Install NetWare on DL580 G1 or DL380 G1

[Richard Litchfield]

I have tried unsuccessfully to install NetWare 6.5 onto both a DL580 G1 and DL380 G1. No doubt there is a really simple fix - I would dearly love to know what it is!

Environment:
* DL580 G1 (4CPU, 4GB mem, onboard RAID, various NICS)
* DL380 G1 (2CPU, 1GB mem, onboard RAID or 431, various NICS)
* Initial install with SmartStart as manual (there is no option in SmartStart 5.5 for NW6.5)
* NetWare 6.5 SP2, SP5 or SP6 CDs (ISOs downloaded from Novell)

Symptoms:
* Initial file copy OK
* asks for ACPIDRV, Array controllers, etc OK
* last question before failure is about the NIC drivers
* Fails to proceed when HDETECT is loaded with "Loading driver...Please Wait" on screen
* Last few logger screen messages include CPQARRAY OK; CPQSHD OK; IDECD OK; NW65OS mounted successfully

The silly thing is, drives built on older machines (eg 1850 or 3000) when connected to these ones. So it seems to be an install issue rather than anything else.

[Richard Litchfield]

Outcome:
There seems to be a problem with the way the IDE CD-ROM is used to mount the install CD.

Resolution:
Copy the CD contents to the DOS partition and run install from the hard disk.

I used some Altiris/RDP Jobs to create a 2GB DOS partition and copy over the 2 x install CDs.

This has been tested on the DL380 G1 and it should work exactly the same way with the DL580 G1. The IDE CD ought to work once the installation is complete too.