HP DL 380 Best OS !!

[syed_16]

Hi there

iam trying to install Linux on DL 380 G3 i was just wondering what would be the best OS to install on the machine which would be easiet to maintain yet at the same time easiet to install and run as a webserver and DNS server.
I have tried FC3 and Redhat 8.0 but they both failed at install screen with promt of array bug etc.Also very slow!!.One i was thinking was Redhat Enterprise V4...Your comments greatly appreciated.thanks

[Gopi Sekar]

If it is very mission critical service, then you can go for RHEL 4. Otherwise if it is only for your local usage (and may be with in your small network) then you can settle down for FC.

For your information, Fedora Core 4 is released last week, which i believe more or less equivalent to RHEL 4 except for few high performance RH patches.

Hope this helps,
Gopi

[syed_16]

Hi

i tried installing FC3 it just keep crashing or get locked on DL380.I have RBSU and ORCU set up but when i try installing it it throws the message saying you dont have enough space to install which is kinda odd as iam using Compaq smart array 5i for which it loads the driver CCISS automatically but doesnt load the install image and throws the error.Just wondering would it be the same case with FC4?

thanks

[Gopi Sekar]

may be yes.. bcoz SA 5i is very old and is supported in FC3. so your error could be something else. back to some basics, have you created logical volume for SA 5i? from F8 prompt when the server rebooted?

also boot from windows rescue or linux rescue CD (you can FC3 and at the isolinux prompt, type linux rescue). it will drop you in a shell and from there check whether you can access the device and any partitions are defined and available

Hope this helps,
Gopi

[syed_16]

Hi

Iam new to linux iam familiar with installing using GUI is there NOT any other way then shell to install (iam d/l FC4)But would it support Smart array 5i?

If the problem is related to something else then why wouldnt it install and prompt saying there is no harddrive i tried that with SUSE as well as mandrake and both give same response.also tried RH7.2 and 8.0 same problem.

Could you please outline the steps preciesly which i would need to take before the linux installation i did set logical volume but when i check in RBSU screen about View Logical drive it says NO physical drive is present.

but when i press create Logical volume it does show the whole drive and RAID 5.

RAID and logical volume i set up using HP smart start ACU.

and for ORCU i did the following steps it outlined.

Kindly please can you outline the steps i need to take before the installation i tried everyting given in the manual BUT NO luck.

Many thanks.

[Gopi Sekar]

Are you getting 'No Physical drives present' in Array Configuration. Which means the system is not able to detect any physical hard disks attached to the system.

Please ensure the hard disks are properly caged in to the slots. Also the green led's should be on in the connected hard disks. Try pulling the hard disk out and connecting it back.

Delete the existing logical volume and create it freshly. To make it simple do not use Array configuration utlities, Configure the logical volume through F8 when the system reboots.

Regards,
Gopi

[syed_16]

hi gopi

the system does show green LED on all three drives and i have setted up logical volume using RBSU F8.and when i view it,it shows the logical volume.

This is the error which i see when i press CTRL+ALT+F4 where GUI installation just hangs at
Formating file system this is the error i get on Fedira core 4 where other linux oses like suse 7.1 reports NO hard drive is present
RH 8.0 goes upto Image transfer and then hangs and exits the installation same goes for FC3.seems like to me the HDD on FC4 is recognising as HDA not a
ARAAY disk? please can any one clarify where iam going wrong as im loosing my sleep over it.

thanks

hda:lost interrupt
hda:cdrom_read_intr:data underrun (4 blocks)
end_request: I/O error,dev hda ,sector 316360
buffer I/O error on device hda, logical block 79090
ide-cd:cmd 0x28 timed out

hda:lost interrupt
hda:cdrom_read_intr:data underrun (4 blocks)
end_request: I/O error,dev hda ,sector 316364
buffer I/O error on device hda, logical block 79091
ide-cd:cmd 0x28 timed out

hda:lost interrupt
hda:cdrom_read_intr:data underrun (4 blocks)
end_request: I/O error,dev hda ,sector 316360
buffer I/O error on device hda, logical block 79090
ide-cd:cmd 0x28 timed out


hda:lost interrupt
hda:cdrom_read_intr:data underrun (4 blocks)
end_request: I/O error,dev hda ,sector 316364
buffer I/O error on device hda, logical block 79091
buffer I/O error on device loop0, logical block 10756
ide-cd:cmd 0x28 timed out

[Gopi Sekar · Accepted solution]

the error message you have put for FC4 are related to CD error. The CD you have burnt for FC4 is not good or got corrupted, please burn another. (Try to burn at lower speed like 32x to get more reliability).

As far as No Physical drives present, i believe something related to hardware issue. Try removing 2 drives and keep only one, recreate the logical volume as RAID 0 (just for testing purpose) and see whether it works. If it is still not working then log a call with HP support

Hope this helps,
Gopi

[syed_16]

jesus

its works when i remove the 2 HDD and just keep one on the server the whole installation going smooth.BUT that means i cant use those 2 other HDD and stuck with RAID 0.is there any bigger storage HDD which i can buy and use rather then using 3 different drives? your opinions would be helpful.many thanks

[Gopi Sekar]

no the problem is not that linux can not handle more than one physical drive. the problem is with your hardware. since now you know that one drive works fine, try putting two drives and configure them as RAID 1 and try to install, see if it goes through.

I believe the problem is one of your hard drive. if you have any spare hard drives use 3 of them and test.

Hope this helps,
Gopi

[syed_16]

hmm the installation went fine but when i reboot and start the system it shows 2 one FC4 smp and other FC4 up_core so i boot with smp (by default) it reaches uncompressing linux and hangs then when i tried FC4 up_Core it loads upto the point of setting hostname [ok] then hangs......Just wondering what is the problem now.Sure i will try out the two drives now and let u know.Thanks

[Gopi Sekar]

the SMP entry is for booting up the SMP kernel (even if you have single processor, if it is HT enabled it will show up as two processor to the OS)

So if FC4 is hanging in both SMP and UP kernels then there is something wrong in your hard disk. Please try some other spare drives if you have otherwise best deal would be to file a customer support call.

You can also try installing FC3 and i believe you will get same problem there too.

Hope this helps,
Gopi

[syed_16]

hmmm

i noticed something new when i go in F8 screen and > view logical drive > Available logical drives > Press ENTER > Show assigned physical drive > Shows 3 drives when go over highlited each one of them it shows all three LEDs flashing i.e on 1 it will only flash on drive which is on slot 1 then so on.was just wondering is it normal as i never use to see Fault icon flashing before?

thanks

[Gopi Sekar]

all 3 LED's flashing happens when they are getting configured (in your case, from ACU)
I dont see much of reasons for it, may be if red led flashes continuously then you might have some problem

[syed_16]

btw what is HP PSP and rapid deployment i been browing google and came across few of these comments do i get this my Smart start CD?.As for the RAID iam going through each HDD to find the faulty one.thanks for the idea.

[Gopi Sekar]

Excuse me! You have been posting all these messages to RDP forum only :)

PSP is ProLiant Support Pack which contains latest drivers and health montiors for different operating systems. It also contains a mini web server which can be accessed to find out current system health status(like hard disk health, battery information etc). But it sits on top of the OS so unless you get the OS up and running you can not use this.

RDP (Rapid Deployment Pack) is a provisioning and deployment application powered by Altiris Engine. RDP is used for bare metal provisioning where OS can be installed on 100's of servers simultaneously over the network without need for physical presence. RDP uses Windows unattended installation setup for installing windows, RedHat's kickstart feature for installing RedHat and SUSE autoyast to install SUSE machines automatically.

RDP also has an Imaging module using which you can read a image of any system and use it a referrence image to replicate on to other similar hardwares. You can also use it as disaster recovery application.

RDP is really useful if you want to maintain hundreds of servers (ML/DL/BLs) over network and maintain them. You may be wondering why so much information on RDP, because I work for RDP :).

BTW, PSP is free to download (it is available as management application), RDP can be downloaded for 7 days 10 servers evaluation license. They are not part of Smartstart

Hope this helps,
Gopi

[syed_16]

thanks.Now iam getting frustrated i tried all my HDD and they all get froze at boot of FC4.How do i log a call to customer services?
thanks

[Gopi Sekar]

go through your country help desk number. you should be able to find them from www.hp.com

[syed_16]

Hi gopi,by any chance do you know why it is hanging after boot? i disable all the things which it needs to activate still it hangs after setting hostname

[Gopi Sekar]

No Idea :)