Linux SMP problems on NetServer LX Pro

[Martin Courtemanche]

Hi,

I'm having problems booting in SMP mode on an HP NetServer LX Pro (4 * Pentiuum Pro 200). I think the problem is comming from the Megaraid SMP driver. I have the HP NetRAID witch is an AMI 428 series. I tried to use RH 7.2, 7.3, 8.0 Mandrake 9.0 and I still can't boot in SMP mode. I can boot in normal mode and I don't have any problems. I even booted in SMP mode with the KNOPPIX distro (great distro for debugging), but I would like to get RedHat working.

I even downloaded the latest kernel from kernel.org. It didn???t fix the problem. I downloaded the driver on the NetRAID driver page. It didn???t fix the problem. I downloaded the driver from the AMI LSI web site for the 428 model. It didn???t fix the problem. I upgraded the NetRAID firmware to A,04,03. It still did not fix the problem!

Here is a snippet of the dmesg normal (non-SMP) working boot process:

-----START-----
megaraid: v1.18a (Release Date: Mon Mar 11 11:38:38 EST 2002)
megaraid: found 0x101e:0x9010:idx 0:bus 1:slot 10:func 0
scsi0 : Found a MegaRAID controller at 0xec90, IRQ: 11
megaraid: [A :A ] detected 3 logical drives
megaraid: channel[1] is raid.
megaraid: channel[2] is raid.
megaraid: channel[3] is raid.
scsi0 : LSI Logic MegaRAID A 254 commands 15 targs 6 chans 7 luns
blk: queue c170ce18, I/O limit 4095Mb (mask 0xffffffff)
scsi0: scanning virtual channel 0 for logical drives.
Vendor: MegaRAID Model: LD0 RAID5 26031R Rev: A
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 02
blk: queue c170cc18, I/O limit 4095Mb (mask 0xffffffff)
Vendor: MegaRAID Model: LD1 RAID5 26031R Rev: A
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 02
blk: queue df799218, I/O limit 4095Mb (mask 0xffffffff)
Vendor: MegaRAID Model: LD2 RAID5 52095R Rev: A
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 02
blk: queue df799618, I/O limit 4095Mb (mask 0xffffffff)
-----END-----

Here is a snippet of the dmseg SMP boot process:

----START-----
megaraid: v1.18a (Release Date: Mon Mar 11 11:38:38 EST 2002)
megaraid: found 0x101e:0x9010:idx 0:bus 1:slot 10:func 0
scsi0 : Found a MegaRAID controller at 0xec90, IRQ: 11
megaraid: [????A : ????A ] detected 3 logical drives
megaraid: channel[1] is raid.
megaraid: channel[2] is raid.
megaraid: channel[3] is raid.
scsi0 : LSI Logic MegaRAID A 254 commands 15 targs 6 chans 7 luns
blk: queue c1722218, I/O limit 4095Mb (mask 0xffffffff)
scsi0: scanning virtual channel 0 for logical drives.
Aborting command du to timout: PID 0, SCSI0, chanel 0, Id 0, Lun 0 inquiry 00 00 00 ff 00
-----END-----

There are three different elements between the two snippets:
1- megaraid: [????A : ????A ] detected 3 logical drives
2- blk: queue c1722218, I/O limit 4095Mb (mask 0xffffffff)
3- Aborting command du to timout: PID 0, SCSI0, chanel 0, Id 0, Lun 0 inquiry 00 00 00 ff 00

Anybody, any idea?

Martin.

[Kodjo Agbenu]

Hi Martin,

Normally you should have different kernels in your LILO configuration, one for SMP and another one for single processor.

With each entry in the /etc/lilo.conf file, there may exist an "initrd" keyword that points to a different RAMDISK image.

In my opinion, the RAMDISK image used with SMP kernel contains a megaraid driver that was not compiled for SMP.

2 solutions :

* either you have to re-install Linux, using the Megaraid driver disk provided by HP. During the install process, enter the "individual package selection" menu and try to find a way to select an SMP kernel.

* otherwise, boot single CPU configuration, install the kernel sources provided by redhat, and replace the drivers/scsi/megaraid.* files with the ones provided by HP. Then use the SMP configuration file in configs directory to be copied as .config and to serve as template for "make xconfig" or "make menuconfig".
Recompile the kernel and rebuild the initrd file (mkinitrd).

If you need help on the kernel compilation tasks, please post another message.

Good luck.

Kodjo

[Martin Courtemanche]

Thanks for the info Kudjo, but I???m still can???t boot in SMP because of the MegaRAID driver.

I recompiled the kernel like you told me to but I wasn't lucky. ;-(

Here is a snippet of the output:

-----START-----
megaraid: v1.15 HP (Release Date: Mon Jun 25 11:28:26 EDT 2001)
megaraid: found 0x101e:0x9010:idx 0:bus 1:slot 10:func 0
scsi0 : Found a MegaRAID controller at 0xec90, IRQ: 11
megaraid: [A04.01:A04.01] detected 3 logical drives
scsi0 : AMI MegaRAID A04.01 254 commands 16 targs 3 chans 8 luns
scsi0: scanning channel 1 for devices.
scsi: Aborting command du to timout: PID 0, SCSI0, chanel 0, Id 0, Lun 0 inquiry 00 00 00 ff 00
-----END-----

[Kodjo Agbenu]

Hi Martin,

Have you tried to install Linux using the driver disk provided by HP ?

Try to obtain a recent HP Netserver Navigator CD. You may find drivers at least for RedHat 7.1, may be 7.2.

Good luck

Kodjo

[Martin Courtemanche]

Hi Kudjo,

I only have Navigator G.01.60. How can I obtain a new version?