the B channel the CD-ROM on the A channel no longer gets boot priority...which makes running the Win2k Server install a bit hard to perform. I figured changing boot device priority in the BIOS would fix this. Well...a few trys at that and I find myself here in these forums learning about something called an ECU. Booting the ECU is not a fun game either. Boot priority seems to be c:/CD-ROM/a: with no way to change it! Can't boot to the floppy with the HDD even attached to the B channel nor can you boot to the Win2k Server setup via CR-ROM. So to boot the ECU I had to kill power to the Quantum. Then I had to remove the bootable CD. Finally the ECU boots and I think my problems will all be resolved as soon as I can redetermine boot priority. Alas, the ECU seems only to be able to set either SCSI A,B or PCI adapters as priority. So my first question....is there any way to set priority amongst the SCSI devices on the Adaptec channels?

If not, I can run the Quantum on the NetRAID in channel 0 and the array of HP drives in channel 1... That would allow me to boot to a: as long as there's not a bootable CD in the drive and also still have the Quantum to install Win2k to. That brings me to my second question. If the quantum is alone and initialized as its own array why does it still come up as RAID 0? Will that make any difference? Will it automatically be c: for windows purposes? Does its logical drive position determine this?

Well for now I guess that's all I'm wondering about.

Any informtaion you guys have would be greatly appreciated.

[Phil Cassel]

Here's an update:

Disregard the last paragraph of my initial post...can't seem to get the Win2k Server setup to run with the array attatched to the NetRAID controller!

After attaching the Quantum HDD to the NetRAID 0 channel and the upper tray to channel 1 all 3 drives are recognized by the controller. In configuration there seems to be no way to bring the solo drive online other than to make it an array which makes no sense. If I leave it in a ready status it won't come online. Does the NetRAID controller not support individual drives?

Reconfiguring the array on channel 0 w/o the Quantum attatched yields the same result. The computer gets through the NetRAID's BIOS to the point where it recognizes 1 logical drive and halts after 1 beet. Sometimes it gives a msg saying 'System Configuration Data updated' then just stops. The keyboard is non responsive and I have to powerdown or hit reset.

With just the Quantum attached to the NEtRAID controller and left in Ready status the computer will boot from a: I figured I'd try fdisk to setup a logical drive on the Quantum but it seems unable to locate the Quantum when attached to the NetRAID. And sinse I can't boot to a: or CD-ROM with the Quantum attached to the Adaptec's A or B channel I'm at a loss...

With nothing attached to then NetRAID controller and a bootable CD int he drive the server gives 2 beeps after polling the NetRAID controller and proceeds to boot from CD and run the windows setup. Wierd thing is the power & reset buttons don't work and the neither does the keyboard.

This has become quite an annoying project, but I guess it's all about the learning! The harder it turns out to be it seems the longer one remembers!

Anybody? I guess my last option is to plug the silly Quantum into the AHA-2940uw in my Win2k Prof box just to be able to get at it with fdisk so I can set a logical drive and set the darn thing as an active partition! Of course, that means detatching its ATA drives to prevent killing its active partion status! ARG!! Can this get any better!

[Phil Cassel]

Second update:

Well all is not well yet. After a firmware upgrade to A.04.30 for the NetRaid controller and a reconfiguration and re-initialization of the array the server will now finish polling the NetRAID and move on to booting from CD. However, it hangs at the checking computer's hardware config screen...

So it seems I've solved one problem only to be confronted by another. When I first started working with the server and ran into the boot sequencing issue it would boot from the Win2k CD and actually get past the checking hardware stage. The blue setup screen would come up and files would actually begin copying. It did that several times but I had no HDD's in the system at all so really couldn't continue with setup... I hope those of you that have successfully installed Win2k to an LH Pro might be able to shed some light on this problem. Any thoughts?

[Phil Cassel]

Yet another update:

Huh...removed the array from within the NetRAID controller and viola! It moves past the NetRAID poll and a msd saying it can't open boot partition to check for a signature comes up. Hardware config is checked and then it continues onto the blue setup screen and commences loading setup files....w/o hitting F6 and loading any drivers it recognizes all 3 indivitual drives on mraid35x.

Here's where she begins to get fun again. Setup begins copying files to the installation folders and gets to 9%...a file called cniemst2.sys and comes to a screeching halt...'setup cannot copy this file. Press enter to try again ESC to skip & F3 to quit.' Skip installation files...right that'll work...

Anyway that was with a full ver of Win2k Server. Did it everytime so I dug out an old 120 Eval disk...this time it got to ciodm.dll before it did the same thing. Wonder if my old RC3 ver will do it too...

[Phil Cassel]

I think this is the final update:

I give up...

Actually had RC2 not 3 and used Win2k Advanced Server RC2 cause I can't find my Win2k Server RC2 disk. Same thing...first try it locked the computer up at 7%. Second try it gave the cannot copy error at 8%. Looks like this LH Pro will never see Win2k Server installed.

Glad I wasted 13 hours and trashed my Linux install to find this out...

Fini

[Greg Prevost]

Just out of curiousity did you check the HP site to see if the LH Pro will run Win 2k? I know my LX Pro won't run anything above Windows NT 4.0

[Phil Cassel]

Greg, from all that I have read here in these forums the LH Pro does not officially support Win2k. However, I have seen several posts where others with the same configuration I have are successfully running Win2k.

Since I am able to successfully boot the Win2k setup from CD and begin to copy files I can't figure out what could be the problem. The only other thing I can think of is the driver for the NetRaid controller that comes packaged with Win2k doesn't actually work. When I get up the gumption, or rather, when I have another entire day to waste, I'll try using the newer(?) driver I downloaded. But I'm not holding my breath...